City 'not getting what they deserve'
After a disappointing season in the Premier League, Manchester City appear to be ready to overhaul their squad this summer.
Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini adamantly stated Yaya Toure won’t be leaving the Etihad despite interest in the midfielder from abroad.
The ESPN FC panel debate whether or not Liverpool have a chance to usurp Manchester City’s spot in fourth in the Premier League.
Manuel Pellegrini is looking for a response from Manchester City as they prepare to return to action after the derby defeat at Manchester United and said they are not getting the results they deserve.
City’s underwhelming 2015 took another turn for the worse as they were overpowered in a 4-2 loss at Old Trafford.
Their Premier League title defence was already all but over, but that result prompted much criticism and soul-searching.
City have won just four of 12 league games since jointly leading the table in early January, and more bad results could put their top-four place in jeopardy.
The pressure on Pellegrini and his players — with rumours of a potential clear-out in the summer — is considerable as West Ham visit the Etihad Stadium on Sunday.
Pellegrini said: “When you lose a game the first few days are always difficult, especially when you lose a derby.
“But I think the players are conscious we don’t have results that we deserve. We continue being the team that scores more goals.
“We defended very badly in the last game but we have the fifth [best] defence in the Premier League. We are the team that always have the most possession in every game.
“We have to be clear why we are not having the most results, which mistakes we are making.
“Two or three balls change the performance of the whole team, so it is very important to have the correct diagnostic about the team, about what we must change, what we must do in the future.”
City were beaten at Upton Park in October — a result that was unexpected even though West Ham were then flying high in fourth.
After that game, Hammers boss Sam Allardyce suggested City had become predictable.
That has been a familiar criticism of Pellegrini and his tactics as City have stagnated in recent months, but the coach said the problem was in the execution and not a lack of variation.
He added: “Every manager knows how we work, how we play. The problem we have this year is that we’ve scored 21 goals less, but it’s not because we are not creating chances.
“If we never created chances, maybe we’d change the system — but we always do. We are the highest scoring team in the Premier League.”
Pellegrini is also well aware that his team cannot afford to miss out on Champions League qualification but added: “I don’t think in a negative way. We are still in the Champions League places.
“It’s easy for a big team not to be in it — United last year. There are four or five strong teams here.
“Of course it’s important for the project to be in the Champions League and I hope we will win on Sunday and be in the Champions League.”
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