Pellegrini's Mistakes

[edge275]

1. Strikers - Not buying a 4th back up striker. I don't understand why he insisted in going into the season with 3 strikers. Then also added to the mix that Aguero is injury prone, Bony is still rather unproven and the jury is out. He did well at Swansea, but that was over 18 months. We've seen strikers before have one great season or so, and then fade into obscurity. For Ivory Coast (who are a strong National team) he has scored 1 in 3 - hardly prolific. And then we've also got Kelechi, who despite seeming to be an enormous talent, is still a young lad who's barely played in the first team.

Going into the season with 3 strikers who are proven, with no injury records would still be a mistake (especially with the wealth and status we have now), but our 3 having question marks in one way or another makes the decision even more baffling.

2. Insistence of sticking with Nasri. Lets be honest here, Nasri is a decent player, but he'd never get in Bayern Munich's, Barcelona's or Real Madrid's squad nevermind team, so what is he doing in ours? Nasri is 28 and we could've got some good money for him. We could easily have improved upon him in the summer.

3. Not picking Kelechi in the Champions League Squad. Going into the Premier League Season with 3 strikers is bad, and going into the Champions League with 2 strikers is simply crazy. Funnily enough our injury prone striker gets injured and suddenly we have 1 striker left who for whatever reason, isn't performing well.

This puts us in a ridiculous situation of being the richest club in the world and subbing a striker who isn't playing well for an injured one because we have no other choice.


The below are mistakes against Juventus:

1. Even though in my opinion, Nasri should've been sold and improved upon in the summer, I could still see him bring an element of value to the squad if played in the cups and against lesser teams. But why was he picked to start against Juventus? Nasri never plays well in the big games and he is one of our under performing players in the squad. It should've been De Bruyne playing in Nasri's position from the beginning. What's the point in paying £55 million for a player, who has trained with the squad, is fully fit, and you're up against the toughest opponents in your Champions League Squad (last year's finalists), at home, and put him on the bench!? And then to make it worse have Nasri fill his spot!

2. Subbing Raheem Sterling. Yes Sterling did spurn a good chance or two (one great one), but he's the type of player who could do anything at any time and he was at least getting in those positions in the first place. His pace is always a threat and was a huge mistake subbing him off.

3. Not changing things when our current tactics clearly aren't working. This to be honest isn't just a Juventus thing, but why when our tactics/formations/players clearly aren't working, does he not do anything about it for fucking ages - sometimes never? We were so pedestrian, with no movement off the ball, slow tempo. It was clear as day, and yet he does nothing.


None of these opinions are formed with the basis of Hindsight. These are my thoughts as soon as each problem came to light.


Agree/disagree?

[Dubciteh]

Cant argue with much of that really.

[Piccsnumberoneblue]

The flip side of the three strikers argument is that Nacho would be struggling to get an opportunity. I'm happy enough with just the three.
I do think it was a right nause up not to have in the cl squad though.
Strange selection of Nasri last night.
He would have been third choice for me behind KDB and then Navas.

[ayrshireblue]

Can we please put to bed that Aguero is injury prone. A few years ago yes, he had muscular problems and has since sorted them out. Since the start of last season he was out for 6 weeks after being caught between Besic and Barry with a damaged knee. On Saturday he got an almighty kick on the knee from Dann which caused some damage to his knee. These are not injuries but are blows which are damaging to the joint or muscle but are not due to being injury prone.
Sterling was kicked constantly on the calves by Chiellini et al which meant that he could no longer run at pace which nullified his threat last night.
I have seen us play better than last night but have also seen us play much worse. If Bony, Sterling or Silva had scored with any of the chances they had last night we would have been out of sight of Juventus. Instead they scored from a great ball in from Pogba which was a one in a hundred pass, then when Kolarov is running with his back to the ball it strikes him and falls perfectly for Morata who hits a tremendous shot which just went in off the post. We were the better team, despite what MacManamanananamanaman said, but Juventus took this half chances and we didn't take our golden chances.

