Manuel Pellegrini

[cleavers]

People always say 'xyz' would piss the league with this squad.

Yet Ancelotti did the double at Chelsea in his first year and then did anything but piss the league with his (then) excellent squad in the following season. Most Chelsea fans wanted him out. Tempo was too slow. play too pedestrian and due to his inability to do anything meaningful in the CL he was sacked. Mourinho hasn't won anything for two years. He did win the title with Real (no pissing it though) and then he imploded. Pep is an odd one given he is a obsessive control freak who ends up falling out with key players in a very un-holistic way. We say we want to play with an identifiable style yet Pep is forever tinkering with tactics and formations from match to match and would end up playing Clichy as DM in a lopsided 3-6-1 formation which would lose to Stoke and this place would disappear up its own arse in the mother of all meltdowns.

I sometimes think this vision we have of 'a great manager' that will lead us to the promised land is a bit of a myth. And lets be honest, the promised land just means someone who will never lose a game. Like forever. We chuck names about without really having the faintest idea of whether they would be any good. Under Mancini we always struggled against Everton so Moyes's name got thrown into the ring. Swansea win a League Cup hey lets employ Laudrup as he is a 'class act' whatever the fuck that means. Or De Boer as Ajax did us in the CL. Southampton are doing well and people now think Koeman could do a job for us. Klopp used to be everyones darling until Simeone came along. Now Klopp is fighting relegation he is suddenly effing useless.

We could have a Clough/Mercer/Mourinho combo with Pep on tactics and Mancini on defensive drills and sometimes like today the other team will still play better than us and win. It happens.

Good post BK, jam tomorrow ??

 

[BlueMoonz1977]

Slight Hangover from travelling to Moscow and back, and west ham are on top form at the minute....I would say they are playing the best they have for a long time.
We were unlucky though as we did hit the post and the bar twice. It happens, and we move on

Chelsea will drop points, still a long way to go and we have closed bigger gaps and won the title

 

[Larry Stranger]

We are absolutely piss poor in possession because of a few things. Dzeko and Aguero should never be paired together. They both aren't comfortable on the ball. Last year at home to Bayern, this year with Roma, midweek vs. CSKA and today to name a few. It was night and day when Jovetic came in today. He helped keep possession. Last year when we had Negredo, he and Aguero linked up well because Negredo can handle the ball well for a big man. Also Fernando is a defensive midfielder who's strong suit isn't passing and ball control. If you keep possession well the opposition can't win the midfield battle and you won't get countered on. The more defensive you go, the less possession you'll have. Yes he should learn from Real Madrid. Kroos, Modric, Isco and James all aren't known for defending, but they all work hard and boss the midfield. We still have the players we just need balance.

We should either go 4-3-3 with
Milner Yaya Fernandinho
Silva Aguero Jovetic

or 4-2-3-1 with
Yaya Fernandinho
Milner Silva Jovetic
Aguero/Dzeko

There still is plenty of fire power to get goals without playing a 4-4-2. When Nasri gets fit he could also slot in for Milner or Ferd in the 4-3-3 or Miler or Jovetic in the 4-2-3-1. It's happening too many times now and we keep saying I hope Pellegrini learns his lesson, but I don't know if he has.

 

[cleavers]

Dzeko and Aguero should never be paired together.

I agree, one of them (or both) need to defend from the front, and for me neither do.

A lot of our problems start from this for me, and not just the 2 central in midfield, none of us know what they are personally instructed to do, but one of them at least needs to drop into midfield and help when we play a 4 in midfield with 2 wide players, and while not having a go at either, neither really do it, and it is part of why our central 2 get over run. I don't think its that neither can do it either, I just think neither want to take that responsibility, so I'd leave one of them out, and for me its a "no brainer" which one it would be.

 

[Bluewonder]

Much though I dislike Mourinho I think that had he rather than Mancini taken the job after Hughes we would now be looking at winning our fourth straight title.

We wouldn't have needed a 93rd minute goal against QPR and we would not have had to rely on Gerrard fucking slipping either. Just like his early Chelsea triumphs he would have walked it given the superior players we have compared to our opponents. The title United won by 11, well I don't think we would have lost momentum like we did under Mancini.

We have had 2 average managers now employed to oversee probably the best collection of individual talent in the PL since the United treble winning side. We are in danger of wasting it.

I 100% agree with this. Mourinho, Ancelotti or Guardiola would piss the league with this squad.

