4-4-2...or tactically inept Managers?

It's been a week of carnage for the English teams in Europe and I have to say it’s been a week of ridiculous explanations for why things have gone wrong.

Explanations like “the Premier League is in decline” and “the Premier League players aren’t as good” or “the Premier League matters more to them”. All of which are categorically just not true.

The managers are, to a very large degree, the reason why Manchester City and Arsenal lost, with Liverpool and Tottenham eliminated. Quite simply, they got their tactics wrong, or dispensed with them altogether.

Recent history gives us a running story of teams who should never be near a Champions League trophy lifting one because their managers got the tactics right.

Jose Mourinho’s Porto should not even have been in the competition with the squad that won it in 2004. There was his Internazionale, Rafael Benitez’s Liverpool, Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid to select three, or Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United, who continued to drive on in the competition, even when Ferguson’s squad was not as good. Now we see English squads packed with world-class players but no evidence that they are interested enough in getting the tactics right. Five or six of that Manchester City team which lost 2-1 at home to Barcelona would get into most teams in world football.

There was nothing wrong with City’s 4-4-2 formation but there was something seriously wrong about the way it was set up, with neither of the two strikers nor the wide players dropping in to deny Barcelona space in midfield. A catastrophic oversight.

Arsenal, as usual, went flying forward and left themselves vulnerable to the quick counter-attack, with no defensive leader to prevent that happening. Liverpool, who have been looking unbeatable in the Premier League, lost the midfield battle to Besiktas in Istanbul. They could have bypassed that problem by putting Rickie Lambert at the top with Raheem Sterling and Daniel Sturridge going around the back. They didn’t – and paid the price.

The continental European managers are beating the English-based ones hands down for tactics. It can be a chess match but if the strategy is right it’s not such a difficult one.

Everyone seems to get starry-eyed about foreign sides and their foreign managers. But what happened when Paris Saint-Germain played Barcelona last autumn? Laurent Blanc looked at the Barça centre-halves, realised there was a weakness there, went for physicality against them and won the game. You have to find something that you are better at than the opposition.

And what did City do? Decided to play Barcelona at their own game. We’ve seen where that got them. Because of what happened at the Etihad, the whole world seems to think that 4-4-2 is a disaster.

Well, I’m sorry, but that’s rubbish.

Shakhtar Donetsk managed a very creditable 0-0 draw with Bayern Munich last week – by using a flexible 4-4-2. Simeone’s Atletico use it all the time. The difference between Pellegrini and Simeone is that the Argentine employs it wisely.

Look anywhere across Europe – and working on the continental leagues I get my share of their football – and you see managers getting more than they should out of players because they “do” tactics.

The Portuguese club Boavista ought to have been overwhelmed in the Primeira Liga after getting their demotion overturned and being promoted two divisions at a stroke. They have 25 new players, most of them with very little top-flight experience. But they’re holding their own because their young manager Armando Goncalves Teixeira has had a long look at the opposition and decided what makes his own side strong.

In the great Champions League performances of modern times – Simeone’s Atletico beating Mourinho’s Chelsea in last season’s semi-final second leg, Mourinho’s 10-man Inter beating Barça in the 2010 Champions League semi-final and of course Benitez’s tactical adjustments in Istanbul a decade ago – it’s the same picture.

It’s hard to name a single manager of an English club who could really point to the strength of his squad as an excuse for European failure in the past few years. Roberto di Matteo at Chelsea, perhaps. That would be the only one.

The fact that City have already discovered the benefits of occasionally getting the tactics right makes these excuses about the Premier League decline even more difficult to listen to. Their best performance of the season in Europe was at Roma where they were without Sergio Aguero, Yaya Touré and Vincent Kompany but adapted to the situation in front of them. If you tell me that the City squad which struggled against CSKA Moscow was not substantially better than them, I’ll tell you that’s rubbish.

It’s no coincidence that Chelsea – the one English Champions League side with a tactically shrewd manager – look likely to be the only one left in a few weeks’ time.

Arsène Wenger is struggling. Manuel Pellegrini doesn’t seem to have the answers. Mourinho aside, I don’t see a manager in the Ferguson mould out there at the moment. That’s why it’s been such a terrible week in Europe.

