So what's to be done?

[robbieh]

A clear out of certain players who don't adapt to a 442 system, we simply haven't got the players to operate this system because they can't be arsed to track back and put a shift in, we need 11 tevez,s you couldn't fault his commitment once he stepped onto the pitch.

Or how about we stop leaving ourselves wide open.......and simply play the system that best suits our players? 4-2-3-1?

How the hell can we play an orthodox 4-4-2 with undisciplined fullbacks,a core that struggles for mobility,no natural wingers and two players upfront who have zero cohesion and little desire to defend?

And all the above with a manager who is as predictable as night and day in his approach and when it comes to adaptability and tactics?

We need fresh ideas,both in the dug out and on the pitch.

That is a complete analysis of our problems. How MP thinks we can play 442 against anyone is beyond comprehension. It will be much less expensive adapting what we have to the right formation rather than selling and buying in an attempt to play his favoured formation.

 

[oscarG]

Manchester City’s problems go way beyond Manuel pellegrini at Turf Moor on Saturday, it could be argued that the two best players on the pitch that had ever suited up for Manchester City were Ben Mee and Kieran Trippier, two defenders the Blues gave up on several years ago. Both players have been instrumental in bringing Burnley back to the top flight and to the Clarets survival fight this year. This is no small irony. Manchester City last brought through a regular from the Academy when Sven Goran-Eriksson was manager and Thaskin Shinawatra owned the club. While a “holistic” approach has been promised by the club’s top brass, nothing remotely resembling it has been on display as of yet.


The top brass led by Ferran Soriano and ‘Txiki’ Begiristain have made one mistake after another since assuming control of the club in late 2012. The sacking of Roberto Mancini as City manager ushered in an era of less drama but also of consistently bad transfer buys and ultimately less competitive soccer. Pellegrini inherited a good squad from Mancini and was able to get footballers to play with a collective spirit last season. He also benefitted from Liverpool’s late season collapse and Chelsea’s unlikely dropping of points to multiple relegation contenders in the last two months of the season. Had things gone according to form last season, Manchester City would have finished third in the league, but Pellegrini can be credited with keeping the drama out of the dressing room and being the fortunate recipient of others’ bad luck.

This season, however, the bad transfer policies and lack of understanding of English football demonstrated by Soriano and Begiristain have been fully exposed. We have not made a value buy in the transfer market since Roberto Mancini was manager and Brian Marwood was largely responsible for player dealings.


The last several transfer windows have seen us overpay for several players based on the continent while giving up on some of Mancini’s later buys.

Take the cases of Matija Nastasić and Scott Sinclair. During Nastasić’s first season with the club in 2012-13, he was outstanding and considered one of the brightest young talents in the English game. A single mistake against Chelsea in October 2013 lost him a place in the side. And without any league starts in a year, he was shipped off to Schalke on loan. This week that loan was made permanent. Currently, the Blues central defense is a complete mess whose only reliable performer is 34 year-old Martín Demichelis.

In Sinclair’s case, Manchester City has virtually no game-changing attacking options on the bench except for 36 year-old Frank Lampard who will move to Major League Soccer in the summer. Yet Sinclair was never afforded the opportunity to play a critical late-game role until weeks before he was loaned to Aston Villa, where he started out well, scoring 3 goals in his last 5 games for the Midlands club.


We have taken a different approach than Chelsea in the transfer market. The West London club has bought young players and either loaned them out consistently, or played them for a season or two, watched their value peak and then sell them. Our approach has often been to buy older, more established players, give them big contracts and keep them together as a core of the team. This leaves us with very few good sellable parts in an era where Financial Fair Play (FFP) makes creativity in the transfer market a must.

At the same time, the club has failed to forward an acceptable contract offer to arguably our hardest-working player, James Milner. The utility of Milner would be obvious to those grounded in the finer points of English soccer – but City’s brass, obsessive about being a global brand and committed to continental style, has at least from the outside not given the Leeds-born midfielder the respect he deserves or the respect perhaps he would have gotten were he from somewhere else.

