Manuel Pellegrini

[without a dream]

MP set us up perfectly. Hard working wingers to protect the fullbacks and targeted the right hand side when Di Maria was on the left and vice versa when he switched. Demichelis at centre half was the right call, he was excellent and Vinny always is, particularly in the Derby. Jovetic preferred to Dzeko for his workrate and ball retention in the final third.

Everything went to plan until the subs. The logical sub was Fernandinho/Nasri for Jovetic either of which would have shored up the midfield for differing reasons. Taking Milner off opened up our left side completely and finally allowed Di Maria into the game and we were nearly punished. I didn't think anyone looked particularly tired so would have been pretty content to keep Aguero and Milner on. Dzeko was woeful and lazy for the third game in a row.

Delighted with the win though, it was well deserved, funny seeing the rags clutch at straws from that performance though, how they've fallen. They didn't have a sniff before the substitutions, completely outclassed.

 

[waterloo blue]

Not had chance to watch any of the TV coverage yet and doubt I will get through the whole game tonight; will watch some plus MotD. That won't change my opinion that there are some seriously miserable souls on here or that too much is being made of the subs. I wasn't thrilled to see Milner go off and would just have started by replacing Jovetic with Nasri but I agree with your comment that a manager cannot know for sure what will transpire when he makes subs and, what's more, what follows may not be all down to the changes made, which I believe was the case today: ridiculous lack of composure shown by City at the end could well have transpired if Milner, for instance, had been on the park. The players City had out there should have been perfectly capable of passing the ball to one another and making their extra man count but they let nerves get to them. This is not the first time, by any means, that they have displayed this fragility: it's a recurring problem and a maddening one but it is not Pellegrini's fault.[/quote]


We know it can't be The managers fault as that is simply not allowed on this forum.
So who's fault is it?
Discuss:

Too many on long term deals,a rigid adherence to 4 4 2,poor recruitment in the summer,confidence down and getting sussed out by the opposition.
I wonder at whose door we can leave this lot?.

Mancini?!?

Ron Saunders,Joe Royle,Stuart Pearce have about as much to do with it as him,the Pellegrini fan boys are as bad the Dzeko ones.

 

[Marvin]

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.

I was disappointed Mangala was not available but your comment that Pellegrini was being clever by not dropping Mangala is way off.

So had Demichelis or Kompany picked up an injury we'd have brought on Boyata?

I don't believe that for one minute. More like Mangala does indeed have a minor injury

 

[Didsbury Dave]

I've got no proof that Mangela wasnt injured but it sounded like it, the way Pellegrini skirted over it with "Muscle injury. He will be Ok for Wednesday". Maybe I'm wrong.

 

[cleavers]

I've got no proof that Mangela wasnt injured but it sounded like it, the way Pellegrini skirted over it with "Muscle injury. He will be Ok for Wednesday". Maybe I'm wrong.

I doubt very much he would have left him out and put Boyata on the bench if he didn't have a knock. Either way the defence looked far more assured, and I hope we stick with this for a while now, too much rotation at the back has caused the slump.

As for all this bollocks about taking Milner off, he had no choice, Milner is needed in a very big game on Wednesday, and with Lampard and Silva out, and Nasri offering little when fully fit (and he didn't look fit yesterday to me), we have to keep our best players fit, unless you want Sinclair playing regularly of course. Same with taking Aguero off, I suspect he'd been kept on too long as it was.

I'd have made different subs personally, Fernandhino for Milner for one at that stage, though I can understand his thinking, he must be utterly frustrated with Dzeko though, the only use he was yesterday was for rag corners, as a striker Sinclair might indeed have offered more.

I thought he got most things right yesterday, and I like the look of Ageuro and Jovetic together, it will be better for the future than anything that includes Dzeko, because while he can be good, we simply cannot trust him, he's been woeful the last few weeks.

 

[BobKowalski]

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.

I was disappointed Mangala was not available but your comment that Pellegrini was being clever by not dropping Mangala is way off.