The ironic thing about MP is that he was brought in because he was supposedly going to be tactically better in European competition than Mancini was, yet despite the Roma win, i personally think we've been pants in Europe.....we even got outplayed by the 10 men of Bayern at home (i know we won before you say anything).

The problem i have with MP is that he's too slow (or stubborn) to change things when it's not working. He just seems to think we'll have a passage of play when it changes for the better....but it's sometimes to late before that happens.

Ok, we may be 2nd in the PL as it stands, but for me....this season has been a disaster. You may say that's harsh, but after getting through the group stage of the CL last season, winning the PL title and C1C...we taken not one, but about 3 steps backwards which is going to cost us another season IMO to get us back to where we should be.

I know some say the signings aren't his, but I can't see him just sitting there and taking whatever players the Directors want without any consultation whatsoever. He must have a say.

I don't think he can motivate when things get tough during a game and I don't think he can change things on a regular basis...and this season has proven it.

The style of play has been woeful at times, decent on other occasions...but we've lost our sparkle and confidence go at teams. Our style of play has become from one extreme to the other...slow and cautious to suicidal. As fans, we have no idea of what to  expect when you watch a game....a decent City performance or a dire one.

This isn't the fault of the Directors....this is down to the Manager and his staff.

If you think of the players that were brought in to improve our squad:

Mangala
Fernando
Lampard
Willy

and now Bony

With the exception of Bony, only Lampard has shown any decent form...and he is now struggling for a game or even a sub appearance.

We still have spent £50m+ on players....a figure a lot of clubs would like to have to spend, yet our free signing is our best one.

We've had injuries to some key players....but it's not the injuries that are the excuse for a lack of effort and application....it's motivation and tactics.

Nasri is becoming an enigma. Brilliant one or two games then goes missing in 2 big games this week.

Dzeko scores a decent goal, runs like a mad man against Newcastle, yet like Nasri, goes missing in 2 big games. Yes, he scored yesterday, but that was pretty much the only thing he did.

People put our slump in form down to TLMLF being away at the ACON....he was out against Barca, now wants an extended contract and role for life, but cannot compete for fitness and energy levels or play his part tactically with the Liverpool kids in MF. He was awful in the 2nd half yesterday...but then again, we all know that when teams with high energy games press our MF, he goes missing. Why play him there then? Who keeps picking him to play there?

The Manager.

As much as we all berate Navas for his crossing (I do!)....yesterday with his pace would have been perfect for him to play wide in a 4-2-3-1 system. Where was he? I didn't hear he was injured.

The Managers decision.

I suspect if MP gets the boot in the summer, or now, whoever takes over will need to rebuild this team and make some serious decisions on the future of some of our 'key' players.

There's question marks of various players and for various reasons:

Kompany...has the injuries taken a greater toll than we know? He's an accident waiting to happen every time he goes near the ball or to make a tackle. There's a lack of form, then there's what we are seeing from him for the past 12 months.

Kolorov...great left foot, but just cannot defend. Takes too many risks, isn't positionally aware of his surroundings and not quick enough.

Nasri....his inconsistency is proving a problem. We could possibly get in the region of £30m for him and when you see the likes of Koke/Isco being sold for similar figures, you have to ask yourself whether he needs a new challenge and we need some fresher legs.

Dzeko....we need to seriously cut our losses with him. One good game followed by 3 or 4 awful ones, then another injury. We don't need that.

Jovetic...probably a game crying out for him yesterday with his energy, but sadly, he's had opportunities and just not took them. Will be sold in the summer without a shadow of doubt.

Fernando...too slow, poor positionally. He's a poor man's Barry, but cost £12m.

Willy....when he has played has looked very, very ordinary...and again, we spent £6m on him and let Pants go for free. Madness.

Navas.....if he could beat a player and deliver a decent cross, would be a great addition to the squad....but sadly, he's another Aaron Lennon. All pace and not much else....yet he cost us £17m.

So that leaves TLMLF....for somebody who is supposed to be world class, against the big teams he gets found out. Great against Newcastle type teams...but teams with any ounce of pace, destroy him when he plays in that central role.
FFS.....he hadn't played for over a week, didn't play midweek and was up against a MF that arrived in the the UK at 04:30, 48 hours earlier after going to extra time and pens, yet by the 55th minute, he was blowing and looked to come to a standstill at one point.
That's not what we need, nor should we be paying top whack for that.
He's nearly 32...and boy it showed yesterday. Get rid whilst we can get something for him. Or, play him behind Aguero...but that deep sitting DMF role leaves us vulnerable when he's in there.

