When did it all start to go wrong?

[momo88]

Rodwell garcia sinclair maicon & So so nastasic ( by the way not less than mangala)

So 2012 summer

 

[basokla]

There's a lot of revisionist opinion regarding the Mancini reign, which was frequently dull and dour.
However, from the first minute of his first game in charge, the same defence, who had previously conceded nine goals against Bolton, Tottenham, and Sunderland suddenly looked a well drilled cohesive unit.

Also, apart from Kolarov or Clichy, and Balotelli or Dzeko, the first eleven virtually picked itself. Adam Johnson was the perfect sub when City were already winning, and in the title winning season, Mancini's decision to replace Tevez with De Jong, (and so grant Yaya the licence to bomb upfield) was inspirational.

I didn't necessarily agree with his tactics, but I understood them.

Under Pellegrini, we chop and change, frequently discarding our best player from the previous weekend. We give the impression that we don't practice set pieces, and even worse we've become stale, slow and predictable.

I haven't a clue what our best team is this season, bur more importantly, I don't think Pellegrini does.

A constant theme.

 

[Prestwich_Blue]

There's a lot of revisionist opinion regarding the Mancini reign, which was frequently dull and dour.
However, from the first minute of his first game in charge, the same defence, who had previously conceded nine goals against Bolton, Tottenham, and Sunderland suddenly looked a well drilled cohesive unit.

Also, apart from Kolarov or Clichy, and Balotelli or Dzeko, the first eleven virtually picked itself. Adam Johnson was the perfect sub when City were already winning, and in the title winning season, Mancini's decision to replace Tevez with De Jong, (and so grant Yaya the licence to bomb upfield) was inspirational.

I didn't necessarily agree with his tactics, but I understood them.

Under Pellegrini, we chop and change, frequently discarding our best player from the previous weekend. We give the impression that we don't practice set pieces, and even worse we've become stale, slow and predictable.

I haven't a clue what our best team is this season, bur more importantly, I don't think Pellegrini does.

That's pretty well spot on in my opinion. When you look at how Mancini set us up in the 6-1, where we played 4-4-2 with Yaya in central midfield compared to how Pellegrini did it with a majority of the same starting XI you could see what Mancini was trying to do. What was the plan on Sunday?

 

[kiam06]

Were are 4th there's not much gone wrong we just need a bit of tweaking to get back to the top.

 

[Bluekiwi]

Were are 4th there's not much gone wrong we just need a bit of tweaking to get back to the top.

Is this a post from Pelligrini himself?
There's lots gone wrong and we need a lot of tweaking to sort things out.

Instead of MP thinking things will get better he needs to be proactive and MAKE things better. And if that means putting BIG names on the bench because they are 'coasting', then so be it. The sheik has not invested millions into our club for it to be frittered away by inaction from any member of the club, management or players. Some of the football followers in foreign countries recently attracted to us will start turning their backs on us in favour of, dare I say it, the scum. The sheik wants global recognition for us and we can only get that by winning and/or playing attractive football.

 

[Blue Til Death]

Burnley at home was the catalyst for our demise as far as I am concerned, as to why it happened, no fookin idea...!!!

 

[cibaman]

I dont necessarily subscribe to the view that a manager has to have a "best team". What he does need to know is what his best team is for the next match. Sometimes MP's selections just seem bizarre bearing in mind the opposition.

 

[Neville Kneville]

There's a lot of revisionist opinion regarding the Mancini reign, which was frequently dull and dour.
However, from the first minute of his first game in charge, the same defence, who had previously conceded nine goals against Bolton, Tottenham, and Sunderland suddenly looked a well drilled cohesive unit.

Also, apart from Kolarov or Clichy, and Balotelli or Dzeko, the first eleven virtually picked itself. Adam Johnson was the perfect sub when City were already winning, and in the title winning season, Mancini's decision to replace Tevez with De Jong, (and so grant Yaya the licence to bomb upfield) was inspirational.

I didn't necessarily agree with his tactics, but I understood them.

Under Pellegrini, we chop and change, frequently discarding our best player from the previous weekend. We give the impression that we don't practice set pieces, and even worse we've become stale, slow and predictable.

I haven't a clue what our best team is this season, bur more importantly, I don't think Pellegrini does.

The same stuff happened under Mancini.

He sabotaged his own defence after winning the title with it. And started trying to play 3 at the back with a team clearly not cut out for it.

As for set pieces, Mancini's team was one of the worst, then became quite good for a short while, then shit again. Last season we were one of the best, now one of the worst.

Same thing.

