Manchester City have “stagnated” this season under head coach Manuel Pellegrini, who may now pay with his job come the summer, says theSunday Supplement panel.
City won the Premier League and the Capital One Cup under the Chilean in the previous campaign but are currently second in the table, five points behind Chelsea and having played a game more than the league leaders.
The champions have been dumped out of both domestic cup competitions and are staring down the barrel of a Champions League exit, with speculation beginning to mount regarding Pellegrini’s future at the Etihad Stadium.
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The Times’ Football Correspondent, Oliver Kay thinks Pellegrini’s side have been listless all season and questioned the boss's tactics.
City have been 'drifting' under Pellegrini, says Oliver Kay
“There feels like there is a stagnation about City this season,” he said. “They have looked like a team on autopilot for much of the season. Tactically and psychologically in games they have looked to be drifting and they never seem to be set up well on the pitch.
“They may only be second and five points off the lead, but they are a team punching under their weight to a dramatic level.”
Should Pellegrini lose his job this summer, then the City boss may come to rue his team’s failure to beat rivals Chelsea in their top-of-the-table clash at Stamford Bridge in January, according to the Daily Mail’s Chief Sports Writer, Martin Samuel.
“City missed a huge opportunity against Chelsea,” he said. “That is the game which will define Pellegrini if this is his last season at City, as that day Chelsea looked like they were there for the taking if City had gone for it. And they did not quite go for it.”
But Samuel also believes recent rumours linking Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti with the manager’s job at Eastlands next season are wide of the mark.
Ancelotti does not fit the right mould at City, claims Martin Samuel
“City’s hierarchy do not like the football Ancelotti plays,” he added. “They want Barcelona-style football, and a Barcelona presence and philosophy.
“And there are only certain managers that will give them that.”
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