Manuel Pellegrini

[Len Rum]

All is not lost by any means so let's keep some perspective.

Take 6 from Moscow and we'll be sat on 7 with Bayern (h) and Roma (a) to go.

Hopefully Bayern do the double on Roma and they'll have qualified on 12 by the time they come to us.

Beat them at the Etihad and we'll be laughing.

In that scenario though they won't have won the group when they play us, so they will still be going all out for the win.

 

[shemnel]

i think it's fair to discuss the current season's perceived problems but why are people trying to undo the title that Pellers won last season? this is some sort of revisionist masochism!

 

[BillyShears]

All is not lost by any means so let's keep some perspective.

Take 6 from Moscow and we'll be sat on 7 with Bayern (h) and Roma (a) to go.

Hopefully Bayern do the double on Roma and they'll have qualified on 12 by the time they come to us.

Beat them at the Etihad and we'll be laughing.

Fully agree. I think we're capable of beating both Bayern and Roma, let alone just one of them.

I still think we're one result away from the penny metaphorically dropping for the players in Europe. Hopefully it'll be one of those two games.

In the meantime lets concentrate on Villa this weekend. We need to keep the routine wins coming in the league to keep the pressure on Jose's mob.

 

[Combat Carl]

I know I'll get slated but I don't care so hear goes. My opinion is we have a world class team but an average manager. Last year we scraped over the line in the league but we should've pissed it, we had the best squad by a mile. Champions Lge group was easy last year but as soon as we came up against a good team it was men against boys. As for Tuesday, it was criminal not starting Milner and persisting with 4-4-2 when it was clear to see we couldn't get the ball. Do you think Maureen would've stood there with his arms crossed doing nothing?

 

[uwe rosler 28]

We could have quite easily of beat roma the other night the ball just didn't drop right in there box and we were let down by the ref with a couple of penalty decisions. This forum would have been totally diffrent with a win but the same performance a lot of you sound like rags going on about atmospheres attendances manager not being up to it small mentality in europe! Ffs

 

[cibaman]

its sad ho we have not adjusted the way we play in europe. You can get away with a 4-4-2 over 38 games but play that crap in the UCL and you get found. We freaking suck and we need to make the necessary adjustments.

Do you mean personnel wise or otherwise?

Both. The coach needs to realize we will lose the midfield if we play yaya and fernadinho because yaya cannot close anyone down and most elite teams will play three in the middle to get an edge over us unless its barca who can hold the ball all night. Also, the players need to change their attitude and play like they are being paid for it.

The club are clearly intent on developing a "City style" a reputation for attractive attacking football. Which patently is a good thing. And to a large extent it works well in the PL. The philosophy that Pellegrini has bought into is that we will play our way, not significantly compromise our style. And in the PL we're good enough to do that.

But we're not yet good enough to do that in the CL. Most people accept that we're still lagging behind RM, Barca and Bayern. But also we're not yet good enough to impose our style on the next tier down. The likes of Roma, Napoli, Dortmund, Ajax on paper aren't as strong as City. But they're good enough to exploit our weaknesses, to stop us from imposing our style on them.

We do need to be more pragmatic in the CL, respect other teams strengths a bit more. Realise that we're not yet good enough to play just as we want.

 

[Didsbury Dave]

I know I'll get slated but I don't care so hear goes. My opinion is we have a world class team but an average manager. Last year we scraped over the line in the league but we should've pissed it, we had the best squad by a mile. Champions Lge group was easy last year but as soon as we came up against a good team it was men against boys. As for Tuesday, it was criminal not starting Milner and persisting with 4-4-2 when it was clear to see we couldn't get the ball. Do you think Maureen would've stood there with his arms crossed doing nothing?

He didn't stand there doing nothing. At half time he brought Milner on to shore us up and then on 55 minutes he changed the system and we got on top. That's how the manager works. He doesn't panic when things aren't working, he gives the players time to click. The first half problem was mainly tempo: we didn't play with enough.

Sometimes as a manager things work out, sometimes they don't. Sometimes the team don't play well collectively.What I thought Pellegrini did get wrong was putting Lampard in the attacking midfield role rather than Ya Ya with Lampard holding. But he did it because Lampard has been getting goals, and if he'd hit the target it would have seemed like genius. That's management.

It was dissapointing rather than disastrous. We can still qualify, although it's going to be a battle. But it's one we are capable of winning and one I think we will. The time to judge the Champions League campaign is at the end of it, not now. We had a load of hand-wringing after Bayern home last year but then we got much better.

We must win on Sunday, put this behind us, keep working and I am absolutely sure things are going to improve.

 

[supercity88]

I don't think we need to buy into the media's damning reports just yet. Why can't we get it right in Europe? Well I think you can say we have been unlucky in Europe actually. We've beaten Bayern home and away in different campaigns. Two penalty shouts were ignored in Munich when we played them in the Tevez wobbler scandal. Silva and Richards were taken out by Boateng and Hart pulled off fantastic saves that fell fortunately to the feet of other Bayern players.

In Madrid we were minutes from winning at the Bernabeu. Against Barca one mistake led to a red and a penalty but despite that we stepped up and nearly got back in the game.

It is the usual comments about 4-4-2 leading to us being overrun in midfield and we should play three in the middle etc that have been used against Pellegrini, but an on song City would win that game against Roma playing 4-4-2. It's not about keeping the ball it is about using the ball effectively. Chelsea won the CL with about 30% possession in all of their games. But that is dull. Bayern won it with about 80% in their games but that too has its issues. The philosophy of if you keep the ball the opposition cannot score is certainly idealistic because as we saw with Real v Bayern last season - when you do lose the ball (as no team can keep it indefinitely) you can get blown apart.

