Good article from Mike Keegan. Is the MUEN changing spots?
http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/ ... rs-6489288
Mike Keegan: It looks like City were right to go 'holistic ballistic'...
9 Jan 2014 17:26
MEN reporter Mike Keegan believes the Blues have proved the doubters wrong by fully committing to the "holistic" approach touted during the summer.
It was the word that triggered sniggers on sportsdesks around the country.
But eight months after City announced that the successor to Roberto Mancini would bring a 'holistic' approach to the club the only people laughing are the fans, the players - and no doubt the Blues' battle-hardened officials.
At the time many had to thumb through a dictionary to find out what it meant. Even after doing that, some were still not sure.
But Manuel Pellegrini has delivered his own definition of 'holistic' for the nation to see.
It involves a club singing from the same hymn sheet, a team that plays with a smile on its face and a refreshing approach to football that is at odds with what the tabloids would have you believe.
City's decision to go ballistic for holistic will have stemmed not only from the scars of Mancini's divisive administration but from Ferran Soriano and Txiki Begiristain's time at blueprint Barcelona.
Club staff are wary of harking back to the Italian's turbulent tenure. It was not all tears and tantrums and nobody will forget his part in the Blues revival and the glorious ending of the trophy drought.
But it is impossible not to note the differences.
Whereas assistant David Platt was often used as a go-between, the amiable Chilean's door is always open.
The new faces that have arrived have also lifted spirits. One source, in typically Mancunian fashion, described Alvaro Negredo, Fernandinho and co as 'good lads'.
Many may not have seen it, but a glimpse into the new spirit of harmony was provided at the Etihad in the second half of Wednesday's cakewalk against West Ham.
Negredo, having bagged a brilliant hat-trick, was summoned to the bench to be replaced by Aleksandar Kolarov.
Such a move may have prompted a dummy spit from previous centre forwards.
The Hammers, as poor a side as the Blues will face this season, were not so much on the ropes but lying prostrate in the first row of the ringside seats and chances to score four, five and maybe even six would certainly have come Negredo's way.
But the beast was happy to leave the feast. He embraced his replacement and then shook the hand of every member of the bench.
The only way he could have displayed further dedication to the cause would have been if he had vaulted the advertisement hoardings into the South Stand and started a chorus of Blue Moon.
Off the pitch, the definition of holistic is all around us.
Gone is the noisy neighbours tag. The transfer window is open and there has hardly been a peep out of City.
Sky Sports no longer have a van parked outside the main entrance, just in case.
Paparazzi poised at the Bridgewater Hospital on Princess Parkway will no doubt have been briefed to look out for United targets.
Pellegrini did his business in the summer, and with Sergio Aguero to return and Stevan Jovetic to hopefully prove that he is not the Invisible Man the Blues faithful often sing about, all seems rosy.
The Jovetic situation itself is another reminder of how things have changed.
Perhaps desperate for, at last, a juicy story the manager has been peppered with questions about his £22m capture from Fiorentina.
Is he homesick? Is he unsetlled?
Pellegrini could have stuck the pads on and done a job for England's jumpy middle order in Australia, judging by the straight bat he firmly played his answers with.
After the West Ham mauling a journalist despatched especially from Italy to ask about Jovetic asked him once more.
The poor lad would have been better off staying at home, keeping dry and reading Pellegrini's comments the last time he was asked the same question.
"Jovetic will be fantastic, he has suffered injuries in the first half of the season but we all know what he can do and hope the second half will be better."
It was almost as though he had memorised it.
If holistic can be judged on the pitch by results, with the Blues already at Wembley barring an unthinkable disaster and fighting for glory on four fronts, it appears to be going well.
Off it, column inches at the front of the paper as well as the back are not a bad barometer.
As much as we laughed (and wrote stories), can you imagine Negredo turning up at Xaverian and asking where the toilets are?
Me neither.
The only drama holistic does is of the footballing kind - and there is more on the way in this Happy Blue Year.
The mancityfans.net football forum
The BEST FORUM in all the land and all the world
