Manuel Pellegrini (cont)

[BillyShears]

Doesn't matter who the manager is, the players are now the main problem.

They have run their race and a lack of desire and intensity has killed this team.

The manager is expecting things from players who just aren't up to it.

He has failed in his duty to recognise and work around those fundamental fault lines.

And for that he will surely pay with his job.

Too many decisions making to too hard for us to see the best out of certain players. I'm frustrated as fuck with the seeming all or nothing approach to players in form. Navas is bombed out but that leaves us with a frightening lack of pace in midfield to stretch teams.

As i said in the match day thread - 30 million on Bony and then he sits on the bench for such a make or break week.

Watershed week for me in terms of how I feel about Pellegrini. Team selections and substitutions all over the place. Hasn't shown anywhere near enough considering how big a week it was in terms of fixtures. I said after the international break it was money time in the league and the CL and we've come up woefully short.

Bitterly disappointed. It's been two and a half years since Dortmund schooled us with their pace, movement, pressing, energy, technical quality etc. Two and a half years later the only difference is that our better players are two years older. In terms of the weaknesses in the side they still remain the same.

Clean broom in the summer in terms of player recruitment IMO. I stand by what I've said all season, absolutely no chance that Pellegrini gets moved for anyone but Pep. So we will have another season with him. Lets see if they can have a summer like 2011.

You are becoming almost a big a clown as the manager. How you can defend him I have no idea.

And we don't have to wait for Pep. Absolutely no guarantee he will come to us. There are any number of managers who can do a better job. Let's get one in.

Haha. Classic trolling. I criticise the manager I get shit for it. I don't I get shit for it.

We'll see what the summer brings. But my money's on a lot of disappointed people when Pellegrini stays.

 

[GaudinoMotors]

Neither surprised or disappointed anymore - just angry at what he is/isn't doing with this team.
woeful performance yet again.

 

[kaz7]

We wasted years after the take over by hiring those 2nd tier managers and giving them alot of time just because they are nice and the owners don't want to be seen as abramovich.

Go away

 

[MeatHunterrr]

We wasted years after the take over by hiring those 2nd tier managers and giving them alot of time just because they are nice and the owners don't want to be seen as abramovich.

I agree with this. Mancini and Pellegrini are not top tier managers. We need top tier manager, fast.

 

[Cheesy]

The definition of madness is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

 

[daztrueblue91]

True, but I'm increasingly of the opinion that the manager is the bigger problem. If I thought there was a decent replacement ready and waiting to step in to the breach, I'd sack him with immediate effect. That was totally unacceptable today

Spot on.

There's nothing to be excited about,the team are disjointed,they lack a passion and intensity and the manager doesn't seem to know how to remedy it......he has to take the blame today and for Barca.On both occasions,the players he sent out were set up for failure - like you say,unacceptable.

Thanks but close the door.

The players 'lack of motivation' was a key factor in Mancini's sacking. Now it looks like they are doing there best to get Pellegrini sacked.

Where do we draw the line and actually hold the players responsible?

Pellegrini might choose the tactics but he isn't the reason why they are 2nd to every ball or let the opposition pass at their will.

 

[Mr Ed (The Stables)]

The more i see, the more i believe that it's no longer the manager's fault. He is not tactically inept it's just that our captain has been found out, and mediocre signings over the last three or four summer windows haven't done us any favours.

Our tactically aware manager started the game playing 4-4-2 which was totally wrong as it meant we wouldn't control midfield just like the Barca game. He then switched to a 4-5-1 which did give us some control back only to panic after going 2-1 down switched back to 4-4-2 and to enable him to do so produced the hook for Fernandinho (our best midfielder today imo) and brought Bony on and consequently lost control of midfield again.

He's tactically naive, this high defensive line is killing us, and to be honest I can't see a way out of this other than a change of manager (which i don't think will happen)

We'll probably win the next 4 against the lesser teams but mark my words if we go to the rags or Spurs with that formation, tactics and work rate we'll get murdered.

Never mind that if we go go Burnley with that attitude and work rate we'll get bummed.

Pissed off don't even describe how angry I am at the moment.

 

[HolisticJim]

Be careful, I said this after the barca match and I got shit for it, at least I know someone's on the same page as me.

Why not judge him after he's actually made a full appearance?

Tbf I said bony hasn't done anything since he's move, everyone knows that but some people took it the wrong way and I got shit for it. That's not to say I'm not gonna back him up or anything. Still think he'll play a vital part for us.

I agree but I'll add to that as well; his substitute appearances have had zero impact whatsoever.

