Discussion: Manuel Pellegrini 2015/16

[OB1]

I thought we were much better organised and balanced last night, so credit to the manager. Much better defensive effort from KDB, Sterling and Silva than in previous games, meant that Fernandinho didn't get pulled all over the show doing the job of 4 men (although he did anyway - my MotM) and we were therefore able to keep a much more consistent shape, which in turn meant that Mangler, who I thought was immense, and Otters didn't get drawn too far forward, which in turn meant that Vardy didn't get a sniff. Ya Ya in a midfield 2 wasn't an issue, as Leicester didn't have additional men in the engine room, and my only real gripes were the decision to remove Silva and our usual profligacy in front of goal. Kun's a concern at the moment though. If his thighs and his arse get any bigger, he'll end up looking like Bubbles de Vere from behind. Needs to work on his fitness IMO

Thought Yaya sat a bit deeper than normal and helped out the defence more than usual; actually winning more ball on the ground than any other player on the pitch.

 

[aguero93:20]

I like him.

 

[Neville Kneville]

Bang on.

Edit: Actually, I think the players are getting off a bit there. Even with Pellegrini in charge, they have the talent to be playing better than they have been.

Can't disagree with that, but several of the the 'go to' players, Serge, DS & Kompany have been mostly injured this season & Yaya is getting old. Let's face it, without them & a few other heroes pulling stuff out of the bag such as Zabba, Lescott, Barry etc, neither Mancini nor Pellegrini would have got anywhere near a title.
Edit: missed out Tevez.

 

[Neville Kneville]

Thought Yaya sat a bit deeper than normal and helped out the defence more than usual; actually winning more ball on the ground than any other player on the pitch.

Agree. Silva also got through a lot of 'unseen' work in a role we may see more of when (if) Pep arrives.

 

[Ascetic]

This forum sometimes would be funny if it wasn't so sad, really. We are on a loop of the same "arguments" every single week. Just by going back a couple of pages here you can see some of the same criticism thrown the manager's way.

Let's start with this quote. If "heroes wouldn't pull stuff out of a bag neither Mancini nor Pellegrini would have won a title". I guess I have to agree with this poster, as generally managers don't have access to the pitch though I'm sure more than a few managers would like to try to kick the corner and score it themselves as well. As anyone that has every dealt with personnel/staff knows, you are only as good as the "team" you manage... this is true in football as well as any office in the world. If in doubt, think of Guardiola's Barcelona. Many people they called Guardiola Messi-dependent. Yes, even the best manager in the world was criticised by the Barca faithful as depending "too much" on his best player. Not that the rest of the Barca squad was any bad, mind you.

So, what is the backbone of City? A poster wrote this list, which I think helps:

Joe - Consistent after being dropped last season. Out a few games due to injury, but let's say consistent.
Nasri - Injured all season.
Clichy - Injured all season. Started 1 game.
Silva - Injured, still not fit.
Aguero - Injured repeatedly, still not fit. Doing very well when fit.
Yaya - Fit.
Kolarov - Struggling.
Kompany - Can't remember the last time he was fit.
Zabba - Injured.

Here's another common criticism, our defence is awful, which I think can be somewhat agreed. Who's our most consistent defender right now? Otamendi. The PL rookie. It turns out English fans are always lauding the Premier League as the best in the world and that it takes a while to get up to par with its rhythm, but we are asking the PL rookie to be the backbone of a defence that features Mangala as a sidekick. No wonder Kolarov is struggling more than usual... if only we had a more defensive minded left-back. Oh wait, Clichy has played a single game all season. But we mustn't worry... we have our captain there somewhere and his reliable and consistent right-back "hero" Pablo Zabaleta. Yes, they are in the stands mostly, sidelined with lengthy injuries.

Another common criticism is how "scripted" his substitutions are. Pellegrini should know better by now, the lazy sod. City fans want the touch a genius thrown in from time to time, add some variety there (offensively, of course, don't you go trying to touch the back four). How about going with a false-9? Done it. 442? Done it, but let's not get started with telephone numbers or we might go back to 451-never-loses argument which were the bane of the forum the last 2 years. Maybe use the so, SO expensive squad players on - like Nasri (injured) or Bony (god forbid). Put in the youngsters then. 20 minutes all right? Too much. 5 minutes? The kid should have started. And so it goes...

Finally, someone commented that if Pellegrini was managing Leicester, they would be struggling with relegation. If only I had a way to prove him wrong? How about Malaga? He picked them as they were odds-on favourites to go down in Spain and took them all the way to CL Quarter Finals, 2 minutes and 2 unlucky decisions from semis. Have you heard about those late stages of the CL yourself? You might this year, if only this awfully managed team were still alive in the CL (or any of the other competitions for that matter). Hold on, I think that's the case.

So yes, Guardiola might come next year (which I think would be a fantastic move), but "stupid" is not going anywhere apparently.

