A few weeks ago I wrote an article about reasons to be positive this season. Having watched the performances in midweek versus Sunderland and the home game against Leicester City I have to say it’s certainly difficult for that to be the case at the moment. But what has gone wrong?
Well, I have often been a critic of Manuel Pellegrini as I don’t feel he has taken us to the next level after the departure of Roberto Mancini. He inherited a good squad and the best defence in the league. Roberto Mancini seemed to have the right balance between defence and attack. But this season, in particular, the balance is all wrong. In Pellegrini’s tenure at City we have played some great football at times, especially in his first season. But this season the good performances have been few and far between. I think the move to replace him at the end of the season is the correct one – whatever the trophy count ends up being.
Over the season to date, we have performed like a flat track bully. Beating comfortably the teams in the bottom half of the table. But we haven’t beaten a single team in the top six. For a club of the size and stature of City, this clearly isn’t good enough. But why?
I believe the manager has made a number of mistakes this season and it begins with his focus on the Capital One Cup. At the start of the season, my view was that if any fan was prioritising the trophies (and some may debate the order of my 1 and 2) the order would be 1. Premier League, 2. Champions League, 3. FA Cup and 4. Capital One Cup. Now a trip to Wembley in a couple of weeks time will be nice if we win. But is it really one of the major trophies? We are currently heavily struck by injuries and I can’t help but feel we wasted an opportunity in that competition to blood some of the kids. Many of our players look out on their feet after continually playing two games a week. Our best attacking player this season has been Kevin De Bruyne but we are going to be without him now for huge games in three competitions due to an injury in what was bottom of the pile from a priority perspective. This has also meant we are blooding kids like Celina in the Premier League due to our injury list. Surely players like him could have played in the Capital One Cup instead?
I’m also concerned by our defending as I have been all season except for the first five games of the season when a fully fit Vincent Kompany organised all around him. Joe Hart has performed well and Bacary Sagna has too but after this, I believe we are struggling.
Pablo Zabaleta is and always will be a City legend, but the number of games he has played in recent years seems to be taking their toll. Aleks Kolarov continues to be a huge frustration. His defending has been poor since he joined the club, particularly when defending one on one. And even from an attacking perspective he frustrates; probably best summed up against Leicester with rash shots from distance when others were in better positions and poor choices of final ball with crosses continually over hit. Gael Clichy should certainly be starting ahead of him at the moment and certainly provides more pace and mobility.
The current centre-back pairing is also an area for concern. With the high defensive line that City play you need mobile, athletic and fast centre backs. The combination of Otamendi and Demichelis just does not work against the better teams in the division. The decision to start both together against Leicester was a huge concern for most in the ground when the teams were announced. And Martin Demichelis, although he has done a good job since signing for City, his best days are clearly behind him. His current partner Otamendi doesn’t fill me with much confidence either. I’m continually annoyed at him getting dragged out of position in wide areas and high up the pitch. The fact that he also throws himself to the floor and dives in needlessly when challenged means for me
anyway, he is nowhere near a £30m player. I can’t help but feel a young Jason Denayer deserved his chance this season.
And Manuel Pellegrini hasn’t come out of the season with much credit. For the watching City fan, it would appear he doesn’t take any account of the opposition tactics. Any City fan in the Etihad Stadium for the game vs Leicester will have known the away team were going to play on the counter-attack. The obvious team selection would certainly have been Sagna at centre-back with Otamendi (to counter the pace of Vardy) and Clichy at left-back to counter Mahrez.
Which brings us on to the midfield set up. Yaya Toure has and should always be remembered as one of City’s best ever players. The giant Ivorian has been an integral part in every trophy we have won. But the fact he has been selected in a midfield two this season is absolutely staggering. For me, Yaya either has to have a free role in the team (remove his defensive duties) or be used as an impact player off the bench as in the recent game at home vs Crystal Palace. A central midfield pairing of Delph and Fernandinho would seem to be our best option at the moment.
So into the final dozen or so league games we go, crippled by injuries and some of our best players like Silva out of form. It’s hard to predict how things are going to end up. We have some huge games to play at the Etihad (Arsenal, Tottenham and United all still to visit) and some tough games away with games at Liverpool (never a good hunting ground) and also against an improving Chelsea side. And all of this under the shadow of our new manager in waiting, Pep Guardiola.
What am I hoping for now? Well, we certainly need more bodies fit. Nasri and De Bruyne will obviously be out for a while it would seem. But we do need the likes of Mangala, Kompany, Navas and Bony fit very quickly. I would also say we need Pellegrini to take account of how other teams are going to set up too and attempt to nullify. But based on the last 2.5 years I won’t hold my breath with that one.