 

[BoyBlue_1985]

We wasted years after the take over by hiring those 2nd tier managers and giving them alot of time just because they are nice and the owners don't want to be seen as abramovich.

Oooo saying something nasty about Mancini is not going to win you any fans

 

[sam-caddick]

We wasted years after the take over by hiring those 2nd tier managers and giving them alot of time just because they are nice and the owners don't want to be seen as abramovich.

Go away

I think he a point to be fair Karen.

We will never appoint a Simeone or Mourinho under our current regime of Ferran and Txiki, they both want yes man "coaches".

 

[BlueMoonz1977]

It is a host of problems that are frustrating.

1 - our defence has become so poor we seem incapable of keeping a clean sheet. The back four does not give confidence and today it seemed that every time the bin dippers went forward it would result in a goal or going close.

2- The midfield has been outplayed for some time and teams are finding it way to easy to get through to our back four, and with the back four the way it is at the minute that is not exactly ideal

3- the tactical naivety that has been shown by Pellegrini and picked up on by a some on here. To go with 4-4-2 does not play to our strengths at all, but again he stuck with it and the holes in midfield were there to be seen. To even contemplate playing 4-4-2 against a team we know very well and how they will set up was just stupid, but he did this against arguably one of the best teams in the world in Barcelona

4- again it seems that we win the title but can't seem to get going the following season. Mancini was sacked to allow us to progress. Unfortunately we have not gone forward at all, but again seem to have gone stagnant. The signings the summer after the title win again I feel were not good enough to allow us to try and establish ourselves in Europe and become an even stronger force in the premiership.

We seriously need to take a hard look this summer at what we want to achieve because the squad is now not getting any younger, and some players at the club I believe should have gone some time ago with quality replacements. Yes FFP restricted us somewhat but we should be fine this summer to recruit what is required.

I don't think that Pellegrini is the man to push us on though, and that is not a knee jerk reaction to today's result, but just my opinion based on what has been achieved so far since he arrived and how we seem to be moving forward. I think we need to recruit a word class manager next and go all out to get him and allow PV to step up and assist him with a view to him taking full control

 

[waspish]

These players are not suited to the style of football we want end off

 

[kaz7]

We wasted years after the take over by hiring those 2nd tier managers and giving them alot of time just because they are nice and the owners don't want to be seen as abramovich.

Go away

I think he a point to be fair Karen.

We will never appoint a Simeone or Mourinho under our current regime of Ferran and Txiki, they both want yes man "coaches".

Given we have won the league twice and both cups the managers we have had have been right.If he had said we need an elite manager to take us foward then that i agree with

 

[middleton___blue]

Be careful, I said this after the barca match and I got shit for it, at least I know someone's on the same page as me.

Why not judge him after he's actually made a full appearance?

Tbf I said bony hasn't done anything since he's move, everyone knows that but some people took it the wrong way and I got shit for it. That's not to say I'm not gonna back him up or anything. Still think he'll play a vital part for us.

Agree, needs to start against leicester wednesday for sure to build his confidence back up.

 

[1961_vintage]

Pissed off don't even describe how angry I am at the moment.

I think there's a lot of Blues feeling like that this aft!

 

[We're not really here]

The last three negative results, today, Barca and Hull have all been down to him. End of story. He sets his team's up wrong and we suffer.

 

[teddykgb]

Pellegrini has to wear the setup -- the entire approach today was really naive. Liverpool were coming out in their 3-5-2 with tons of small, quick players buzzing around. We choose to essentially be outnumbered everywhere on the pitch, leave massive gaps for them to run these players into, it was just inviting what happened to actually happen. Liverpool played ET in Turkey, we acknowledged that advantage publicly, but didn't seem to acknowledge it on the pitch. The most serious danger in this match was an early goal giving Liverpool life and belief. I don't think it was necessary to play an open match against them. I don't know whether that means playing a different formation or simply applying a different mentality, but I do tend to think that this formation has been largely found out. More than anything, we're pushing the FBs so far forward while simultaneously having both Nasri and Silva playing, effectively leaving us with 2-3 actual defenders for so many of these counter attacks. It's not shocking that there's acres of space because the defenders are being consistently outnumbered when we give the ball away.