[Pretty Boy Lee]

Gun to my head I think buying bony was a bigger mistake than any of those. I never thought he suit us and I still don't. Id be ok with Aguero, Nacho and one other quality finisher, not sure who, but the3 we have don't seem right to me.

Nasri has done well so far this season so I can't give out too much over him, hope this is a one off backward step. Wece looked brilliant this season so far.

[Foreverinbluedreams]

Like I said before the game I could understand Nasri's selection as he was one of our better players against Palace at weekend, merited his inclusion I felt. De Bruyne has done 4 training sessions, perhaps Pellegrini felt he wasn't ready in terms of developing an understanding with teammates, understandable I thought. In hindsight Nasri under performed but( this isn't an attempt to excuse Nasri )the whole front four under performed.

I can see where you're coming from with the Sterling sub but perhaps he wasn't following instruction that he'd been given. Like I said above, he along with the rest of the attack under performed.

It could be argued that our tactics were working, we had taken the lead, we looked like we were good for a second goal and all of a sudden they equalise from a lack of pressing in midfield.

I'm not suggesting that your opinions are wrong just offering an alternative viewpoint on what you have highlighted.

[Foreverinbluedreams]

Can we please put to bed that Aguero is injury prone. A few years ago yes, he had muscular problems and has since sorted them out. Since the start of last season he was out for 6 weeks after being caught between Besic and Barry with a damaged knee. On Saturday he got an almighty kick on the knee from Dann which caused some damage to his knee. These are not injuries but are blows which are damaging to the joint or muscle but are not due to being injury prone.
Sterling was kicked constantly on the calves by Chiellini et al which meant that he could no longer run at pace which nullified his threat last night.
I have seen us play better than last night but have also seen us play much worse. If Bony, Sterling or Silva had scored with any of the chances they had last night we would have been out of sight of Juventus. Instead they scored from a great ball in from Pogba which was a one in a hundred pass, then when Kolarov is running with his back to the ball it strikes him and falls perfectly for Morata who hits a tremendous shot which just went in off the post. We were the better team, despite what MacManamanananamanaman said, but Juventus took this half chances and we didn't take our golden chances.

Ahhh rational thought, like it, particularly the bit about Aguero.

[iwasthere2012]

I think your point number 3. may be the one that bites us on the arse in the Chumps league.

Last night too many players weren't up to their best. Even at that we had ample opportunity to win that game, but couldn't take three golden chances.
Top European sides are clinical. You get few enough chances, you have to make them count.

[City64]

We didn't take our chances last night and Bony was awfull , what's with all the drama ????

[nottsblue]

We didn't take our chances last night and Bony was awfull , what's with all the drama ????

Tend to agree with this. You can have all the best laid game plan and tactics but if you miss two or three gilt edged chances whilst the opposition score with great strikes you will struggle. In the return leg it could just as easily go our way

[Mase]

Pellers needs to stop staying that Sterling can play as a striker. He can't. His finishing is poor - one day later in his career he might be able to play up there but not at the moment.

[edge275]

Can we please put to bed that Aguero is injury prone. A few years ago yes, he had muscular problems and has since sorted them out. Since the start of last season he was out for 6 weeks after being caught between Besic and Barry with a damaged knee. On Saturday he got an almighty kick on the knee from Dann which caused some damage to his knee. These are not injuries but are blows which are damaging to the joint or muscle but are not due to being injury prone.
Sterling was kicked constantly on the calves by Chiellini et al which meant that he could no longer run at pace which nullified his threat last night.
I have seen us play better than last night but have also seen us play much worse. If Bony, Sterling or Silva had scored with any of the chances they had last night we would have been out of sight of Juventus. Instead they scored from a great ball in from Pogba which was a one in a hundred pass, then when Kolarov is running with his back to the ball it strikes him and falls perfectly for Morata who hits a tremendous shot which just went in off the post. We were the better team, despite what MacManamanananamanaman said, but Juventus took this half chances and we didn't take our golden chances.

