Manuel Pellegrini (cont)

[chris85mcfc]

Every loss this season has had the same pattern.

So should we just keep banging our head against a wall, or try a different approach?

Although I agree that we haven't taken our chances, those chances have been very few and far-between especially in the last month or so.

When we're not moving the ball around quickly we become very easy to defend against

 

[blueinsa]

Every loss this season has had the same pattern.

So should we just keep banging our head against a wall, or try a different approach?

Although I agree that we haven't taken our chances, those chances have been very few and far-between especially in the last month or so.

When we're not moving the ball around quickly we become very easy to defend against

For once Chris and please don't fall over i tend to agree with you.

Especially that last sentence.

 

[chris85mcfc]

Every loss this season has had the same pattern.

So should we just keep banging our head against a wall, or try a different approach?

Although I agree that we haven't taken our chances, those chances have been very few and far-between especially in the last month or so.

When we're not moving the ball around quickly we become very easy to defend against

For once Chris and please don't fall over i tend to agree with you.

Especially that last sentence.

Even a broken clock is right twice a day fella

 

[Manchester_lalala]

Goals win games, simple as.

We have created more chances than any other team in the league.

Nobody remembers the goals Arsenal and Spurs have scored at our end, in the last 12 months, because we have hit them for five or six.

Hull came for a point, they simply became more emboldened the longer it went without us getting through, and then had the gift which is our defence keeps on giving.

Same goes for Boro.

There was no hangover in the last 12 months with Mancini. It's a false narrative.

Aguero and the rest stopped doing what they are paid to do (fitness issues defo play their part). United won the title back that season thanks to Van Persie shitting goals for the first six months of the season.

They were also conceding goals for fun at places such as Southampton and Reading, yet they still won thanks to getting more at the other end.

The deficiencies in our defence are no worse than previous. They are simply highlighted more because we can't take the chances we create.

The goals drop off between Yaya and the absence of Negredo is enough to legislate for our current position, nothing more.

Every loss this season has had the same pattern.

Cracking post mate! Bang on.

When you think about it, he's right. We wasn't good at defending last yesr, our strikers bailed us out. Dzeko, negredo, sergio and yaya where prolific. This year aguero has carried us in the goals department. Dzeko has been injured and jovetic, well I don't know what to say about him. A mix of injuries and poor decision making has effected him, he needs to prove himself.

If we're going to start fighting for this title, we need our strikers to step up quickly, or else we will be fighting for fourth. Let's hope bony starts banging them in.

 

[blueinsa]

So should we just keep banging our head against a wall, or try a different approach?

Although I agree that we haven't taken our chances, those chances have been very few and far-between especially in the last month or so.

When we're not moving the ball around quickly we become very easy to defend against

For once Chris and please don't fall over i tend to agree with you.

Especially that last sentence.

Even a broken clock is right twice a day fella

What gets me with the tempo we play at is it isn't rocket science and it certainly isn't something we don't already know because we end up giving it everything in the last 30 mins so why the fuck we start so slowly and allow teams to gain confidence is beyond me.

 

[Lancet Fluke]

The deficiencies in our defence are no worse than previous. They are simply highlighted more because we can't take the chances we create.

