Pellegrini Thread

[baildon blue]

Nice story about Pellergrini in the independent today . The mind games won`t work Mourinho . Even the press are believing in Pellergrini . I love it City .

 

[Anonymous]

For the record, I think we will do two and desperate for one to be the league.

I've said since the first day of the season that I reckon we'll win the league plus a domestic trophy.

Not sure if this is the correct thread - but I was thinking last night, qualifying for the knock out rounds of the CL has given the entire squad IMO a different mindset going into the new year. Both in our title winning season and last season I think the players were mentally effected by the early exit from the CL.

I think it's even a little more narrow than qualifying for the knockout stages. It was beating Bayern Munich at their stadium with essentially a B-squad while they played essentially an A-squad. That showed the players that the manager's system works. That it can work for all of them. We often got by in the past few years with raw talent creating its own luck during attacks while concentrating on defending. It's a style that can work, but why buy players like Nasri when your style will just stifle them? I feel there was some uncertainty among the squad during the initial stages of the season in regards to the manager's system moderated by Pellegrini's man-management thankfully. That game in Munich, though, was key for me.

It's a good point about the Munich match ... i do think though that progressing out of the group stage was really key. It has given IMO the players that incentive to show their best form in the new year as opposed to previous seasons where our best has been reserved for the first couple of months of the season and the last few weeks.

 

[OB1]

You're memory is slightly different to mine, Silva played alongside Dzeko up front, although he did sometimes come back to receive the ball, much like Aguero and Negredo.

Not sure how many times I've repeated this but go look on UEFA's site at the technical lineups: Silva and Dzeko are like Siamese twins on the formations through the game. Silva did not play in the hole, it wasn't 4-2-2-1-1, it was 4-2-2-2.

I presume that was a reply to the post above mine, I don't need to go on UEFA's site, I could see that for myself watching the game :)

You presume correctly. That was me agreeing with you.

 

[aguero93:20]

Not sure how many times I've repeated this but go look on UEFA's site at the technical lineups: Silva and Dzeko are like Siamese twins on the formations through the game. Silva did not play in the hole, it wasn't 4-2-2-1-1, it was 4-2-2-2.

I presume that was a reply to the post above mine, I don't need to go on UEFA's site, I could see that for myself watching the game :)

You presume correctly. That was me agreeing with you.

Good good, incidentally, dave makes a pretty good striker.

 

[OB1]

I presume that was a reply to the post above mine, I don't need to go on UEFA's site, I could see that for myself watching the game :)

You presume correctly. That was me agreeing with you.

Good good, incidentally, dave makes a pretty good striker.

He does. I like it when he lines up there, it's an option that gives us great flexibility. I also like Samir in that role. As a general point, I do think Silva should bag a few more goals from midfield, given his quality, but at least he is clearly the leading creator of chances in the league.

 

[Deleted member 58678]

Not sure how many times I've repeated this but go look on UEFA's site at the technical lineups: Silva and Dzeko are like Siamese twins on the formations through the game. Silva did not play in the hole, it wasn't 4-2-2-1-1, it was 4-2-2-2.

The formation i see when we have the ball is either a 2-2-4-2 or a 2-4-2-2.

When we don't have the ball it's more of a 4-2-2-2.

 

[OB1]

The formation i see when we have the ball is either a 2-2-4-2 or a 2-4-2-2.

When we don't have the ball it's more of a 4-2-2-2.

I knew it was a mistake to mention formation numbers!

 

[taconinja]

The formation i see when we have the ball is either a 2-2-4-2 or a 2-4-2-2.

When we don't have the ball it's more of a 4-2-2-2.

I knew it was a mistake to mention formation numbers!

There's a reason I specifically avoided that word in my post. ;)

 

[BobKowalski]

I seem to recall doing the 'managing a corner shop/Tesco' analogy.

First off, and I have said it enough times, I have no issue with Ferran & Txiki. For the board having F&T run things is a no brainer. The only real issue I had with Txiki was the total balls up over the way the managerial change was made. It was poorly handled and I expected better. I also think the board dropped a bollock with the way they tried/hoped to make a F&T and Roberto partnership 'work'. Accepting Roberto's resignation (which I will assume is true) would have been the smart move as it would have avoided having two separate camps trying to tun the show and wasting a year with everyone pulling in different directions.

Having listened to F&T at the NYC presser and the importance of the coach sharing their philosophy it again demonstrates why we do have Pellers and not Mancini/Mourinho/Benitez et al as it is F&T who dictate the philosophy and structure the squad accordingly. I'm a fan of the DoF model so again no issue from me.

