Pellegrini's Selections

[Douglas Higginbottom]

I have kept away till now and I did hope he would come out and admit he got it wrong. Sadly It seems not the case. WE all knew the scousers would play high tempo aggressive football and almost every team that plays like that against us causes masses of problems and especially so if they are a good team.

I am not sure how good Liverpool actually are but when a team concedes midfield as we did and also has 2 centre backs having a mare it certainly helps to make them look superb. For me Yaya is a squad player but must never ever be part of a central 2 in the middle. I really thought Pellers knew that by now but seemingly not.

If we had played at our very best with that team and set up we might have just about survived and even won but we were far from our best. Kun scored a great goal and looked alright albeit a fraction tentative, Sterling ran well but that touch of his let him down and although KDB made some xxlt crosses and passes he also looked a bit lightweight at times as he never got back and lost possession a few times too many.

Same team at Juve and we will be battered.

[South Stand Balti]

MP has refused to explain his selection, other than to say he would do it again. Go on then, I dare you. Please pick the same 11 at Juve, cos that's s game I truly don't give s fuck about.

[freshie]

I want him to justify that fucking abortion.

Fernandinho is our best player this year. DROPPED
Otamendi is our most dependable defender DROPPED
Yaya Toure needs to be DROPPED

Massive fuck up pellers

Spot on - my thoughts exactly

If guardiola is available this summer I guarantee pellegrini is a goner

[Ray78]

What might save Pellegrini is the return of one our key players and the rest of the squad getting back into contention along with an extended run in the Champions League.

[Dameerto]

I want him to justify that fucking abortion.

Fernandinho is our best player this year. DROPPED
Otamendi is our most dependable defender DROPPED
Yaya Toure needs to be DROPPED

Massive fuck up pellers

Has he got shares in whatever shell company owns Liverpool? There's not much else explains it.

[Peter Doherty (AGAIG)]

Embarrassing!

Shocker today. Thought we might be in trouble before we kicked off. I hope he isn't concentrating on Europe at the expense of the league or we'll end up potless.

[PeterParker]

I will say here what I posted on the match thread:

To be fair, the match against Juventus is huge, even if we are already qualified. We need to understand that it is vital for us to win the group. If we finish second, we will get Barcelona, simple.

Remember the relashionship between us and UEFA.

But there is a huge difference between saving for the next game and acting like muppets like we did yesterday.

[zabbadabbado]

I am finding it difficult to understand Pellegrini inconsistent team selections.

This is his third season with us. Yet he is still making the same stupid mistakes. He is either failing to prepare properly, thus by default he is preparing to fail. Or maybe he is just incompetent,age related.

Against Villa bottom of the league, Pellegrini went for a midfield 3, and we played most of that game, without a recognized striker when Bony went off injured. And he decided not to replace like for like. He later said his reasoning for this, was that Iheanacho was not suited in the lone striker role. What role did Iheanacho play yeserday afternoon for us ? we ground out a draw, in one of the dourest games of the season. It was a shocking negative display. Against the Rags, I could sort of understand his game plan, A point away at a title rival with injuries,could be valuable at the end of the season .

Today, here we go again 50,000 of us thought prior to kick off, when reading the team sheet. That dreaded combination of YaYa, and Fernando, in his midfield 2.To face a Liverpool side managed by Klopp. Every City fan in the stadium knew what was coming,except our own fucking manager. We knew they would pack the midfield, harass us off the ball with their energy. We all know how Dortmund play under Klopp. What was going through Pellegrini mind with that team selection. This is a serious question ?

We go from being ultra cautious, and negative, away at Villa bottom of the league. To a ridiculously stupid system, against a Liverpool side with a manager we know much about, from all our meetings with Dortmund. It plays out exactly as we all fully expected, over run in midfield ,Ya Ya blowing out of his arse, strolling around the pitch not tracking back. In effect we were left with a midfield 1 of Fernando losing all his composure, If that was not bad enough, once our solitary midfielder was over run, the last line of our defense was Demichelis, and Mangala. Demichelis last game saw Spurs shaft us by 4 goals, Mangala is useless, unless he is along side a decent defender like Kompany, or Otamandni.We know this. But the Engineer thought today was a good idea for this pairing .3-0 down in 30 + minutes


this also irks me about Pellegrini.. Within half an hour, it was obvious to each and everyone one of us, we were up shit creek without a paddle.3-0 down. He was sat there looking shell shocked. We should have been 5-0 down at half time, except for Liverpool poor finishing. He still waited until half time to make any changes, I mean seriously. What was that about. Even then he made things worse. Today could have been like Boro away under Sven. It was that shocking.