Overall....we're going to be in trouble this summer, if Simeone or Pep won't come. We'll be left with an older squad, a poor manager and players on big money without justification.

We need a clear out of 5/6 players and somebody on the board is going to have to earn their salary this summer, or face the axe.

Good post blue....and one i can't argue with.

As a tactic, there's nothing wrong with 4-4-2.  It all depends on who you're up against and in some circumstances, such as being up against a tireless midfield quintet, or maybe with a defensive 3 with wing backs, it's possible to get outnumbered and resorting to a 4-5-1 would be a quick fix.

But there's nothing inherently wrong with 4-4-2.  With the right four in midfield and one of the strikers dropping back to play as a number 10, it can give you a higher line to play with, forcing the opposition to play deeper.

But we don't play 4-4-2.  We play 4-2-2-2.  We have two DMs, two AMs and two forwards.  And what happens?  We have everyone largely channeling down the middle.  Easy to defend against.  When teams see us fielding two DMs and Nasri and Silva, they just know that the only players going wide are the strikers.  The very people employed to stick the ball in the net, missing from the penalty box.

But what options do we have?  Our midfield options consist of this:
- Nando and Dino, a pair of Brazilian DMs
- Yaya, an attacking CM who is played too deep
- Silva and Nasri, a pair of CMs who always drift inwards
- Navas, a proper winger who can't cross a ball
- Milner, a workhorse who will play and run anywhere, but not always effectively
- Lampard, an ageing box to box player who can't even get a game
- A couple of kids who don't even get bench time

Our midfield has borderline zero width, which I suspect is why Dzeko drifts out wide.  So the problem we end up with is this:  Our strongest team is easily thwarted.  Our opponents see two DCMs, Silva, Nasri and two strikers, they know all they have to do is marshall the centre and we're snookered.  Then they hold tight and wait for our cavalry to arrive - in the form of the full backs playing wing-back roles - and then they know a quick ball over the top to their sole forward player and they're in against a centre half pairing that just isn't working and hasn't since Lescott was sidelined.

4-4-2 would work for us if we had proper wide players.  With that, Dzeko and Aguero wouldn't have to go so far wide, they could get in the box where they'd do the most damage.

With the squad we have, I'd be inclined to suggest a 5-3-2 formation instead.  Have Kompany, Mangala and Clichy as a back three, with Zaba and Kolarov as wing-backs.  Play Yaya, Nasri and Silva in the midfield and have Bony up top with Aguero playing off him.  That would give us more width and strength in defence and not leave us quite so spare at the back.  It's a formation that Mancini had toyed with, with varying degrees of success, but one that wasn't without it's merits.

But against Liverpool, back late from a fatiguing two hour game and a demoralising penalty shootout, we didn't need a pair of DMs.  It was crying out for a 4-1-4-1, or a 4-1-3-2 at a pinch, with us battering them from the off.  And a bit more energy.

Incidentally, does anyone else think we now play with the same lethargy and lack of width we had under Bobby?

Exactly...and yes Leo.

The article I posted initially, was from no other than Danny Higginbottom. Now if he can see what the problem is, why the fuck can't the Manager?

Especially away from home, you study your opponents and you counter them. I don't buy into this "we only worry about our system"...it's nonsense and doesn't work.

Taking your point further about width and a 4-4-2....I agree, we do play with a 4-2-2-2....and that's disastrous.

If you looked at who we have with genuine width and pace to stop their MF from over running ours, play to your strengths.

Danny Murphy summed it up in this article:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/31688154

The key problem once again, was the fact that TLMLF doesn't bring energy to the MF. Great on the ball when given time to make incisive passes, but when we don't have the ball, he's a liability.

Width was an option yesterday...but the personnel wasn't there.

Did we have options? Of course we did, but the system needed to be flexible.

We talk about Navas not having a great cross, but he will occupy any full backs who wish to go forward. Therefore, if you want to stop the source against a 3-4-3 system which Liverpool played, it doesn't always mean having to play your best players. A system like this would have stopped them at source:

........................................Hart....................................

