Manuel Pellegrini (cont)

[supercity88]

When the players knew Mancini was out, they were able to ease off.

Now some of our players know their time is up, they again lack the required level of intensity and motivation.

The by-product of that is the manager suffers the fall-out.

We are seeing the tail-wind of a variety of transfer regimes, from Hughes right through to Txiki/Pellegrini.

It's a patchwork quilt of those who shined, those who whined, those who thrived, and those who should never have been.

Pellegrini is the biggest and most unfortunate recipient of all that.

The only cure can be a clear decisiveness.

An acknowledge of the faults of everyone, and yet an emotional detachment, regardless of what has gone before, in terms of moving forward as a team for the next few years.

That goes for Yaya, Silva, Kompany, whoever.

It's a judgement call that can only be made by the 'informed'

I'm uncomfortable that one man in Txiki, football man or not, seemingly being the absolute overlord over whether a City team is successful or not.

He either trusts Pellegrini with the keys to the vault, or a dismissal HAS TO BE MADE.

This part is interesting. I don't have a clue how the club works in regards to transfers. I would imagine that Pellegrini puts forward the names he would like to sign based on scouting etc but that the board are also reviewing things and will have their own ideas. I also assume Pellegrini was happy to work in this way and that Mancini wanted a limitless transfer budget and complete control which ultimately cost him when FFP caused us to change tact dramatically.

What is worrying is that whilst we have bought young players at academy level - we've spent significantly on older, experienced players with the intention to win things for the short term. If you use the word holistic you would expect young players from the academy and a few signings to then come in and replace them and a new period begin with not too much of a hangover or period without success. We’ve seen many clubs fail to do this successfully and it’s often blatantly obvious why those clubs are struggling. With Arsenal it’s been a failure to replace Henry, Vieira and their solid defence. They’ve added a lot of creative midfielders but have still failed to add the true quality required. With the rags it’s the failure to replace Scholes and subsequently Vidic and Ferdinand.

We are still competing despite having to juggle FFP requirements and re-shuffle the squad to bring in more quality. We go into a period this summer where you have huge decisions to make – give Pellegrini the chance to sign who he wants and another season, or do you make wholesale changes and decide it’s time to make major alterations to things. Chelsea have built a fairly young side and have replaced Cech, Cole, Lampard and added the players they needed – Costa is doing exactly what Drogba used to for them. It can be done if you are bold and have a clear strategy. With City we’ve had Kompany, Zabaleta, Silva, Yaya and Aguero as our key players and we’ve tried to bolster them with proven talent which needs to win things now or they’ll be over the hill. It worked last season, though we still had the likes of Lescott, Richards etc who were not good enough to be in our squad and it showed around the Jan/Feb time of year. This season we should be better but the signings haven’t been good and with certain players coming to the end of their contracts and others failing to settle or prove their worth it seems as if a lot of change is required.

Is Pellegrini allowed a season to give this one last go? Do we trust Txiki to make the right decisions in terms of transfer or managerial strategy? It’s a big summer for the club because Chelsea will only get better whilst we are looking less of a side than we did last season.

 

[JoeMercer'sWay]

As Tolmie suggests, I feel one of the major problems is the fact that the signings Txiki has made are not used for the purpose they were signed for, the case of Fernando in a midfield 2 being a prime example.

So we have come to a crossroads regarding this summer. Either we reshape the squad to suit how Pellegrini wants to play, and give him a squad that can play high tempo 4-4-2, at the expense of some of our stars, or we get rid of him, and employ someone who will use more of our current squad in a different system, different style of play, still getting rid of a few players and reshaping the squad, but it being in Txiki's vision for the side.

There's a conflict in desires of how the two want to achieve things, and it's affecting us on the pitch. Thus, a decision needs to be made. One thing's for sure, if people think Pelle is a yes man, then the changes Txiki would make if he got rid of him would make the new manager seem far more of a yes man than Manuel.

