Liverpool 2 – 1 MAN CITY – MY THOUGHTS
2 Mar
Having self-belief in your approach is commendable. Being blind to your faults is not.
So here we are again: another big game, another crushing defeat, another painful deconstruction of how Manuel Pellegrini got it so horribly wrong.
Fresh off the back of sustained and fully justified criticism after his mistakes at home to Barcelona, Pellegrini made the same errors again. He picked the wrong team and chose the wrong system. Again. He left us vulnerable in the middle and exposed out wide. Again. He didn’t learn from previous lessons. Again. Questions are being asked of his suitability to take the club forward. Again.
And, as it was on Tuesday night when a combination of arrogance, stubbornness and naivety resulted in a Champions League masterclass from Barcelona, that is what was so deflating for City supporters. It is the lack of pragmatism, the lack of adaptation and, above all, the lack of progression that bites so deep.
No-one would complain if it felt like City were on the right path and that the manager was working to eradicate his faults, but it feels at the moment that Pellegrini is closing his eyes to the reality around him. To misquote Albert Einstein, the definition of obstinacy is to select the same faulty system over and over, but to expect different results.
It is hard to avoid in this piece simply repeating what was written after the Barcelona game. Then, the flak came from all directions and related to Pellegrini’s decision to go with 4-4-2, his selection of certain players in that formation and his refusal after the game to acknowledge his mistakes. What is so galling is that all that criticism is perfectly valid now.
On Sunday, just as last Tuesday, he went with two strikers, neither of whom are the type to hustle and harry defenders non-stop. Again, he opted to field a midfield four, with Samir Nasri and David Silva on the wings. That pair are undoubtedly City’s most creative outlets and a clear threat when in possession, but they are hardly likely to keep a disciplined shape when chasing the ball. Against a Liverpool side that played with energy, enterprise and pace, City were left floundering with no clear plan or direction.
Let’s not forget that our hosts had just played 120 minutes in Turkey on Thursday night, arriving back in to Liverpool at around 4:30am on Friday morning. They fielded a surprisingly strong team in that game and pushed until the very end before succumbing to a crushing defeat on penalties. They should have been both physically and mentally whacked. City had been afforded a full two days extra rest, yet while we should have looked fresh and dynamic, the performance was lifeless and stale. Liverpool were the side closing down in packs, hunting the ball and sniffing errors. Sadly, there were plenty of them.
Vincent Kompany had arguably his worst game in a City shirt, Eliaquim Mangala continued in the same wretched vein that has been the story of his season and Yaya Touré had one of those days when it seemed like he would rather be anywhere else than trying to win a football game for his side. Pablo Zabaleta was dragged out of position with every attack, unsure whether to cover for his wayward central defenders or negate the threat out wide. Samir Nasri offered him little protection.
To a certain extent, Pellegrini cannot be blamed. He could not have expected Kompany and Mangala to panic every time a ball was played towards them. He could not have envisaged the amount of aimless hoofs forward to an increasingly dejected Sergio Aguero. He could not have accounted for the individual errors that continue to characterise the campaign.
And yet it felt, sitting in the away end at Anfield, that this was the day when supporters’ attitudes towards the manager shifted considerably. Match-going fans will always support a manager more than social media keyboard warriors, but the mixture of bemusement, frustration and anger was almost tangible in the stands.
Here is a stat for Pellegrini to ponder. When his side won eleven out of twelve games in a period that stretched from late November to early January, he selected just one striker in all of those matches. In part, that was forced upon him due to various injuries, but he found a formation that suited his players, one that provided a balance between defensive security and attacking flair.
David Silva was invariably positioned behind the sole forward, with Jesus Navas one side and Samir Nasri the other. Aguero was out injured, Edin Dzeko was out of form and Stevan Jovetic was out of favour, but there was a still a cutting edge and City still found a way to win games.
Another snippet for Pellegrini to consider. What was the common factor in victories at home to Liverpool, Spurs, Manchester United and Bayern Munich, and then away to Southampton and Roma? Those were City’s best performances and results of the season and, you guessed it, all were achieved with just one striker.
The reality, of course, is not black and white. It is not merely a case of playing two strikers and expecting a defeat, nor does one striker and an extra midfielder instantly signify a win. Indeed, if you asked me now what system I would choose against Leicester in midweek, I would opt for an attacking one featuring Aguero and Wilfried Bony, but that is against Leicester at home, not Liverpool away.
What all those afore-mentioned results should have shown Pellegrini is that the key is not necessarily picking your best players, but your best team for the occasion. Don’t try to shoehorn attacking grace into a side when unpleasant grafting and positional awareness is what is needed. Don’t be too arrogant to ignore the opposition’s strengths and tailor your approach accordingly. At the end of the day, the manager should be there to give his side the best possible chance of winning the game. If Pellegrini felt the way to do that against Liverpool was to select the side he did, then serious questions have to be asked.
