Prestwich_Blue
Well-Known Member
I think today was a bit of a watershed, particularly after Tuesday. We've got everyone available, playing at a stadium where our record is poor and needing a reaction after Tuesday yet we saw nothing but an utter shambles mostly.
The system we play should be largely irrelevant but it must be based on the qualities of the players available. Dzeko & Aguero is not and has never been a viable, starting partnership. We suit a 4-2-3-1 or 4-1-4-1and that's the system that won us two titles mostly. 4-4-2 does not work with the players we have, against a better quality team that knows how to play. We need to put a team out that plays as a team, not stick eleven players on the field and hope they gel.
The team that probably should have started was the one that was on the pitch after Milner replaced Dzeko. Or maybe the two Ferns in front of the back four. Keep it tight in midfield for 30 minutes, give them nothing then be a bit more expansive if needed. Yet we are making the same tactical mistakes again and again, which is completely unacceptable at this level. So Pellegrini has to take the complete blame for that.
Then there's the players. It makes things more difficult when your midfield and defence is constantly under pressure but most of the team today simply didn't turn up and there were no leaders on the pitch to grab things by the scruff of the neck. Players like Toure & Nasri, normally so careful with the ball, were giving it away time and time again when there was no excuse for it. Kompany at least had a better second half but Zabba is constantly chasing shadows defensively.
This team needs major surgery but Begiristain's record to date doesn't inspire a great deal of confidence frankly and I don't think that many people still have faith in Pellegrini, who has now been out-thought by such luminaries as Steve Bruce, Fat Sam and Sean Dyche.
The system we play should be largely irrelevant but it must be based on the qualities of the players available. Dzeko & Aguero is not and has never been a viable, starting partnership. We suit a 4-2-3-1 or 4-1-4-1and that's the system that won us two titles mostly. 4-4-2 does not work with the players we have, against a better quality team that knows how to play. We need to put a team out that plays as a team, not stick eleven players on the field and hope they gel.
The team that probably should have started was the one that was on the pitch after Milner replaced Dzeko. Or maybe the two Ferns in front of the back four. Keep it tight in midfield for 30 minutes, give them nothing then be a bit more expansive if needed. Yet we are making the same tactical mistakes again and again, which is completely unacceptable at this level. So Pellegrini has to take the complete blame for that.
Then there's the players. It makes things more difficult when your midfield and defence is constantly under pressure but most of the team today simply didn't turn up and there were no leaders on the pitch to grab things by the scruff of the neck. Players like Toure & Nasri, normally so careful with the ball, were giving it away time and time again when there was no excuse for it. Kompany at least had a better second half but Zabba is constantly chasing shadows defensively.
This team needs major surgery but Begiristain's record to date doesn't inspire a great deal of confidence frankly and I don't think that many people still have faith in Pellegrini, who has now been out-thought by such luminaries as Steve Bruce, Fat Sam and Sean Dyche.