Manuel Pellegrini

[Puppet Master Silva]

We have got a great run of fixtures coming up to get the team collectively playing well again.

I thought there were loads of good things today: we defended well, pressed well and showed great composure for most of the game. Again we missed a bagful of chances, but any win without Silva will do nicely.

You're right about the fixture list, no easy games in the Prem but the run up to the new year is a great opportunity to put some heat on Chelsea.

There were definitely plenty of positives today, it was a shame that Jovetic didn't step up, and hopefully Merlin will be back after the international break.

Yeah, I felt this was jovetic's big chance to shine, playing in the hole, but he got a bit crowded out and nothing came off for him. For me that's our best attack line up, with him behind aguero.

This time last season we went on a brilliant run, although our early season form (but not results) was better then. It will come. We're a better squad now and we are still bedding in the new players. Last season we were lucky they all slotted in beautifully and hit the ground running.

Both mangela and fernando can play, in my opinion. I noticed pellegrini pretended mangela had an injury, to get the media off his back. Good management.

I agree that Jovetic disappointed, I was really hoping he'd have a mark on his birthday and in the most important part of the pitch. Problem was that Blind and Fellaini were giving him absolutely no time on the ball, he couldn't get free of them to have enough of an impact on the game. It makes you appreciate Spanish Dave even more because the way he finds space is just absurdly good. The one good thing about Jovetic being marked so tightly was that it did however open up space for Milner and Navas on the wing all game long. They both squandered plenty of good positions (particularly Navas), if they were on it today I think we would of hit 4 again.

 

[Anonymous]

I think Pellers came through this test ok. You could argue we should have put 10 men to the sword but then you can also argue it can be harder vs 10 as Hull and Spurs have found against us over the course of time.

I can understand him making the changes he did however they left us exposed and we went very nervy as we handed them a route back into the game. A win is a win though and am glad of the 3pts.

What we look for now is him building on this with a win Wednesday night and a sustained run of wins in the league given the run of games we have against (supposed) "easier" sides.

 

[BillyShears]

I think Pellers came through this test ok. You could argue we should have put 10 men to the sword but then you can also argue it can be harder vs 10 as Hull and Spurs have found against us over the course of time.

I can understand him making the changes he did however they left us exposed and we went very nervy as we handed them a route back into the game. A win is a win though and am glad of the 3pts.

What we look for now is him building on this with a win Wednesday night and a sustained run of wins in the league given the run of games we have against (supposed) "easier" sides.

I'm sure you feel much better today knowing he's not lost the dressing room at least. ;)

 

[Grieffymcfcctid]

I thought pellegrinis subs for the match yesterday was poor! Taking Milner off when he was one of our better players,putting dzeko on so we went back to 442,an that's when United started threatening us more,we just lost it a bit when he made them changes but a wins a win!hopefully gets the confidence up with another important game wednesday!

 

[Anonymous]

I think Pellers came through this test ok. You could argue we should have put 10 men to the sword but then you can also argue it can be harder vs 10 as Hull and Spurs have found against us over the course of time.

I can understand him making the changes he did however they left us exposed and we went very nervy as we handed them a route back into the game. A win is a win though and am glad of the 3pts.

What we look for now is him building on this with a win Wednesday night and a sustained run of wins in the league given the run of games we have against (supposed) "easier" sides.

I'm sure you feel much better today knowing he's not lost the dressing room at least. ;)

I feel rough as toast after far too much Bow yesterday in all honesty.

 

[BillyShears]

I think Pellers came through this test ok. You could argue we should have put 10 men to the sword but then you can also argue it can be harder vs 10 as Hull and Spurs have found against us over the course of time.

I can understand him making the changes he did however they left us exposed and we went very nervy as we handed them a route back into the game. A win is a win though and am glad of the 3pts.

What we look for now is him building on this with a win Wednesday night and a sustained run of wins in the league given the run of games we have against (supposed) "easier" sides.

I'm sure you feel much better today knowing he's not lost the dressing room at least. ;)

I feel rough as toast after far too much Bow yesterday in all honesty.

I'm a derby day abstainer. All I had was a little herbal cigarette (or three) over the course of the day/evening. Didn't even open a celebratory bottle of red. You know why?

Because I don't really see the point in celebrating beating some mid table shite you're expected to beat! :)

 

[Anonymous]

I'm sure you feel much better today knowing he's not lost the dressing room at least. ;)

I feel rough as toast after far too much Bow yesterday in all honesty.

I'm a derby day abstainer. All I had was a little herbal cigarette (or three) over the course of the day/evening. Didn't even open a celebratory bottle of red. You know why?

