BluessinceHydeRoad
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- 26 Mar 2012
- Messages
- 2,562
Like many other fans I felt, as Vinnie suggested, that the derby would be the day the team stood up and showed that form is temporary while class is permanent. When I saw the team sheet I was doubly encouraged; our manager had gone with one up front - even if only because of our four strikers two were injured and one lamentably out of form - and was going to take the rags on in midfield, dominate possession and give them a fairly hefty hiding. I was a little intrigued (rather than concerned) to see that Fernando was on the bench, but Milner is a far more energetic player and could up the tempo nicely. For the first ten minutes my best hopes came nicely to fruition; City one up and it could have been three! Then it all went wrong. Not for the first time three United lads converged on Zaba, picked up the loose ball and Young -who usually finds that he can only occupy himself on derby day falling over his own feet - put the rags level. It became clear that Pellegrini had simply found another way of allowing the opposition to overwhelm us in midfield; we were playing only one up front but still only had two in central midfield. Milner was not to be a third CM and increasingly appeared on the left rather than on Carrick and Ferna and Ya Ya found themselves in their now customary role of being outnumbered 3 to 2 and more often 4 to 2. No wonder they now look tetchy and depressed most of the time. They're actually out of position most of the time - through no fault of their own. For the rest of the afternoon CIty had no shape and no obvious formation. Instead we resembled a rather unpleasant stain oozing around until it spread from one end of the pitch to the other.
My fear is that Pellegrini is prepared to accept that the "slump is down" to him, but that he is too dogmatic to do anything about it and that excellent professionals are being dismissed as "over the hill" because they can't be in several places at once to remedy the errors of a manager who treats team selection as musical chairs, especially at the back, where Vinnie must be crying out for a lengthy rest to recover from tiresome niggling injuries which have ruined his season and may ruin his career if not dealt with properly. Many players on Sunday seemed bewildered and clueless as to what the manager actually wanted them to do. If this isn't sorted we will find that games which look certain 3 pointers will become very tricky in the last weeks of the season and Spurs and Swansea away and Southampton at home will be very nasty indeed. Villa are not in bad nick at the moment either.
My fear is that Pellegrini is prepared to accept that the "slump is down" to him, but that he is too dogmatic to do anything about it and that excellent professionals are being dismissed as "over the hill" because they can't be in several places at once to remedy the errors of a manager who treats team selection as musical chairs, especially at the back, where Vinnie must be crying out for a lengthy rest to recover from tiresome niggling injuries which have ruined his season and may ruin his career if not dealt with properly. Many players on Sunday seemed bewildered and clueless as to what the manager actually wanted them to do. If this isn't sorted we will find that games which look certain 3 pointers will become very tricky in the last weeks of the season and Spurs and Swansea away and Southampton at home will be very nasty indeed. Villa are not in bad nick at the moment either.