It seems the term 'injury prone' is up for debate here. Your view is that unless it's the same injury re-occurring a player is not injury prone - which I can understand your view point. However in my humble opinion regardless of what injuries a player suffers, and what part of his body, if he is injured often then to me he is simply injury prone regardless if each injury is completely separate to the others.

Sometimes it can be down to how a player plays. Aguero for example has a low centre of gravity, is pretty rapid, likes to take on players, and rides challenges when needed. Not to mention he's also one of the best players in world football and would be very beneficial for opposing teams to 'take him out'. No wonder he gets injured a lot.

For me the performance last night was simply unacceptable. Bearing in mind we didn't even score our goal - Juventus did and was a blatant foul. And they also had one or two chances of their own in addition to their two goals. Two offsides were questionable when they were clean through, and Hart made a great save when he fell down to his left. On another day Juventus could've stuffed us 4 - 0.

Juventus of course are a great side, but they are not the team they were last year. Added to the fact we've added another 150+ million in talent to our side over the summer, whilst they lost Pirlo, Tevez and Vidal. Getting beat in the manner we did at home just isn't good enough.

[Cocacolajojo1]

As much as I don't think we should've played Nasri, the very much boils down to Sterling not putting that chance away in the beginning of the first half. Had he done so, combined with the amount of energy we poured into pressing Juve in teh first half, teh game could've been sealed at half time. Likewise if he had put away the second chance.

Navas has a thread asking if he will ever score again. So far Sterling has bottled 3 clear break away chances. Navas 1.

I should work for Optasports.

[City64]

Can we please put to bed that Aguero is injury prone. A few years ago yes, he had muscular problems and has since sorted them out. Since the start of last season he was out for 6 weeks after being caught between Besic and Barry with a damaged knee. On Saturday he got an almighty kick on the knee from Dann which caused some damage to his knee. These are not injuries but are blows which are damaging to the joint or muscle but are not due to being injury prone.
Sterling was kicked constantly on the calves by Chiellini et al which meant that he could no longer run at pace which nullified his threat last night.
I have seen us play better than last night but have also seen us play much worse. If Bony, Sterling or Silva had scored with any of the chances they had last night we would have been out of sight of Juventus. Instead they scored from a great ball in from Pogba which was a one in a hundred pass, then when Kolarov is running with his back to the ball it strikes him and falls perfectly for Morata who hits a tremendous shot which just went in off the post. We were the better team, despite what MacManamanananamanaman said, but Juventus took this half chances and we didn't take our golden chances.

It seems the term 'injury prone' is up for debate here. Your view is that unless it's the same injury re-occurring a player is not injury prone - which I can understand your view point. However in my humble opinion regardless of what injuries a player suffers, and what part of his body, if he is injured often then to me he is simply injury prone regardless if each injury is completely separate to the others.

Sometimes it can be down to how a player plays. Aguero for example has a low centre of gravity, is pretty rapid, likes to take on players, and rides challenges when needed. Not to mention he's also one of the best players in world football and would be very beneficial for opposing teams to 'take him out'. No wonder he gets injured a lot.

For me the performance last night was simply unacceptable. Bearing in mind we didn't even score our goal - Juventus did and was a blatant foul. And they also had one or two chances of their own in addition to their two goals. Two offsides were questionable when they were clean through, and Hart made a great save when he fell down to his left. On another day Juventus could've stuffed us 4 - 0.

Juventus of course are a great side, but they are not the team they were last year. Added to the fact we've added another 150+ million in talent to our side over the summer, whilst they lost Pirlo, Tevez and Vidal. Getting beat in the manner we did at home just isn't good enough.

OTT reaction , too much drama ! Have I already posted this ?

