No character, no response, and ultimately, no real clue.

This derby defeat might well have sounded the final bell for Manuel Pellegrini, and for several of his team.

If this performance looked as bad from Abu Dhabi as it did from the stands at Old Trafford, it would take the most silver-tongued of con men to talk his way into keeping his job.

In fact, it could even be that the powers-that-be at City have already seen enough.

The Blues boss can, with some justification, point to the fact that the second and third goals – Marouane Fellaini's header and Juan Mata's run-through on goal – were both offside, the second time in a week, the second time in a week the Blues have been on the rough end of refereeing injustice.

But that would be to duck the major issue, and that was that, yet again, his team failed to respond with any kind of grit or gumption.

The bottom line for Pellegrini, as it was for Roberto Mancini before him, is to show that the team – and the club – has improved under his stewardship.

Ever since New Year's Day, it has become increasingly evident that this is not the case for Pellegrini.

In fact, he would be hard-pressed to come up with a single facet that HAS improved.

It is a little ungrateful, as Pellegrini's team last season was thrilling, and swaggered its way to two trophies in his first season in charge.

But that set a high standard for him to follow. But the fact is that this season the Blues have fallen woefully short of those standards – and unless the rot stops soon, they could drop back into a scrap for fourth place with the chasing pack.

Not that Pellegrini deserves to stand alone in copping for the flak. Some of his players are very highly-paid professionals, and the minimum you expect from them in any game – never mind a Manchester derby – is one hundred per cent application.

It was always going to be a case that City needed their big players to stand up and be counted if they were to get a decent result at Old Trafford.

That has not been the case in 2015. Yaya Toure, such a powerhouse for City over the last four years has been awful, and is busy despoiling his legacy at City with some weak, disinterested displays.

If there were ever any doubts that he needs to be moved on this summer, while he retains some value in the transfer market, and still retains the good wishes of fans with longer memories, this game should have settled them.

It had all looked so good for City, as they came out of the blocks with a pace and sharpness that started to expose the soft underbelly of a United team that has often flattered to deceive this season.

Sergio Aguero's goal was no less than City deserved, and it was a return to the simple, devastating football that has been such a hallmark of this City team.

And the fact that United got back into the game with a goal that was riven with good fortune - as Pablo Zabaleta's slip allowed them space on the Blues' right flank, and then Ashley Young got lucky as a deflection off Martin Demichelis flipped up nicely for him – was also a side-issue.

City have not had the rub of the green in their last two games, but champions ride such moments and prove their quality. Yet again, they failed to do so.

They were unfortunate to go in at half time 2-1 down, as Fellaini was a fraction offside for the second goal, but that should have meant they girded their loins and steeled themselves for a big effort in the second half.

That effort never came, and that is perhaps the most damning aspect of defeat for Pellegrini and his team.

We keep hearing that this summer will be a big one for the squad, with some drastic changes to be made. It may have just got bigger.

blueboy wrote:It is a little ungrateful, as Pellegrini's team last season was thrilling, and swaggered its way to two trophies in his first season in charge.

I kind of disagree with this line.  Yes, we did have swagger and a killer instinct at first, blasting teams for five or six goals at times and even netting six against Arsenal!  But we didn't play that way all the time.  We started out very wobbly on the road and, when we did tighten it up, we started to wobble at home.  And the big killer, for me, was the league defeat at home to Chelsea, our first loss at home, and since then we became a lot more cautious.

We were lucky that Arsenal and Liverpool bottled it in the league.

We were lucky that TLF and Nasri scored such worldies against Sunderland, turning the final around to our advantage after going behind and looking second best.

Losing Nedge's performances after his injury didn't help, but I got the distinct impression that this was at least in part down to a drop in the level of service he was getting.

As for this season, how many games have we seen where we just pass the ball around and make absolutely no headway into the opposition's defence?  Yes, playing against two lines behind the ball is hard work, but we don't make it easier for ourselves when we break with all the electrifying pace of continental drift.  And then, on the odd occasion we DO run at defences, we go wide and cross the ball to - whom?  Sergio?  One of the shortest men on the pitch is supposed to do aerial battle with defenders who are a clear foot or more taller?  Or Dzeko, who isn't even in the box?  But the worst of it, for me, is that we don't seem to have any other options available to us.

His first season was lucky and was littered with examples of individual brilliance.  This season, we're not seeing the brilliance and this just brings the lack of teamwork into sharper focus.

He has to go.  No.  He NEEDS to go.

Can't add any more to that summary Leo - other than "I totally agree".

I agree There were several performances last season which were similar to this season Outbattled by Everton & Liverpool as well as some of the teams at the bottom 
This is not a new phenomenon Any team that worked their arses off and battled to the end took points off us
And as Leo says but for some individual moments if brilliance we Wd have lost a lot more