View From A Blue

Manuel Pellegrini is lucky. He’s lucky, not because City still have a chance of progressing to the knockout stages despite one of the most abject performances imaginable, nor because he has an eminently winnable fixture on Saturday in which to bounce back. Rather, he’s lucky that among the hierarchy at the club, there is no [...]

Phew! The relief at the final whistle yesterday was immense, not just because the margin of victory was so tight, or because City had to withstand some late pressure, but because derbies are horrible. They are excruciating. They play with your emotions and they leave you drained. This was a game City deserved to win [...]

It’s all going wrong for City and Manuel Pellegrini. The issues are beginning to mount: a deflating draw in the Champions League that showcased the repeated failings of the players and manager, two miserable defeats in succession, inflexible tactics that are becoming easy to play against, supporters who are starting to question decisions and players [...]

In four seasons in the Champions League, this was undoubtedly the most depressing – and telling – result. Over the past few years, we have suffered crushing last minute defeats to the likes of Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, been on the receiving end of a miserable loss away to Ajax and witnessed a footballing [...]

This was football as it should be played. There was plenty of drama, action and excitement. Above all, it was entertaining. For the neutral, I imagine it must have been a pulsating game to watch: five goals, four penalties, a red card and two teams whose only intention was to pour forward and create chances. [...]