I respect a lot of what you say generally but IMO this is utter bollocks. If you can't see that the defence is working less well under Pellegrini than under Mancini and that it is becoming less well organised with every passing month then you must be watching different matches from me. Personally I think it is to do with the whole way that Pellegrini wants us to defend. Much was made on here when he first arrived about how it was all about the high line, stepping up to play offside and proactively trying to win the ball as early and as high up the pitch as possible. I think he sees defending as more about trying to start attacks than stop the oppostion scoring which might be ok when we are scoring stacks of goals but as soon as the goals dry up at all then the whole defensive system becomes a total liability and can't be relied upon to help us grind out results. I think it is an almost impossible system to implement successfully, it asks way too much of the defenders who generally look shit in it (how are you going to look anything other than an impetuous, poor defender when you're expected to dive in 40 yards up the pitch) and it has subsequently resulted in all our defenders completely losing confidence and with that also their organisation and composure. I wasn't the biggest fan of Mancini but he helped Kompany and Zabaleta become genuinely world class defenders, this way of defending has reduced them to chumps. I've come to the conclusion it isn't even worth judging Mangala until as a team we go back to trying to defend properly because not one of our defenders has a chance of looking decent at the moment. It doesn't matter what personnel we have in there, they all look as incompetent as each other and I cannot believe that it isn't the fault of the system/manager. The irony is that Nastasic was fucked off supposedly because he didn't suit Pellegrini's defensive tactics but the truth is we don't have one defender that suits those tactics and I'm not convinced any exist anywhere because they are just rank bad defensive tactics imo. I like Pellegrini but defensively he has left a lot to be desired for much of his time with us. I'm sure I'll get all kinds of shit for saying it.

 

[tolmie's hairdoo]

Goals win games, simple as.

We have created more chances than any other team in the league.

Nobody remembers the goals Arsenal and Spurs have scored at our end, in the last 12 months, because we have hit them for five or six.

Hull came for a point, they simply became more emboldened the longer it went without us getting through, and then had the gift which is our defence keeps on giving.

Same goes for Boro.

There was no hangover in the last 12 months with Mancini. It's a false narrative.

Aguero and the rest stopped doing what they are paid to do (fitness issues defo play their part). United won the title back that season thanks to Van Persie shitting goals for the first six months of the season.

They were also conceding goals for fun at places such as Southampton and Reading, yet they still won thanks to getting more at the other end.

The deficiencies in our defence are no worse than previous. They are simply highlighted more because we can't take the chances we create.

The goals drop off between Yaya and the absence of Negredo is enough to legislate for our current position, nothing more.

Every loss this season has had the same pattern.

Cracking post mate! Bang on.

So everythings ok apart from scoring goals then?

Would be interested to know what constitutes a chance.

The by-product of not scoring goals has the greatest impact on performance in other areas of the team.

Thankfully, we are not set up to be a one-nil team, even when a bit more pragmatism wouldn't do us any harm.

If City score a goal in the first five minutes, at home, you might as well put your feet up, because the statistics are we are going to run out comfortable winners, and the mood inside the stadium certainly reflects that.

Same goes, if the team are approaching half-time, all-square, or behind, the dynamic on and off the pitch is startling.

Teams have always defended deep against us, simply because we are the kings of possession in this league.

They continue to do so, we just don't make 'em pay for it like last year.

Rio Ferdinand, cockwomble that he is, perhaps summed it up perfectly last month.

If Yaya and Bony were not leaving for AFCON, he would have backed City. He felt those two players coming back after five weeks might have left it too late for us.

 

[flb]

The deficiencies in our defence are no worse than previous. They are simply highlighted more because we can't take the chances we create.

I respect a lot of what you say generally but IMO this is utter bollocks. If you can't see that the defence is working less well under Pellegrini than under Mancini and that it is becoming less well organised with every passing month then you must be watching different matches from me. Personally I think it is to do with the whole way that Pellegrini wants us to defend. Much was made on here when he first arrived about how it was all about the high line, stepping up to play offside and proactively trying to win the ball as early and as high up the pitch as possible. I think he sees defending as more about trying to start attacks than stop the oppostion scoring which might be ok when we are scoring stacks of goals but as soon as the goals dry up at all then the whole defensive system becomes a total liability and can't be relied upon to help us grind out results. I think it is an almost impossible system to implement successfully, it asks way too much of the defenders who generally look shit in it (how are you going to look anything other than an impetuous, poor defender when you're expected to dive in 40 yards up the pitch) and it has subsequently resulted in all our defenders completely losing confidence and with that also their organisation and composure. I wasn't the biggest fan of Mancini but he helped Kompany and Zabaleta become genuinely world class defenders, this way of defending has reduced them to chumps. I've come to the conclusion it isn't even worth judging Mangala until as a team we go back to trying to defend properly because not one of our defenders has a chance of looking decent at the moment. It doesn't matter what personnel we have in there, they all look as incompetent as each other and I cannot believe that it isn't the fault of the system/manager. The irony is that Nastasic was fucked off supposedly because he didn't suit Pellegrini's defensive tactics but the truth is we don't have one defender that suits those tactics and I'm not convinced any exist anywhere because they are just rank bad defensive tactics imo. I like Pellegrini but defensively he has left a lot to be desired for much of his time with us. I'm sure I'll get all kinds of shit for saying it.

