Manuel Pellegrini's Poor Tactics Bring out the Worst in Captain Kompany

Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany is a much better defender than Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini's tactics make him out to be.

Pellegrini famously and now notoriously arrived at the Etihad promising City supporters that City would not only play winning football but entertaining football, too.

"I like attractive football, attacking football, so that all the people who come to the stadium will enjoy the way we play," Pellegrini said buoyantly on being introduced as City's new manager 16 months ago, per Ian Ladyman in the Daily Mail. "We will always try to play at the opposite end of the pitch, and play attractive football," Pellegrini continued.

Pellegrini's open style worked just well enough last season to propel City into the knockout stage of the Champions League for the first time in club history. City also eked out their second Premier League crown, the first under Pellegrini. It was a very successful first season for Pellegrini.

Unfortunately, Pellegrini and City are now in a sophomore slump of significant proportions.

As noted by Neil Johnston of BBC Sport, City have kept "just three clean sheets in 13 league and cup games" this season.

Statistics like that, combined with the leads City coughed up to Hull City, Arsenal, AS Roma and CSKA Moscow, have City's back line under real scrutiny.

Not surprisingly, Kompany is the City defender dealing with the sharpest examination of his play.

"Kompany is not enjoying the best campaign," observed Jamie Jackson blithely in The Guardian after the CSKA Moscow debacle.

Martin Keown used hundreds more words to make the same point in the Daily Mail this week.

"He is a gambler," Keown said of Kompany. "Whenever he comes charging out of the back line, he is taking a big risk for the team. The rewards are obvious and when it comes off he looks magnificent. But when it goes wrong, he can be left stranded."

And this is where we see how Pellegrini's attractive, attacking football can wreak havoc with even a gifted defender like Kompany.

Pellegrini has persisted in playing a 4-4-2 this season even though many times the opposition essentially cried out for Pellegrini to play a more conservative 4-5-1 with Sergio Aguero or Edin Dzeko playing alone up top.

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Admittedly, Pellegrini's stubborn refusal to throttle back has been in the news for some time.

Most of the critiques of Pellegrini's obstinacy read like that of John Dillon in the Express, who wrote that AS Roma's performance at the Etihad in Champions League Group E play "made Pellegrini’s decision to play 4-4-2 seem naive and outdated."

Even Pellegrini's critics, though, probably would have figured that City could successfully manage with a 4-4-2 against West Ham United.

Not so much.

City's loss to West Ham raised eyebrows, but the most significant takeaway to this correspondent was the desperate display of the ordinarily sound and solid Kompany against a West Ham side that will never remind anyone of Bayern Munich.

Kompany was booked in the 44th minute at Upton Park for a foul against Enner Valencia, who worked Kompany and Eliaquim Mangala (more on him momentarily) like speed bags all day. From then on, the City skipper knew he had to be very careful to remain on the pitch.

How was it, then, that Kompany committed fouls in the 52nd, 68th and 86th minutes? 

"Kompany cynically clips Valencia to the floor in the centre circle," aptly stated Scott Murray's live text commentary of West Ham-City for The Guardian. "He’s beginning to test the referee’s patience. One more of these snarky challenges, and he might well be walking."

So was Kompany just forgetful, dense, or was it something else?

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Well, it has to be said that Kompany is getting no help at all from £32 million transfer Mangala, whose awful display against West Ham inspired an entire column from Sam Cunningham in the Daily Mail.

Ultimately, though, Kompany is playing such spotty, ineffectual football because his manager's zeal for goals and open play is constantly hanging City's back line—especially Kompany—out to dry.

All of those overlapping runs from Pablo Zabaleta, Aleksandar Kolarov and the like are great when they lead to a scoring chance or a goal. When they don't, though, they lead to counter-attacks through a midfield that is generally at a one-man disadvantage to begin with.

No wonder Kompany was hacking and shoving Valencia down in space so often. What choice did he have?

The time is long overdue for Pellegrini to put his pet 4-4-2 into cold storage. He can use it in Capital One Cup matches and the odd home Premier League match with bottom-feeders.

But until someone other than Aguero starts scoring regularly, and until Mangala and Kompany learn to play with one another, Pellegrini must stop ceding control of the midfield at the expense of playing an extra striker.

Poor Kompany cannot take much more of this.