 

[Dax777]

Hwamd

This forum sometimes would be funny if it wasn't so sad, really. We are on a loop of the same "arguments" every single week. Just by going back a couple of pages here you can see some of the same criticism thrown the manager's way.

Let's start with this quote. If "heroes wouldn't pull stuff out of a bag neither Mancini nor Pellegrini would have won a title". I guess I have to agree with this poster, as generally managers don't have access to the pitch though I'm sure more than a few managers would like to try to kick the corner and score it themselves as well. As anyone that has every dealt with personnel/staff knows, you are only as good as the "team" you manage... this is true in football as well as any office in the world. If in doubt, think of Guardiola's Barcelona. Many people they called Guardiola Messi-dependent. Yes, even the best manager in the world was criticised by the Barca faithful as depending "too much" on his best player. Not that the rest of the Barca squad was any bad, mind you.

So, what is the backbone of City? A poster wrote this list, which I think helps:

Joe - Consistent after being dropped last season. Out a few games due to injury, but let's say consistent.
Nasri - Injured all season.
Clichy - Injured all season. Started 1 game.
Silva - Injured, still not fit.
Aguero - Injured repeatedly, still not fit. Doing very well when fit.
Yaya - Fit.
Kolarov - Struggling.
Kompany - Can't remember the last time he was fit.
Zabba - Injured.

Here's another common criticism, our defence is awful, which I think can be somewhat agreed. Who's our most consistent defender right now? Otamendi. The PL rookie. It turns out English fans are always lauding the Premier League as the best in the world and that it takes a while to get up to par with its rhythm, but we are asking the PL rookie to be the backbone of a defence that features Mangala as a sidekick. No wonder Kolarov is struggling more than usual... if only we had a more defensive minded left-back. Oh wait, Clichy has played a single game all season. But we mustn't worry... we have our captain there somewhere and his reliable and consistent right-back "hero" Pablo Zabaleta. Yes, they are in the stands mostly, sidelined with lengthy injuries.

Another common criticism is how "scripted" his substitutions are. Pellegrini should know better by now, the lazy sod. City fans want the touch a genius thrown in from time to time, add some variety there (offensively, of course, don't you go trying to touch the back four). How about going with a false-9? Done it. 442? Done it, but let's not get started with telephone numbers or we might go back to 451-never-loses argument which were the bane of the forum the last 2 years. Maybe use the so, SO expensive squad players on - like Nasri (injured) or Bony (god forbid). Put in the youngsters then. 20 minutes all right? Too much. 5 minutes? The kid should have started. And so it goes...

Finally, someone commented that if Pellegrini was managing Leicester, they would be struggling with relegation. If only I had a way to prove him wrong? How about Malaga? He picked them as they were odds-on favourites to go down in Spain and took them all the way to CL Quarter Finals, 2 minutes and 2 unlucky decisions from semis. Have you heard about those late stages of the CL yourself? You might this year, if only this awfully managed team were still alive in the CL (or any of the other competitions for that matter). Hold on, I think that's the case.

So yes, Guardiola might come next year (which I think would be a fantastic move), but "stupid" is not going anywhere apparently.

This.
On repeat!!!

 

[pudge]

Since when are Kolarov and Nasri part of our "backbone"?

That would be a big problem.

 

[davymcfc]

I think he'll win the league from here, maybe even play some fantastic football doing it. We have a collection of players capable of playing like no other in the history of football in this country imo.

But I'm counting the days to seeing him finally go. Because we don't have a 'team' which regularly plays that way. We could be so much more than this. We should look brilliant almost all the time, vs everybody & sometimes lose or draw & very occasionally look average or shit. But most of the time, this group of players should have the opposition gasping & shitting themselves. And we have seen it happen. We know it can. It doesn't happen as often as it should, because the manager(s) haven't been good enough to figure out why, & fix it.

Leicester are getting more out of their team than they should. We are getting 50% less, almost every week, & we are getting used to it & some seem very happy about it, some begrudgingly accept it those who don't accept it are being ordered to.

We should be a lot better. I think we will be & we'll win it. Then, thank God, he'll be gone. If we've read this wrong & he's still here next season, we will implode worse than Chelsea.

Couldn't agree more.

 

[cityboy1]

Since when are Kolarov and Nasri part of our "backbone"?

That would be a big problem.

Our back bone in the past few seasons has usually been aguero,silva, kompany, zabaleta and har. Kolarov and nasri dont really seem to fit in the majority of the time

 

[pudge]

Our back bone in the past few seasons has usually been aguero,silva, kompany, zabaleta and har. Kolarov and nasri dont really seem to fit in the majority of the time

Yep, the spine/backbone of the team has remained the same; Hart, Kompany, Yaya, Silva and Aguero.

Kolarov is enitrely interchangeable with Clichy as has been proven by neither's ability to lock down the position and as good as Nasri can be on his day, which is a problem by itself, he's not getting many starts ahead of Sterling, Silva or De Bruyne.

They are no more part of the backbone of the team than Bony or Navas, odd to include them imo. If they are seen as such figures then the squad's more fucked than I thought.