Discussion: Manuel Pellegrini 2015/16

[Marvin]

The difference is the attitude of the players. Chelsea reminded me of City last season, and vice versa.

 

[EalingBlue2]

I agree. Baffling how off the pace Vinny and Toure were for most of last season and what a big impact that had especially against sides like Burnley where the league was lost ! :)

Last season we had a lot of very mentally and physically exhausted players who started the season half fit with no pre season and never got in the shape they needed to and suffered injuries as a result.

Kolarov, kompany, Sagna, mangala, silva , Fernandinho and above all Yaya are All fitter and in better shape physically and mentally than anytime last season especially early on and aguero is starting off a month ahead of last season . Zabba when he gets a turn as wel will probably be a huge improvement on last
year too.

We never got started last season too many players desperately needed a rest and that put us under pressure early, sapped confidence , caused niggles and injuries and we will now see the difference.

Never put it down to Pellegrini, though he needed one striker in big games but always thought we were screwed from the start. Irony is this pre season looked similar but clearly was very different

 

[aguero93:20]

The difference is the attitude of the players. Chelsea reminded me of City last season, and vice versa.

Yep, hunger is a huge thing, hopefully as we get further into the journey motivating the squad after a trophy win won't be as difficult but I think bringing in some genuine first xi signings as both ourselves and Chelsea have failed to do could make a huge difference as well.

 

[GaudinoMotors]

Credit where credit due - wasn't just the re-found hunger and motivation. Tactics spot on yesterday.

 

[supercity88]

Yet again we find the team with the motivation they lacked when they were defending the title!

I think that Khaldoon may have had a few conversations with City players during the summer. Yaya is a new man, so is Kolarov and so is Sagna.

Despite having Fernando and Delph injured the team is in fine form. Kompany back to his best and the whole team has the desire to win.

What has made a huge impact is Raheem Sterling.

Chelsea really were set up to restrain him from making an impact. They knew Sterling v Ivanovic was a key battle so they looked to double up on him and stop us making in roads.

Last season Silva would have been out there and Chelsea would have shut down the midfield to stop him getting any space between the midfield and defence. They would have then looked to get the ball forward quickly and counter.

This time they just couldn't cope with the number of options we had. Because they looked to stop Sterling, they couldn't cope with Silva or Navas. And Aguero was sensational.

Pellegrini's tactics have largely been spot on, we've battered Chelsea most times but without the result. This time we got the result we deserved because of the improved personel.

 

[Scaring Europe to Death]

The criticism last season was maybe over the top, but let's not go too much the other way, after a couple of good results.
Let's judge him when the opposition are playing well, or we're getting outnumbered in midfield. Will he start rotating his defence every game, once Clichy and Zabaleta are fully match fit?

 

[hgblue]

Absolutely buzzing for the boss. Continues to defy the critics and defy those who say he isn't tactically as good as anyone else in the league. Has got his team and his players playing like they mean it. Made Mourinho look second rate yesterday.

Haha, he's defying the critics by doing precisely what the critics have been calling for him to do? No matter, I'm delighted with Pellegrini. The 4231 suits Aguero because he can play on the shoulder of the last man where he's at his most dangerous, it suits Silva because he isn't chasing the opposition full back all day, it suits Yaya because his defensive frailties are less exposed, the team look happy and they look confident. It also didn't escape my attention that with the score at 1 nil and Chelsea getting a foothold in the game off went Sterling and on came Demichelis to bolster the midfield, a pragmatic substitution if ever I've seen one. Exactly the right move at exactly the right time. I'm a happy bunny.

 

[BillyShears]

Haha, he's defying the critics by doing precisely what the critics have been calling for him to do? No matter, I'm delighted with Pellegrini. The 4231 suits Aguero because he can play on the shoulder of the last man where he's at his most dangerous, it suits Silva because he isn't chasing the opposition full back all day, it suits Yaya because his defensive frailties are less exposed, the team look happy and they look confident. It also didn't escape my attention that with the score at 1 nil and Chelsea getting a foothold in the game off went Sterling and on came Demichelis to bolster the midfield, a pragmatic substitution if ever I've seen one. Exactly the right move at exactly the right time. I'm a happy bunny.

Pellegrini did nothing yesterday tactically that he hasn't done loads of times since he joined us mate.

The switch to 433/4231 has been done equally to bad effect as per Arsenal at home last season which is why it seems a stretch to me to try and argue everything is down to a change in shape.

But the main thing is results and performances and so far so fucking good !!!

 

[hgblue]

Pellegrini did nothing yesterday tactically that he hasn't done loads of times since he joined us mate.

The switch to 433/4231 has been done equally to bad effect as per Arsenal at home last season which is why it seems a stretch to me to try and argue everything is down to a change in shape.

But the main thing is results and performances and so far so fucking good !!!

Our default formation has changed from 442 to 4231/433 and I remember taking sheds loads on here for calling for this switch. Not an easy sell when you've just won the League playing 442. Now Pellegrini has made the switch it's hailed as some sort of masterstroke. It's no biggie, I just found it quite amusing.
I could write pages about why this formation suits us better, and one of the paragraphs would be about why using a formation regularly is more effective than just deploying it occasionally. In fact, just for the insomniacs on here I might just do that. ;)

 

[BillyShears]

Our default formation has changed from 442 to 4231/433 and I remember taking sheds loads on here for calling for this switch. Not an easy sell when you've just won the League playing 442. Now Pellegrini has made the switch it's hailed as some sort of masterstroke. It's no biggie, I just found it quite amusing.
I could write pages about why this formation suits us better, and one of the paragraphs would be about why using a formation regularly is more effective than just deploying it occasionally. In fact, just for the insomniacs on here I might just do that. ;)

Not really related to what I posted but I'm happy you think you were right all along. I know being right on the Internet can be important for people. ;)