Personally, I don't see the point of shaping the squad to suit a man who will only be here a year more max, and if we want to keep, and use some of our stars to their best of their talents and physical condition, I think we need to move away from the Pelle approach. The argument over systems aside, I think there is a complete disconnect between a lot of what Txiki is buying, and what Pelle wants to use. Some of that is FFP driven, but some is also ideologically driven as well imo. I agree with Tolmie in this regard and I believe Pelle needs to bite the bullet, for multiple reasons, but mainly because he's one year out from leaving and thus it would be extremely restricting for the club to mould the squad over the summer to suit him, when in reality most other clubs and top managers play a style that is more akin to the squad Txiki has started to assemble.

 

[BobKowalski]

Benching Kompany was a bold move. No idea if Nasri and Fernandinho were also omitted to send out a message but that there is some disharmony in the camp is fairly self evident. It will either pan out as a master stroke or a suicide note but if Pellers does get the push in the summer he's going out on his terms so props for that. Alternatively he already knows his fate and went 'fuck it I'll do it my way' hence the feistier Pellers we are seeing recently.

I kind of like feisty Pellers.

?

Yep. Telling Ferran where to shove his press conference for his Catalan chums; we play 44 fucking 2 and doesn't give a shit who the opposition is; robust defence of his decisions in front of the press pack; benching Kompany and putting Nasri & Fernandinho in the freezer; any issue dropping Kompany? No. I half expect Pellers to start shouting "I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!"

So yeah am warming to this version of Pellers. Not sure where it all ends or if indeed it has already ended but you don't have to be a genius to see that we gone from holding hands and singing 'Kumbaya' to scenes reminiscent of 'Lord of The Flies'. Happy campers we are not and nor should we be given that two months ago we had pulled ourselves level with Chelsea despite having no strikers and then promptly flushed it down the toilet. Even more annoyingly and unlike the 12/13 season Chelsea keep faltering and handing us lifelines.

No wonder Pellers is pissed off and no doubt the players are just as pissed off and we are seeing that fall out unfold. What we need is big performances, big wins and everyone working together. A few days of coach and players shouting at each other may just do the trick. Who knows. The big issue is Kompany who has just been cast as the scapegoat for all our recent shortcomings and not without some justification. Trouble is our defensive unit largely sucks donkey balls whatever combo you use and our midfield is still offering acres of space to any team that fancies using it and there is little evidence to suggest we are any closer to solving these issues. If you look at goals conceded the trend is worsening not getting better so I don't see how swapping the deckchairs around every game is going to help long term.

Anyhow we will see how it unfolds. The worse that could happen is that we finish second and like 12/13 its not exactly a bleeding disaster plus we have cleverly avoided the potential pitfall of a PR embarrassment in a domestic cup final this time around. Bright side and all that.

 

[PragueBlue]

[Trouble is our defensive unit largely sucks donkey balls whatever combo you use

If he actually played the same defence a few games in a row, he'd maybe find that they'd build up an understanding and would improve as a unit. It's often not just one change either but 2 or more.

I wonder when we last played the same back 4 for three or more games in a row.

 

[sh249]

[Trouble is our defensive unit largely sucks donkey balls whatever combo you use

If he actually played the same defence a few games in a row, he'd maybe find that they'd build up an understanding and would improve as a unit. It's often bot just one change either but 2 or more.

I wonder when we last played the same back 4 for three or more games in a row.

I agree, we have to try and find some consistency. The problem is that logic would dictate that it should be Kompany and Mangala, yet Kompany is so badly out of form. Same with regards Zabaleta (v. Sagna).

I do think thought that this 'problem' we have perhaps gives something of the lie to the notion of having 'two top players for every position', the upshot of which is often a sense of obligation to rotate to give everyone game time. Chelsea have been fortunate with injuries, but they have three defenders who play every game (Ivanovic, Terry, Azpiluceta), two who, at the moment, seem to be rotating a bit (Cahill/Zouma), and a left back (Luis) who is very clearly second choice and who only gets played relatively rarely (as far as I can tell). Of course, having two players like Ivanovic and Azpiluceta, who can fill two positions almost equally well, also helps in terms of keeping a settled personnel.