But I will defend the manager in the sense that I don't think he's got the right mix of players for almost any system. I spent a while after the match trying to think of what formation would really suit the players we now have, and it's really hard to find one. It's really hard to imagine Aguero as a lone striker, he's our best player and the team must be built around him, but he is small and playing him alone leaves us especially vulnerable to pressing our CBs as they can't play a longer pass to him unless it's to feet. If you accept that Aguero needs a partner, ideally I think you'd partner him with someone like Silva in a 4-4-1-1 or something, but it doesn't really alleviate the problem. You might be able to talk me into a 4-3-3 with Silva and Nasri given almost no defensive responsibility, but I don't think Nasri is the correct 3rd in that situation and you've got like 80 million pounds of striker on your bench. In midfield, we're woefully thin and devoid of great two way players bar Fernandinho, who has had a few rough performance this season but is the only one who can reliably shuttle back and forth as you might expect a 4-3-3 midfielder to do.

Overall, it seems like the manager wants us to press but the players can't put the shift in. We chased them for about 5 minutes today before settling into the same patterns. We don't have enough players with ball skills to handle being pressed and the entire attack seems to revolve around moving the ball until we can get Silva into space to try something magical or Aguero into a place where he can go on a brilliant darting run to create something magical. This is obviously going to be only sporadically successful. I agree with most that there stands to be a large roster shakeup this summer because I just don't think we've got the right mix any longer to compete on the stages we want to compete.

 

[hilts]

Too many decisions making to too hard for us to see the best out of certain players. I'm frustrated as fuck with the seeming all or nothing approach to players in form. Navas is bombed out but that leaves us with a frightening lack of pace in midfield to stretch teams.

As i said in the match day thread - 30 million on Bony and then he sits on the bench for such a make or break week.

Watershed week for me in terms of how I feel about Pellegrini. Team selections and substitutions all over the place. Hasn't shown anywhere near enough considering how big a week it was in terms of fixtures. I said after the international break it was money time in the league and the CL and we've come up woefully short.

Bitterly disappointed. It's been two and a half years since Dortmund schooled us with their pace, movement, pressing, energy, technical quality etc. Two and a half years later the only difference is that our better players are two years older. In terms of the weaknesses in the side they still remain the same.

Clean broom in the summer in terms of player recruitment IMO. I stand by what I've said all season, absolutely no chance that Pellegrini gets moved for anyone but Pep. So we will have another season with him. Lets see if they can have a summer like 2011.

You are becoming almost a big a clown as the manager. How you can defend him I have no idea.

And we don't have to wait for Pep. Absolutely no guarantee he will come to us. There are any number of managers who can do a better job. Let's get one in.

Haha. Classic trolling. I criticise the manager I get shit for it. I don't I get shit for it.

We'll see what the summer brings. But my money's on a lot of disappointed people when Pellegrini stays.

[bigimg]http://i.huffpost.com/gen/809928/thumbs/o-CAPTAIN-FRANCESCO-SCHETTINO-COSTA-CONCORDIA-facebook.jpg[/bigimg]

 

[bondsman]

These players are not suited to the style of football we want end off

Problem is Pellergrini. He picks em, organises em and must have some say in buying them. He's a fucking clown who gets found out every time it matters. I cannot remember him winning a tactical battle in a must win game. How anyone can defend him after this week is beyond me. Last year we were gifted title. Won't happen again. We never improved on mancini and know one will convince me otherwise.

 

[sh249]

The more i see, the more i believe that it's no longer the manager's fault. He is not tactically inept it's just that our captain has been found out, and mediocre signings over the last three or four summer windows haven't done us any favours.

Not buying that. we were a shambles from the first minute. We rarely seem to have a gameplan and the formation is all over the show. I'm also beginning to question fitness too.
I put this down to Pellegrini. He is the coach who doesn't appear form performances to actually do any coaching.

I think the game plan was fairly clear from the start - get on the front foot and press high up the pitch. And we did it - all too briefly - for the first 10 minutes or so and were looking pretty good. As soon as they began to apply the slightest pressure, we did exactly the same as midweek, started dropping deeper and deeper, leaving acres of space for Coutinho, Sterling and Lallana to play in. That's where they killed us - we didn't defend high enough, and then huge gaps began to open up between defence, midfield and attack.
Much is being made about us being 'overrun' in midfield - Yaya and Fernandinho were up against Henderson and Allen and came off - especially in the second half - a distant second. Yaya's game in particular just disintegrated in the face of sustained pressure, summed up by that moment towards the end when Henderson nicked the ball from him and Sturridge should have scored.
None of that absolves Pellegrini of all responsibility for the performance, not by a long chalk. But, as ever, the 4-4-2/4-5-1 debate is all too simplistic (and overlooks the fact that we were arguably at our worst in the game for that spell when we had Aguero upfront and Silva just off him).