Zaba......................Vinny..............Mangala.............Kolorov

.....................................Fernandinho.................................

Navas...............................Silva..............................Barker..

........................TLMLF........................................................

.............................................Aguero................................

Genuine width, genuine pace. Both could tuck in if needed to support Fernandinho, Silva can run the show from MF and use TLMLF 's strength to hold the ball up, Navas and Barker have great pace, Barker can beat a player for fun. Aguero can still be a nuisance on their back 3, looking for the gaps between them.

That makes Moreno and Markovic think about getting forward too much and forces the likes of Allen and Henderson to sit a little deeper. In turn, Coutinho, Sterling and Lallana then have to drop a little deeper, allowing us to press higher up the pitch.

It would never happen though with this Manager...he's just not creative enough or has the tactical nous to think it through.

blueboy wrote:The article I posted initially, was from no other than Danny Higginbottom. Now if he can see what the problem is, why the fuck can't the Manager?

I was discussing this very same point with my son after the Barca game.  We'd played 4-4-2 in four games and managed two draws.  We then played an enforced 4-5-1 in two games and won both.  Granted, not with any style or grace (and with a chunk of luck against Bayern), but they were wins.  So you'd go off in search of the person with the least footballing nous in the entire world and ask them this question:

"With absolutely no knowledge of football:  If a team doesn't win playing 4-4-2, but DOES win playing 4-5-1, which do you think the manager should play to win the next game?"

You could train a monkey to do this shit.

And picking up on your point about the width keeping their wider players pinned back a bit, you're damn right, they wouldn't have had the free reign of the wide areas and would've meant Lallana and Coutinho would've had to alternately play deeper, making Dino's job a lot easier.  And considering Anfield is one of the widest pitches in the PL, you'd think that this would be decision number one.

I do sometimes think our manager believes we're playing on a wicket.  The lack of width is alternately embarrassing and shocking.  And yet, as you've pointed out, we've got Navas and Barkley who could run those lines.  Or Navas and Kolarov if you really don't want to play the kids that badly.

The reason we're always undone by Liverpool is their use of the width of the pitch.  Always has been.  We don't cope with teams that play wide.  And even Bodgers knew this.

Pellegrini must now be a dead man walking and we are all now, nearly two years later, returning to our original assessment of the situation as made on May 11, 2013:  "You can stick your Pellegrini up your arse!"

Bloody hell.....did I miss something in the Jan transfer window?

Did we sign Ross Barkley?

I know you meant Barker Leo...

But as you pointed out with the 4-4-2.....it can work, but against teams that are inferior....and possibly then, playing them at home when they set up differently.

Silva Yaya Dino Nasri or Navas in MF is just never gonna work
against any team that is up for a battle 
How many times have we said in the last 2 seasons that any team that is up for it usually gets the better of us. We have lost so many points/games playing that system it's ridiculous. MP has tried with 2 DM which may have worked with 2 good DMs but Fernando is just not good enough
Those players are great going forward so against a weaker team such as Newcastle the other week they will flourish but put them up against battlers and they will always lose out
Personally I dont think Silva and Navas should be in the same team when we are playing decent sides like Arse, Chelsea Barca & the like. Against those teams you need players who will fight for every ball not players like Nasri & Yaya 
MP has to choose the games he can afford to go 442 with and those where he needs the 5 in MF. If the 442 isn't working he needs to see it (like every1 else does !) and change things sooner rather than with 15 minutes to go

Great thread this one, it's a shame the old duffer can't get a copy.

I think the reason we play 4-4-2 is because we started last season so well just blasting teams away, and he seems that stubborn that he just assumes we will do it again.   Trouble is this season teams have found us out and even the lesser teams can play against our tactics.

Dead Man Walking should be Dead Man Gone.  We are going to get top 4, get Patrick in for the final 3rd and then hit next season like a steam train.

You know what, I think we're going to hit a slippery slope and it wouldn't surprise me one single bit, if we lose at home to Leicester who are fighting for their lives.

Carragher said it..."there is something fundamentally wrong at City"

Now, under Mancini and his outspoken persona, it may have surfaced by now...whilst under MP, things seem to be kept in house, or, the players are reluctant to be outspoken against him due to his personality. But I've said since the beginning of Jan...something is definitely not right.