It was mystifying. Liverpool seemed to outnumber City through the centre, yet also have so much space out wide. They passed and moved, they created angles and chances, they were sprightly and penetrative. It really was as simple as one pass from deep into the likes of Adam Lallana and Phillipe Coutinho bypassing City’s whole midfield. As such, it left the defence scarily vulnerable. It took until the hour mark before Pellegrini made any changes and tried to stifle Liverpool’s dominance, but by that point, City heads had dropped and a goal shortly followed.
When I left Anfield last season having seen us lose in such deflating circumstances, I thought the title race was over. We all know what happened after that with Steven Gerrard’s slip and City’s subsequent charge to silverware, but similar negative feelings walking away from the ground yesterday were inescapable. This felt like a terminal defeat.
After the Barcelona game, I asked when Pellegrini would learn his lessons. We are still waiting for an answer.
City never win at anfield,Stamford bridge or arsenal.hate to say it but when Man Utd were in their pomp they did so on a regular basis.no fear.seems the big games are going the same way as the so called easier ones. i.e. lost. oh for a relegation battle..lol…not
I have to agree with you yet again Vfab – regretably there is no defence for Pellers now and this thoroughly decent and honourable man cannot be allowed to contunue past the end of this season into the inevitable rebuilding that our ageing squad requires next summer. It would take a miracle to change that view and miracles that include turning over Barça, winning the CL, hunting down Maureen’s thoroughly well organised and motivated Chelsea don’t are not likely when your side is demotivated, outplayed and in dissaray and the Chief of Staff is the only person who fails to recognise this!
An uncharacteristically bellicose assault with both barrels Alph. You will forgive my repetition from our local earlier today but for the benefit of Veefabers it would be remiss if we did not at least acknowledge that despite his managerial blind spots Pellers did unveil his Plan B this weekend. It would appear that we have added to our limited locker of ponderous 200 pass build up with the helpful addition of something new. We are now a long ball team. So after the injection of a world of talent and the engagement of the finest tactical minds at our disposal we are not only the worlds richest club. We are also Stoke.
Wonder if their gaffer could do a job for us?
Finally others that recognised the long ball tactics deployed in the second half sunday, like VFAB says though the players are the ones to blame for that. The panic when on the ball in our own half was highly uncharacteristic and very worrying, a unnecessarily hoofed clearance followed by Liverpool coming back on the attack for 15-20 continuous minutes seemed to occur until Coutinho finally punished us.
There is no denying that the mannager does not seem to be learning, as pointed out below the number of times a Liverpool player was able to turn in our final 3rd without pressure was almost embarrassing, where was the in game management from the manager and players to stop this?
When one simple forward pass from Liverpool’s back 3 could take out 5 City players and leave the likes of Coutinho or Lallana running freely at our defence you know the system is not working. Granted Liverpool scored two exceptional goals and on another day Aguero may have bagged at least 2 goals but we looked a shambles for the vast majority of the game unable to retain possession and not willing to close or press quickly enough to stop Liverpool’s talented players from hurting us.
The system employed by Pellegrini was clearly wrong but the players also failed to show the necessary fight and desire when the chance to put pressure on Chelsea was there for the taking.
Liverpool sliced and diced us almost on every one their attacks. If I am going to be honest, the score line flattered us. It was the worst performance I have ever seen not just our defending ,that I have been screaming about in my comments for the last few months, but the attack as well. Liverpool limited City to only one shot on target for the entire game, that is as bad as it gets.
Unfortunately, Pellers is proving to be as stubborn as an old mule by blindly adhering to the system that does not suit our players and worst by pretending that all is okay, etc.
When you are not playing well and the results are not going your way. You got to adapt. Something he is clearly missing.
My concern is not about title but falling out of top 4 with the way things are going. 6 points is what now separates 4th position from 2nd as this old fool has allowed United and Arsenal in the touching distance.
When you play a 4 men midfield, you need 4 disciplined, committed players to keep things tight and cover a lot of grounds to press the opposition [Silva, Nasri and Yaya are not such players save Ferny who was stretched due to being exposed]. Just look at 4 Liverpool midfielders in their 3 – 4 – 3 and you exactly see what I mean.