Football is about adapting your game to defeat the opposition. I agree that generally our 4-4-2 will defeat most in Europe and I also agree that we need to be pragmatic in Europe because the quality of the opposition dictates that. I don't slate Pellegrini at all though. 4-4-2 was good enough to defeat Roma - but City didn't play well. Pellegrini altered things and we improved but the game was fizzling out with Roma content on a point.

This is the same Pellegrini who this time went to Bayern first game up and kept things compact and defensive so that we could get a point. We came very very close but left with nothing. He learnt from last season and credit to him - it was evidence of him adapting his style. 1pt in that game and 3pts from Roma and the situation is completely different. It is tough from here but if we play with nothing to lose we can win all 4 remaining games. Not time to panic yet.

 

[grahamgor]

I know I'll get slated but I don't care so hear goes. My opinion is we have a world class team but an average manager. Last year we scraped over the line in the league but we should've pissed it, we had the best squad by a mile. Champions Lge group was easy last year but as soon as we came up against a good team it was men against boys. As for Tuesday, it was criminal not starting Milner and persisting with 4-4-2 when it was clear to see we couldn't get the ball. Do you think Maureen would've stood there with his arms crossed doing nothing?

He didn't stand there doing nothing. At half time he brought Milner on to shore us up and then on 55 minutes he changed the system and we got on top. That's how the manager works. He doesn't panic when things aren't working, he gives the players time to click. The first half problem was mainly tempo: we didn't play with enough.

Sometimes as a manager things work out, sometimes they don't. Sometimes the team don't play well collectively.What I thought Pellegrini did get wrong was putting Lampard in the attacking midfield role rather than Ya Ya with Lampard holding. But he did it because Lampard has been getting goals, and if he'd hit the target it would have seemed like genius. That's management.

It was dissapointing rather than disastrous. We can still qualify, although it's going to be a battle. But it's one we are capable of winning and one I think we will. The time to judge the Champions League campaign is at the end of it, not now. We had a load of hand-wringing after Bayern home last year but then we got much better.

We must win on Sunday, put this behind us, keep working and I am absolutely sure things are going to improve.

Your analysis wipes out the Mourinho fan's cliches.

I would add that Kolarov's omission deprived us of a formidable attacking threat . Clichy has a record of concentration lapses in the CL whereas Kolarov stepped up to the plate in the Allianz Arena, captained the side and dispatched a penalty.
Roma are an excellent side, joint top in Serie A where they've only conceded one goal. What's more, Kuipers let cynical fouls by Keita, Manolas and Newcastle loanee Yanga-Mbiwa (who kicked Nasri out of the game at St. James Park) go unpunished.
Exactly twelve months ago, Redknapp and Neville wote City off after the Bayern home game but the tables were turned in Munich and there's no reason why this cant' happen again there and/or in Rome.

 

[Rösler von Stretfordbömber]

It amazes me how quickly a lot of people seem to buy into whatever narrative is currently being served up by the rag-dominated media.

Oh, Pellers is "inflexible" in his tactics. Like playing that odd "one left back in front of the other" setup at Barca away (didn't work.) Or that 4-4-1-1 at Bayern (Silva behind Dzeko). Or that 4-4-2 against Roma.

That is the last three sodding Champions League matches in a row. With three distinct formations! FFS I come here and "FLAP FLAP FLAP Pellers is predictable! He does the same thing every time! It doesn't work! FLAP FLAP FLAP."

So then some media pundit twat is on about how the 4-4-2 can't work in Europe. "FLAP FLAP FLAP - Pellers can't GET AWAY with the 4-4-2 against Europe!!! Doesn't work in Europe!!!!!!" Well other than for last years' finalists Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid I guess. Granted Real has played 4-3-3 and 4-4-2 in its two CL matches this year and Atletico's style is utterly different in orientation (aggressive press/defend first, push opponent into wide spaces.)

Formations are largely a matter of semantics anyway. Against an attacking/possession oriented side our 4-4-2 (which often more resembles a 4-2-2-2 anyway) does not work well if Yaya is a CM and seemingly not about it on the given night (as it seemed against Roma.)

But FFS Roma! At home! Pellers needed to have cowered in fear from them? They are really not your stereotypical Italian defend first side (a 4-3-3 possession outfit that goes wide) but they were playing away HERE and you'd have expected them to be a bit about the defend/counter game. Which they pretty much were. They had 39% possession for the match (45% at the point of Lampard for Dzeko when media twunts were on about us being "overrun" and the Greek chorus of flappers mindlessly repeated all that.)

Ugggghhhh. Sorry to all those I am insulting, but I think a lot of you need to use your brains and eyes and not those of Paul Scholes, Tony Gale et al.

Oh, and to every twatter commenter or media drone who calls Pellers "naive." REALLY? A man almost uniformly respected and admired throughout football is "naive" after playing the sport and managing it for more than 40 years and after winning the most difficult competition on earth FOR US last May. HE'S NAIVE. But View from a Twatter or whoever that guy is who wanted Rodwell to play every match last year isn't. THAT guy knows football so much more and has such a better CV than our manager getting paid millions to do so.

Okay then. Nothing wrong with second-guessing decisions. That's fun. But this whole "all of us in rag media/flapper land know better than the manager who is NAIVE" shite just winds me up. It would be one thing if it might be correct. But when the central conceit of him being being "tactically naive in Europe" is that he plays the same formation every time. Well, uh, look no farther the last three fixtures as mentioned above and come up with something a bit better to support what you are saying.