So had Demichelis or Kompany picked up an injury we'd have brought on Boyata?

I don't believe that for one minute. More like Mangala does indeed have a minor injury

Agreed. Any cunning ruse that involves Boyata being anywhere near the pitch is fatally flawed. It would also beg the question as to how fragile is Mangala's mentality that he has to be protected in such a way? And if we are keen on protecting our 23 y/o defensive prospect then maybe we should have been just as keen on protecting and/or developing our 19 y/o defensive prospect rather than banishment to the naughty step. In fact any action is preferable than putting Boyata on the bench. The only thing that took the focus off Boyata on the bench was the inclusion of Sinclair. Frankly some lads from the EDS would have been preferable to these two.

 

[Didsbury Dave]

I didn't know Boyata was on the bench. And Sinclair too? Jesus Christ.

 

[cleavers]

I didn't know Boyata was on the bench. And Sinclair too? Jesus Christ.

I assumed that Sinclair only made the bench, because he had nothing better to do when Kolorov was injured in the warm up, and luckily had his boots with him, but Boyata does suggest Mangala had a knock that wasn't worth risking, though I'd have gone with Demichelis anyway, and it certainly made us look more solid, it gave Fernando cover, who in turn gave both CB's cover.

Mangala's time will come, but right now I'd shelter him from the more tricky games, and yesterday was tricky, given that united (for some reason) thought their tails were up prior to the game.

 

[supercity88]

I didn't know Boyata was on the bench. And Sinclair too? Jesus Christ.

Still better than the rags bench!

I wasn't aware of Mangala's injury! I just assumed he had been given the nudge for Demi and Pellegrini was disguising that to take pressure off. Thinking about it, clearly we wouldn't rely on Boyata as a sub unless we really had to. And Pellegrini isn't one to worry too much about outside pressure.

I do think the substitutions were odd, but we are probably more nervous and defence minded than our manager who wanted us to push forward rather than invite pressure. We won the game so it doesn't need to be discussed too much more and we have crucial games coming up ahead of the international break.

Yaya seemed to come alive further up the pitch and Lampard has shown how beneficial it can be to have a midfielder in that role rather than a striker. Particularly one who isn't firing on all cylinders at the moment (Dzeko). In light of Silva's injury and Nasri needing time to get back to full fitness, surely we should play Ferny, Fernando, Yaya as a central three with Milner, Jovetic/Navas/Nasri and Aguero? Whilst Yaya and Fernando seemed to grasp their roles better, I'm still not convinced we can win enough games with that partnership. Our strength last season was in Fernandinho's ability to cover ground and see where he needed to cover when fullbacks pushed forward. Fernando seemed to do that a bit better yesterday, but Yaya still isn't 100% and his performance was a million times better when he was further up the pitch. He wants to score, he doesn't want to do the leg work in the middle.

 

[kenzie115]

If Nasri wasn't fit enough to play 90 minutes then the starting line-up was bang on, although I'd like to have seen Jovetic played at the tip of a midfield three rather than just off Aguero, we were struggling in the middle until Smalling got sent off, Jovetic just needed to be a bit deeper and keeping tabs on the deepest of United's three. Demichelis was a clear choice but I agree it was clever to claim Mangala had an injury rather than let the media go mad over dropping a £32m centre back after a few weeks.

However, the substitutions were ridiculous. Nasri was the right move, but by removing Milner we became less solid and remained as a 4-4-2 so it didn't really help with keeping possession. Nasri for Jovetic should have been the move. Jovetic for Dzeko was Pellegrini being stubborn and refusing to accept we needed an extra man in midfield. Fortunately he finally gave in and brought Fernandinho on, but because of his previous error, he had to take Aguero off, who looked less than pleased. The Pellegrini 4-4-2 is becoming the new Mancini 3-5-2 and I suspect if he doesn't swallow his pride soon, he may suffer the same fate as his predecessor.