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Manuel Pellegrini came out fighting as his under-performing team slumped to their worst run of form for four years.
Saturday’s draw at Queen’s Park Rangers means the Blues have lost three and won one of their last six games in all competitions – their worst run since Roberto Mancini’s difficult autumn in 2010.
But Pellegrini bit back at his critics by:
•rejecting Sam Allardyce’s flak
•backing his defence
•revealing an injury to Matija Nastasic
•sticking to his formula
•warning the snipers not to write off his team
The City boss was in a rush to catch a flight to Spain for a short holiday during the international break and so had little time to explain his side’s latest failure.
But he reacted with irritation when Sam Allardyce’s analysis of the Blues’ last trip to London – when they lost 2-1 to West Ham – was mentioned.
Allardyce afterwards revealed how he targeted Eliaquim Mangala, believing that Pellegrini’s formation, and choice of left-back, left him exposed.
The Engineer’s snappy response was to refer to last season, when City scored rattled up a 14-1 aggregate over the Hammers in four meetings.
“When you are a manager and win, you have all the solutions,” said Pellegrini. “Against the same manager, we last year scored 14 goals and he didn’t have the solution.”
Today’s City team looks a different prospect to that devastating outfit and one big reason is that the defence looks out of sorts.
They failed to cope with QPR striker Charlie Austin and relied on goalkeeper Joe Hart to keep him out.
But Pellegrini said there are no underlying problems, just a need for more work and better focus.
“Bit more concentrated,” he said. “We are conceding goals but we are the third best defence in the league, with one more goal than Chelsea. So be careful, we’re not so bad.”
That was not correct, as Southampton, Swansea, Arsenal and Chelsea had all conceded less goals than City at that point, while Mark Hughes’ mid-table Stoke side had also only conceded 12.
Many City fans have been mystified as to why Matija Nastasic, who looked like a real prospect when he made his City debut two years ago, has not been involved.
Pellegrini has consistently left Nastasic out of his matchday squad, preferring Dedryck Boyata for the bench – as he did again on Saturday, with Vincent Kompany out injured.
Nastasic was told in the summer he was not wanted, and seems to have paid the price for failing to secure a move.
When he was asked for injury news on Friday, Pellegrini did not mention Nastasic’s name.
But when asked the next day, he snapped: “Nastasic has a problem in his calf.”
The Chilean has stuck to his guns over his 4-4-2 formation this season, but switched to a five-man midfield in this game.
But he said it was a move forced by circumstances, with Edin Dzeko not fit.
“We had less than 72 hours to recover from the last game,” he said. “It was a very special game, a special moment. We don’t have other players.
“You see that Edin Dzeko wasn’t 100 per cent to play. He couldn’t do it. With the players we had today this was the best way to play.”
Which begs the question of why Jovetic could not start, or why Dzeko was sent on.
The Bosnian was brought on and limped off after four minutes, an utter waste of a substitution – and was replaced by midfielder Frank Lampard.
He had one last message to City fans before leaving for the airport, saying: “I can never promise what will happen in the future.
“I am sure we will continue to work in the same way we are doing. We’ll continue to play the style of play we always do.
“And especially for me, when you have a bad moment you must have more trust in what you do.”
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Manuel Pellegrini came out fighting as his under-performing team slumped to their worst run of form for four years.
Saturday’s draw at Queen’s Park Rangers means the Blues have lost three and won one of their last six games in all competitions – their worst run since Roberto Mancini’s difficult autumn in 2010.
But Pellegrini bit back at his critics by:
•rejecting Sam Allardyce’s flak
•backing his defence
•revealing an injury to Matija Nastasic
•sticking to his formula
•warning the snipers not to write off his team
The City boss was in a rush to catch a flight to Spain for a short holiday during the international break and so had little time to explain his side’s latest failure.
But he reacted with irritation when Sam Allardyce’s analysis of the Blues’ last trip to London – when they lost 2-1 to West Ham – was mentioned.
Allardyce afterwards revealed how he targeted Eliaquim Mangala, believing that Pellegrini’s formation, and choice of left-back, left him exposed.
The Engineer’s snappy response was to refer to last season, when City scored rattled up a 14-1 aggregate over the Hammers in four meetings.
“When you are a manager and win, you have all the solutions,” said Pellegrini. “Against the same manager, we last year scored 14 goals and he didn’t have the solution.”
Today’s City team looks a different prospect to that devastating outfit and one big reason is that the defence looks out of sorts.
They failed to cope with QPR striker Charlie Austin and relied on goalkeeper Joe Hart to keep him out.
But Pellegrini said there are no underlying problems, just a need for more work and better focus.
“Bit more concentrated,” he said. “We are conceding goals but we are the third best defence in the league, with one more goal than Chelsea. So be careful, we’re not so bad.”
That was not correct, as Southampton, Swansea, Arsenal and Chelsea had all conceded less goals than City at that point, while Mark Hughes’ mid-table Stoke side had also only conceded 12.
Many City fans have been mystified as to why Matija Nastasic, who looked like a real prospect when he made his City debut two years ago, has not been involved.
Pellegrini has consistently left Nastasic out of his matchday squad, preferring Dedryck Boyata for the bench – as he did again on Saturday, with Vincent Kompany out injured.
Nastasic was told in the summer he was not wanted, and seems to have paid the price for failing to secure a move.
When he was asked for injury news on Friday, Pellegrini did not mention Nastasic’s name.
But when asked the next day, he snapped: “Nastasic has a problem in his calf.”
The Chilean has stuck to his guns over his 4-4-2 formation this season, but switched to a five-man midfield in this game.
But he said it was a move forced by circumstances, with Edin Dzeko not fit.
“We had less than 72 hours to recover from the last game,” he said. “It was a very special game, a special moment. We don’t have other players.
“You see that Edin Dzeko wasn’t 100 per cent to play. He couldn’t do it. With the players we had today this was the best way to play.”
Which begs the question of why Jovetic could not start, or why Dzeko was sent on.
The Bosnian was brought on and limped off after four minutes, an utter waste of a substitution – and was replaced by midfielder Frank Lampard.
He had one last message to City fans before leaving for the airport, saying: “I can never promise what will happen in the future.
“I am sure we will continue to work in the same way we are doing. We’ll continue to play the style of play we always do.
“And especially for me, when you have a bad moment you must have more trust in what you do.”