I could not believe he was so incompetent with that formation today. It was actually criminal. Not the first time he has done this to us either. His obsession with a midfield 2 has cost us many times before. How many more games before he learns, if ever.

Alarmingly he said he doesn't know what went wrong today after the game. And would start the same 11 again.

I think our form is concerning enough for us to be already making contingency plans for right now. We have put all our Eggs in the Guardiola Basket. We have already lost out on Klopp, with our Guardiola obsession. If he Stays at Bayern, and then goes to the Rags in 2017/2018 we are going to look like complete chumps. We have only 3 wins in our last 8 Premiership games. Our form this season has not been great.Good performances have been few, and far between. My point here is our obsessing with a manager who might never even come. And writing this season off under Pellegrini as a transitional one, might even cost us our top 4 place. If Guardiola is not coming next season, there is an argument in my eyes, to get rid of Pellegrini and get Ancelottii in before our season ends in disaster. We need to know where we stand with Guardiola. Keeping Pellegrini could be very risky for us indeed.

[Clowncrete]

I am finding it difficult to understand Pellegrini inconsistent team selections.

This is his third season with us. Yet he is still making the same stupid mistakes. He is either failing to prepare properly, thus by default he is preparing to fail. Or maybe he is just incompetent,age related.

Against Villa bottom of the league, Pellegrini went for a midfield 3, and we played most of that game, without a recognized striker when Bony went off injured. And he decided not to replace like for like. He later said his reasoning for this, was that Iheanacho was not suited in the lone striker role. What role did Iheanacho play yeserday afternoon for us ? we ground out a draw, in one of the dourest games of the season. It was a shocking negative display. Against the Rags, I could sort of understand his game plan, A point away at a title rival with injuries,could be valuable at the end of the season .

Today, here we go again 50,000 of us thought prior to kick off, when reading the team sheet. That dreaded combination of YaYa, and Fernando, in his midfield 2.To face a Liverpool side managed by Klopp. Every City fan in the stadium knew what was coming,except our own fucking manager. We knew they would pack the midfield, harass us off the ball with their energy. We all know how Dortmund play under Klopp. What was going through Pellegrini mind with that team selection. This is a serious question ?

We go from being ultra cautious, and negative, away at Villa bottom of the league. To a ridiculously stupid system, against a Liverpool side with a manager we know much about, from all our meetings with Dortmund. It plays out exactly as we all fully expected, over run in midfield ,Ya Ya blowing out of his arse, strolling around the pitch not tracking back. In effect we were left with a midfield 1 of Fernando losing all his composure, If that was not bad enough, once our solitary midfielder was over run, the last line of our defense was Demichelis, and Mangala. Demichelis last game saw Spurs shaft us by 4 goals, Mangala is useless, unless he is along side a decent defender like Kompany, or Otamandni.We know this. But the Engineer thought today was a good idea for this pairing .3-0 down in 30 + minutes


this also irks me about Pellegrini.. Within half an hour, it was obvious to each and everyone one of us, we were up shit creek without a paddle.3-0 down. He was sat there looking shell shocked. We should have been 5-0 down at half time, except for Liverpool poor finishing. He still waited until half time to make any changes, I mean seriously. What was that about. Even then he made things worse. Today could have been like Boro away under Sven. It was that shocking.

I could not believe he was so incompetent with that formation today. It was actually criminal. Not the first time he has done this to us either. His obsession with a midfield 2 has cost us many times before. How many more games before he learns, if ever.

Alarmingly he said he doesn't know what went wrong today after the game. And would start the same 11 again.

I think our form is concerning enough for us to be already making contingency plans for right now. We have put all our Eggs in the Guardiola Basket. We have already lost out on Klopp, with our Guardiola obsession. If he Stays at Bayern, and then goes to the Rags in 2017/2018 we are going to look like complete chumps. We have only 3 wins in our last 8 Premiership games. Our form this season has not been great.Good performances have been few, and far between. My point here is our obsessing with a manager who might never even come. And writing this season off under Pellegrini as a transitional one, might even cost us our top 4 place. If Guardiola is not coming next season, there is an argument in my eyes, to get rid of Pellegrini and get Ancelottii in before our season ends in disaster. We need to know where we stand with Guardiola. Keeping Pellegrini could be very risky for us indeed.

