HOW DID THEY NOT GET HAMMERED?!

What a weird game that was hey! We only just made kick off after being stuck in awful traffic, due to the ongoing sink hole on the mancunian way and the students returning to south Manchester! Sat there we discussed the team sheet on Forza and for the first time, in god knows how long, I was in agreement with him! However retrospectively and based on performance I think there was one fundamental mistake, but we will get to that later!

Jim was the only one at the ground early, after his Chelsea game sink hole disaster! So he made a few bets for us in there that I conveyed from the traffic. They were what you would expect for such a game 2-1, 3-1, 4-1, with the only bet left in play at half time being West Ham winning at half time and us at full time! Something five minutes into the 2nd half I was convinced would come in at a 100 quid!

Anyway the teams come out and no Silva! (who was present on the forz app) He had been replaced by Navas due to injury. No Silva is never good these days and somewhat deflating as a fan! However we do have De Bruyne now for such occasions so you were still left with hope and anticipation for that midfield, and at least thank god he hadn't just put bony on instead like at Palace! That in itself shows the guy has no continuity in his tactics as he plays 4,4,2 away against 2nd in the league, yet doesn't at home! But thank god he didn't or it would have been worse!

The game starts and the hammers come out punching and look much better than those recent embarrassing crumbles at the Etihad under 'Fat Sam'!! (I assume he has once again reverted to 'fat' from 'big'!!!). We then have patches of good play, De Bruyne already looks class, but Yaya looks a bit out of sorts  as does Aguero, uncharacteristically missing a few relatively easy chances and you wonder is he actually fully fit or still carrying a bit of an injury!

Then our somewhat makeshift defence starts to highlight it's true colours and I figure something out retrospectively! Now from mid-week we already know our full backs aren't dynamic enough at top level, but you may think they could shine with a mid-table team, they did not! However the main problem was at centre back! Now in isolation Otamendi looked really good, I already like him, he looks tough, he looks clever, he looks like I could love him like Zaba! But the alleged reassurance of this partnership working because the pair had played together as a partnership at Porto didn't materialise. They didn't communicate well with more of the blame going on Mangala resulting in some soft defending and goals, and touching on the goals again I always have this deep down feeling that somehow Hart could have done a little better with those in between ones that aren't a mistake, but neither a great goal either! Now back to the centre backs it is somewhat weird that the other option was another seasoned partnership! That of the Argentinian national team with the inclusion of Demichelis, and retrospectively this is what should have been in place from kick off! As Demichelis came on and looked like everything Mangala is not, with composure, good positioning and intelligent calm play. It straight away highlighted that such a young immature head like Mangala's can only play with an older calmer head who knows him like Kompany or in fact Demichelis! That is not to say over time Otamendi couldn't play with him and marshal him, but Otamendi is the new guy and probably requires a bit more game time to do that. Indeed Demichelis looked really good and you immediately began to feel sorry for him as the forgotten man! Especially with the empathy of age with myself about to turn 38 this year and refusing to say it is over (No way is it, it's only just begun!!). So looking back when Kompany came off against Juve Demichelis should have come on and the only two parings that should have started this game were Demichelis/Mangala or Demichelis/Otamendi, with the latter more likely the better option. Now for those of you who are regular readers I have stood by Mangala calling for patience. Something I still do believe, even with his inconsistency, but for god sake Pellegrini manage your partnerships correctly and learn quicker about personalities you are with them nearly every day!

So we come out bullish in the 2nd half and although nervous I feel really entertained and excited, it was a really weird feeling this game highlighting we should have never have put ourselves in this position Pellegrini. Fernandinho still looks great, I already love De Bruyne as he looks mercurial! However the major frustration on this day was that unlike Juve we penetrated but once we were in we fluffed final ball after final ball with the two main culprits again bring Navas and Sterling. Bloody hell they are frustrating at the moment because they are both getting into the positions and penetrating something we have needed for years but again highlight both their composures with the final ball is appalling! With almost their assets enabling them to regularly highlight their shortcomings! This needs to be addressed on the training ground and mentally with the composure of these two potentially great wingers! Hopefully things will improve with fit better fullbacks!

