Manuel Pellegrini has claimed he would never play for a draw away from home and denied Manchester City’s defensive resolve at Old Trafford provided a template for progress in the Champions League.
City host Crystal Palace in the Capital One Cup on Wednesday with their manager expecting a return to the attacking style that has made his team the Premier League’s highest goalscorers this season. Sunday’s drab Manchester derby showed another side to the league leaders, with Pellegrini’s decision to field two holding midfielders helping to nullify United and inviting praise from several pundits.
The City manager, however, disputed Gary Neville’s assertion that the first half at Old Trafford was “probably the best 45 minutes I have seen anywhere in the Premier League this season”. “I don’t agree with that comment,” he said. “I think it was not the best.” And he dismissed suggestions that a more defensive approach would benefit his side away from home in the Champions League.
Pellegrini said: “I like it when we defend well but what I don’t like is playing games away and playing for a draw. It’s not my mentality and, in the first half on Sunday, we didn’t do it. But when you are not able to take the chances and win the game you must make sure you don’t lose. I was pleased we got a point.
“In the Champions League we’ll be the same way. We’ll have the mentality of a big team. We’ll always go for the win. We have different ways to play, it depends on the players we pick. This team doesn’t have a problem changing systems because we don’t just have one system. I think we showed in a lot of games last season that we didn’t play with a striker and in others we only had one or even two. I don’t think it’s down to the tactical system you play. It depends on the performance of the players.”
He added: “Our intention is to play in the way we do every game here and in most matches. That’s why we are the highest scoring team. I hope on Wednesday we will return to our normal performance.”
City will again be without Sergio Agüero, David Silva, Samir Nasri, Gaël Clichy and Fabian Delph against Palace although Pellegrini revealed Silva could return against Norwich City on Saturday. The midfielder has missed the past four matches after being injured on duty with Spain earlier this month but the manager said: “Maybe David can be ready for the weekend, if I am being optimistic, otherwise it will be next week.”
Delph is expected back for what would be a hostile return against his former club Aston Villa on 8 November. The one-time Villa captain has been sidelined with a hamstring injury since early September but took part in a full training session on Monday. “If he works the whole week next week, hopefully he can be ready for Aston Villa,” Pellegrini added.