I can't put my finger on specifically what it could be...in addition to his tactics. Maybe the players hate the formation. Maybe the players just don't get motivated by MP. Let's face it, if we didn't, when we shouldn't, have won the title last year, his tenure and style of football has been pretty abject.

Last season we went through one or two periods where the football was dire, but fortunately, other teams seemed to drop points in games they should have won.

I honestly, could count on one hand the games this season whereby we have played really, really good football.

Even the Newcastle game....we were 3-0 up at half time and suddenly, we sort of lost intensity and a 'score plenty more' attitude that we had in the past.

If you look at the key, big game players who have been battle hardened over the last 2/3/4 years....and look at how they are playing now:

Zabaletta
Kompany
TLMLF
Nasri
Fernandinho

They all look nervous, out of sorts, not happy.

Silva, Milner and Aguero have been the shining lights so far.....and that's pretty much it. We can't fight on 4 fronts with 3 committed players and expect to win anything.

Maybe the players are pissed off with his tactics....I just don't know.

All I do know is this:

Nearly all fans, all pundits and all journalists have highlighted the same issues with his tactics. Yet, the Manager is either stupid or just stubborn to the point whereby it's pissing the players off and it's affecting morale and the teams position in these competitions.

Either way, Mancini got sacked for less.

I just can't get excited about this Manager or his supposed philosophy. Sure, the dressing appears to be a quieter place, but is that a good thing??

I am now coming around to the ide of replacing pel ,but I would not do that in the final 3rd of the season unless we are nailed on top 4. The reason I say this is whilst their is a lot of clamour for paddy v to take the reigns he is not tried & tested, If he fails with 11 games to go we could find ourselves easily looking @ 6th or 7th. Then another process of finding a new manager for 15/16 viera resigning or sacked coz it did not work out so all the good work of the eds goes up in smoke.

6th or 7th no European football meaning no revenue stream & attracting top players. we are trying to strengthen our position in world football but I just do not think the timing is right.

For all pels faults I do think he will guide us to 2nd at worst,& that is the reason I think we would be wrong to discard him now. The best thing imo is to line up a new manager with viera being installed as number 2 ready to hit the ground running come 1st july.   

I do agree with the players you would like to discard blue my only disagreement petty as it may seem is that I watched the barca game today & thought dzeko played ok, yes he missed a couple of chances but overall he did put in a shift, & was certainly no worse than a lot of the rabble we put out Sergio,Demi & Joe excluded.

Look Oz....I never liked him. Simple.

However, I don't post to purely bash him or my point of view.

I appreciate he looked much improved against Newcastle, and, he wasn't the worse player by far against Barca.....however, for a £28m striker (and I'll say the same thing about Bony in 1/2/3 years time if he performs the same way), I expect 2 things:

1. A certain level of consistency. By that, I mean at least go through spells of 10/11 games scoring goals, even if you then have a barren spell of 4/5 games - as that's what happens to 'most' strikers.

2. Effort....as per Milner, as per Sergio. 2 players you would never, ever claim to not give 100% in games, whether they have the best or worst of games....but they give you that every single time.

My problem with Dzeko is he doesn't produce either.

He has one or two games, then that's it. He gets dropped, or he gets injured. Comes back, has one or two sub appearances and then scores a couple of goals....then it's back to being shit again. That's NOT a £28m striker we can rely on.

It's one thing running around the pitch, chasing balls and lost causes....but yesterday, I saw him actually jump for a header all of 2 times. The rest of the time he was either behind the defender and couldn't be arsed attempting a challenge, or he got all of 2 inches off the ground...and Skrtel and Lovren just won every header too easily.

Bony came on, and although it was a foul, straight away won the header and left something on their player - basically telling him "i'll try and win everything that comes my way".

That's why I don't like Dzeko and don't think he is anywhere near the class of striker we need.

As for MP/Viera...I agree with you, but I'm not so bothered about the EDS right now. I'm more concerned that there are deep-rooted issues in the dressing room amongst the players and Manager...and I'm not so confident as you are that 2nd is the least he'll achieve.

One more loss for us and Arsenal and United win their's....we're only 2 points ahead with a game against the rags to come.