You have always been anti-Pellegrini since the Mancini days and I remember you saying we won't make top 4 last season as well. Ancellotti has a dreadful league record and you want him in when we are 2 points from the top in Novermber! Ancelotti isn't returning to management till next summer anyway.

[mcfc1632]

Like most on here my jaw dropped when I saw the team sheet.

It was that fucking obvious I immediately put £700 on redscouse at 4/1 and went high on a spread bet of their performance - it was that fucking obvious!!!!

Still as I took my 8 year old daughter on a 400mile round trip I was hoping to be wrong - it was just so fucking obvious

Klopp must have been as bemused as us - and what a boost it must have given them just before the start.

Against no team in the premier league can you start Ya Ya in that formation - certainly not against the way Klopp sets up and plays

[mcfc1632]

I am finding it difficult to understand Pellegrini inconsistent team selections.

This is his third season with us. Yet he is still making the same stupid mistakes. He is either failing to prepare properly, thus by default he is preparing to fail. Or maybe he is just incompetent,age related.

Against Villa bottom of the league, Pellegrini went for a midfield 3, and we played most of that game, without a recognized striker when Bony went off injured. And he decided not to replace like for like. He later said his reasoning for this, was that Iheanacho was not suited in the lone striker role. What role did Iheanacho play yeserday afternoon for us ? we ground out a draw, in one of the dourest games of the season. It was a shocking negative display. Against the Rags, I could sort of understand his game plan, A point away at a title rival with injuries,could be valuable at the end of the season .

Today, here we go again 50,000 of us thought prior to kick off, when reading the team sheet. That dreaded combination of YaYa, and Fernando, in his midfield 2.To face a Liverpool side managed by Klopp. Every City fan in the stadium knew what was coming,except our own fucking manager. We knew they would pack the midfield, harass us off the ball with their energy. We all know how Dortmund play under Klopp. What was going through Pellegrini mind with that team selection. This is a serious question ?

We go from being ultra cautious, and negative, away at Villa bottom of the league. To a ridiculously stupid system, against a Liverpool side with a manager we know much about, from all our meetings with Dortmund. It plays out exactly as we all fully expected, over run in midfield ,Ya Ya blowing out of his arse, strolling around the pitch not tracking back. In effect we were left with a midfield 1 of Fernando losing all his composure, If that was not bad enough, once our solitary midfielder was over run, the last line of our defense was Demichelis, and Mangala. Demichelis last game saw Spurs shaft us by 4 goals, Mangala is useless, unless he is along side a decent defender like Kompany, or Otamandni.We know this. But the Engineer thought today was a good idea for this pairing .3-0 down in 30 + minutes


this also irks me about Pellegrini.. Within half an hour, it was obvious to each and everyone one of us, we were up shit creek without a paddle.3-0 down. He was sat there looking shell shocked. We should have been 5-0 down at half time, except for Liverpool poor finishing. He still waited until half time to make any changes, I mean seriously. What was that about. Even then he made things worse. Today could have been like Boro away under Sven. It was that shocking.

I could not believe he was so incompetent with that formation today. It was actually criminal. Not the first time he has done this to us either. His obsession with a midfield 2 has cost us many times before. How many more games before he learns, if ever.

Alarmingly he said he doesn't know what went wrong today after the game. And would start the same 11 again.

I think our form is concerning enough for us to be already making contingency plans for right now. We have put all our Eggs in the Guardiola Basket. We have already lost out on Klopp, with our Guardiola obsession. If he Stays at Bayern, and then goes to the Rags in 2017/2018 we are going to look like complete chumps. We have only 3 wins in our last 8 Premiership games. Our form this season has not been great.Good performances have been few, and far between. My point here is our obsessing with a manager who might never even come. And writing this season off under Pellegrini as a transitional one, might even cost us our top 4 place. If Guardiola is not coming next season, there is an argument in my eyes, to get rid of Pellegrini and get Ancelottii in before our season ends in disaster. We need to know where we stand with Guardiola. Keeping Pellegrini could be very risky for us indeed.

You echo a lot of the views of other posters - but that last paragraph is losing it a bit IMO

[sheblue]

Just when we thought pelligrini was out of his nappy tactically speaking, he goes and drops one in his pants.