So with Aguero out of sorts we fail to score in a second half, a second half we completely dominated with 85% possession! I leave the ground with a weird feeling of adrenalin and excitement co-existing with disbelief and frustration and I continue to hate Pellegrini for it. Looking at those interesting stats they put up around the ground now, with De Bruyne scoring he is the TENTH city player to score this season! Which on one hand is good but on the other hand highlights are strike force isn't scoring many and as highlighted above I put this down to poor supply!

Finally, and off football for a minute I hope you like the new platform! As Pablo's contract is ended early season and he is thrown to the lower leagues of blogs to be forgotten and probably bitterly turn to the drink, in favour of the new big talent that everyone's talking about in my good mate Adam who's day job specialises in such technology, has been reading my blog from his new home in Australia and very kindly offered to update it and drag myself (who is literally Fred Flintstone where technology is concerned!) into the future!!! Being serious Pabs is really happy for me that it looks like the profile of the blog can now rise and more people can read it! Or so he says!! No he generally is, as he knows I.T wiz trumps a high school teacher (with a bit more knowledge than me!) where blogs are concerned!!! The only down side to this new move at present is Adam is a West Ham fan! He bloody had to be didn't he! So inevitably I haven't heard the end of it and no doubt he would focus on different things if he was writing this! But he is not!!

Anyway onwards and upwards I guess and at least it's only Sunderland tonight!!

Colin Bell Stand, Third Tier.

MISMANAGEMENT.

Well I worried it would happen didn't I, the international break would come and the momentum would go! This in my mind was totally avoidable though! So Pabs is driving me to my bro's to watch some dodgy feed of the Saturday 3 o'clock kick off with Palace (why they don't just grow up, get with the times and make that pay per view as we would between us have paid a tenner at least maybe more for: more clarity, no buffering and not having to switch feed with 20 minutes to go to French commentary, with my obviously fluent GCSE level French struggling to pick a word up!!!!)

Anyway I look on my Forza app and began to swear like fuck, and Pabs by now know's exactly what that means, as he turned to me stating: "seriously 4,4,2 with Yaya". At this point all my hatred for the tactical fool returns like a rush of blood to the head! Why, why, why ,why, why? With Silva and Sterling injured didn't he play Fernandinhio, De Bruyne, Yaya, Navas and Nasri in the midfield and then with Juventus on Tuesday rest Aguero and just play Bony up front?????!! Now this is not some retrospective analysis this I stated as soon as we arrived at my bro's. The fool hasn't got a clue how to squad rotate and adapt to his local environment! Play Bony, show him you want him and he is part of your plans, and in doing so play what looks like a rugby league player against a classic dogged premiership defence. Protecting your jewel who wouldn't begrudge such a move knowing he is being rested for Tuesday night, and finally resulting most importantly in playing 4,5,1 with Yaya.

However none of the above happens for the tactical fool hasn't changed has he! With his decisions and ability to rotate a team leaving us going around in circles! So what a 'huge surprise' Palace push us for most of the first half sapping us of our new found belief. Then something happens with actual short term benefits but ultimately would impact upon Tuesday night as Aguero somewhat predictably gets hacked down! His subsequent injury forcing the tactical fool to change the team to the one he should have started with and in my mind and those around me the switch saving us those 3 points, with eventually our exciting young talent Iheanacho securing them, just! Now how often can you say Aguero getting injured and being taken off actually gains you three points! However there is a huge down side to that as the tough little maestro's name is unable to be placed in the team for Tuesday night, and this is what drives my hatred towards Pellegrini and why I still whilst sat at the top of the league chose to highlight it and rightly so I believe for what we are achieving we are achieving despite Pellegrini, and what we are not quite fulfilling in our potential is because of him and that is my point!