As for Yaya, I still remember his performance under Mancini in Kieiv. Made Sunday's look like vintage Colin Bell. Or his 'marking' of Cavani in Napoli, or tracking Ribery etc in Germany etc etc etc. He was at his peak then. And if our last performance at Spurs under Mancini was a tight well organised defence, then I'm the Pope.

We have seen all this before, it has not just started under Pellegrini. And Yaya was at his peak back then. Not anymore.

 

[supercity88]

There's a lot of revisionist opinion regarding the Mancini reign, which was frequently dull and dour.
However, from the first minute of his first game in charge, the same defence, who had previously conceded nine goals against Bolton, Tottenham, and Sunderland suddenly looked a well drilled cohesive unit.

Also, apart from Kolarov or Clichy, and Balotelli or Dzeko, the first eleven virtually picked itself. Adam Johnson was the perfect sub when City were already winning, and in the title winning season, Mancini's decision to replace Tevez with De Jong, (and so grant Yaya the licence to bomb upfield) was inspirational.

I didn't necessarily agree with his tactics, but I understood them.

Under Pellegrini, we chop and change, frequently discarding our best player from the previous weekend. We give the impression that we don't practice set pieces, and even worse we've become stale, slow and predictable.

I haven't a clue what our best team is this season, bur more importantly, I don't think Pellegrini does.

Pellegrini's ethos is about system and tactics. That's why he persisted with his preferred set up at the start of last season despite injured personnel suggesting we should play a different way. He doesn't focus on the individuals he focuses on the collective. Credit to him because we saw how good the formation was when everyone knew their role and it clicked. Some of the best football we've seen in recent years.

For Malaga and Villareal in the CL he had a plan B which consisted of a more defensive lineup. He played one way in the first leg, another in the second and it was generally very effective.

The trouble with City and his time here is that despite the constant poor performances when our preferred 11 aren't playing, he hasn't changed things. When we have shown respect to the opposition and changed things we've looked shoddy and it hasn't been effective. You can argue about poor form and the personnel but I wonder how he took Malaga and Villareal so far but we've not managed to be as efficient in his tactical set up...

For me a lot of it is down to the workrate of our players as opposed to those he had at Malaga/Villareal. You see from the likes of Simeone and Mourinho that if a player doesn’t work hard they are out of the side, whether they are a quality player or not. If they don’t work for the team they sit on the bench and they get sold. Pellegrini’s system is all about workrate. You can’t play three banks of 2 in a 4-2-2-2 without everyone putting in huge effort. What I’ve noticed this season, and first identified in the game away in Moscow, is that opposition sides have been able to stroll through the heart of our midfield and get at our defence. That’s led to our defenders being drawn out (Kompany mostly) and space left behind them whilst the full back is dragged wide. It’s so simple. Now the trouble in that game wasn’t Yaya being “lazy” – he was actually doing his job perfectly and pressing the ball. The trouble was that there was an easy pass to another CSKA player who was unmarked. It then became a simple 1-2 pass and they were past Yaya and Fernando.

His system is all about pressing from the team as a whole. Not one or two players. Everyone. The first ten minutes at the swamp we did it. We won the ball back because Jones, Smalling, Fellaini and Carrick can be got at if you pressure them. Fernandinho was intercepting, we passed well and we were creating chances. Then it stopped. The pressing wasn’t as a team, there was space for the rags to play the ball and you ended up with Fernandinho and Yaya having to cover too much space in the middle and our defence becoming isolated.

The fault lies with Pellegrini because for some reason the team aren’t pressing collectively. Re-watch our home game against Spurs last season. Watch from the kick off how there isn’t a single spuds player without pressure. Look at the mistakes it forces and how we win the ball back. Look at the opening minutes from the swamp… see the same. Then look at how we played after that. Look at how only certain players were under pressure and how it became far too easy.

If you play with the tactics of Mancini or Mourinho, the strength you have is that you remain compact. The opposition still have trouble breaking you down, even if you are playing badly. Because of our style of play, pressing from the front – a bad day can be punished very easily because you leave yourself so exposed. Maybe the team needs new players for it to work, but my concern is that we’ve seen too many changes and the system has failed for too long now. It’s obvious that the team aren’t playing it correctly and the manager is the one that needs to sort it, but he’s failed.

 

[mosssideblue]

We are still in the top echelons of the PL and need to take losses on the chin. We cannot win every game and no matter who / what we change we will still have silly losses along the way.

Forget the we are better than them syndrom, over the years the PL has exposed that as a myth

I'm afraid it comes down to footballs rich tapestry