As much as he has achieved for our club to date I have got to say I find Pellegrini tactically naive and prone to mistakes, he puts far too much trust in our players to just go out and destroy teams, he hesitates to make vital substitutions at important moments and is not animated enough on the touch line as far as I'm concerned. Yeah yeah I know he's qualified and I am not, before someone jumps on the bandwagon I don't play football games as I have a life to live. It doesn't take a qualified genius to see the mistakes made or the cracks opening up, here's where I believe it all started to go wrong.
Right from the start when Manuel Pellegrini all but destroyed Kelechi Iheanacho's perfect start to the season, I can only hope being dropped from our Champions League squad does not affect the kid negatively.
Lets face facts here we only have 3 strikers aka Sergio Aguero, Wilfried Bony and Kelechi Iheanacho, it was clearly stated by Pellegrini himself that Edin Dzeko was not replaced because we have Iheanacho, so why the hell drop Kelechi from our Champions League squad aye? We all know Sergio is carrying a knee issue and Wilfried Bony can't even hit the sky right now. I was so excited by the arrival of Bony but must say, I'm starting to get really frustrated with him right now. He was the worst player on the pitch against Juventus.
Wilfried Bony should have been replaced by Sergio Aguero immediately after half time, by bringing Aguero on for less than 10 minutes was just a complete and utter joke. Pellegrini was clearly hoping for Sergio to bag us a point, play for a bloody draw for crying out loud., either that or he was hoping for a repeat of our title winning miracle against QPR.
Taking Raheem Sterling off the field when Samir Nasri was useless, completely ended all hope of winning our opening Champions League match as far as I'm concerned. Why he isn't playing our strongest attacking lineup is baffling to say the least, there was no valid reason why we couldn't have played Kevin De Bruyne from the start? Why Nasri when he's proven he's only effective off the bench? In my opinion our strongest attacking mid combo are Sterling, Silva, De Bruyne and all three are fit enough to play.
Yaya Toure is found wanting at times in Europe even with a solid Fernandinho backing him up, Fernando in place of Yaya would have given Silva, Sterling and De Bruyne more space in the final third.
Juventus smelt blood the moment Vincent Kompany forced an own goal against their main man Giorgio Chiellini, they felt robbed by the referee and upped the tempo. Pellegrini bottled it and substituted Kompany at the wrong time fearing he would end up injured, as great as Otamendi is, bringing him straight into the game at such a stupid time when he hasn't ever played a full game for City yet, was just asking for it and what happened? You know the rest. Otamendi should have been played from the start along side Kompany, but no Pellegrini cowards out not wanting to split up Kompany and Mangala and what happens? Mangala was to blame for Juve's equaliser after failing to pick up Mandzukic. A lot of City fans were up in arms in support of Mangala while I warned them Mangala would eventually come undone and start making big mistakes, I believe if Otamendi was started in place of Mangala and if Kompany wasn't taken off we would have won or at least drawn, Pellegrini dropping Iheanacho, his team selection and substitutions led to Juventus's second goal and victory.
On that note well done to Juventus for turning up as Chelsea, effective performance but second most utterly boring team I've ever had the privilege to have to watch. I'd rather watch Crystal Palace in the wind and rain, see you in Turin.
My team selection would have been Iheanacho, Sterling, Silva, De Bruyne, Yaya, Fernandinho, Sagna, Otamendi, Kompany, Kolarov, Hart. Substitutions: Sergio on in place of Sterling and Demichelis on in place of Kompany.
Manuel Pellegrini to blame but I hope he see's the error of his ways for City's sake.
i actually stopped reading this bullshit at "Pellegrini bottled it and substituted Kompany at the wrong time fearing he would end up injured"
ReplyDeleteyou do know that he was substituted becoz he was injured
just saying that you need to watch the game before you make comments...
Get your facts straight he wasn't injured, he had a tight calf and sat on the bench after going off with an ice pack on.
DeleteStraight from the horses mouth "No, it was a precaution," said the 29-year-old, who has suffered from a series of injury problems in recent years. "It's not serious. I know my body."
DeleteHere's a bit of humble pie for you.
Another fair weather foamer do me a favour and support someone else if, that is, you are a City fan.
ReplyDeleteFair weather?, ahahahahaha, after 30 odd years of support, there's more chance you defecting to the rags than there is me giving up on City. Do yourself a favour and take your menopause elsewhere.
DeleteWell I agree totally with the article which is well written and accurate. Walking football played again by City and Pellegrini to blame.
ReplyDelete