How has it been allowed that our fitness is so bad??
It's like the club was so scared of pissing the players off after Mancini that they've let them do what they want - which is next to nothing in training.
Don't know what's going on inside the club, but I think the fitness part has more to do with what we did in pre-season and perhaps improper or excessive training rather than the lack of it. People always say exercises help you come back faster and stronger, but in some cases the inappropriate types of manoeuvres slow down your progress.
And then there are players who are obviously not fit but have been rushed back or overplayed. Kompany was probably one. And I'll eat my socks if you tell me Yaya is 100% fit for this match. Little to none effort in running to track back and so many inaccurate passes. Kun has looked knackered for the past month. Silva's problem could have been easily solved if we just gave him a month or more to rest after his injury.
Players would always insist they are fit enough, for a proper professional player would always want to play. And important players are hard to replace. But ultimately one has to question if this is good for the players and the team to rush them back too soon. For all we have spent in building a state-of-the-art medical centre, one would have thought we would have the best personnel and equipment available. But no, it is not enough, not with the board and the management seemingly having inadequate medical knowledge.
There was no use to rest 8 or 9 players last Sunday (though admittedly some of them needed it), for the damage is probably done as early as pre-season. Pellegrini was probably not failed by the players' efforts last night (they have put in quite a lot in CL this season, so it is illogical to believe they will downtool at this stage), nor by his tactics (thought he tried his best), but largely by the mistakes he made earlier in the season. Now there's nothing that could be done but to hope that we put on the best performance of the season on Sunday.
