When Manuel Pellegrini replaced Roberto Mancini at the end of the 2012/13 season it’s fair to say the majority of fans were underwhelmed with the appointment. Mancini was a huge favourite with the Manchester City fans and after leaked press reports on the morning of the FA Cup Final loss to Wigan Athletic, Mancini was fired shortly after. I recall being at the game at Wembley with the atmosphere really subdued on the back of the rumours earlier in the day that our much-loved manager was about to lose his job. I will always blame the leaked press reports for that result too but that’s a different story.
But why was Mancini such a huge favourite with the City fans and why is he perceived differently than current manager Manuel Pellegrini? Well for me Mancini had a much harder job than the one that Manuel Pellegrini took on. When Mancini took over he inherited a team in poor form despite what the pro-Mark Hughes press tried to portray with a run of just 2 wins in 11 Premier League games. On the back of this Hughes had made a number of poor signings in his time at the club. These included injury prone Roque Santa Cruz (£16m), Emmanuel Adebayor (£25m) and Kolo Toure (£15m) plus a number of others. And, despite the views of Hughes and his staff, the team were heading for mid table at best in my opinion.
The impact of Roberto Mancini’s management and the improved set up of the team was immediate. From the beginning, City looked well organised defensively and became very difficult to beat. Performances were good and the manager built up a fantastic relationship with the City fans. Eventually, Mancini led the team to 5th place that season which I think exceeded the expectations at the time he took over.
In the following season, the impact was, even more, significant and City earned their first silverware for more than 30 years with victory in the FA Cup final. To compliment this, the team also qualified for Champions League football after securing a top 3three finish. And in the following season, we secured the Premier League trophy with our last minute Aguero goal and the rest as they say is history.
My biggest regret after this was that the club never backed Mancini. I think the writing was on the wall though and to be honest, if we hadn’t won the league he would have been replaced. But we did and the biggest failing was that the club didn’t improve the team. He wanted Eden Hazard and got Scott Sinclair which probably just about sums it up.
On the back of this and in a season where we finished second in the League and runner-up in the FA Cup, the manager was undermined on the day of the final and Pellegrini was appointed soon after. I think Pellegrini has always been respected by the fans and is probably what is considered a safe pair of hands. But the rapport between fans and manager isn’t quite the same as it was with Mancini and this isn’t a criticism. It’s just that Pellegrini’s personality is very different. But, perhaps the decision to replace Mancini was the right one. Fighting with players on the training ground and complaining about the club’s transfer policy in the press wasn’t what the club had wanted. But was appointing Pellegrini as his replacement the right decision and has the team progressed?
My own biggest frustration with the Pellegrini era is that the club hasn’t progressed as much in the 2.5 years of his current reign as it should have. The performances in the Champions League have clearly been better than those of his predecessor, but domestically I can’t help feeling that the club is no better off. At the end of the season, Pellegrini will hopefully end up with a better trophy return than the Italian. But let’s remember that he has spent significant amounts of money, yet the go to players and spine of the team continues to be Hart, Kompany, Toure (to a lesser extent these days), Silva and Aguero. Plus let’s remember that Mancini had a tough job in that he had to change the mentality of the players, supporters and the club as a whole into a winning one. While Pellegrini took on a team that had won 2 domestic trophies in successive seasons.
So why do I believe the team hasn’t progressed? Well, I believe that based on the squad of players that we have and the money spent we should be doing a lot better than we have done. I have a number of frustrations and let me take a chance to share them:
1. The signing of Willy Caballero was a questionable signing and he certainly isn’t an upgrade on Costel Pantilimon. Once Pantilimon made it clear he was leaving he should have been replaced with an English back up keeper meaning our domestic and European squads aren’t short in numbers as they are currently. Over the coming weeks, I’d certainly be happy with City selling Caballero and bringing in a Rob Green or John Ruddy as a backup to Joe Hart.
2. The continued selection of Yaya Toure as a CM in a midfield pairing is a mystery. I find it difficult to see how Pellegrini cannot see how other teams and players are overrunning our midfield. This is more of an issue in the Champions League and against the bigger teams domestically. The Capital One semi-final was a classic example where it appeared that Fernandinho (after the surprise withdrawal of Fabian Delph) was directly up against three players. If Yaya is going to play, and at his age I certainly don’t feel he should be flogged in every game as currently, then include him in front of two midfield players who are more willing to do the dirty work for the team. Just like Besic and Barry did in the Cup match.
3. Our defending is comical and I think a number of factors influence this. Unless Vincent Kompany plays the back four looks totally disorganised. But I don’t think it’s just down to organisation and do have to question our signings. Martin Demichelis suddenly looks like an old man these days on his rare appearances. The way the opposition walked past him at Everton and the defending for the second goal beggars belief. Eliaquim Mangala is looking like a transfer that has gone wrong, very rash and often caught out of position. After 18 months I’m not convinced he will come good now and wonder whether we should try and cut our losses. And it may be early days but I have doubts about Otamendi too. Another player that’s very rash and his current trend of diving and falling to the floor is very frustrating to watch. Hopefully, he will come good though in the second half of the season.
4. The talented young players haven’t had a fair chance to shine this season. I’m disappointed that Kelechi hasn’t had more chances in the team, even if they are more minutes from the substitutes bench. On occasions this season I feel he would have been a better option from the bench than Wilfried Bony. And I’m equally frustrated with young players not getting a chance in the Capital One cup. For example, Bacary Sagna has played continuously. I can’t help think that we could and should have blooded Maffeo from the youth team. At a similar age, Arsenal took a chance with Hector Bellerin and he hasn’t faired too badly.
My summary is that the team hasn’t progressed as much as it should have done. But with about half of the season remaining I am hoping that our key players stay fit, the team starts to be set up to win games but still defending properly and that some young players get a chance to shine.
What do you think? Do you agree with the points made? Here at @ReadManCity, we would love to hear your thoughts. Whether you agree or not.
