“This is an absolutely solid project, carried out the right way. I’ve never felt that if I don’t win I’m out.”
Manuel Pellegrini Guardian Interview, Monday 16 March prior to 0 v 1 defeat to Barca.
In the unrelenting harsh media glare which accompanies everything Manchester City, the above article is an oasis of calm reflection on a man and his footballing philosophy. Two sections stand out in relation to City’s ultimately disappointing 2014/15 season.
Firstly that the Manager will not contemplate "Todo vale para ganar, as they say. Win by any means” a fact, perhaps, which has contributed to failing to kick on using the momentum from City’s record breaking double winning season. Certainly on a couple of occasions this year the squad has shown that the 110% needed to make 4-4-1-1 work against top class opposition has been lacking, and a more cautious approach may (or may not) have paid dividends.
Secondly that FFP has played a part “This was the ideal year [to build], [but] with the financial fair play restrictions, not only could we not sign, we couldn’t register players. What we didn’t do was sign a crack [superstar].” The unrelenting football display on show from Barcelona using £150m of talent procured during the club’s “transfer ban” (plus an unplayable Lionel Messi) showed why UEFA’s defined elite, and their ability to continually buy “a crack", leave Manchester City and a number of other teams still some way behind the curve.
All is not doom and gloom. Assuming the Manager uses recent criticism to instil some of the dynamism and fight required to secure second in the Premiership, (FFP restricted) funds will be available to him in the summer. The squad is far from a spent force and these funds, if spent wisely, could yet see City kick on. What can’t happen is to let focus slip and allow the struggle to become one for “Top 4”. That may be success for Arsenal, Trafford, and Liverpool, but I’m sure Sheik Monsour would think otherwise.
Etihad Stadium Manchester
Monday 23 March 2015
Friday 6 March 2015
Four Forking Two
A huge amount has been written in the last week about formations and where City's tactics have come unstuck against firstly Barcelona and then Liverpool away.
One of the better of these was by Gary Neville in the Telegraph where he concludes a possible move to 3-5-2 may be the only way to get the best from Aguero, Silva, and Toure. He also admits to being wrong in writing off Roberto Mancini's attempts to do exactly that in 2013! So if the pundits are even debating with themselves, it seems clear to me that there is no easy answer.
Pellegrini has long been a supporter of 4-4-1-1 or 4-4-2, using it successfully in European campaigns with first Villarreal (Semi Finalists in 2006), and then with Malaga in 2013 all the way to the Quarter Finals, only to see some dubious refereeing against Dortmund rob them of a deserved semi final place.
4-4-2 has seen the most exciting football at Man City in years, with goal records falling more often than Ashley Young. The problem with such cavalier football, if there is one, is it requires 100% belief and 100% hard work off the ball in closing teams down. Pellegrini undoubtedly has that belief but maybe the players lack enough conviction against the top teams to make it work. As Pellegrini says here it requires intelligence from the players to adapt the system during a game. The problem is that since Christmas it has taken a half time team talk to get the players to adapt, so maybe for the big games a 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 is required just to take the need for thinking away.
Pellegrini wasn't nicknamed the engineer for nothing and as shown in successfully moving away from 4-4-2 because of a long list of injuries before Christmas he and the team are perfectly capable of adapting - so maybe now is that time.
One of the better of these was by Gary Neville in the Telegraph where he concludes a possible move to 3-5-2 may be the only way to get the best from Aguero, Silva, and Toure. He also admits to being wrong in writing off Roberto Mancini's attempts to do exactly that in 2013! So if the pundits are even debating with themselves, it seems clear to me that there is no easy answer.
Pellegrini has long been a supporter of 4-4-1-1 or 4-4-2, using it successfully in European campaigns with first Villarreal (Semi Finalists in 2006), and then with Malaga in 2013 all the way to the Quarter Finals, only to see some dubious refereeing against Dortmund rob them of a deserved semi final place.
4-4-2 has seen the most exciting football at Man City in years, with goal records falling more often than Ashley Young. The problem with such cavalier football, if there is one, is it requires 100% belief and 100% hard work off the ball in closing teams down. Pellegrini undoubtedly has that belief but maybe the players lack enough conviction against the top teams to make it work. As Pellegrini says here it requires intelligence from the players to adapt the system during a game. The problem is that since Christmas it has taken a half time team talk to get the players to adapt, so maybe for the big games a 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 is required just to take the need for thinking away.
Pellegrini wasn't nicknamed the engineer for nothing and as shown in successfully moving away from 4-4-2 because of a long list of injuries before Christmas he and the team are perfectly capable of adapting - so maybe now is that time.
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