Hi VfaB, do you know if any of City’s board, management or players ever bother to read these blogs? As they should do. They need to be aware of how us fans all feel. That performance yesterday was atrocious. I fully agree about Pellers, he simply isn’t up to the job. And I’ll be as strong as to say his decision making is down to something far more worrying, it is stupidity. He defends his 4-4-2 set up and to a degree he’s not wrong. But like Siamack said, you’ve got to have 4 very disciplined fighters in there. Yaya and Merlin are definite starters but they’re both luxury players. Great at going forward, awful at going back. Therefore you need not one, but two James Milner’s in there doing all the chasing, back tracking & dirty work. Nasri cannot play in the same 11 as Merlin. Play one or the other, with Merlin always first choice. Fernandinho’s performance yesterday was disgraceful from a professional footballer. He didn’t have a clue. If you watch his performance you’ll see he just jogs around like a kid in a school playground game of footy. Never knowing where to go, just following the flow. He was left somewhat abandoned by Yaya but that doesn’t excuse his positional sense. He simply isn’t good enough. And don’t get me started on that donkey, Fernando, I just thank god he didn’t get to come on. He’s truly awful. I think my mother could give him a race. So why wasn’t Jimbob in there to chase down the likes of Coutinho? Even Lamps could’ve done a better job as he’s no mug. We have a clueless manager who has been found out. I don’t care if he’s a nice man, who cares? You wouldn’t see Mourinho making such mistakes and he wouldn’t allow players like Nasri & Dzeko to stroll around like its a kick about in the park with their kids. Then it’s down to our leader, Kalamity, sorry, I mean Kompany. What the hell has happened to him? His game has totally collapsed. His composure & concentration have completely deserted him. Why? I can only think there’s things happening behind the scenes that we don’t get to hear about. I’d guess that he’s lost faith in the manager as we all have. My biggest fear is that Kun & Merlin could start thinking their futures lie away from the Etihad (as Milner probably is too) and we could lose them which would be a travesty. The pundits got it so right, Jamie Carragher saying there’s something seriously wrong at City which needs sorting very quickly. And, of all people, Gary Neville, saying our midfield yesterday was embarrassing. It’s sad to admit that they are both spot on. Can we entice Simeone or Guardiola? I doubt it. But fingers crossed. Then we need a big clear out of the dead wood. we’ve spent millions on very average players whilst Chelsea have bought quality. Mangala, Fernando, Fernandinho, Navas, Jovetic, Dzeko etc. We need to once again break the bank and go ruthlessly after the likes of Pogba, Barkley, a long term partner for Komps, a truly world class winger, even Cresswell, the left back from West Ham who’s really impressed me this season.
The Goatman, as you know has been saying for months that you should mark the manager as well as the players because frankly he’s not up to it. Of course its probably not just him, there are chief execs and directors of football etc dictating transfer policy and the rest. MP has brought some calmness to the club, no reporting of players fighting and the like but truthfully we have not progressed, his signing have been poor on the whole, we are and ageing squad with several decent players in it who are not, sadly, capable of taking us to that next level. It might seem harsh but we need a bit of a clear out, and a new manager who will demand more from his players
Its simple, forgetting formation’s etc – teamwork & hard work is rule number 1 – without team eithic & hard graft with a disire to go on & win a game without which the “team” becomes nonexistent. Which is what happened in the second half, only one team wanted to win – we didn’t look to bothered which is the worst thing you can say about a team. The manager needs the team working as a unit when we don’t have the ball. He is like wenger in area’s of the game like this. When we haven’t the ball we are hopeless & Liverpool just ran all over us. V.k is having a car crash of a season, at least mangala was man enough to say that he has “struggled” unlike Mr k who hides behind the waffle. So some class vincent’ I was under the impression that you were a gentleman etc. The team have gone soft – the boss looks like his number is up. We could be battered 5-nil by barca with how things stand at the moment. I see big problems on the horizon in the coming months… We must not fall out of the top four now which would be a nightmare for the club. With f.f.p & transfere fees etc I feel that we will be long shots to land the type of players we need I.e pogba, Vidal, Alba etc… What a sh***y week. Good to read all the different points of view, another good job Mr view – top site – no pride in battle.
Thank god for this site, and the level headed people on here, the manger is proving to be a disaster, most of our fans remain dumbfounded, for the money that has been spent on the squad it’s a disgrace. Cannot wit to get a new manager.
I think there is general consensus here that it’s now time for Mr P to go! For me the time for him to go was :
when he decided after a week that Garth Barry wasn’t good enough! After a week???? How can any decent manager make this decision?
When he didn’t know the rules of the champions league!
when he decided to play Garcia at centre back when Micah R was available and then played the plonker in midfield when Milner couldn’t get a game!
When he decided to loan out Micah Richards and bring in a far worse replacement!
When he bought a load of average/below average players – Mangala (a joke – Sterling screwed him to pieces!! )and the hapless Fernando – for ridiculous amounts of money
When he played 4-4-2 against Barcelona, got hammered and then played it again!
Too many bad decisions from this manager over the course of two years.
It’s time for him to GO!