Tinkering the european problem?

The dust is settling on a 2nd straight poor showing from City in the Champions League as yet again the best the Blues can hope for is 3rd in the group.  Whilst the draw both times has hardly been kind to the club but 3 wins in 11 games so far is a grim stat.  People have pondered and puzzled as to why City have struggled some pointing out rightly it took Arsene Wenger and Alex Ferguson a few attempts to get past the group stages.  Others have pointed out poor Champions League form played a part in Roberto Mancini getting the sack from Inter Milan.

 Whilst planning this blog I must admit I seemed to recall a lot of squad changed as each European game week came and went and that curiosity lead me to look at the starting 11's for each game.   It shows 2 or 3 changes every game sometimes a few more. Below is a list of both seasons Champions League starting 11's

11-12

Hart, Zabaleta, Kompany, Lescott, Kolarov, Yaya Toure, Barry, Silva, Aguero, Dzeko , Nasri

Hart; Richards, Kompany, K Toure, Clichy; Barry , Y Toure; Aguero, Nasri, Silva; Dzeko

Hart, Zabaleta, Kompany, Lescott, Kolarov, DeJong , Yaya Toure, Nasri , Silva, Johnson , Dzeko

Hart, Zabaleta, Kompany, Savic, Clichy, Yaya Toure , De Jong, Nasri, Silva , Milner, Balotelli

Hart, Kolarov, Zabaleta, Kompany, Lescott Milner, Silva, De Jong, Y Toure, Dzeko , Balotelli

Hart, Savic, Clichy, Lescott, Kompany, Barry, Y Toure , Silva , Nasri, Aguero, Dzeko 

12-13

Hart, Maicon, Kompany, Nastasic, Clichy, Garcia, Yaya Toure, Silva, Barry, Tevez, Nasri

Hart, Zablaleta, Kompany, Nastasic, Clichy , Yaya Toure, Garcia, Nasri, Silva, Aguero, Dzeko

Hart, Richards, Clichy, Lescott , Kompany, Barry , Milner , Yaya Toure, Nasri, Aguero, Dzeko

Hart, Zabaleta, Clichy, Kompany, Nastasic, Garcia, Barry, Y Toure, Nasri, Tevez , Aguero

Hart, Maicon, Kolarov, Zabaleta, Nastasic, Kompany, Yaya Toure, Silva, Nasri, Dzeko, Aguero 

True injuries play a part and of course there was Carlos Tevez's infamous bust up in Munich last year.  But for a team trying to find it's feet in the competition it can't help not knowing for definite who your playing partner will be.  There is also new players bedding in whilst in the Premier League things have been a touch smoother the constant changes to the starting 11's cannot have helped in Europe.  True with an easier draw I might not have come to this conclusion but given how hard the groups have been the tinkering cannot have helped especially  when trying a new formation as the blues have this year with 3 at the back some games.  

With a settled side I do wonder if the club will do better if they qualify next year time will tell, but another poor showing and it could lead to pressure on Roberto Mancini's job despite the domestic success we have enjoyed.