Pellegrini has proven time and again that he is tactically inept.
Given a similar scenario im absolutely certain Tony Pulis or Sam Allardyce would be doing at least as well as the "engineer?" and more than likely much better.
Ive yet to see a team that wins trophies/titles on a regular basis not be defensively sound,we are the antithesis of defensively sound and the main reason for that is playing a high line system that doesnt suit the players one little bit but playing it anyway and bugger the consequences.
All its managed to do is create a situation where the back line is a bag of nerves which in effect does the same to the DM'S in front of it as theres no confidence in it,which explains why Fernando and Fernandinho are competing with one another to see who can give the ball away the quickest.

With the high line system,the players in front of it must protect it by fast effective pressing off the ball.This is also highly problematic when the players expected to do the pressing are yaya,a bone idle cunt at the best of times,Nasri & Silva,who are luxury players off the ball and Dzeko,who sees yaya as a role model defensively.
So if the players arent right for the system any manager worth his salt wouldnt try to shoehorn the wrong types to fit his system but would tactically adapt the system to suit what players he has as Mancini did so effectively until he fell out with them.

To even contemplate allowing Barcelona to have a spare man in midfield and then compounding the error in a must win game at Anfield, which has put to bed any lingering hopes of retaining the title, is piss poor management however you look at it.
If hes still in charge in August ill be appalled quite frankly

Totally agree with everything you said.

Me too !

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/mar/02/manuel-pellegrini-manchester-city-pressure-pep-guardiola

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2976320/Manuel-Pellegrini-just-12-games-save-skin-Manchester-City.html

If we do win the PL, will it not be a case of Chelsea blowing it (like Loserpool did last season) and not necessarily us winning it?

Surely winning it again would just be papering over the huge cracks that this team has shown throughout the season.

If Pep is prepared to come to England and Bayern allow him to go, i personally think it's a no-brainer to try and get him.....not so sure about the waiter though.

When Roberto Mancini took charge of Manchester City for the last time at the 2013 FA Cup Final, they sang his name until the bitter end.
Having delivered the club’s first title in 44 years just 12 months earlier, the brooding Italian remained an idol among supporters.
Yet in the City boardroom, Mancini’s fate had already been sealed. He would have been toast, even if City had beaten Wigan.
And in the dressing-room, they were ready to pop champagne corks, whatever had happened at Wembley.
News of Mancini’s impending departure broke in the papers on Cup Final morning. Post-match, the Italian publicly laughed at the stories. Two days later he was sacked.
The manager had retained so few friends inside the club that he was virtually the last to know. Even with a vast pay-off, it was brutal.
Just as it had been for Mark Hughes when the world seemed to know he was making way for Mancini in 2009.
So when they sharpen the old cut-throat for Manuel Pellegrini, the Chilean won’t even hear them coming. There certainly won’t be the white noise of supporter unrest that precedes most managerial sackings.
Usually when we talk of ‘unrealistic expectations’ from the terraces, we mean unrealistically high expectations. At City, they are unrealistically low.
The Blue Moonies are proper fans who followed their club to the third division and back in vast numbers and who spent decades in the shadows of Manchester United.
They have seen five major trophies in four seasons and they still own Manchester, despite FFP allowing United to out-spend them again.
So they have every right to feel content and to regard speculation over Pellegrini’s future as fanciful.
It’s not though. Abu Dhabi’s royal family do not remember league matches against Macclesfield at Maine Road nor Jamie Pollock’s relegation-sealing own goal. They demand constant progress and they are seeing none - neither domestically nor in Europe.
As mentioned here before, Pellegrini possesses none of the ruthless decisiveness nor tactical originality of Jose Mourinho.
Mourinho identifies weak links that none of us knew were there. Pellegrini ignores them when they are glaring.
This is no less true after last season’s title win, when City had the best squad in the country by several streets and should have won it by double figures.
Would Vincent Kompany still be in City’s starting line-up if Mourinho were manager? Would City’s flair players still be allowed to shirk defensive responsibilities? Would he leave them legs akimbo against Barcelona or at Anfield?
The sheer quality of the goals City did score against Barcelona and Liverpool were testimony to their world-class talent.
Pellegrini was either naïve or pig-headed to send out his team in a 4-4-2 for two key matches which leave City staring at a barren season.
The widely-held view that Pellegrini is playing a psychological blinder by never saying anything interesting in public, would only stand up to argument if there were evidence that the Chilean possessed hidden depths of genius behind his polite exterior.
Yet the Sheikhs will not just be assessing Pellegrini, but also the men who recommended him – former Barcelona bigwigs Txiki Begiristain and Ferran Sorriano.
Since their arrival in 2012, City’s player recruitment has been lamentable – a £150million net spend without strengthening the starting line-up one iota.
City were better when they were noisier. Better cabaret for the media, of course. But better at what mattered too. At building a squad.
Former chief executive Garry Cook may have been – and they’ll have to use asterisks because there is simply no better word - a gobs***e. But he left after the signing of Sergio Aguero, City’s last undoubted transfer-market success.
The first eleven which Cook helped to recruit remains largely intact - but even Aguero, Yaya Toure and David Silva were part of a miserable title defence two seasons ago.
That relentless will to win and win again, a hallmark of Alex Ferguson’s teams and Mourinho’s, does not exist within City’s dressing-room.
This is a squad which has proved it can down tools on a manager when the going gets tough.
And while life may more be more comfortable for them under Pellegrini than Mancini, they are capable of going missing again.
If they do, then Pellegrini won’t hear a thing. Nothing but a deathly hush.