A very very good post mate, of course Tolmie is right about the goals but its the bloody system that makes all of our defenders as you say make last ditch stupid tackles on a regular basis.

he wont change his ways on the system, it will be one good year one bad under him, its all hunky dory when we are scoring (have to) 3-4 goals a game but complete amateurish at the back when we dont.

 

[Millwallawayveteran1988]

We don't seem to creating as many clear chances as we once did.

I very rarely see us miss an absolute sitter.

Teams have worked us out, we have no plan B and our defence is conceding too many opening goals. Its always difficult to come back and win from 1-0 down and we have gone 1-0 down in 5 of our last 6 matches. That is clearly a problem.

I would like to think with all this added time on their hands now, that they are trying different things in training. I don't see much evidence of this with the corners so I am not holding my breath but hopefully they will be thinking of something.

It seemed odd to me on Saturday to play Dzeko and not Kolorov when despite his defensive weaknesses, against Boro he was putting some decent balls in and his corners were dangerous. Surely his defensive frailties were worth a gamble at home to Hull.

 

[@BluePhil8]

The deficiencies in our defence are no worse than previous. They are simply highlighted more because we can't take the chances we create.

I respect a lot of what you say generally but IMO this is utter bollocks. If you can't see that the defence is working less well under Pellegrini than under Mancini and that it is becoming less well organised with every passing month then you must be watching different matches from me. Personally I think it is to do with the whole way that Pellegrini wants us to defend. Much was made on here when he first arrived about how it was all about the high line, stepping up to play offside and proactively trying to win the ball as early and as high up the pitch as possible. I think he sees defending as more about trying to start attacks than stop the oppostion scoring which might be ok when we are scoring stacks of goals but as soon as the goals dry up at all then the whole defensive system becomes a total liability and can't be relied upon to help us grind out results. I think it is an almost impossible system to implement successfully, it asks way too much of the defenders who generally look shit in it (how are you going to look anything other than an impetuous, poor defender when you're expected to dive in 40 yards up the pitch) and it has subsequently resulted in all our defenders completely losing confidence and with that also their organisation and composure. I wasn't the biggest fan of Mancini but he helped Kompany and Zabaleta become genuinely world class defenders, this way of defending has reduced them to chumps. I've come to the conclusion it isn't even worth judging Mangala until as a team we go back to trying to defend properly because not one of our defenders has a chance of looking decent at the moment. It doesn't matter what personnel we have in there, they all look as incompetent as each other and I cannot believe that it isn't the fault of the system/manager. The irony is that Nastasic was fucked off supposedly because he didn't suit Pellegrini's defensive tactics but the truth is we don't have one defender that suits those tactics and I'm not convinced any exist anywhere because they are just rank bad defensive tactics imo. I like Pellegrini but defensively he has left a lot to be desired for much of his time with us. I'm sure I'll get all kinds of shit for saying it.

A very very good post mate, of course Tolmie is right about the goals but its the bloody system that makes all of our defenders as you say make last ditch stupid tackles on a regular basis.

he wont change his ways on the system, it will be one good year one bad under him, its all hunky dory when we are scoring (have to) 3-4 goals a game but complete amateurish at the back when we dont.

This get's my backing as well.

There is no cohesion in the way we play. It's like 2 separate teams, the defence and the attack. Under Mancini we defended as a team and attacked as a team.