With yet another loss to a team within the top six, Manchester City find themselves a massive fifteen points adrift from the top of the table. In essence this Manchester Derby epitomizes the fact that Pellegrini has failed in the most significant of ways. Set aside the fact that he’s only made one serious trophy run in three years, or his appalling record against anyone in the top nine this season, the reason he was ultimately allowed to stay on for the extra year was to be the transition towards the system that Guardiola strives for, and it is in this Manchester Derby that it becomes so abundantly clear that he has fallen well short of the mark.
Manchester City must face possibility of Finishing outside the Top Four
Van Gaal exposed his 4-2-3-1 formation with the knowledge of this Cruyffian idea that when you play a 4-2-3-1 you’re essentially short a midfielder because you’re only playing two. The central attacking midfielder in the forward bank of “3” isn’t going to track back and occupy space in the midfield, therefore you only have the bank of two defensive midfielders sitting in the “2” of the formation competing with, in this case, the opposing midfield three in United’s 4-3-3 formation. This concept was well illustrated by Micheal Carrick’s ability to slip in front of David Silva, unmarked, and place as many passes as he liked. To make matters worse, Yaya Touré’s defensive inadequacies were being exposed by having him sit in from of the midfield when playing the original formation.
It was only when Pellegrini was forced to make the change because of Sterling’s injury did the City side balance out. The shape restructured into more of a dynamic 4-2-3-1 or 4-4-1-1 as Silva and Navas stayed wide, and Touré pushed forward. This tactical change breathed a bit of life back into the side as Manchester City created some half chances, but would ultimately regress back into the Pellegrini classic of hoofing long-balls up to Aguero and Silva. This system of bypassing the midfield in order to try to get Aguero on the ball quicker never works, he’s simply not the kind of striker to win an aerial duel and bring other players into the game. Pellegrini ultimately suffers from trying to transition the team towards a system that he doesn’t understand.
His inability to implement active recycling of the ball becomes apparent every time the City team tries to do it. Often times the ball is moved forward by some wing play and either a pointless cross is put in with only one City shirt in the box, or the attempted recycling of possession begins; resulting in the team being cornered towards one touchline and losing the ball. PSG against Chelsea in this years group stage is a fantastic example of what a modern possession system should look like. If you look at the way PSG played, they work the ball quickly all the way across the field, the ball ultimately finding its way to one of three places; the left wing, right wing, or the middle of the pitch right above the box. It’s a lot easier to work the ball to the wings, usually to an overlapping fullback, and cross it into a box that hopefully has a series of one on one situations. What PSG do is work this system intelligently by moving the ball to these positions and if the chance doesn’t immediately present itself, they recycle it back amongst the three points of creation waiting for an opportunity. Whether it be from intelligent off the ball movement, or by moving the ball so quickly that it shifts the defense out of order so that someone becomes open, they don’t force the ball into the box. City can’t move the ball quick enough, or spread the pitch as much as they need to and are often easily stifled.
Van Gaal’s Dutch exposure of Pellegrini’s ‘wanna be’ possession system beckons back to Johan Cruyff through his aforementioned exposure of Pellegrini’s favorite formation. Cruyff, The man who Guardiola modeled his all conquering Barcelona side after, is responsible for this “total football’-esque approach to play, which is the antithesis of what Pellegrini was, even at his very best. So leave the lack of serious silverware aside, it’s his failure to set City on the best path towards the future that shows he was not the right man for the job.
Along with their title hopes being dead and buried, City now must seriously worry about the prospect of finishing outside the top four. Teams like Manchester United and possibly West Ham see both their monetary and club goals manifesting in a top four finish. The sky blues must do what they’ve failed to do all season; win when it matters. The next eight premier league games are all winnable, and regardless of what the rest of the table looks like City must pick up the points in order to start the most important time in the club’s history off well.