 

[Deleted member 58678]

As Tolmie suggests, I feel one of the major problems is the fact that the signings Txiki has made are not used for the purpose they were signed for, the case of Fernando in a midfield 2 being a prime example.

So we have come to a crossroads regarding this summer. Either we reshape the squad to suit how Pellegrini wants to play, and give him a squad that can play high tempo 4-4-2, at the expense of some of our stars, or we get rid of him, and employ someone who will use more of our current squad in a different system, different style of play, still getting rid of a few players and reshaping the squad, but it being in Txiki's vision for the side.

There's a conflict in desires of how the two want to achieve things, and it's affecting us on the pitch. Thus, a decision needs to be made. One thing's for sure, if people think Pelle is a yes man, then the changes Txiki would make if he got rid of him would make the new manager seem far more of a yes man than Manuel.

Personally, I don't see the point of shaping the squad to suit a man who will only be here a year more max, and if we want to keep, and use some of our stars to their best of their talents and physical condition, I think we need to move away from the Pelle approach. The argument over systems aside, I think there is a complete disconnect between a lot of what Txiki is buying, and what Pelle wants to use. Some of that is FFP driven, but some is also ideologically driven as well imo. I agree with Tolmie in this regard and I believe Pelle needs to bite the bullet, for multiple reasons, but mainly because he's one year out from leaving and thus it would be extremely restricting for the club to mould the squad over the summer to suit him, when in reality most other clubs and top managers play a style that is more akin to the squad Txiki has started to assemble.

That's a good summary of how things are and should be. It's difficult to know exactly what's going on behind the scenes but the bit in blue is exactly what we need to suss out as a club in the Summer. If we don't get it right this Summer we could find ourselves battling for fourth place with United next season as Chelsea will get it right, Arsenal are now spending money and Liverpool look great without Gerrard. This Summer is huge for us.

 

[SilverFox2]

Like all things modern I think its a bit of everything that is bringing about our problems.
Where our opposition is focused on how to contain our attack then hit us from midfield quickly and with purpose we seem lethargic in our purpose.

The manager is under threat, the players seem unable to respond to the money they could receive with the new wage system and the fans are mostly quiet and puzzled by the strange season.

Previous posts mention the mistakes made by not replacing midfield at MUFC and its consequences together with the emergence of LUFC now that Gerrard has gone.

As the saying goes 'The best generals learn off other peoples mistakes not their own'.

Maybe the routine player changes anticipated by Mr K. may be enough but the worry is that he has committed his business plan to maximise commercial success ie away from player purchase so he may not release emergency funds if we leave things too long.

 

[baildon blue]

I think we need to sack him now .
Quite clearly he wants out .
You only after look at his suicidial team selections and tactics .
I would put Viera in charge for the rest of the season .
It could get nasty if he stays .

 

[Ducado]

I think we need to sack him now .
Quite clearly he wants out .
You only after look at his suicidial team selections and tactics .
I would put Viera in charge for the rest of the season .
It could get nasty if he stays .

Were you attempting to write a poem?

 

[Exeter Blue I am here]

When the players knew Mancini was out, they were able to ease off.

Now some of our players know their time is up, they again lack the required level of intensity and motivation.

The by-product of that is the manager suffers the fall-out.

We are seeing the tail-wind of a variety of transfer regimes, from Hughes right through to Txiki/Pellegrini.

It's a patchwork quilt of those who shined, those who whined, those who thrived, and those who should never have been.

Pellegrini is the biggest and most unfortunate recipient of all that.

The only cure can be a clear decisiveness.

An acknowledge of the faults of everyone, and yet an emotional detachment, regardless of what has gone before, in terms of moving forward as a team for the next few years.

That goes for Yaya, Silva, Kompany, whoever.

It's a judgement call that can only be made by the 'informed'

I'm uncomfortable that one man in Txiki, football man or not, seemingly being the absolute overlord over whether a City team is successful or not.

He either trusts Pellegrini with the keys to the vault, or a dismissal HAS TO BE MADE.

