Barcelona Loss Was Manuel Pellegrini's Fault Alone, Our Players Did Themselves Credit In Second Half

When we play the likes of Barcelona and Bayern Munich in Europe, we are already on the back foot before matches are even played. European match officials are under immense pressure and 8 out of 10 times favour the established elite. This was clear against Barcelona, Roma and Bayern Munich, when their players commit fouls none of them get booked unless it's impossible not to book them. But the second one of our players commit a foul the cards come flying out. I've always said you need to be able to beat a 12 man team in Europe to succeed, most recently Frank Lampard said it himself. You need luck to win the Champions League and it's pretty clear we have been on the other end of luck for the entire world to see.

Never been a fan of cheating little scumbag Dani Alves, he feigned injury to get Clichy sent off, then got subbed off after even fooling his own club. Then proceeds by throwing a childish liccle baby hissy fit about it.

BUT this most recent game against FC Barcelona was doomed from the start, it doesn't take a brain surgeon to realize that without Yaya Toure we were going to struggle. It is pretty clear that only two Manchester City players were capable of replacing him in Wilfried Bony and Fernandinho, so why was it that Fernando and Dzeko who were useless and totally inconsistent chosen ahead of Bony and Fernandinho?

Instead of crowding out the midfield and playing on the counter attack like Malaga did, Pellegrini decides to play two forwards with Edin Dzeko who can't tackle for shit and Fernando over Fernandinho. The first being a flop (maybe flops a little harsh but still) and the second being a success since they arrived at City?

In Wilfried Bony we have the perfect player to replace Yaya Toure, the fact we played better when Fernandinho and Bony came on in the second half clearly shows I'm right and it is Pellegrini's fault. From day one of Pellegrini being linked with the job at City I was excited, enthusiastic and totally behind the man for the job, but a few years on I'm starting to see flaws in Pellegrini.

He has an unwillingness to adapt, to have a plan B, C and even D, this sticking to one style of play will never bring the Champions League trophy to Manchester City. Again it doesn't take a brain surgeon to realize that, Pellegrini needs to learn to adapt and get City playing 2 or 3 different ways.

If we go out of the Champions League at Camp Nou and lose our Premier League title, I will have no choice but to call for the sacking of Pellegrini in much the same way I lost faith in Roberto Mancini. Pellegrini and Mancini both have my respect for what they can do, but not for what they fail to do.

In the first half we were blatantly caught short in Midfield because of Dzeko and an ineffective Fernando, as soon as Barca cut us open and scored the first, we were a total mess and everyone was panicking. We lost the fight in midfield because of Pellegrini being naive and thinking we could take on Barcelona with Fernando and Dzeko. The media had been screaming for Pellgrini not to play 442, Barcelona themselves were saying they were looking forward to playing City even more after finding out City would attack attack attack. If that wasn't a bloody warning then what is aye.

Luckily for us Pellegrini was forced to see the error and get on Fernandinho and Bony before it was too late, luckily for Pellegrini our lads put in a strong second half display and gave us an outside chance at Camp Nou. We even have Frank Lampard on the bench, where the heck was he on the night other than stuck on the bench?

My  Man of the Match: Joe Hart

Keep the Faith - Pride in Battle

Why Couldn't City Win Without Yaya, Fortune Is Finally Shining Bright At City

Why have Manchester City struggled to win without Yaya Toure present, although we got our first win without Yaya Toure this season against Stoke. The past games have been disappointing with Fernando and Fernandinho in midfield, as of yet Fernando has achieved nothing to justify why we bought him. Fernandinho is a shadow of the player he was last year, Nasri being out injured has clearly been one factor that added to Yaya's absence and our struggles, David Silva has also been out injured so justifiably hasn't been anywhere near his magical form until now, Lampard is another question, why loan him if we aren't going to use him in the absence of Yaya Toure?  Navas is finally finding good form but until now had been appalling, James Milner has been a shining light in an otherwise dark moment for City and pretty much single-handedly kept us in the title ace for sure.

Sergio is back from injury and only just finding his form which is also understandable, Dzeko has barely started one match since October. Stevan Jovetic has been injured a fair bit but has also disappointed, being dropped from the Champions League was harsh but someone had to make way. It was only ever going to be Jovetic or Dzeko, Jovetic's injury record evidently came back to haunt him.

Vinnie has been poor by his very high standards to date, One definitive reason why we have struggled. Luckily for City and us City fans we've weathered the worst of the season, finally our players are starting to find form at the right time and pull it together, with Yaya Toure back and the exciting addition of Wilfried Bony finally arriving we are well on our way to take the fight to Chelsea.

Yaya has the uncanny ability to thread thread perfect passes through to the likes of Silva in the hole, he also links up well with Zabba making those runs in behind the full back. Fernandinho has attempted to take on this roll since Yaya has been away but he's struggled to find the right pass.

The other problem this season is that teams were finding a way to frustrate us by getting well organised and defending deeper by parking the bus, leaving us very little space to get in behind between the defenders and the goalkeeper. I know this is a dangerous game plan but it's making it difficult to get our attacking players goal side which is our strength. On many occasions we were limited to shooting from outside the box,which Yaya does best. We need to find a way to draw opponents out since they park the bus against us at home and sometimes away. Cough,Cough Chelsea.

I and CiTyBlUe are in agreement that we desperately need a plan B and C, CiTyBlUe is of the mind that Wilfried Bony will give us a plan B. We are also in agreement that our failings have not just been down to Yaya Toure being absent, but more that our players have been out of form and we have been dealt a few too many very bad decisions by match officials.

What's your opinion?, have your say.