On Pellers himself am liking the football but still believe that we are too open and too loose. I prefer it when we control games and have more structure to the team hence my preference for other coaches but that is a personal point of view. Our defending against Newcastle for example was very last ditch stuff at times but if we controlled the midfield better we would protect the back four better and everything would be less dramatic. Its the Scotty Parker vs Gareth Barry argument. I prefer the latter style of play and some prefer the former. Yes again with the analogies.

My issue with Pellers at the time was the lack of silverware and it still is. We play (at times) great football yet we are still 1 point behind Arsenal and only 1 point ahead of Chelsea who have been largely cack with no strikers worth mentioning. We have by far the best team/squad in the PL with Txiki making some great acquisitions in the summer bar Jovetic. (who may come good if he ever manages to get to a game). Edin had it spot on last night. This team/squad is the better than the title winning side with its key players in their 4th season together and with no ACON to distract us and Taggert out of the way the PL is/should be for the taking. Whether we do or not remains to be seen but its proving to be fascinating struggle as Jose frantically welds the plating to his battle tank and Wenger prays to the Gods of injuries and we for the love of mike keep conceding time and space in front of the fucking back four (end rant)...

So where was I? Ah yes. Is Pellers the man to lead us to glory or will he assume his customary role of most popular bridesmaid?

Well fuck knows. I can't call it but it has been enjoyable so whatever the outcome (and with the League Cup in the bag) I'll be philosophical if the outcome is us clutching a posy in our hands.

You've been away from this thread for a long time, which is understandable . But I remember your last post just as we were starting our winning run. You demanded to know if anyone could tell you what pellegrini's football philosophy was. 'Come on , the floor's yours...' you harrumphed.

Now, a month or so later, I would say there are as yet undiscovered life forms clinging onto hypothermic vents at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean who can clearly see a clear;
coherent, consistent , modern and exciting football philosophy being implemented at city. The question is, can you, bob?

Come on...the floor's yours ;-)

If I knew my extended Xmas and New Year break was going to cause you to pine I would have chipped in sooner...

Now this "clear, coherent, consistent , modern and exciting football philosophy being implemented at city" - well I'm all for a modern football philosophy I just didn't realise it would be a copy of the Keegan days at Newcastle. Are we a possession based side? Well its a bit hit and miss on that front as when we do dominate possession we really dominate but in our last 2 PL games we didn't have the lion's share of possession and not for the first time this season. Do we control games? If the opposition gets at us then no. Swansea waltzed through our middle as if we didn't exist at times and at Newcastle we had zero control in midfield and our passing was all over the place. Just two of the more recent examples but the yawning space in front of the back 4 does concern me and tactically well organised sides will start to make it harder as the season grinds on.

Were we are scoring though (literally) is out-gunning the opposition and playing more directly and at speed. Which is great to watch but I don't like the lack of control we have on games and I do have a concern that when Jose finishes building his fuck off tank and then gets around to strapping a fuck off big gun or two to the damn thing we will have problems.

If this is the Pellers way as endorsed by F&T then fine. It generates excitement and headlines and it is fun despite my reservations. Plus we are getting the breaks and the results so what the hell lets see where it takes us. Interestingly what this season has shown is why Pellers has never won major silverware in Europe because his approach will only work if the side he is coaching is comfortably the best in the league otherwise better sides and/or more tactically astute managers will just rip him to shreds and his record defensively does bear this out. On the upside I do think he has shown more imagination on set pieces and he is beginning to realise that shoring things up at times is no bad thing as witnessed by the indecent haste he shovelled Garcia on against Swansea when we went 1-2 up.

The other factor having watched the U16's earlier and with the whole set up taking shape and the rebel Death Star nearing completion and everything else that is happening is the comforting realisation that over the next decade we will win more titles then we will lose not to mention cup finals by the truck load so in all honesty if we do fancy our chances of winning the PL this year by simply scoring more goals then anyone else on any given day then why not give it a go. The worst that can happen is we finish 2nd and there is always next year. And the year after. And the year after that. So yeah I'll take the long view and if we don't win the PL this year and we have bagged a League Cup (which I really want us to win so I can say I saw us win all three domestic trophies. Bit selfish but there you go) I won't be getting stressed over it.

TTFN

 

[Ducado]

I seem to recall doing the 'managing a corner shop/Tesco' analogy.

First off, and I have said it enough times, I have no issue with Ferran & Txiki. For the board having F&T run things is a no brainer. The only real issue I had with Txiki was the total balls up over the way the managerial change was made. It was poorly handled and I expected better. I also think the board dropped a bollock with the way they tried/hoped to make a F&T and Roberto partnership 'work'. Accepting Roberto's resignation (which I will assume is true) would have been the smart move as it would have avoided having two separate camps trying to tun the show and wasting a year with everyone pulling in different directions.