This part is interesting. I don't have a clue how the club works in regards to transfers. I would imagine that Pellegrini puts forward the names he would like to sign based on scouting etc but that the board are also reviewing things and will have their own ideas. I also assume Pellegrini was happy to work in this way and that Mancini wanted a limitless transfer budget and complete control which ultimately cost him when FFP caused us to change tact dramatically.

What is worrying is that whilst we have bought young players at academy level - we've spent significantly on older, experienced players with the intention to win things for the short term. If you use the word holistic you would expect young players from the academy and a few signings to then come in and replace them and a new period begin with not too much of a hangover or period without success. We’ve seen many clubs fail to do this successfully and it’s often blatantly obvious why those clubs are struggling. With Arsenal it’s been a failure to replace Henry, Vieira and their solid defence. They’ve added a lot of creative midfielders but have still failed to add the true quality required. With the rags it’s the failure to replace Scholes and subsequently Vidic and Ferdinand.

We are still competing despite having to juggle FFP requirements and re-shuffle the squad to bring in more quality. We go into a period this summer where you have huge decisions to make – give Pellegrini the chance to sign who he wants and another season, or do you make wholesale changes and decide it’s time to make major alterations to things. Chelsea have built a fairly young side and have replaced Cech, Cole, Lampard and added the players they needed – Costa is doing exactly what Drogba used to for them. It can be done if you are bold and have a clear strategy. With City we’ve had Kompany, Zabaleta, Silva, Yaya and Aguero as our key players and we’ve tried to bolster them with proven talent which needs to win things now or they’ll be over the hill. It worked last season, though we still had the likes of Lescott, Richards etc who were not good enough to be in our squad and it showed around the Jan/Feb time of year. This season we should be better but the signings haven’t been good and with certain players coming to the end of their contracts and others failing to settle or prove their worth it seems as if a lot of change is required.

Is Pellegrini allowed a season to give this one last go? Do we trust Txiki to make the right decisions in terms of transfer or managerial strategy? It’s a big summer for the club because Chelsea will only get better whilst we are looking less of a side than we did last season.

It's certainly a huge decision, and although I've calmed down a bit since Sunday, there've been enough flaws in terms of team selection, formation and performance these last 2 months, for me to still have serious reservations about the whole direction the club is heading in. Even last night, whilst dominating possession, Leicester still hit a post, we were caught 3 vs 3 at the back half a dozen times (with our midfield and one of the full backs 30 odd yards back downfield), needed Hart to make a great last ditch save, and had Mason or Dowd been refereeing would have rightly conceded 2 penalties for oafish and unnecessary challenges. And that's against the worst team in the league.

Whether responsibility for some of the palpable disorganisation (and I'd be tempted to use the word chaos in respect of our defensive performance at Klanfield) we've seen on the field recently, is the fault of the CEO buying players lacking the attributes - pace, youth, hunger, mobility - to make the manager's preferred formations work, or whether it's the manager's for trying to make some of those square pegs fit in the round holes, is unclear. What I do believe is that Gary Neville called the issues of balance exactly right in his article in the Torygraph this week, and it was good to see Pellegrini take a butcher's knife to one or two holy cows last night, vis a vis the axing of Kompany, Zabaleta and Nasri. There were still issues though. Silva down the left never works from a defensive viewpoint, and some of Leicester's counterattacks were completely inevitable given a midfield duo of Ya Ya and the hapless Fernando.

The summer then is huge. Ya Ya will be 32 by the time next season starts, Zabaleta 30, Silva 30, Navas 30, Fernandinho 30, Dzeko 29, Kompany 29, and with all the will in the world, if Pellegrini stays and espouses the same tactics, then we are going to need a sizeable clear out if we are to avoid a repetition of this campaign or worse. Arsenal are on the up, as are Liverpool. Spurs will be better again now that Pochettino has his team playing the way he wants, and the rags will doubtless hurl another £150 odd million at their problems. What concerns me also is that we seem intent on limiting our options, both on and off the field. In imposing a club wide playing philosophy, we limit ourselves in terms of managerial possibilities (and at the moment that looks like Pellers or Pep only - certainly it's difficult to envisage Simeone managing City under Txixi), and we make it easier for our opponents on the field with our predictability.