Before even beginning to debate the future of Manuel Pellegrini,Manchester City’s dignified but increasingly-disparaged manager, it needs accepting that any decision to expedite regime change is a colossal, expensive and emotive exercise not always guaranteed to bring success. Any action on Pellegrini should not be rushed.
Assessing a manager’s competence should never be a process conducted immediately in the dispiriting wake of a few poor performances, some bruising headlines, a verbal battering from pundits and with vision blurred by match-day tears. Only with clear sight and ice in the veins can a true verdict be reached on a manager who has claimed two trophies in 95 games.
Pellegrini’s fate should be resolved only this close season when a fuller picture emerges of whether the team is developing, of whether it could be the show’s cast that needs changing, rather than the director. Summer-time is the right time. That is the time when City’s Abu Dhabi owners conduct their season’s review with their managers, when decisions are made (barring the sudden eviction of Mark Hughes in December 2009).
Despite the waves of criticism rolling towards Pellegrini in the comments sections of the Manchester Evening News and elsewhere on Monday, the word from the Etihad was that it is “business as usual”. City insist that they continue to back a manager embarrassed by Liverpool andBarcelona in the past few days, and that nobody has been sounded out as a replacement.
Pellegrini enjoys a good relationship with the chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak, with the club’s chief executive officer Ferran Soriano and director of football Txiki Begiristain. The last two were instrumental in appointing Pellegrini and their own local credibility, to an extent, is entwined with his fortunes.
A low-maintenance and intelligent soul, the Chilean is respected within the building for bringing tranquillity after the mood swings of Roberto Mancini. City have noted events at Chelsea, including Jose Mourinho’s mind games, conspiracy theories and occasional media blackouts and shuddered. They have seen how their man, “this charming man” to quote a fans’ banner, conducts himself with more decorum, barring a bizarre, intemperate outburst at the Swedish referee, Jonas Eriksson.
The 61-year-old lives quietly with his wife in a Manchester suburb, close to one of their sons, and spends his spare time looking after his grandchildren, even doing the school-run duties. He likes his privacy. He would recoil at the thought of being a demonstrative public figure like Mourinho.
The problem for Pellegrini, who says little of interest to the personality-obsessed English media, is that he has few supporters to fight his corner in public. So he currently endures a pounding in the press, on social media and in television studios.
City also feel that Pellegrini was given insufficient praise by the media for driving the team through some difficult periods to the title last season (as well as the League Cup). City fans were enraged and confused that Pellegrini was beaten to the two Manager of the Year awards by Tony Pulis, who kept Crystal Palace up, and Brendan Rodgers, who reinvigorated Liverpool and lifted them to second. Pellegrini’s current travails need placing in a broader perspective. He won two trophies in his first season, and currently endures a tough second term.
The close scrutiny is right, however. All the “holistic” hyperbole about Pellegrini is irrelevant if there are holes in City’s defence. Pellegrini has questions to answer even if the mood remains sympathetic within the corridors of powers and the stairwells leading to the terraces.
Desert sands do shift under Pellegrini. Mourinho is back winning trophies. Rodgers revitalises Liverpool. Luis Enrique, hardly Pep II at Barcelona, outwitted him in the Champions League. Even dear old Arsène Wenger worked out how to set up a balanced team to defeat City at the Etihad. If managerial stock was floated on the FTSE, traders would currently be considering selling their shares in Pellegrini.
Pellegrini may well finish the season empty-handed yet such a disappointing eventuality is permissible if accompanied by signs of hope for the future. But City don’t appear to be developing. They currently looked stalled, ageing, lacking dynamism. Barring the likes of Sergio Aguero, Joe Hart, James Milner and David Silva, some of their stars are falling short, comets on a downward trajectory. Yaya Toure looks a transfer waiting to happen, assuming somebody will meet his wage demands. Vincent Kompany, a true leader and usually reliable centre half, makes too many mistakes. The holding midfielders are not good enough. Silva and Samir Nasri don’t track back.
Purchases during the Pellegini era, the likes of Fernando, Eliaquim Mangala and Wilfried Bony, have yet to impress but were these truly the choices of the Chilean or of Begiristain? Pellegrini has had to contend with FFP sanctions. What is vexing is that he has not used these Uefa-imposed restrictions to promote youngsters, freshening up the seniors’ squad with some of the starlets nurtured by Patrick Vieira at the City Football Academy. The future? Bring it on.
Tactically, Pellegrini certainly deserves censure. Naively, a coach with only positive principles fails to confront and negate the strengths of opponents. Did he not warn his defenders to show Philippe Coutinho on to his left foot? Did he seriously think he could control midfield with only Fernando and Milner, with a 4-4-2 system, against Barcelona?
Why are City not playing a high-pressing game? Having equalised at Anfield, why did they slacken off? Why does he not protect or realign a defence vulnerable to pace? Why does a physically imposing man not venture to the edge of the technical, resembling a real authority figure?
Speculation about his future is legitimate only if substantial alternatives present themselves this summer. Pep Guardiola is not expected to leave Bayern Munich this summer, a year before his deal expires. Diego Simeone, such a force at Atletico Madrid, would need to learn the language.
There has been frequent talk this season of Carlo Ancelotti replacing Pellegrini. That would depend on whether Real Madrid offload a popular coach who led them to La Decima last season, whose team currently lead La Liga and can already smell the cologne of the presenters of the Champions League quarter-final draw after an away win at Schalke.
Any decision can be made only in the summer when the respective work of Pellegrini and Ancelotti can be judged. It could prove an awkward summer for Pellegrini – but let him get there first. He deserves that at least.