People always say 'xyz' would piss the league with this squad.

Yet Ancelotti did the double at Chelsea in his first year and then did anything but piss the league with his (then) excellent squad in the following season. Most Chelsea fans wanted him out. Tempo was too slow. play too pedestrian and due to his inability to do anything meaningful in the CL he was sacked. Mourinho hasn't won anything for two years. He did win the title with Real (no pissing it though) and then he imploded. Pep is an odd one given he is a obsessive control freak who ends up falling out with key players in a very un-holistic way. We say we want to play with an identifiable style yet Pep is forever tinkering with tactics and formations from match to match and would end up playing Clichy as DM in a lopsided 3-6-1 formation which would lose to Stoke and this place would disappear up its own arse in the mother of all meltdowns.

I sometimes think this vision we have of 'a great manager' that will lead us to the promised land is a bit of a myth. And lets be honest, the promised land just means someone who will never lose a game. Like forever. We chuck names about without really having the faintest idea of whether they would be any good. Under Mancini we always struggled against Everton so Moyes's name got thrown into the ring. Swansea win a League Cup hey lets employ Laudrup as he is a 'class act' whatever the fuck that means. Or De Boer as Ajax did us in the CL. Southampton are doing well and people now think Koeman could do a job for us. Klopp used to be everyones darling until Simeone came along. Now Klopp is fighting relegation he is suddenly effing useless.

We could have a Clough/Mercer/Mourinho combo with Pep on tactics and Mancini on defensive drills and sometimes like today the other team will still play better than us and win. It happens.

I get your point but I didn't just throw out names. I stated 3 managers who have won it all, with a variety of different tactical systems and different players. They are absolutely world-class managers and would suit a world-class squad.

The reason why Guardiola is playing his left-back in the left of the pivot is because Alaba is an outstanding and well-rounded footballer, who fits his universal style. He wouldn't do that with Clichy, because it doesn't fit his attributes. When he was at Barca he didn't have Abidal playing in midfield because he was far stronger defensively, so Abidal provided the balance of a 3 at the back whilst Alves rampaged forward on the other side.

That's the sign of a top-class manager: they continuously adapt to stay ahead of the game, they don't all just use a standard 4-4-2 throughout.

 

[Larry Stranger]

Dzeko and Aguero should never be paired together.

I agree, one of them (or both) need to defend from the front, and for me neither do.

A lot of our problems start from this for me, and not just the 2 central in midfield, none of us know what they are personally instructed to do, but one of them at least needs to drop into midfield and help when we play a 4 in midfield with 2 wide players, and while not having a go at either, neither really do it, and it is part of why our central 2 get over run. I don't think its that neither can do it either, I just think neither want to take that responsibility, so I'd leave one of them out, and for me its a "no brainer" which one it would be.

Yup they are both natural strikers. The thing is even when I've seen Dzeko drop in the midfield, he doesn't have the ball control when he does get the ball. I keep yelling pass! Aguero for all his pin point accuracy in striking the ball into the net also goes wayward when he tries to control the ball. I'm not faulting either one, but a lot of strikers don't have the skills of a midfielder. That's why we lose the ball in the midfield. Jovetic has that skill set.

 

[Bill]

perhaps the manager should try a new angle.
try this.

play your best 11, i know people will say we are in 4 comps and they need rest etc but perhaps it might just work.

 

[cleavers]

perhaps the manager should try a new angle.
try this.

play your best 11, i know people will say we are in 4 comps and they need rest etc but perhaps it might just work.

Can't play your best 11 every 3 or 4 days, so best we get knocked out of something quickly.

 

[Bill]

perhaps the manager should try a new angle.
try this.

play your best 11, i know people will say we are in 4 comps and they need rest etc but perhaps it might just work.

Can't play your best 11 every 3 or 4 days, so best we get knocked out of something quickly.

liverpoool used to, forest did, even we did in 68.

all those sides did ok.

 

[cleavers]

perhaps the manager should try a new angle.
try this.

play your best 11, i know people will say we are in 4 comps and they need rest etc but perhaps it might just work.

Can't play your best 11 every 3 or 4 days, so best we get knocked out of something quickly.

liverpoool used to, forest did, even we did in 68.

all those sides did ok.

Nowhere near as many games. European cup was knockout, and they often were knocked out (I know they won it also), we only managed 1 round in 68 :)