Prickly Manuel may be cracking under pressure
MANUEL Pel-legrini’s demeanour is changing almost by the day. Usually so measured and mild mannered, he has begun to cut a very prickly figure. The pressure, it seems, is beginning to get too much.
One win in six will do that to you. Already eight points behind Chelsea and staring at an early Champions League exit, the prospects for Manchester City’s season appear bleak.
This is his toughest spell since taking over from Roberto Mancini and he looks under severe stress. He is third favourite to be the next manager to lose his job — behind Harry Redknapp and Paul Lambert — and was visibly agitated here as the champions offered little yet again, indebted to the brilliance of Sergio Aguero in bailing them out.
City are delighted the international break has arrived — Pel- legrini hopped on a plane straight after leaving Loftus Road — and will try to regroup before the clash with Swansea a week on Saturday.
But problems remain all over the pitch, with a lack of invention in midfield and the softest of centres in defence. Martin Demichelis and the £32million Eliaquim Mangala aren’t up to it as a pairing. Where City would be without Aguero doesn’t bear thinking about. His goals have directly contributed eight league points from 11 games.
The slump has become so worrying that Bacary Sagna called this point ‘a good one’. Curious talk from players defending a title.
‘There is a reason we play for City,’ the Frenchman said. ‘We want to show we can play for this team and succeed. Defensively we can do better, they created a lot of chances. It is difficult to play a team in good form like QPR but we want to think positively. We lost a few games recently and it was important not to lose.’
Pellegrini is irked. He will not engage in debate surrounding his side’s dip, using the same rhetoric after each poor display.
‘I am sure we will continue to work in the same way we are doing,’ he said. ‘We’ll continue to play the style of play we always do. The team continues fighting, continues working until the end.’
What he will not entertain is criticism of the back four. Pellegrini snapped that Matija Nastasic, who hasn’t played a league game since February, has a ‘problem in his calf’ and that ‘we are the third best defence in the league, with one more goal than Chelsea. So be careful, we’re not so bad’.
Joey Barton, who came on at half-time for his first appearance in six weeks, inferred that last season’s title win will not buy Pellegrini any time should City’s board think about change. The QPR midfielder said: ‘It sounds crazy to say this out loud but winning the league is almost not good enough. Everyone is aware they are struggling.
‘You have to show progress in the Champions League. They have the squad to compete on all fronts. They are one of Europe’s superclubs with the spending ability they have. They are not going to judge themselves against the likes of little old us. It’s going to be against the likes of Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid.’
Premier League survival may not be as daunting as Rangers had imagined thanks to the goals of Charlie Austin, who now has four in his last three. He might have added more than his one against City and Barton thinks he could be in the England squad.
‘It sounds like I am going to slag Rickie Lambert off but I am not,’ he said. ‘I just think if you can’t get a game for Liverpool, who can’t really hit a cow’s a**e with a banjo at the minute in terms of their frontline, how do you get in the England squad?’
QPR (4-4-2): Green 6.5; Isla 7, Caulker 7, Dunne 7.5, Suk-young 7; Vargas 7, Sandro 6 (Barton 46min, 6), Henry 7, Fer 6.5; Austin 7.5, Zamora 8. Subs not used: McCarthy, Hill, Phillips, Onuoha, Kranjcar, Hoilett. Booked: Isla, Dunne, Vargas, Sandro. Scorers: Austin 21, Demichelis 76 og.
MANCHESTER CITY (4-2-3-1): Hart 7; Sagna 6, Demichelis 4, Mangala 3.5, Clichy 6; Fernando 7, Fernandinho 6.5 (Dzeko 64, 5 (Lampard 68, 6)); Nasri 6.5 (Milner 74, 6), Navas 6, Toure 6.5; Aguero 9.
Subs not used: Caballero, Zabaleta, Jovetic, Boyata. Booked: Sagna, Nasri. Scorer: Aguero 32, 83.
Man of the match: Sergio Aguero. Referee: Mike Dean 7.5.