that last piece there blue basically sums up what I wrote yesterday. The end of season is the time to look at whether we keep or change managers. pel would only have a 12 month contract left anyway. I would also look at Klopp as well as Ancelotti , Guardiola & Simeone. I would ensure whoever comes in has paddy V as his #2.

On another note I was not having a go about dzeko just thought you were a bit harsh in your criticism, but the way you explained, it not that I necessarily agree with you, certainly made sense. You are not like Dawg who just hates Mangala

Oz...I honestly didn't think you were having a go mate, not at all.

We are all entitled to our opinions and observations on players and games...maybe we all do have our favourites and players who we just don't rate, so maybe give them more praise/stick than an objective viewer would.

As for Dawg....I think he's got a secret man-crush on Mangala...

I don't hate Mangala at all. I questioned the money spent on him and the protracted transfer which meant he had no pre-season with the team. That wasn't his fault though. He can't pass the ball (not to a City player). He gets wrong side far too often. He gets turned far too easily. He makes some rash tackles. He can't play offside. He's strong and fast though.

yes you do hate him ( for the purpose of this debate!!!!!)

Topdawg wrote:He can't pass the ball (not to a City player). He gets wrong side far too often. He gets turned far too easily. He makes some rash tackles. He can't play offside.

And you only question the money spent on him......i'd say looking at that post he's one shit footballer

Den, I may not be that astute, but he plays like a shit footballer. He may improve.

#mangalamancrush

Akin to your love for all things Yaya...

Don't know who he is...