So Tuesday night arrives and no Aguero, Bony somewhat out of sorts at this level with his touch and composure letting him down a bit. However I like him and believe he can deliver, his confidence just needs to be managed by targeting the games (such as Palace) to play him in and make him feel included in a team that by it's very nature has to be mainly set up in 4,5,1, and has one of the best strikers in the world at present with his talent alone demanding that he must play most of the time. So you pay Bony well, but you have to include him, you have to keep his confidence up, and you do this by knowing how to manage a squad which alas Pellegrini does not!

Also, as there has been with every team sheet he has ever put out, there's a tactical error even in the 4,5,1 set up, in that why start Nasri who at present looks slow and fat, instead of Navas? Now I know Navas missed that sitter at the weekend which my Mrs could have put in without her glasses on and in heels, but in general he's made a good start to the season and is ahead of Nasri at present in my mind. Also Navas would have offered penetration down that right side for by the 2nd half we looked like that impotent team from three seasons ago with all the possession but no penetration just loads of dead ends!

Which brings me on to the fact that both our fullbacks were dead ends at this level, as I have suggested would be the case in previous posts, with Kolarov often resorting to his old tactic of falling over to gain a free kick when he has run out of ideas and Sagna doing little if anything dynamic going forward. This is where you notice there is no Zaba as he overlaps so well going forward and can deliver that at the highest of levels. As well as the forgotten man Cliche who has more attacking options in his footballing brain at this unforgiving level than the choice of either smash it or fall over! Again in the pursuit of good squad rotation these two blockers are great for mid table premiership games and cover for bigger ones and should be used as such. With the latter being the case in this ill-fated night, but then your wingers have to penetrate which Navas would have done better and I think sterling shouldn't have been subbed because he did offer some penetration if not the final composure. Indeed this is the worry for both these wingers for they are dynamic but lack composure with their delivery of either a shot or cross.

So what do you need when things aren't going your way you need a manger who can stir you through passion and a belief in him to another level, obviously you know by now this I don't believe is the case! Also you need the ground to feel the importance of the occasion lifting the players to another level something I don't think we are managing successfully as a club and need to address. Yes due to tactical shortcomings Europe has become quite painful for us over the past few years but we need to somehow stop feeling sorry for ourselves and nervous. Yes I was happy to see us pretty much fill our increased capacity, which 10 minutes before kick off didn't look good as many were delayed by the pot hole collapsing again!! (With the first collapse resulting in my mate Jim getting stuck in traffic and missing the Chelsea game, how gutted was he! Which like I said in a previous post might have been my favourite game at the Etihad, something I remind him constantly!!!) However even with a full ground it was still a bit nervously flat! They didn't bring many and we should have given the top tier allocation of the south stand away to school kids or something for free. That won't solve it though I think it requires a plan from club management and to some degree the fans to make a bigger occasion of European games starting earlier and working around the drinking ban. Myself I now finish work early eat in town and meet everyone to make a bigger occasion of it, I'll have started drinking as soon as I get home and then continue in town and obviously always take my hip flask to lace two bottles of coke!! This time with vodka!! I know it can be easier said than done but I think there is too many people simply soberly rushing straight from work to their seat.

Indeed I think more needs to be done around the ground to encourage more of a big night party atmosphere on European nights. Myself I am not a fan of city square it feels like you are drinking in a bus stop or something and would always chose town or Mary D's over it pre-match. Indeed they need more design thought around the stadium and it doesn't have to morf into the modern look of the stadium it could be more cozy, cool and inviting in how it looks. If rumours are to be believed and Asda is going to be levelled and changed into an area of entertainment I hope they take that into account when they do it and don't just create something that looks like a shopping centre or bowling alley with loads of shit chain restaurants! Also you need to have good entertainment on early to get people finishing earlier and congregating around the ground earlier having a good time. If they can achieve this, this would help tremendously for we have gone backwards in atmosphere from the hope of the lights being lowered and the blue moon effect of a few seasons ago to the blue moon pre-match song petering out even before the sped up second verse, something that never happens in the premiership!

Anyway time to go for now, but plenty to think on and let's hope we bounce back against those East end wide boys!!

Colin Bell Stand, Third Tier.