Even after Saturday’s debacle, City are in third place and Liverpool in 9th place in the table, and looking at that gap, it is reasonable to expect that City should have done better. Facing a Liverpool team that has its own injury problems, who just lost to Crystal Palace, I cannot blame Pellegrini. He thought he could rest key players, against a seemingly inferior team, ahead of the Wednesday’s Champions League clash in Turin, but the team he fielded let him down.
I won’t even start in defence but rather begin with Raheem Sterling. A little bit of offensive potency that his price tag implies and that game could have been different. Sergio Aguero is just back from injury and scoring a wonderful goal, and Raheem who is perfectly fit never got into that final gear to help out. Kevin De Bruyne I actually thought played fine, he had spirit, crafty passes, and played with a determination most lacked, receiving little support. Yaya Toure has now shown without exception that he needs the cover of Fernandinho if he is going to be on the pitch, and the same may be true for Fernando. We now know that Sagna was physically weak for the game following the tragedy in Paris despite thinking he was mentally fit. His combination play with Navas on the wing is critical and it seems without that support, Jesus was overwhelmed. Moving to central defence, let’s not forget Mangala is also of French origin, but he has played well with Demichelis in the past, and their poor performances were surprising.
Until Silva is fit again, Delph now makes more sense than Yaya Toure, and clearly Fernandinho’s importance cannot be underestimated. But managing Manchester City is not an easy job, particularly with the demands of balancing players who have international duty, with the multiple competitions the team partakes in throughout the year. Rest is essential and Pellegrini should have been able to rely on the depth of his team (two players for every position) to handle Saturday’s game. Remember this is why we were chasing Pogba, to help replace an aging Toure.
Pep Guardiola or Carlo Ancelotti will be Manchester City’s coach next year, period. Manuel Pellegrini knows his only hope, however small the chances might be, at avoiding this fate, is to advance deep in the Champions league. The only way to do have a shot at that, is to beat Juventus on Wednesday and finish at the top of the group. So he rested some key players, and also has key players injured like Kompany and Silva that were unavailable for selection.
Remember, even with Saturday’s loss, the Premier League is still a wide open race that Manchester City are still the favorites to win. But in order for Pellegrini to possibly survive past this season, he needs a victory on Wednesday. He needs to have City perform in Europe well in excess of past campaigns. So he gave the players best equipped to deliver that victory, coming off international play, some rest. It was the players who were called upon Saturday who let the team and fans down, not the manager who picked them. They are professional athletes with big salaries and should have done better. Let’s slow down the manager criticism, based on one game, where many of his players failed to show up.
If City win on Wednesday they will for the first time ever top their Champions League group, and will be riding that high into its next league game against Southampton. Pellegrini should then receive deserved credit, during an injury plagued season, for that historic accomplishment.
