Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini is concerned his side may suffer in the long-run for a fixture pile-up caused by their ongoing involvement in four competitions this season. 
The club's Premier League clash at home to Sunderland on Wednesday was postponed because of the severe weather battering England's north-west. That meant City had an unexpected rest ahead of Saturday's headlining FA Cup fifth round clash against Premier League title rivals Chelsea and next week's home Champions League tie with Spanish giants Barcelona. However, City have already postponed a derby trip to Manchester United because of their involvement in next month's League Cup final and a home clash with Aston Villa will also be re-arranged if they defeat Chelsea in the FA Cup. "Both things are good and bad," Pellegrini said Friday. "It is better to have more rest because we have two important games on Saturday and Tuesday but also, as we postponed the game, we are going to have a lot of games during midweeks at the end of the season. "So I think for some things maybe it is not good to postpone but, for other things, I think the team is fresh and that is very important. "It is different if you have to play against Chelsea if you have played on Wednesday. "If we had played against Sunderland it would be very important to see how the players finished the game. "We come from two months where we play nine games each in December and January and I think maybe the team felt, a little bit, that amount of games. "In that sense it was useful for us to rest a little bit more." Saturday's match will see City facing Chelsea nearly two weeks after Jose Mourinho's men beat Pellegrini's team 1-0 in the Premier League. The Portuguese boss was widely regarded to have won the tactical battle on that occasion with Chelsea causing a City side lined-up in Chilean manager Pellegrini's favoured 4-4-2 formation problems on the counter-attack. However, Pellegrini said: "I don't think the way Chelsea played is the way Chelsea always play. I don't think it is the reason why we didn't win that game. "They played very well, we didn't play very well. "We missed three clear chances to score before and after they (scored) they defended very well. "I don't think it is a reason to change the way we play." Meanwhile Pellegrini said he'd no interest in renewing verbal hostilities with Mourinho after their recent spat over transfer spending. "I don't think it is our duty as a manager to talk about other things, to talk about the referee, financial fair play," Pellegrini said. "I don't think it is our duty so I think the team must talk on the pitch." Meanwhile City have been buoyed by the return from a knee injury of Samir Nasri, although Pellegrini warned against expecting too much of the France international. "Samir Nasri is a very important player and we always miss him, but with the squad we have I think we can also win without him," said Pellegrini.
The club's Premier League clash at home to Sunderland on Wednesday was postponed because of the severe weather battering England's north-west. That meant City had an unexpected rest ahead of Saturday's headlining FA Cup fifth round clash against Premier League title rivals Chelsea and next week's home Champions League tie with Spanish giants Barcelona. However, City have already postponed a derby trip to Manchester United because of their involvement in next month's League Cup final and a home clash with Aston Villa will also be re-arranged if they defeat Chelsea in the FA Cup. "Both things are good and bad," Pellegrini said Friday. "It is better to have more rest because we have two important games on Saturday and Tuesday but also, as we postponed the game, we are going to have a lot of games during midweeks at the end of the season. "So I think for some things maybe it is not good to postpone but, for other things, I think the team is fresh and that is very important. "It is different if you have to play against Chelsea if you have played on Wednesday. "If we had played against Sunderland it would be very important to see how the players finished the game. "We come from two months where we play nine games each in December and January and I think maybe the team felt, a little bit, that amount of games. "In that sense it was useful for us to rest a little bit more." Saturday's match will see City facing Chelsea nearly two weeks after Jose Mourinho's men beat Pellegrini's team 1-0 in the Premier League. The Portuguese boss was widely regarded to have won the tactical battle on that occasion with Chelsea causing a City side lined-up in Chilean manager Pellegrini's favoured 4-4-2 formation problems on the counter-attack. However, Pellegrini said: "I don't think the way Chelsea played is the way Chelsea always play. I don't think it is the reason why we didn't win that game. "They played very well, we didn't play very well. "We missed three clear chances to score before and after they (scored) they defended very well. "I don't think it is a reason to change the way we play." Meanwhile Pellegrini said he'd no interest in renewing verbal hostilities with Mourinho after their recent spat over transfer spending. "I don't think it is our duty as a manager to talk about other things, to talk about the referee, financial fair play," Pellegrini said. "I don't think it is our duty so I think the team must talk on the pitch." Meanwhile City have been buoyed by the return from a knee injury of Samir Nasri, although Pellegrini warned against expecting too much of the France international. "Samir Nasri is a very important player and we always miss him, but with the squad we have I think we can also win without him," said Pellegrini.
Post a Comment