Only this. We are in a downward spiral and appear unable to halt the slide. Kompany back and fit would at least give us some much needed leadership on the pitch. Personally I would have sacked MP by now and appointed an interim. Dead man walking. All this talk of 4 trophies will become 3, then 2, then 1, then......Top 4 is even under threat now. It has been so obvious for months now and that concerns me greatly.I think the biggest problem we have is that we are in the midst of what should be a sacking situation.
Imo the only reason Pellegrini is currently in employment is because the Pep deal has been in the offing for a long time. In normal circumstances, the manager would have been fired ages ago , replaced either by a caretaker as with Chelsea or a new manager as with Hughes & Mancini.
Either way, some new ideas & a bit of a boost would have likely ensued & perhaps some ins & outs in the January window, which could have us flying right now.
Instead we are limping along with a manager who has completely run out of ideas but has agreed to let another guy take his job, so we are just hoping he gets his shit together rather than taking action, as he has been promised he can do what he wants provided he plays his part in the plan. He gets a crack at winning trophies in spite of his performance so far.
Pep hasn't spoiled Pellegrini's season, he's kept him in a job.
Defense is where pep needs the clear out
Only this. We are in a downward spiral and appear unable to halt the slide. Kompany back and fit would at least give us some much needed leadership on the pitch. Personally I would have sacked MP by now and appointed an interim. Dead man walking. All this talk of 4 trophies will become 3, then 2, then 1, then......Top 4 is even under threat now. It has been so obvious for months now and that concerns me greatly.
We were outplayed comprehensively and beaten conclusively. Firstly, I think we should show a little humility and say that Leicester are a very good team and were too good for us, on the day at least. Our performance was depressingly reminiscent of those we had served up at home to Liverpool and away at Stoke.
I don't accept any of the nonsense that Ya Ya is lazy or that other players lack the "winning mentality". I think some of it has to do with injuries: Vinnie's leadership is sorely missed and with David clearly not fit our other creative players cannot be considered for selection. We don't have a back four so much as four players who try to play in defence together when they are the four fit at the same time.
I feel that much of is down to our approach. Our full backs have to attack and then get back but our possession game simply isn't good enough these days so Our backs get stranded right up field and can't get back because Zaba is just back from a nasty knee injury and Kolorov lacks pace. Ya Ya needs 5 or 6 paces to get up to full speed, which means, when running back to defend, you are effectively out of the game. But we persist with a two man midfield. This means that Ferna, MdM and Otamendi are left to deal with a side advancing at pace and in numbers. Peller's philosophy appears to be to win the ball back quickly and counter. This seems to result in the repeated rash, missed tackles which led to the second Leicester goal.
My instinct is to abandon the high line, defend deeper and not to take so many risks. This is, as they would say now, "pragmatic". Unfortunately, I have to admit that two of Leicester's goals came from set pieces, against which our players were all in position, but Huth was largely unopposed when he scored. Our defending deep and in numbers was more disastrous and costly than our high line. Something needs doing, but I don't know what.
I'm not certain Pep would be onboard with sacking Pellegrini though. I think it's all related.
Just my feeling & the fact Pep doesn't like taking jobs from other managers.
How do you reckon he would feel about taking a job where the club isn't in the champions league? If this does continue to spiral and we look like slipping out of the top 4, how will the inevitable ongoing discussions between pep and Txiki go? Surely they will want to address it in some way rather then just let things drift to something relatively catastrophic?I'm not certain Pep would be onboard with sacking Pellegrini though. I think it's all related.
Just my feeling & the fact Pep doesn't like taking jobs from other managers.
I really don't think the issue is just with the defence. It's the way the team is set-up and it's fairly obvious to most what's wrong. Even my pet budgie could have picked a better starting 11 yesterday and formation. The team has lost it's direction and some players just aren't up for the fight. Leicester definitely deserved the win and good luck to them. It shows what a good manager can achieve, with a set of players most of which wouldn't even get near our starting 11.Leicester deserves the win end of the day. Defense is where pep needs the clear out
How do you reckon he would feel about taking a job where the club isn't in the champions league? If this does continue to spiral and we look like slipping out of the top 4, how will the inevitable ongoing discussions between pep and Txiki go? Surely they will want to address it in some way rather then just let things drift to something relatively catastrophic?
Haha. Indeed, I wasn't suggesting that he'd start backing out! Just that he might say, "txiki, sack this fucking chump before we end up in the Europa League." And in my mind when he has that conversation he definitely uses the phrase "fucking chump."I don't think he'll be arsed for one season tbh. He is up against it to get his methods in place pre season anyway with all the international bollocks going on. A year with less games would probably help him.
It's tough shit anyhow now he's agreed the deal, he'll just have to get on with it ;)
This. Harts distribution is piss polr, compared to neuer he looks like buster fuckin phillips.Haven't been able to shrug off this feeling all week that Hart's comments were those of a man who feels his position is under serious threat.