Our inability to set up properly for big games

[mancity1]

Ok, let me do a quick hindsight analysis here. R ell me the 11 you'd have played. And I'll use preexisting facts to show you how it would have been the wrong 11. It is extremely easy to do. And that's what most fans do here.

It all game theory gone amok. They pick a conclusion, I.E. Pellars sucks, then work backwards finding justifications for an opinion already held.

To answer your questions though.

Delph out wide? Yes, specifically to slow down Mahrez. Which he failed at. But he outside of Dihno was the best choice for that role of policing Mahrez

Yaya, Ferny, Oti and MD against quick players? I'll answer this in part. Simply put we only have 2 CBs available, so it really doesn't matter who we are playing, those 2 would start.

That is a function of our injury situation. Sure Sagna is a cute shout. But he really is a RB who can manage at CB, and not some great difference maker.

Yaya and Ferny at CM? Why not, we won our first 5 games doing this. Add a hardworking Delph on the left to help neutralize Mahrez, and tactically, its a good plan. Execution on the other hand was poor. Delph was poor checking Mahrez and rightly got pulled for it. MD was poor on dead balls and we conceded 2 from that. But I doubt Sagna would have stopped Huth on either goal.

Team defending , you don't let someone get goal side of you from that distance.

How we let that goal in still staggers me.

The first four games of the season are a distant memory.

Yaya and Ferny don't work against most sides least of all Leicester who have no fear ( mind you no side does anymore ) going to our place in the form they are in.

When we win midfield we rarely lose the game.

It hear and now and Yaya is a spent force , I would rather we bring in youth if we have to we have little to lose but it was nailed on we were cactus with that line up on Saturday and we will again this Sunday if we do likewise with Fernando replacing Silva.

We are better off sticking ten behind the ball as we did against Sunderland for much of the game rather than go with a midfield of Yaya and Ferny against Spurs.

Poor management and a lack of a plan which even if there were rudiments of one the players either don't know it or refuse to implement.

Silva was a lame duck after 30 minutes and probably shouldn't have played ( we would have done as well with 10 men on the pitch closing down space which again it seems we are incapable of because we lack a work ethic and some of our players lack speed of mind and foot ) so take him off and bring on one of the youngsters or pack the midfield FFS.

 

[Dax777]

As a decision it was pretty much suicide. You don't have to rotate players every game. It was extremely important that Clichy played left back yesterday. The choice of Delph left yaYa in the middle who leaves too much space for appointments.
Suicide is painless...

1. It wasn't extremely important Clichy played. Ffs Clichy is a role player at best. Not to mention Kolarov was fine playing these same players on their own patch, but all of a sudden his choice has been turned into this egregious error.

I'm sorry, bit most of these personnel complaints are laughable.

Yes, Kolarov played poorly. But that's an after the fact analysis. The pre game analysis will suggest he held his own very well against this very same players a month and a half ago. And he was the fresher of our 2 leftbacks.

Even worse still is the fact he was mostly poor on offense. Defensively, he was average. About where Clichy would have been.

But none of these facts matter. I get it. I'm beginning to sound like the Grinch here. Messing up the ' Pellars sucks' party with facts. So I'm going to stop.

Let the party continue
Pellar sucks, he never changes tactics, he is clueless etc. Carry on folks :)

 

[mancity1]

1. It wasn't extremely important Clichy played. Ffs Clichy is a role player at best. Not to mention Kolarov was fine playing these same players on their own patch, but all of a sudden his choice has been turned into this egregious error.

I'm sorry, bit most of these personnel complaints are laughable.

Yes, Kolarov played poorly. But that's an after the fact analysis. The pre game analysis will suggest he held his own very well against this very same players a month and a half ago. And he was the fresher of our 2 leftbacks.

Even worse still is the fact he was mostly poor on offense. Defensively, he was average. About where Clichy would have been.

But none of these facts matter. I get it. I'm beginning to sound like the Grinch here. Messing up the ' Pellars sucks' party with facts. So I'm going to stop.

Let the party continue
Pellar sucks, he never changes tactics, he is clueless etc. Carry on folks :)

Its more that he is managing us poorly and we see this reflected in the results.

3 points from 21 against top 6 ( most likely to be 3 from 24 after Sunday ).

Is our squad that bad or that lacking in depth and all this conjecture that we have the best squad in the premiership just a falsehood?

The fact is we are playing well below our capabilities and its a number of factors including MP making poor decisions before and during the match or in some cases doing nothing at all when changes are needed.

 

[Dax777]

Team defending , you don't let someone get goal side of you from that distance.