[Two's Kompany]

I want him to justify that fucking abortion.

Fernandinho is our best player this year. DROPPED
Otamendi is our most dependable defender DROPPED
Yaya Toure needs to be DROPPED

Massive fuck up pellers

Spot on - my thoughts exactly

If guardiola is available this summer I guarantee pellegrini is a goner

I fear the top bods at the club will replace him regardless of who is available.
A massive game live on TV against one of the biggest teams in the country and he picks that team. That won't be forgotten in a hurry.
They will want answers.

[Foreverinbluedreams]

I am finding it difficult to understand Pellegrini inconsistent team selections.

This is his third season with us. Yet he is still making the same stupid mistakes. He is either failing to prepare properly, thus by default he is preparing to fail. Or maybe he is just incompetent,age related.

Against Villa bottom of the league, Pellegrini went for a midfield 3, and we played most of that game, without a recognized striker when Bony went off injured. And he decided not to replace like for like. He later said his reasoning for this, was that Iheanacho was not suited in the lone striker role. What role did Iheanacho play yeserday afternoon for us ? we ground out a draw, in one of the dourest games of the season. It was a shocking negative display. Against the Rags, I could sort of understand his game plan, A point away at a title rival with injuries,could be valuable at the end of the season .

Today, here we go again 50,000 of us thought prior to kick off, when reading the team sheet. That dreaded combination of YaYa, and Fernando, in his midfield 2.To face a Liverpool side managed by Klopp. Every City fan in the stadium knew what was coming,except our own fucking manager. We knew they would pack the midfield, harass us off the ball with their energy. We all know how Dortmund play under Klopp. What was going through Pellegrini mind with that team selection. This is a serious question ?

We go from being ultra cautious, and negative, away at Villa bottom of the league. To a ridiculously stupid system, against a Liverpool side with a manager we know much about, from all our meetings with Dortmund. It plays out exactly as we all fully expected, over run in midfield ,Ya Ya blowing out of his arse, strolling around the pitch not tracking back. In effect we were left with a midfield 1 of Fernando losing all his composure, If that was not bad enough, once our solitary midfielder was over run, the last line of our defense was Demichelis, and Mangala. Demichelis last game saw Spurs shaft us by 4 goals, Mangala is useless, unless he is along side a decent defender like Kompany, or Otamandni.We know this. But the Engineer thought today was a good idea for this pairing .3-0 down in 30 + minutes


this also irks me about Pellegrini.. Within half an hour, it was obvious to each and everyone one of us, we were up shit creek without a paddle.3-0 down. He was sat there looking shell shocked. We should have been 5-0 down at half time, except for Liverpool poor finishing. He still waited until half time to make any changes, I mean seriously. What was that about. Even then he made things worse. Today could have been like Boro away under Sven. It was that shocking.

I could not believe he was so incompetent with that formation today. It was actually criminal. Not the first time he has done this to us either. His obsession with a midfield 2 has cost us many times before. How many more games before he learns, if ever.

Alarmingly he said he doesn't know what went wrong today after the game. And would start the same 11 again.

I think our form is concerning enough for us to be already making contingency plans for right now. We have put all our Eggs in the Guardiola Basket. We have already lost out on Klopp, with our Guardiola obsession. If he Stays at Bayern, and then goes to the Rags in 2017/2018 we are going to look like complete chumps. We have only 3 wins in our last 8 Premiership games. Our form this season has not been great.Good performances have been few, and far between. My point here is our obsessing with a manager who might never even come. And writing this season off under Pellegrini as a transitional one, might even cost us our top 4 place. If Guardiola is not coming next season, there is an argument in my eyes, to get rid of Pellegrini and get Ancelottii in before our season ends in disaster. We need to know where we stand with Guardiola. Keeping Pellegrini could be very risky for us indeed.

You echo a lot of the views of other posters - but that last paragraph is losing it a bit IMO

Yep, was doing well until that final paragraph which is just utter nonsense.

[Hazy2]

We looks like pretenders, it reminds me of the last period under Mancini, team did not fancy it, and confirmed with displays like we saw. Pellers and teams that press us are his downfall and no surprise from the Klopp team.Pressed us as advised and walked through us.

[Foreverinbluedreams]

I want him to justify that fucking abortion.