Because I don't really see the point in celebrating beating some mid table shite you're expected to beat! :)

Hahahaaa - im gonna use that today! Had few before to settle the nerves. Same at half time and then a good few after the game out of relief following the last 10 mins!

 

[BillyShears]

I feel rough as toast after far too much Bow yesterday in all honesty.

I'm a derby day abstainer. All I had was a little herbal cigarette (or three) over the course of the day/evening. Didn't even open a celebratory bottle of red. You know why?

Because I don't really see the point in celebrating beating some mid table shite you're expected to beat! :)

Hahahaaa - im gonna use that today! Had few before to settle the nerves. Same at half time and then a good few after the game out of relief following the last 10 mins!

There were a few parallels with the Etihad derby in 12/13. I think Di Maria even had a free kick roughly from where Van Persie's went in in the last five minutes too. The difference being we held on.

As much as people see that as a negative from the manager's point of view, you've also got to view it as a huge positive when contrasted with our recent fortunes. We kept a clean sheet, kept hold of the win, and really as much as people say we were under pressure all that the rags did was play hoof ball up towards Fellaini.

 

[supercity88]

I really felt the tension and nerves before and during the game yesterday. Weirdly we've been so good in recent times that the nerves have disappeared early on. Pellegrini got his tactics spot on by playing Milner and Navas who are willing workers all game long. Clichy was absolutely fantastic and so was Zabaleta. Why? Because they have people working in front of them. Yaya's pass was brilliant, his turn and shot near the end of the game was sensational and he looked a lot better though he wasn't able to dominate the middle because of numbers there. Silva would have made the difference because Jovetic struggled to get any real space, but I think he will excel in that position and just needs some more match time.

Nasri's return is hugely important. I am hoping he can help bring more out of Yaya as well. Fernando had an excellent game, bursting forward, reading the play and making tackles when needed. We were still a bit soft centred but Demichelis and Kompany made some brilliant front foot interceptions. We needed the win, the performance didn't really matter as it was a derby and the rags have a lot of firepower. They were better than I expected but I think we can string together some results, build the confidence and then the performances will be miles better based on that.

Pellegrini handled Mangala well here, Demichelis was the right call and Mangala needs some more time to settle. Fernando and Yaya seemed to have a better understanding and considering they had Rooney, Fellaini and Blind all in that central area they handled the game well.

 

[Didsbury Dave]

I really felt the tension and nerves before and during the game yesterday. Weirdly we've been so good in recent times that the nerves have disappeared early on. Pellegrini got his tactics spot on by playing Milner and Navas who are willing workers all game long. Clichy was absolutely fantastic and so was Zabaleta. Why? Because they have people working in front of them. Yaya's pass was brilliant, his turn and shot near the end of the game was sensational and he looked a lot better though he wasn't able to dominate the middle because of numbers there. Silva would have made the difference because Jovetic struggled to get any real space, but I think he will excel in that position and just needs some more match time.

Nasri's return is hugely important. I am hoping he can help bring more out of Yaya as well. Fernando had an excellent game, bursting forward, reading the play and making tackles when needed. We were still a bit soft centred but Demichelis and Kompany made some brilliant front foot interceptions. We needed the win, the performance didn't really matter as it was a derby and the rags have a lot of firepower. They were better than I expected but I think we can string together some results, build the confidence and then the performances will be miles better based on that.

Pellegrini handled Mangala well here, Demichelis was the right call and Mangala needs some more time to settle. Fernando and Yaya seemed to have a better understanding and considering they had Rooney, Fellaini and Blind all in that central area they handled the game well.

Good take as usual. Mirrors my own thoughts in the main. I commented earlier about Mangela. Obviously he was kept out of the firing line, correctly, but Pellegrini told the media he had a muscle injury but would be OK for Wednesday. That was clearly his way of keeping the media off his back.

As a team we defended and pressed superbly for most of the game. We weren't diving in and giving unnecessary fouls away, our centre halfs kept intercepting cleverly and we really didn't look in any danger whatsoever. We stayed organised and looked a threat from set pieces too. When we played our best football int he first half of the second half we pressed really well too and they couldn't get out of their own half.

We started flapping a bit in possession late on but I also put that down to nerves. But that controlled aggression and organisation we showed was excellent and reminded me of the Chelsea game. United were aggressive but earned themselves a red card and should have conceded penalties - we didn't do either of those things.

It was just what we needed as a building block to get the season firing. I expect a big win on Wednesday to continue that process. It's going to be a great season again. Let's just hope Silva is back soon because as you say, there were times yesterday he would have destroyed them as usual.