Discussion: Manuel Pellegrini 2015/16

[blueinsa]

The problem we have is - Aguero, KDB, Yaya, Sterling & Silva just do not press - bar KDB & Sterling - it has been a problem for us all the time. We get done over when we are playing teams that press high and hard -

We get done because we are invariably sat with a 2 in midfield including Yaya and it gets completely over run. Control the midfield and we wont have to worry about Merlin or Kun running back to defend. Teams will see they cant just over run our midfield and they wont press like they are right now.

We controlled the midfield against Sevilla and absolutely spanked them because of that.

Pellegrini is just inviting teams on and giving their managers a free ride right now and he has to look at himself and ask is he doing everything he can?

If he is honest the answer will be no.

 

[BobKowalski]

True, I think the media often take our success for granted because we've had some great players and tend to forget that we have won 2 Premier League titles, 1 FA Cup and 1 League Cup without ever recruiting an elite manager. I think Mancio and Pelle are both good managers but you can't compare that with what Chelsea have had with the likes of Jose Mourinho and Carlo Ancelotti as their manager. If we manage to capture Guardiola, combined with the world class players we have (Kompany, De Bruyne, Silva, Aguero etc.) then we could move onto another level.

Why cant we compare? Ancelotti took over a PL winning side fresh from a CL final appearence and won the double. Pellers took over a PL winning side and won the double. How is that not comparable? Mourinho took over a side that had won trophies in recent years and appeared in the CL semi-final and won the title. Mancini took over a side containing Jo, RSC and Wayne fucking Bridge and won a title in his second full season. How is that not comparable?

All of the above have strengths and weakensses but quite why we insist on talking down what we achieve under the managers we have had and lauding the same fucking achievements at a different club under a different manager baffles me.

 

[flb]

The problem we have is - Aguero, KDB, Yaya, Sterling & Silva just do not press - bar KDB & Sterling - it has been a problem for us all the time. We get done over when we are playing teams that press high and hard -

3 in midfield works, 2 dedicated to pressing and breaking up play with the 3rd having the handbrake off a little more, Sterling & Navas pressed brilliantly v Sevilla as part of a front six, so they do have it in there locker.

Trouble is when you have 2 in midfield you are then relying on a wide player more or less drifting into the middle leaving acres of space in front of either fullback, my fucking mother would fancy her chances in getting past Kolorov so i will cut Sagna some slack as he has been excellent so far this season.

 

[crystal_mais]

We get done because we are invariably sat with a 2 in midfield including Yaya and it gets completely over run. Control the midfield and we wont have to worry about Merlin or Kun running back to defend. Teams will see they cant just over run our midfield and they wont press like they are right now.

We controlled the midfield against Sevilla and absolutely spanked them because of that.

Pellegrini is just inviting teams on and giving their managers a free ride right now and he has to look at himself and ask is he doing everything he can?

If he is honest the answer will be no.

Agreed - so in order to compensate we will really need to be put in a 3 man midfield and approach the games as we had vs Sevilla

 

[Dribble]

Why cant we compare? Ancelotti took over a PL winning side fresh from a CL final appearence and won the double. Pellers took over a PL winning side and won the double. How is that not comparable? Mourinho took over a side that had won trophies in recent years and appeared in the CL semi-final and won the title. Mancini took over a side containing Jo, RSC and Wayne fucking Bridge and won a title in his second full season. How is that not comparable?

All of the above have strengths and weakensses but quite why we insist on talking down what we achieve under the managers we have had and lauding the same fucking achievements at a different club under a different manager baffles me.

Absolutely

 

[Neville Kneville]

As far as I am concerned Pellegrini was finished as a Manager after 2o minutes of the game on Saturday.

He picked a 4-2-4 formation with a midfielder in Yaya who we all know is not capable of and has not been capable of playing in a midfield 2 for 12 months then throw in an ageing Centre Half who has played 1 game against a team whose only threat was pace through the midfield.

Pellegrini wasn't intelligent enough at 25mins when it was 2-0 down to make the change that we were screaming out for. He couldn't drag Yaya off as he was (and I never understand why) our Captain but should have dragged Navas off and bolstered the midfield up. Unacceptable by any manager to not see this and showed a total lack of bollocks in holding his hand up and saying "hey I fucked up".

If he had contained the onslaught we were suffering we may have been able to get ourselves back into the game. That we will never know because although Aguero scored a beauty the game was long over at half time.

Simply not good enough and we are at risk of suffering more results like this.

The weird thing is, that Mancini's team v Dortmund ended up in almost the same stupid formation. Yaya dithering about in his own half with 4 forwards 40 yards away all marked by Dortmund players, eventually plays it to Rodwell who miscontrols it & Dortmund score.

That was also one of the most ridiculous managerial performances I've ever seen.

What is going on in these people's heads ?

 

[robbieh]

Think this is a great post Robbie, gets a lot of my thoughts down in black and white (just in a much more eloquent fashion!)

I mentioned on here Saturday while I was still fuming that I think the one thing we have lacked since the takeover is a top manager. It doesnt have to be one of the 'big names', I just mean that if we could find a coach that could make this squad of players consistently perform at even 80% of their capabilities, we could dominate domestic football and make a huge impact in the CL.

What I saw Saturday was a manager put his players in a position to fail, and the players not be willing to put the extra graft in to try and compensate for that (some may say why the fuck should they....but thats a whole different conversation about the pride they should have to pull on that blue shirt). Lots of blame to go round unfortunately, but most of it falls at the managers door.

I agree TFC. It doesn't have to be a big name manager many of whom would be unsuitable anyway. I can't see LVG or Mourinho doing anything particularly pleasing with our squad. Pep is the obvious no brainer but if he is planning on going elsewhere we need to think carefully.

 

[blueinsa]

Agreed - so in order to compensate we will really need to be put in a 3 man midfield and approach the games as we had vs Sevilla

Its that simple. We have no issues scoring goals for fun and our front players scare the life out of every team out there. We can also defend properly IF we have control of the midfield and the back 4 are not exposed to teams due to sides having a free run at our midfield 2.

 

[Lancet Fluke]

Sevilla was a revelation and for most of us, possibly the start of a new era for this side and an awakaning as to whats required to succeed against the very best consistently but since then its reverted back to slow, slow football again which just about fucks every single one of us off more than anything.

How many times does he have to revert to type before people realise that that is just what he is going to do until he leaves the club? He clearly doesn't think that there is anything wrong with the way he sets us up or he would have made changes ages ago.

 

[blueinsa]

How many times does he have to revert to type before people realise that that is just what he is going to do until he leaves the club?

Not many more i would say, especially if they are as bad as Liverpool.