Fernandinho is our best player this year. DROPPED
Otamendi is our most dependable defender DROPPED
Yaya Toure needs to be DROPPED

Massive fuck up pellers

Spot on - my thoughts exactly

If guardiola is available this summer I guarantee pellegrini is a goner

I fear the top bods at the club will replace him regardless of who is available.
A massive game live on TV against one of the biggest teams in the country and he picks that team. That won't be forgotten in a hurry.
They will want answers.

Pellegrini leaving this summer is the most likely scenario regardless of who is or isn't available and also regardless of what he achieves this season. One game isn't going to decide his fate, thankfully the people in charge at the club don't appear to be the knee jerking types

[ayrshireblue]

As with most fans I feared the worst yesterday when I heard the line up. Centre halfs should have been Otamendi and Mangala, in effect we played our 3rd and 4th choice when our 2nd choice was available. Tours can not and never has been able to play in a two man midfield, Fernandinho has got to be one of the first names down on the team sheet this season. Navas has been playing ok but he never took on Moreno at all yesterday, all that pace and he plays the game standing still. Augero was never going to play the whole game so I have some sympathy with having to bring on Iheanacho for half an hour but Pellegrini knew that when he didn't bring him on against Villa - the boy needs game time not sitting on the bench watching a game.
Moving on from this game it is obvious to me that we need at least two new full backs, neither Zaba or Sagna are long term options anymore and it's the same on the other side where Kolarov is a joke defensively and not much better going forward. I would also get shot of Toure in the summer, he's done but the other players still look up to him and give him the ball constantly only for him to put the team under pressure by losing possession.

[blue scooter]

our centre half partnership scared me to death and Liverpool must have thought it was xmas ,even jo heart was kicking badly and wobbling early doors.
needed a player to get stuck in and take control but nobody stud up, yaya needs to be released of defensive dutys other wise hes a passanger .
as for navas not seen him have more than 1 good game and is a starter most games .
can see pellegrini going at end of season .

[blues2win]

We seemed to be playing 4-2-4 in the first half which may look like an attacking formation but was suicide against a team like Liverpool. They simply passed through our midfield at will. We were playing two centre backs who badly needed protection and didn't receive it. For the umpteenth time Pellegrini Yaya is no defensive midfielder. He can't or won't put in the necessary shift off the ball. Nor is he a no 10 playing with his back to goal. His value to the team is only apparent when he himself is relieved of defensive duties and has the freedom to surge forward from deepish positions. That requires two other central midfielders to play alongside him. Either it's the two Ferns or Delph now he's fit. Presumably that's how Pellegrini will play it in the CL match which means either Navas or Sterling drops to the bench. Personally I'd keep Sterling as a sub and play Navas. He frightens defences, is getting better at delivering an end product and reliably puts in a shift tracking back when necessary. De Bruyne needs to do the same on the left. Then we have a solid defensive shape with plenty of attacking threat.

[zabbadabbado]

I stand by my last paragraph, He was only saved last season by the team putting a decent run together when there was nothing left for us to play for. There were no excuses for that team selection yesterday. He made us a laughing stock on terrestrial; television. Only he knows why he made that team selection. Maybe there was some Dummy spitting going on his part. I refuse to believe he didn't know what would happen with that midfield, it is not like it has not happened before, playing a side managed by Klopp.

Our obsession with Guardiola could cost us big time. Pellegrini knows he is a dead man walking, if Guardiola says he is coming next season.Yet Rumours are there is nothing definite yet, he might stay at Bayern. Or if leaving,Guardiola would prefer a job in the Capital, or being a closet Rag sycophant maybe the job at the swamp. This is a big problem for me. We have missed out on Klopp who in my eyes was a big upgrade on Pellegrini. (There again anything with a pulse is an upgrade). We obviously decided to stick with Pellegrini this season with Guardiola in mind for next season.

Look at our form this season.3 wins in the last 8 Premier League games. We are not certain to finish in the top 4 if this trajectory continues. This for me is concerning. What if Guardiola has mugged us off, for a bigger contract at Bayern, or ends up at Arsenal. Ancelotti is the only the decent manager available on the market at the moment. I think Guardiola needs to make his intentions perfectly clear to us. If he isn't coming then at least we can act effectively now. If we are nailed on for a top 4 finish then we stick. If we start to slide down the league with these inconsistent shit performances then we have to act.