How we let that goal in still staggers me.

The first four games of the season are a distant memory.

Yaya and Ferny don't work against most sides least of all Leicester who have no fear ( mind you no side does anymore ) going to our place in the form they are in.

When we win midfield we rarely lose the game.

It hear and now and Yaya is a spent force , I would rather we bring in youth if we have to we have little to lose but it was nailed on we were cactus with that line up on Saturday and we will again this Sunday if we do likewise with Fernando replacing Silva.

We are better off sticking ten behind the ball as we did against Sunderland for much of the game rather than go with a midfield of Yaya and Ferny against Spurs.

Poor management and a lack of a plan which even if there were rudiments of one the players either don't know it or refuse to implement.

Silva was a lame duck after 30 minutes and probably shouldn't have played ( we would have done as well with 10 men on the pitch closing down space which again it seems we are incapable of because we lack a work ethic and some of our players lack speed of mind and foot ) so take him off and bring on one of the youngsters or pack the midfield FFS.

What goal were you talking about?

You can't say Yaya and Ferny doesn't work when it in fact has? That is just arguing against facts. I'd grant you that it is suicide doing it when we have multiple games a week. But notice how Yaya has been consistently subbed early in this period. The goal is to save his aging legs.

Again, take Sunderland for example we started with what most fans here wanted. If you remember the ' 'play Kelechi' whinning from our fans. So he did. We looked shaite and he quickly pulled Kelechi at half and inserted Fernando.

Sunderland was a galant effort to win, but that was actually very poor work from Pellars. His decisions against Leicester were superior, and how we played showed that.

 

[Dax777]

Its more that he is managing us poorly and we see this reflected in the results.

3 points from 21 against top 6 ( most likely to be 3 from 24 after Sunday ).

Is our squad that bad or that lacking in depth and all this conjecture that we have the best squad in the premiership just a falsehood?

The fact is we are playing well below our capabilities and its a number of factors including MP making poor decisions before and during the match or in some cases doing nothing at all when changes are needed.

Look, as a coach your decisions have some effect on the outcome. But by and large, talent and performances by those talent is far more important.

Ask Pep, when he's Bayern squad got mauled by Barca his response was simple 'They have Messi' He didn't focus on the fact that he was out his to deadly wingers and Alaba and a few others. Talent makes the difference. Every coach worth a dime know this.

Pellars decisions are not egregious. He is not benching Aguero, or Silva or Fernandihno or Kompany. These guys have gone down injured. Not much he can do about that.

Our squad had good depth. And if one ayer in any position goes down we can cope. But when 5-6-7 guys are down, you simply can't if you are playing the number of games we are.

Kompany, Mangala, DeBryune, Nasri and Bony. Add Silva, Aguero, Zab, Clichy, and Delph to that. And you have a list of players who have missed at least 7 games or more due to injuries individually. Then add Navas, Kola, Dihno, Hart, Yaya and Sterling and you have guys who have missed 1_to 4 games this season.
Sagna, Otamendi, Iheanacho. Completes our list of players who haven't missed games due to Injury. 1 starter and 2 backups.

 

[BlueMoonz1977]

it has happened and can be pin pointed back to the very first season Pellegrini arrived. The first season we could not stop goals so it was not an issue.

However this season the lack of preparation towards combating the opposition tactics is showing. Nothing speaks louder than that, in Pellegrini's after match interviews where he always says the same thing - "we must continue to work in the same way we do"

That basically days we have one way of approaching our game, keep the ball and try and find a way through. For him as a manager to be so one dimensional is stupid, and you can see why he actually lost the league title push with Real even though he had a record points haul that season. I know Barcelona were an excellent team also, but this open attack attack tactic will not always win games.

I have even heard or I am sure I may have read it somewhere, that Pellegrini actually does not allow the players to make a proper challenge in training, and that he has put this across to the team to be very wary of going in for challenges in an actual match - down to fact he does not want players booked or red carded

We need to just get our shit together now, we are injury hit, out of form and playing a title rival with an average age squad of about 23 in Tottenham. If Pellergrini approaches the game in same old manner, allows MDM anywhere near our back four, allows both the LB and RB to bomb forward leaving the 2 CB exposed for the counter then this dreadful stat of not winning against any side in the top 6 will continue and for me it will be damage limitation time and just focusing on securing a top four spot, because we can forget about the title.

Honestly cant wait for the summer, get rid of those no longer able to do the job with a tactician that is the best in the world at the helm

 

[mancity1]

What goal were you talking about?