The club’s hierarchy has been focused largely in recent months on the launch of a sister club in MLS, NYCFC and the opening of the City Academy for Excellence in East Manchester. Both are worthwhile projects, but neither solves any of the immediate concerns that very well could see us slide out of contention for honors over the next few seasons.


So while Pellegrini’s position is in question, the very soul of Manchester City has been ripped apart and the sacking of a manager might only give a temporary respite. Bigger questions must be asked of those making the decisions above Pellegrini, as to why our club that looked poised to potentially dominate the English game for many years is so off course. We are way behind where we should be. and seem to have a great season then a poor one, due to mistakes being made over and over again. I still think we will finish second in the league. But this could also come crashing down us this year if the slide continues. I think pellegrini will be made the scapegoat as he has' nt done himself any favours but heads must roll upstairs aswell.

 

[Lovebitesandeveryfing]

Make no mistake: that second spot is now under threat.
That is not flapping. It is facing the cold, harsh light of day on this Monday morning.
On New Year’s Day, we had drawn exactly level with Chelsea, both in terms of points and goal difference. We were contenders.
We then scraped a win against Wednesday in the Cup, and since the draw at Everton, in early January, we have been, in effect, dismal.
We could lose that second spot. It could happen. Arsenal are in an upward spiral, and who does not now see that we have been in a downward one for weeks? It’s strange, isn’t it, to think back to Wenger being jeered at on the platform at Stoke station.
And if we drop to third, or even fourth (!), now by any yardstick, that is regression. Regression not just in relation to last season. Regression in relation to what has been happening at this club over the last four years. In fact, in the longest perspective, regression in relation to the overall project of MCFC since the takeover.
Hard questions must be asked at the end of the season, both of the manager, and of the players. They have looked just a bit too humble, and not particularly hungry, for most of the season. Pellegrini himself has at times looked confused, incoherent in his tactics.
Hard question time from the owners. But not, I hope, before the end of the season. Qualification for the CL is an absolute minimum. I believe we’ll do that, with a fair bit to spare, but let’s see… Think on this: nobody’s been paying much attention to this eventuality, but if Everton win that Europa League — nobody’s thought of it as plausible, on account of their dire form in the league, but the league and Europe are different things — there are not four spots, but three only, available for CL qualification. And there’s going to be some very unhappy bunnies.

 

[robbieh]

Let's get radical.

Pellegrini and Txiki out. Klopp in. 4321 Sell 5 star players bring in 4 immediate first teamers.


The question is which 5 to go. For me. Yaya, Kompany, Edin, Kolarov, Nasri plus Sinclair, Richards, Sagna Caballero, Boyata.

So first team

........................................Hart
Zabaleta.....Ramos.....Mangala....Kurzawa
............Veratti,,,,,,,Fernandinho.....Gundongan
........................Silva..................Jovetic
.....................,,,,,,,,,,,,...Kun

Bench

Bony, Milner. Mdm, Clichy, Lopes, Fernando and promote other youngsters.

That team looks to have a tad more energy I suggest.

 

[bluenose45]

We need to rekindle the 'desire' that's missing (and has been for a lot of this season). Some players look pissed off and as though they couldn't give a f*ck. My personal view is that Yaya's continuing antics have a lot to do with it and so I would get rid off him and Nasri, as well as a few others, and replace with younger, hungrier players. I'm afraid MP my need to go as well unless he can rekindle that desire and energy in the team.

 

[Jack Wills]

I don't think we need big changes in terms of selling players. Title winning international players don't turn shit in one summer even allowing for ageing. What they do need to change is the attitude within the whole squad; there's an obvious complacency which has settled in and partly that's down to the manager, and of course the players themselves.

We need more urgency, more desire and more ruthlessness. And against the shit teams we need this just as much because those are the areas where they can match us and at the moment beat us.

Keep Yaya, on his day he's a match winner as we've seen many times, but he needs to be told he's not a guaranteed starter and not above being taken off when he looks like he can't be arsed.

Change the manager. Thanks for last season Pellers, but we do need a hungrier, more inspirational character and someone who isn't afraid or incapable of changing tactics and players when things aren't working.

Sign Bale, at any cost.

If possible also sign Pogba.

 

[BluessinceHydeRoad]

Let's get radical.

