Discussion: Manuel Pellegrini 2015/16

[adrianr]

What also worries me is how Yaya, Kun and Silva view the mediocre transfer window.

Yaya when he put to bed rumours he was leaving intimated that major signings had excited him. Kompany said something similar. We the fans have had our expectations raised by Khaldoun. Think what it's like for the players. If it turns out that the only improvement to the team is Sterling then I can see senior players beginning to doubt the clubs ambition which could impact on results.

Think exactly the same. We look like we're sleep walking into another season when we should have been exploding into it. I appreciate that a deals for Pogba and De Bruyne weren't likely to be easy but we've had clear runs at both players and still haven't been able to secure either. If the window closes having only bought in Sterling and Delph after Milner, Lampard and Jovetic left it will have been a huge failure and I would put my house on that directly impacting results.

 

[Goater=Legend]

Watching the final 5 games didn't we change the system and go towards a more sitting deep and counter attacking side??

We was far better then, and there was times you could trust the defence.

Now it looks like we've gone back to the same open football leaving gaps everywhere that had us 4th last season after getting beat Palace and the rags all in one week.

 

[BillyShears]

So you bumped the thread without offering any insight or comment

That's being a shit stirrer or WUM

We all know what he is. He isn't fooling anyone.

As for this thread. Groundhog Day. Good to see the usual suspects resuming hostilities with Pellegrini. Gonna be a looooooooooong season if this is anything to go by.

 

[BobKowalski]

We do have a month but I am surprised that we have not put in an offer like we did with Sterling. Surely it would have benefitted Wolfsburg, Kevin and ourselves to get this done before now.

I agree with you on Sterling. He will be a great player for us. But we do have issues elsewhere on the pitch which have needed remedies. While buying the Bundesliga player of the year would turn it into the best window since we bought Yaya and Silva, still worried about our ability to defend as a team.

Yeah I'm a little surprised we haven't gone further with KDB although I'm guessing the Supercup may have been an issue. Not that fussed about buying a CB because no matter who we buy we will still get undone by the long hopeful punt upfield. The problems in defence are organisational rather than personnel. Our ability to defend as a team is non existent. You would have more chance of detecting the Higgs Bosun particle then our defensive organisation.

 

[Exeter Blue I am here]

Personally I think the addition of Sterling is a big deal. If we add KDB then I think we will have had a very good window landing 2 out of 3 major targets plus Delph at an excellent price. This in turn should galvanise the squad with players also looking to prove a point after last season. I don't especially rate Pellers but he isn't an idiot either so I am hoping that this should be enough.

Having said this we haven't got KDB yet.

Yup, I'd agree with that. We need a top defensive midfielder as well, but there's only a point to such a signing if Pellers is prepared to use such a player effectively. What we witnessed yesterday - an exposed back four diving in and getting dragged out of shape at the drop of a hat - does not augur well for a successful season. 4 goals conceded against German 'B' listers on the back of 4 more against Madrid, who could quite reasonably have bagged 7 or 8, and the defensive debacles at Klanfield and Old Nafford not exactly out of mind either, necessitates a serious rethink about our approach to games IMO. I'm just hoping that when the season starts we set up on the road like we did at White Hart Lane in May. With Milner and Lampard, who both offered a bit of physical solidity to proceedings, now gone, I'm not convinced it's gonna happen though

 

[Exeter Blue I am here]

We all know what he is. He isn't fooling anyone.

As for this thread. Groundhog Day. Good to see the usual suspects resuming hostilities with Pellegrini. Gonna be a looooooooooong season if this is anything to go by.

I'm afraid if we keep defending like we did yesterday it certainly will be, and with no little justification. A fit Delph and Fernandinho will obviously help, but a Matic type signing (real physical presence) is a priority IMO.

As to the 'thread bumper', I'm amazed he hasn't told us all that 'he told us all' yet......! ;-)

 

[@BluePhil8]

We've made our bed and now we have to lie in it. The club could have gone for Ancelotti or Klopp but we haven't. Now we will have to take whatever happens on the chin. I hope we win some major trophies this season but if Pellegrini doesn't significantly change the playing style to be less kamikaze then I think we're in for another hard year.

What I will say in Pellegrini's defence is that he and the fans were promised several world class additions and with the season about to start we have only made one.

Imperative we win the opener as with Chelsea's bus parking skills losing 3 points at any stage can be catastrophic.

 

[Marvin]

The problems we had yesterday were part rustiness and in part due to playing two wide forwards with midfielders who can't defend.

Other teams have shown that this system can work, but we need Fernando/Delph/Fernandinho in there to cover when the opposition are breaking on us.

That game suggests we may have problems bedding this in, or Pellegrino might have to re-think how he is going to play in the opening games. We don't want to be playing catch-up.

 

[BillyShears]

I'm afraid if we keep defending like we did yesterday it certainly will be, and with no little justification. A fit Delph and Fernandinho will obviously help, but a Matic type signing (real physical presence) is a priority IMO.

As to the 'thread bumper', I'm amazed he hasn't told us all that 'he told us all' yet......! ;-)

Anyone who hasn't come to terms with what Pellegrini's strengths and weaknesses are should probably give this upcoming season a miss. It's going to be more of the same, but I suspect this season we'll score enough goals to make a MUCH better fist of the Premier League. We're still a few players short of really challenging in the CL without a little luck in the draws.

Things that you should forget about immediately:

- A N Other Holding midfielder being signed
- abandoning the high defensive line
- abandoning the idea of attack first defend later

Hence my comment about it's going to be a long season. The team shape has changed - we're going to play the Barca 433 with an inverted triangle in midfield. Something most of us wanted to see him do. But to expect that to morph into something more akin to what Mourinho or Mancini would do in terms of how the team sets up and operates is fantastical and those people aren't paying attention to what everyone from Khaldoon, to Soriano, to Pellegrini has been saying. The City way will come before anything else. And part of that is the high risk football we play.

 

[waspish]

hope he sticks with 1 up top like we finished the season with! If he doesn't I"ll be trully baffled...