Having listened to F&T at the NYC presser and the importance of the coach sharing their philosophy it again demonstrates why we do have Pellers and not Mancini/Mourinho/Benitez et al as it is F&T who dictate the philosophy and structure the squad accordingly. I'm a fan of the DoF model so again no issue from me.

On Pellers himself am liking the football but still believe that we are too open and too loose. I prefer it when we control games and have more structure to the team hence my preference for other coaches but that is a personal point of view. Our defending against Newcastle for example was very last ditch stuff at times but if we controlled the midfield better we would protect the back four better and everything would be less dramatic. Its the Scotty Parker vs Gareth Barry argument. I prefer the latter style of play and some prefer the former. Yes again with the analogies.

My issue with Pellers at the time was the lack of silverware and it still is. We play (at times) great football yet we are still 1 point behind Arsenal and only 1 point ahead of Chelsea who have been largely cack with no strikers worth mentioning. We have by far the best team/squad in the PL with Txiki making some great acquisitions in the summer bar Jovetic. (who may come good if he ever manages to get to a game). Edin had it spot on last night. This team/squad is the better than the title winning side with its key players in their 4th season together and with no ACON to distract us and Taggert out of the way the PL is/should be for the taking. Whether we do or not remains to be seen but its proving to be fascinating struggle as Jose frantically welds the plating to his battle tank and Wenger prays to the Gods of injuries and we for the love of mike keep conceding time and space in front of the fucking back four (end rant)...

So where was I? Ah yes. Is Pellers the man to lead us to glory or will he assume his customary role of most popular bridesmaid?

Well fuck knows. I can't call it but it has been enjoyable so whatever the outcome (and with the League Cup in the bag) I'll be philosophical if the outcome is us clutching a posy in our hands.

You've been away from this thread for a long time, which is understandable . But I remember your last post just as we were starting our winning run. You demanded to know if anyone could tell you what pellegrini's football philosophy was. 'Come on , the floor's yours...' you harrumphed.

Now, a month or so later, I would say there are as yet undiscovered life forms clinging onto hypothermic vents at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean who can clearly see a clear;
coherent, consistent , modern and exciting football philosophy being implemented at city. The question is, can you, bob?

Come on...the floor's yours ;-)

If I knew my extended Xmas and New Year break was going to cause you to pine I would have chipped in sooner...

Now this "clear, coherent, consistent , modern and exciting football philosophy being implemented at city" - well I'm all for a modern football philosophy I just didn't realise it would be a copy of the Keegan days at Newcastle. Are we a possession based side? Well its a bit hit and miss on that front as when we do dominate possession we really dominate but in our last 2 PL games we didn't have the lion's share of possession and not for the first time this season. Do we control games? If the opposition gets at us then no. Swansea waltzed through our middle as if we didn't exist at times and at Newcastle we had zero control in midfield and our passing was all over the place. Just two of the more recent examples but the yawning space in front of the back 4 does concern me and tactically well organised sides will start to make it harder as the season grinds on.

Were we are scoring though (literally) is out-gunning the opposition and playing more directly and at speed. Which is great to watch but I don't like the lack of control we have on games and I do have a concern that when Jose finishes building his fuck off tank and then gets around to strapping a fuck off big gun or two to the damn thing we will have problems.

If this is the Pellers way as endorsed by F&T then fine. It generates excitement and headlines and it is fun despite my reservations. Plus we are getting the breaks and the results so what the hell lets see where it takes us. Interestingly what this season has shown is why Pellers has never won major silverware in Europe because his approach will only work if the side he is coaching is comfortably the best in the league otherwise better sides and/or more tactically astute managers will just rip him to shreds and his record defensively does bear this out. On the upside I do think he has shown more imagination on set pieces and he is beginning to realise that shoring things up at times is no bad thing as witnessed by the indecent haste he shovelled Garcia on against Swansea when we went 1-2 up.

The other factor having watched the U16's earlier and with the whole set up taking shape and the rebel Death Star nearing completion and everything else that is happening is the comforting realisation that over the next decade we will win more titles then we will lose not to mention cup finals by the truck load so in all honesty if we do fancy our chances of winning the PL this year by simply scoring more goals then anyone else on any given day then why not give it a go. The worst that can happen is we finish 2nd and there is always next year. And the year after. And the year after that. So yeah I'll take the long view and if we don't win the PL this year and we have bagged a League Cup (which I really want us to win so I can say I saw us win all three domestic trophies. Bit selfish but there you go) I won't be getting stressed over it.

TTFN

To be fair to quote George W Bush you sound like a "bitter ender" your not going to back down are you, because even though you know you were wrong the loss of face is too hard to contemplate

Have it your own, you paint yourself into a corner you will have to get out out it

There is absolutely nothing wrong with being wrong (I was once wrong about something ;-) )