Monday 1 June 2015

PFA Awards 2015


The PFA awards of 2015 have where announced a couple of weeks ago and as many of you may know the team above was the official team chosen by the PFA. What seems to be rather odd about the awards is that Nominees and shortlists are created long before the season is even up. Is it really fair to make a team of the season before the season is over? 
In a season where City fans can admit it wasn't the best of seasons it's still hard to believe that there are no City players in the team of the season. This is especially apparent when you think that it was two City players that won the two objective awards rather than opinion (Aguero  with the golden boot and Hart with the golden glove). There will be a lot of people that argue that Aguero didn't have as big of an impact as Costa/Kane. But the fact of the matter is he scored the most goals; if the job of a striker is to score goals then Aguero has been the best as he scored the most. Then comes the argument about the assists players get. But Aguero got the most of them as well(out of Costa/ Kane).
The same principle goes for Joe Hart he got the most clean sheets so he should be in the PFA team of the year. An argument for this could be "well the defense in front of Hart is better so he doesn't have to save as much". The first thing any City fan would do to that is laugh because our defense this season has been far from world class. Second of all I could say " If our defence is so great then why do we have no defenders in the team of the season".
The final player I have to touch on in this team is Coutinho. Now he has had a good season but good enough to be in the team of the season.  Rather than ranting on again about how Coutinho shouldn't be in the team, I'm just going to let THIS website tell you....


My Team of the season HERE 
With the bench consisting of players I though could have gone in but either weren't good enough or just someone was better 




Sunday 15 March 2015

Down and out.

The end of the season looms and after a poor 1-0 defeat to Burnley at the weekend the chance of silverware for city is becoming more and more bleak. With Chelsea 6 points ahead and a game in hand our premier league hopes are surely finished. Then we move onto the champions league. With Barcelona in  inspired form with Messi breaking yet another record and Suarez looking to come into his own at the club; is it realistic to score 2 or more goals at the Camp Nou?
Once again we must point a finger at who is to blame. Many Sunday papers are spelling the end for Manuel. Personally I don't think he will be sacked until the closing games of the season. This would be the best time to appoint a new manager as they will not only have preseason to put their philosophies to the team. But also a chance to manage the team in a competitive environment without risk of loosing out on something like the title.
If a miracle doesn't happen and we win silverware then that also could tempt stars away from the club. Though many of our big first team players have signed contract extensions this season what does that actually mean? As Luis Suarez showed last year signing a new and improved deal in January could still mean nothing in the summer. With Karim Benzema being linked with a move away from Madrid they will need a new striker in the summer; a world class one at that. This could leave Sergio a prime target for Real and also leave us in great danger.
As of next season something will have to change if we are to get any further in the champions league or even win the domestic league for a 3rd time we must improve. That is the one thing we have failed to do compared to other teams. The manager also needs to be less stubborn and narrow minded. If we constantly use the same formation and same ideology then eventually we will get found out, that in my opinion has been the problem this year.  

Thursday 5 March 2015

Pellegrini Out?

The Manchester City season thus far has been disappointing to say the least. Without a trophy and a slim chance of even getting one this season is a very bad position to be in for a club of our size. Due to this disappointing season fingers have to be pointed: is it the manager, the backroom staff or even the players themselves?
Personally I think that as a team, during every preseason, you must build on last season and look to change for the better to make for more trophies. However we have lacked any consistency and no improvements have been made since last year. As a team of our size we should be pushing for the champions league we have won the premier league now its time to step up. That's just not the case!
Whenever we come up against the big European clubs we just can't seem to do it.
Now if we are to see any change I really think we need a change of manager. But would it be right to sack Pellegrini? After all he did win us the title. But is that enough any more when we only make it past the group stage in the champions league? If we begin to look at what Pellegrini has done previously in the first place was he ever the right man to get us far in the trophy we want most? He has managed great teams, even Real Madrid but still couldn't even make it past the round of 16 being eliminated by Olympic Lyon.
It's one thing to point a finger at Pellegrini and say "it's you're fault" but then we need to take into account who is the person that can take us far in the Champions league. For me it's simple and it's all about the experience they have in the competition. You need a manager that know the winning formula to beat the teams like Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munchen. The man that fits this bill perfectly, in my opinion, is Diego Simeone. He single handed turned Athletico Madrid into a title winning team with Barcelona and Real Madrid to contest with. Not an easy feat. Not to mention getting to the champions league final. Simeone is the full package he has: the ability to make good transfers;knowledge and experience against two of our European rivals and the drive and passion to win.