You can't say Yaya and Ferny doesn't work when it in fact has? That is just arguing against facts. I'd grant you that it is suicide doing it when we have multiple games a week. But notice how Yaya has been consistently subbed early in this period. The goal is to save his aging legs.

Again, take Sunderland for example we started with what most fans here wanted. If you remember the ' 'play Kelechi' whinning from our fans. So he did. We looked shaite and he quickly pulled Kelechi at half and inserted Fernando.

Sunderland was a galant effort to win, but that was actually very poor work from Pellars. His decisions against Leicester were superior, and how we played showed that.

The first.

it doesn't work against sides who are quick , press and and counter attack with speed and there are quite a few of them in the premiership.

As I said it hasn't worked for the past 6 months and it ain't going to work in the last 13 either its not arguing against facts.

Will be get hammered by a far better ball moving side than Leicester if we persist with the wrong personnel some of them in the wrong positions on Sunday.

Blind faith that something that was good once will come good again when all the evidence suggests otherwise is naive at best.

Yaya is spent , so bring him on after 70 minutes as opposed to taking him off when the game is already gone so he can have 20 minutes to make an impact.

I tend to think the opposite , putting men behind the ball was a good strategy as it gave us the best chance to hold on to a lead even though it was fodder we were against.

All this talk about tired legs and too many games etc can be addressed by bringing in youth.

The player that created our best move of the game was on the field for 13 minutes.

We were going nowhere with that line up on Saturday put we still had time to address it at half time but no we concede a second and then ring in the changes (LOL).

Shocking management , the stuff novices wouldn't even do.

He should have come on at half time at the latest.

 

[r.soleofsalford]

What goal were you talking about?

You can't say Yaya and Ferny doesn't work when it in fact has? That is just arguing against facts. I'd grant you that it is suicide doing it when we have multiple games a week. But notice how Yaya has been consistently subbed early in this period. The goal is to save his aging legs.

Again, take Sunderland for example we started with what most fans here wanted. If you remember the ' 'play Kelechi' whinning from our fans. So he did. We looked shaite and he quickly pulled Kelechi at half and inserted Fernando.

Sunderland was a galant effort to win, but that was actually very poor work from Pellars. His decisions against Leicester were superior, and how we played showed that.

you must watch a different game to me,

 

[Dax777]

The first.

it doesn't work against sides who are quick , press and and counter attack with speed and there are quite a few of them in the premiership.

As I said it hasn't worked for the past 6 months and it ain't going to work in the last 13 either its not arguing against facts.

Will be get hammered by a far better ball moving side than Leicester if we persist with the wrong personnel some of them in the wrong positions on Sunday.

Blind faith that something that was good once will come good again when all the evidence suggests otherwise is naive at best.

Yaya is spent , so bring him on after 70 minutes as opposed to taking him off when the game is already gone so he can have 20 minutes to make an impact.

I tend to think the opposite , putting men behind the ball was a good strategy as it gave us the best chance to hold on to a lead even though it was fodder we were against.

All this talk about tired legs and too many games etc can be addressed by bringing in youth.

The player that created our best move of the game was on the field for 13 minutes.

We were going nowhere with that line up on Saturday put we still had time to address it at half time but no we concede a second and then ring in the changes (LOL).

Shocking management , the stuff novices wouldn't even do.

He should have come on at half time at the latest.

The problem with claims like yours here is that there is nothing to hold on too. Outside of don't start Yaya.

Can you tell me what lineup and tactics will best serve us to start the game? We can then memorialize that, and hopefully if we ever use it, we can hold you to it.

By the way, there was nothing wrong with Ferny and Yaya in the middle. Until their 2nd goal were at 70% possession. Were doing just fine with Yaya and Ferny. We just lost on individual efforts by Demichelis.

 

[mancity1]

The problem with claims like yours here is that there is nothing to hold on too. Outside of don't start Yaya.

Can you tell me what lineup and tactics will best serve us to start the game? We can then memorialize that, and hopefully if we ever use it, we can hold you to it.

By the way, there was nothing wrong with Ferny and Yaya in the middle. Until their 2nd goal were at 70% possession. Were doing just fine with Yaya and Ferny. We just lost on individual efforts by Demichelis.

You obviously watched a different game to me.

We were losing the battle in midfield and both in their respective roles were offering us nothing to get back into the game.

You have to make changes be they tactical , positional or with personnel when you are behind and struggling to create clear cut chances especially if half your central midfield is running on empty.

Possession means nothing when its ineffectual.

After the subs we at least held our own without ever threatening still scant consolation though.

The best chances fell to Leicester and while Joe did his job and little more at least it wasn't 7-1.