"Mr Pellegrino" can take his comments about Chelsea & Stoke and ........

It's pretty much what you expect from Manuel Pellegrini now isn't it. When things don't go his way he spits his dummy out of his pram and has a pop at people. His post match comments after yesterdays 1-1 draw typify exactly that.

City have now failed to win their last FOUR games in all competitions. First Stoke, Arsenal away, then Bayern Munich away and now Chelsea at home so he is obviously frustrated. However, to claim that Chelsea are a "small team like Stoke" is well out of order to Stoke first and foremost and to Chelsea.

Surely, after being here for a season now, Pellegrini understands the levels of expectations in the Premier League and the pressure to get results? Why on earth would he expect Chelsea, or any of our title rivals for that matter, to turn up at the Etihad and play open attacking football to leave ourselves exposed to the obvious threat that City pose? Look what happened to Liverpool when they went there, they were humiliated!

Jose Mourinho knows exactly what it takes to win games and set his side up to not lose the game yesterday. Any point against your title rivals are just as important as three points against a side facing a relegation battle. We inflicted back-to-back defeats home and away against Pellegrini last season and almost delivered the perfect away performance yesterday.

Pellegrini said after the game:

“We played during 90 minutes against a small team trying to defend, trying to keep 10 players in front of their goal and [against] a team that wanted to win from the beginning.

It was very similar to the Stoke team, with a big team playing against a small team with very good players, trying to defend, trying to keep the score [nil-nil]. They had nine players in front of their box. I said last week that it will be very difficult for us to defend the title because every team will play the way Chelsea did. I repeat that I think they had no intention to win the game. They came just to draw and they scored on the counterattack against 10 players.

It was not a pleasure to draw. Losing with one man less, we continued attacking and they continued defending. We understand what is football. We try for the game, for the people. I cannot be happy with a draw today because, I repeat, it was totally different between the two teams. Trying to play as a big team … that, for me, is the most important thing.”

As you can imagine, the Boss was not impressed with Pellegrini and claimed that he was doing exactly what he always has accused Mourinho of doing. He said:

"Pellegrino? Many times he says he never speaks about me and my team but he keeps doing the same thing. I am the one that does as he says [not talk about the opposition]. I don’t comment on his words. Don’t ask me about his words, I am not interested in that.


It is one point won because we arrived here leaders with two points more than second and we leave the stadium with a three-point lead.

I don't look to direct opponents, I don't look to other clubs in a special way. I look to the table and we are leaders by three points.

We come here to a super-difficult stadium and a super-difficult opponent and we leave in better conditions than we arrived, so good.

We hit the post (through Diego Costa) with a 1-0 lead and when you don't kill matches, you are in danger, especially when you play against very good teams.

We had a tactical reaction to try to win the game. They had an emotional reaction to try not to lose the game.

We were successful in our tactical change to try to win the game because we scored and had more chances to score and they were successful in their emotional reaction and I think in the end from my perspective the point is maybe a point that they deserve."

I agree with Mourinho that a draw was the fair result looking at the game as a whole and said that in my match report after the game. It's just a shame that Pellegrini seems to have ignored the fact that Diego Costa headed a chance straight at Joe Hart from close range, when anywhere else would have found the net, and also hit the post in the second half, whereas Thibaut Courtois was forced into one save low down from Aguero.

To me, it seems that Pellegrini gets wound up by Mourinho (as many people do) because he frustrates him and just cannot seem to get the better of him in those big, big moments. OK, City beat us in the FA Cup but that was never as big as the Premier League.

Chelsea, as Stoke beforehand, did a job on City and it's about time for Pellegrini to look at his OWN team, to look at where they failed to break us down and score the goals he obviously expects to be given because they play attacking football. In this game, you need to be as strong at the back as you are in attack.

Get your OWN house in order before you throw your dummy out of your pram Pellegrini!