[Foreverinbluedreams]

Can we please put to bed that Aguero is injury prone. A few years ago yes, he had muscular problems and has since sorted them out. Since the start of last season he was out for 6 weeks after being caught between Besic and Barry with a damaged knee. On Saturday he got an almighty kick on the knee from Dann which caused some damage to his knee. These are not injuries but are blows which are damaging to the joint or muscle but are not due to being injury prone.
Sterling was kicked constantly on the calves by Chiellini et al which meant that he could no longer run at pace which nullified his threat last night.
I have seen us play better than last night but have also seen us play much worse. If Bony, Sterling or Silva had scored with any of the chances they had last night we would have been out of sight of Juventus. Instead they scored from a great ball in from Pogba which was a one in a hundred pass, then when Kolarov is running with his back to the ball it strikes him and falls perfectly for Morata who hits a tremendous shot which just went in off the post. We were the better team, despite what MacManamanananamanaman said, but Juventus took this half chances and we didn't take our golden chances.

It seems the term 'injury prone' is up for debate here. Your view is that unless it's the same injury re-occurring a player is not injury prone - which I can understand your view point. However in my humble opinion regardless of what injuries a player suffers, and what part of his body, if he is injured often then to me he is simply injury prone regardless if each injury is completely separate to the others.

Sometimes it can be down to how a player plays. Aguero for example has a low centre of gravity, is pretty rapid, likes to take on players, and rides challenges when needed. Not to mention he's also one of the best players in world football and would be very beneficial for opposing teams to 'take him out'. No wonder he gets injured a lot.

For me the performance last night was simply unacceptable. Bearing in mind we didn't even score our goal - Juventus did and was a blatant foul. And they also had one or two chances of their own in addition to their two goals. Two offsides were questionable when they were clean through, and Hart made a great save when he fell down to his left. On another day Juventus could've stuffed us 4 - 0.

Juventus of course are a great side, but they are not the team they were last year. Added to the fact we've added another 150+ million in talent to our side over the summer, whilst they lost Pirlo, Tevez and Vidal. Getting beat in the manner we did at home just isn't good enough.

You watched a very different game to me.

Was Chiellini not backing into Kompany? 6 of one on that one for me.

There offsides were offside, end of.

They had one other decent chance in the game, we had three ( four if you include Silva's effort following Buffon's save ).

[edge275]

Can we please put to bed that Aguero is injury prone. A few years ago yes, he had muscular problems and has since sorted them out. Since the start of last season he was out for 6 weeks after being caught between Besic and Barry with a damaged knee. On Saturday he got an almighty kick on the knee from Dann which caused some damage to his knee. These are not injuries but are blows which are damaging to the joint or muscle but are not due to being injury prone.
Sterling was kicked constantly on the calves by Chiellini et al which meant that he could no longer run at pace which nullified his threat last night.
I have seen us play better than last night but have also seen us play much worse. If Bony, Sterling or Silva had scored with any of the chances they had last night we would have been out of sight of Juventus. Instead they scored from a great ball in from Pogba which was a one in a hundred pass, then when Kolarov is running with his back to the ball it strikes him and falls perfectly for Morata who hits a tremendous shot which just went in off the post. We were the better team, despite what MacManamanananamanaman said, but Juventus took this half chances and we didn't take our golden chances.

It seems the term 'injury prone' is up for debate here. Your view is that unless it's the same injury re-occurring a player is not injury prone - which I can understand your view point. However in my humble opinion regardless of what injuries a player suffers, and what part of his body, if he is injured often then to me he is simply injury prone regardless if each injury is completely separate to the others.

Sometimes it can be down to how a player plays. Aguero for example has a low centre of gravity, is pretty rapid, likes to take on players, and rides challenges when needed. Not to mention he's also one of the best players in world football and would be very beneficial for opposing teams to 'take him out'. No wonder he gets injured a lot.

For me the performance last night was simply unacceptable. Bearing in mind we didn't even score our goal - Juventus did and was a blatant foul. And they also had one or two chances of their own in addition to their two goals. Two offsides were questionable when they were clean through, and Hart made a great save when he fell down to his left. On another day Juventus could've stuffed us 4 - 0.

