Manuel Pellegrini refuses to give up on seventh place despite the nature of the Everton defeat and upcoming games against Chelsea, Manchester United, Spurs and Watford away from home.
He continues to deliver brave words about thinking and behaving like a big club which is the right thing to do but in realistic terms it seems a dream.
And it opens the debate about whether that is the way forward or whether – given that we are now entirely safe – if it wouldn’t be a better idea to give some of our promising kids game time.
I would not take Pellegrini to task over either decision but personally I find the temptation to blood the kids at this particular time very strong.
And I believe give the striker issues, the case for Xande Silva is of particular importance because what we have seen of him at under 23 level and in his one appearance against Birmingham.
The manager told www.whufc.com: “We must be calm in this moment. We won the last three games at home, but what I worry about is that this is not the first time that we have the opportunity to in seventh position in the table [and didn’t take it].
“We knew the other results before we played and maybe that pressure also affected our performance, but we must find a way to try to continue thinking and playing as a big team to try to reach as high a position in the table as we can and not be happy with not being in the relegation zone.”
I totally agree, now is the time to give the youngsters a chance. We surely can’t do worse than Obiang and Perez! We have Silva, he needs to be given some games, and we must have a young midfielder worth a try (Coventry, Powell?). Ben Johnson has to come in – Zabaleta looks finished to me, he is way too slow now. What do we really have to lose? We can find out what the young players offer by putting them in the mix now, tough games or not..
The problem is exactly that a poor mentality and poor attitude . To blame it on pressure I don’t buy it ,come on the team didn’t even show up , that’s not good enough and no excuses for that !
Throwing the kids in against Chelsea, Man U and Tottenham away is probably not the best time. Yes it could be the making of them but it could also destroy them in my opinion. Now is a moment in the season where we need our best and most experienced side out there.
I think first of all m.p needs to stop kidding himself and start being realistic, he keeps talking as if there isn’t any problems when there clearly is big time……we came to know him as a classy manager who says it how it is but you can tell it’s getting to him now …the inconsistency has been there all season but now it’s more bad than good ..over a n d over AGAIN the same problems keep happening and that’s down to him …but as I’ve said before work rate and desire should be there every week without fail but it’s not and that’s just not on .
Hmm, hasn’t this been happening for two or three seasons. Were all the managers to blame?
Yes we have been poor or average overall since leaving Upton Park. However it’s happening with the current manager and therefore the buck stop with Manuel Pellegrini. Does he do enough work on defending? Particularly at set pieces. You could drop both of the centre half’s really. However apart from balbuena we do nt have any one better. The right back is a problem. For me zabaleta can’t really go beyond this season. Is fredericks the answer? Needs time I guess. We need another centre midfield for competition, as wilshere is not reliable, upfront we are lacking a lot in my view. No out and out pace who will get in behind like a Sakho would (when he felt like it). One or two kids on the bench coming on in games yes, but not starting as we have better players currently and the premier league is about trying to win games. If they are good enough like rice they will come through. I think we have to realise we are a team in that league behind the top 6 and it’s doutful pellegrini will chnage that in his time at the club. We don’t have the players and money. We might have a big ground but that doesn’t win games. Players win games.
Most of the players he inherited are too blame, bar Perez who is hopeless his other signings have been consistent when they played, wait until he has the squad he bought, lose all the dead wood from worse managers imho
There is something in what you say Hugh, and under Moyes there were some disappointing performances – the three FA cup games (including the replay) Swansea and then Burnley – but after Burnley he seemed to instil some grit and determination in the team
What is worrying now (and reminiscent of the last days of Slav) is the ease with which teams waltz through us – we recovered against Fulham and Huddersfield, but given how weak those two teams are it is worrying that they both took the lead against us at the London Stadium
Let us see if we can show some detemination in the last 6 games
It does seem impossible but we seem to show up against the ‘Big’ teams’ & with Wolves surprising defeat who knows.
That said getting 7th place doesn’t guarantee Europa & tho if City win Fa Cup & finish 7th it would help attract some players.
But are we ready for it qualifiers start in July right & our Squad is injury prone & needs work. Might be better to get next season. When can be better prepared.