As a contest it was well and truly over by the half hour mark: only as a humiliation did it last the full 90 minutes and more. Liverpool were slick and assured: City were truly abysmal. Now we are hearing from pundits and fans who say they saw it all coming from the time the teams were announced. When I got the team news I was surprised to see that Otamendi and Fernandinho were on the bench but there was nothing in the starting eleven which caused me any alarm. It seemed that the question facing Pellers was one of availability rather than suitability for the fixture. Sergio was fit, but we all knew he would not play more than an hour, Eliaquim was a certain starter if you take account of where our players had been and what they had done during the international break and if one had to pick the best eleven from the 22 named to start the match, it would have been the City eleven, with Coutinho the only Liverpudlian in with a shout. Some City fans were worried, not about our team, but because "it was against Liverpool" - as though the same kind of magic lurks in the muddy waters of the Mersey as used to inhabit the Manchester United badge, which means that mediocre teams become world beaters. Klopp is not a manager but a wizard just as Ferguson was always going to "get things right". In face Liverpool had played 7 games under Klopp and won 3 - only one in the league, at Chelsea. The others were 1-0 against Rubin Kazan and Bournemouth. Their last league outing had been a home defeat to Palace. There was nothing in Liverpool' form (going back over 5 years!) to suggest anything more than an upper mid-table team.
We got massacred and it's this that gives some spurios support to claims that it was inevitable with the two teams picked. I would ask which PL teams City would have beaten on Saturday? It was not the selection but the performance of the players which produced such a miserable hour and a half. Pellegrini has some responsibility in this, in particular as to weather Sagna and in particular Mangala should have been anywhere near a football match after the ordeal they have been through but the club are better placed to decide than I am. We do have a problem in central midfield and this has dogged us under Pellers since day one, but never so disastrously badly as on Saturday and usually only against opposition of a rather higher class than Liverpool. So, I'm not saying that everything in the garden is rosy and 4-1 defeats should not happen, but I don't think it's time to panic or rant and rave.
Having had time to absorb and reflect upon the events of Saturday I find myself on the horns of a dilema. Part of me wants to see the positives i.e. just off the pace in league and into last 16 in Europe and believe that Pellers given support from fans and backing by the club will lead us onwards and upwards this season. But there is a growing sense of unease that that despite a good end to last season and start to this one, 2015 has been one of relative decline. Poor at home to Arsenal in January, outplayed again by Barca and well beaten away to both the Rags and Scousers was only partly compensated by a rich vein of form which saved the managers bacon and got us second. This season started well and combined with some impresive new signings we seemed set for glory. But things don't look so rosy now. Some bad home defeats, a thumping by Spurs, some lucky wins an inept performance agaist Villa ending with last Saturdays humiliation. It would be unfair to the manager to fail to record 2 good results against Newcastle and in particular away in Spain. The next six weeks will determine to a large extent our season and perhaps the managers future. If we steady the ship quickly we still have a lot to play for. However, I have a bad feeling that The Charming Man may be on his way out. While I am willing to be patient and give him a chance to prove the many critics on here wrong I am not very confident he can. In a way Saturday was a defeat for one style of playing football characterised by possession, control and probing by another which prioritses,pressing, mobility and speed. Our manager is firmly attached to the former philosophy a way of playing which appears to becoming increasingly inferior in recent times. In addition our manager often makes matters worse by team selections which against teams that tend to adopt the other philosophy can often prove fatal. Consequently it seems almost inevitable that our manager is unlikely to survive in the medium to long term in his position. Indeed if the damage inflicted by the Liverpool shambles is not corrected quickly I doubth he will survive in the short term either. In conclusion I Don't think Pellers will be here next season but for the sake of the club we need to get behind him in the coming weeks. Keep the faith.I think it is the fact that a good number of those defeats were avoidable with a little bit of footballing nous! Pellers has been steeped in football for six bloody decades. It's all well and typical City to set up with ne'er a thought as to how you are going to maximise the points of a Saturday tea-time. He must IMPOSE a system on a team that simply does not rely on team members bringing top form, international class and the magic onto the pitch coupled with a mentality that presumes the opposition are going to let you perform to the best of your undoubted ability!
We were lucky vs Newcastle, they cut us open for large parts of that game. Also lucky to win vs Norwich, Gladbach away & Seville home.Having had time to absorb and reflect upon the events of Saturday I find myself on the horns of a dilema. Part of me wants to see the positives i.e. just off the pace in league and into last 16 in Europe and believe that Pellers given support from fans and backing by the club will lead us onwards and upwards this season. But there is a growing sense of unease that that despite a good end to last season and start to this one, 2015 has been one of relative decline. Poor at home to Arsenal in January, outplayed again by Barca and well beaten away to both the Rags and Scousers was only partly compensated by a rich vein of form which saved the managers bacon and got us second. This season started well and combined with some impresive new signings we seemed set for glory. But things don't look so rosy now. Some bad home defeats, a thumping by Spurs, some lucky wins an inept performance agaist Villa ending with last Saturdays humiliation. It would be unfair to the manager to fail to record 2 good results against Newcastle and in particular away in Spain. The next six weeks will determine to a large extent our season and perhaps the managers future. If we steady the ship quickly we still have a lot to play for. However, I have a bad feeling that The Charming Man may be on his way out. While I am willing to be patient and give him a chance to prove the many critics on here wrong I am not very confident he can. In a way Saturday was a defeat for one style of playing football characterised by possession, control and probing by another which prioritses,pressing, mobility and speed. Our manager is firmly attached to the former philosophy a way of playing which appears to becoming increasingly inferior in recent times. In addition our manager often makes matters worse by team selections which against teams that tend to adopt the other philosophy can often prove fatal. Consequently it seems almost inevitable that our manager is unlikely to survive in the medium to long term in his position. Indeed if the damage inflicted by the Liverpool shambles is not corrected quickly I doubth he will survive in the short term either. In conclusion I Don't think Pellers will be here next season but for the sake of the club we need to get behind him in the coming weeks. Keep the faith.
Agree but I am trying to be fair to the manager and indulge in as logical an analysis as possible in the aftermath of this debacle!!We were lucky vs Newcastle, they cut us open for large parts of that game. Also lucky to win vs Norwich, Gladbach away & Seville home.
Our front four were not in that game due to the team selection of yaya n fernando in a midfield 2 against their 3 we were getting our arse kicked and he just stood there or sat in his chair with his hands in his head letting the game go 1-0 2-0 3-0 game over. And Joe Hart constantly kicking his goal kicks to full backs it's same old same oldThe whole defence was a joke! Sagna & Mangala should have been left out for compassionate reasons, MD is past it, off the pace and slack, as for Kolarov, liability.
Our attacking force were poor at best, running down blind alleys. I am totally lost for words how naive MP was to set up a team like that against Victimpool. It's there year don't you know.
Our front four were not in that game due to the team selection of yaya n fernando in a midfield 2 against their 3 we were getting our arse kicked and he just stood there or sat in his chair with his hands in his head letting the game go 1-0 2-0 3-0 game over. And Joe Hart constantly kicking his goal kicks to full backs it's same old same old