Juventus of course are a great side, but they are not the team they were last year. Added to the fact we've added another 150+ million in talent to our side over the summer, whilst they lost Pirlo, Tevez and Vidal. Getting beat in the manner we did at home just isn't good enough.

OTT reaction , too much drama ! Have I already posted this ?

Breaking Bad is drama.

Highlighting my opinions on Pellegrini's mistakes and the fact I felt we weren't good enough, isn't.

[Foreverinbluedreams]

Can we please put to bed that Aguero is injury prone. A few years ago yes, he had muscular problems and has since sorted them out. Since the start of last season he was out for 6 weeks after being caught between Besic and Barry with a damaged knee. On Saturday he got an almighty kick on the knee from Dann which caused some damage to his knee. These are not injuries but are blows which are damaging to the joint or muscle but are not due to being injury prone.
Sterling was kicked constantly on the calves by Chiellini et al which meant that he could no longer run at pace which nullified his threat last night.
I have seen us play better than last night but have also seen us play much worse. If Bony, Sterling or Silva had scored with any of the chances they had last night we would have been out of sight of Juventus. Instead they scored from a great ball in from Pogba which was a one in a hundred pass, then when Kolarov is running with his back to the ball it strikes him and falls perfectly for Morata who hits a tremendous shot which just went in off the post. We were the better team, despite what MacManamanananamanaman said, but Juventus took this half chances and we didn't take our golden chances.

It seems the term 'injury prone' is up for debate here. Your view is that unless it's the same injury re-occurring a player is not injury prone - which I can understand your view point. However in my humble opinion regardless of what injuries a player suffers, and what part of his body, if he is injured often then to me he is simply injury prone regardless if each injury is completely separate to the others.

Sometimes it can be down to how a player plays. Aguero for example has a low centre of gravity, is pretty rapid, likes to take on players, and rides challenges when needed. Not to mention he's also one of the best players in world football and would be very beneficial for opposing teams to 'take him out'. No wonder he gets injured a lot.

For me the performance last night was simply unacceptable. Bearing in mind we didn't even score our goal - Juventus did and was a blatant foul. And they also had one or two chances of their own in addition to their two goals. Two offsides were questionable when they were clean through, and Hart made a great save when he fell down to his left. On another day Juventus could've stuffed us 4 - 0.

Juventus of course are a great side, but they are not the team they were last year. Added to the fact we've added another 150+ million in talent to our side over the summer, whilst they lost Pirlo, Tevez and Vidal. Getting beat in the manner we did at home just isn't good enough.

OTT reaction , too much drama ! Have I already posted this ?

Breaking Bad is drama.

Highlighting my opinions on Pellegrini's mistakes and the fact I felt we weren't good enough, isn't.

Saying they could've stuffed us 4-0 based on that game last night is.

[ayrshireblue]

Injury prone is where a player keeps picking up injuries, getting kicked or battered by an opposing player is not injury prone. I suppose in your eyes Luke Shaw is now injury prone because he got injured last night.
We were the better team and were never in danger of getting stuffed 4-0 you muppet.

[edge275]

Injury prone is where a player keeps picking up injuries, getting kicked or battered by an opposing player is not injury prone. I suppose in your eyes Luke Shaw is now injury prone because he got injured last night.
We were the better team and were never in danger of getting stuffed 4-0 you muppet.

Yes injury prone is where a player keeps picking up injuries, and Aguero does keep picking up injuries. Hence, i believe he is injury prone.

I don't think Luke Shaw is injury prone because he broke his leg, you just conjured that out of thin air.

I never said it was likely we could've got beat 4 - 0. I'm saying that they scored 2 goals, had 2 - 3 good chances of their own, and I personally think our solitary goal was a foul. therefore, 'on another day' we could've got beat 4 - 0.

Muppet.

[Foreverinbluedreams]

What were these 2-3 good chances Edge? They had one other good chance just after we scored that Mangala did brilliantly to scare the shit out of the Juve player taking the shot by closing him down quickly.