Pellegrini and Txiki out. Klopp in. 4321 Sell 5 star players bring in 4 immediate first teamers.


The question is which 5 to go. For me. Yaya, Kompany, Edin, Kolarov, Nasri plus Sinclair, Richards, Sagna Caballero, Boyata.

So first team

........................................Hart
Zabaleta.....Ramos.....Mangala....Kurzawa
............Veratti,,,,,,,Fernandinho.....Gundongan
........................Silva..................Jovetic
.....................,,,,,,,,,,,,...Kun

Bench

Bony, Milner. Mdm, Clichy, Lopes, Fernando and promote other youngsters.

That team looks to have a tad more energy I suggest.

This is fairly typical of the posts from the "football manager" or "FIFA" school of City fans, those who know they have the ability to win every trophy in football if only a "big club" would trust them. You begin with a "Let's get radical" which immdiately prompts the questio "why?". Then it's "Pellegrini and Txiki out. Klopp in. 4321. Sell 5 star players and bring in 4 immediate first teamers." It's clear why you want Txiki out, because you've just done the DoF job for him but appear to have reduced the quality of the team significantly without actually increasing it's energy levels. Running around like blue ***** flies is not the kind of energy needed to win trophies. Klopp seems a good manager, but I doubt he'd take too kindly to you telling him who's got to play in his team or how he has to play, so why we should appoint him I don't know. But I doubt he'd find selling Ya Ya, Vinnie, Edin, Nasri or Kolarov much to his taste, and I doubt Milner would want to sign a new contract with a set on the bench as the bait. I'm not sure how you'd justify promoting Jovetic to a regular place in the team. Then there's the wonderfully vague bit about "promoting other youngsters". Any idea who, or is that the one decision you'd leave to Klopp?

The fact is that the present players are clearly good enough to win trophies and the manager is, but this season we have apparently disintegrated as the season has worn on and many of the players look mere shadows of what they were last season. The reasons are not clear and need careful consideration and "shipping out" some of the best players in the PL, and even some of the best in the worlld will only make things worse.

 

[mosssideblue]

Let's get radical.
Pellegrini and Txiki out. Klopp in. 4321 Sell 5 star players bring in 4 immediate first teamers.


The question is which 5 to go. For me. Yaya, Kompany, Edin, Kolarov, Nasri plus Sinclair, Richards, Sagna Caballero, Boyata.

So first team

........................................Hart
Zabaleta.....Ramos.....Mangala....Kurzawa
............Veratti,,,,,,,Fernandinho.....Gundongan
........................Silva..................Jovetic
.....................,,,,,,,,,,,,...Kun

Bench

Bony, Milner. Mdm, Clichy, Lopes, Fernando and promote other youngsters.

That team looks to have a tad more energy I suggest.

I dont think Radical will happen. Do you?

 

[robbieh]

Let's get radical.
Pellegrini and Txiki out. Klopp in. 4321 Sell 5 star players bring in 4 immediate first teamers.


The question is which 5 to go. For me. Yaya, Kompany, Edin, Kolarov, Nasri plus Sinclair, Richards, Sagna Caballero, Boyata.

So first team

........................................Hart
Zabaleta.....Ramos.....Mangala....Kurzawa
............Veratti,,,,,,,Fernandinho.....Gundongan
........................Silva..................Jovetic
.....................,,,,,,,,,,,,...Kun

Bench

Bony, Milner. Mdm, Clichy, Lopes, Fernando and promote other youngsters.

That team looks to have a tad more energy I suggest.

I dont think Radical will happen. Do you?

No I don't. But I do think these 4 relatively gettable players would improve our team drastically despite offloading stars such as Yaya, Vincent and Nasri.

It was an exercise to show that a little judicious buying and selling, freshening things up a bit, adding youth, knowing what formation suits the players you already have better and maybe making a profit.

 

[cibaman]

There have been numerous assistant managers and coaches that have been labelled "the next top manager" that subsequently proved to be anything but. Including Stuart Pearce.

I'm bemused at how certain some people are that Vieira will be a great manager. For all we know he might simply be implementing Begiristain's instructions without having any original ideas of his own. We just dont know how good he is.