Manuel Pellegrini – Our New Chilean

Earlier today, Manuel Pellegrini’s long-awaited appointment as the new manager of Manchester City was announced by the club, with Pellegrini becoming the permanent successor to Mancini, the last manager. The Chilean has signed a three-year deal with the Blues, putting an end to the recruitment process for City, and allowing Pellegrini to start implementing himself at the club.

It’s taken over a month for City to appoint a successor to Roberto Mancini, who was sacked on the 13th May, two days after losing the FA Cup final to Wigan Athletic, which put to bed any hopes of a trophy for City, in what was a largely disappointing campaign for the Blues, failing to defend their league title, going out of the Champions League in the group stages for a second year running, and failing to win either of the domestic cups on offer in English football. After winning the league title in such dramatic fashion in 2011-12, the board decided that a trophy-less season was far from good enough and removed Mancini from his position on the day Manchester United were having their victory parade to celebrate regaining the league title.

I agree with the board and many others that last season, we were simply not good enough, especially domestically. There were too many occasions where we struggled to break down smaller teams, or struggled to win crucial games (most reputably the FA Cup final) because the tactics didn’t work. At the very last, we should have been able to win the FA Cup last season, especially after reaching the final, but on the day we didn’t turn up, and many of the players didn’t put the effort in. Because we didn’t show up on the day, we struggled to break down Wigan, and they eventually, deservedly, got the win.

However, Mancini didn’t deserve the way he was treated by the board. I’ve heard all the “he wasn’t liked at the club” business, but even so, no manager deserves to get that treatment. The board consistently failed to reassure Mancini of the security of his job, even when news broke the day before the final that City officials had allegedly met with Pellegrini to talk to him about taking over from the end of the season. It was the eve of the biggest day of the season for City, and the least that the hierarchy at City could have done is deny the rumours (even if they were true). It was like the board had given up on Mancini already, as if he was a lost cause. They forgot what he did for the club in his time here almost, becoming a legend to the Blues faithful just one of those. I will miss Mancini, as I’ve said many times before. But what I’ve also said before is that I think City wouldn’t progress much more as a club with Mancini at the helm. He didn’t succeed in Europe with either City or Inter Milan, and that’s something City need to be focusing on now, going as far in Europe as possible.

So, Mancini was sacked, and here’s his replacement, Manuel Pellegrini, who was highly-anticipated to be announced as the new City boss, even before Mancini was sacked, and heavily linked with the job from when Mancini was sacked onwards. Pellegrini even revealed a couple of weeks ago that he had a verbal agreement in place with City in order for him to take over at the Etihad, showing that he was two things. Firstly, the clear favourite for the job. Secondly, the man that the City hierarchy believed was the right one to take us forwards. For most since then, it’s merely been a matter of when he joins, not if.

Many of the critics of City have been doubting Pellegrini’s credentials, and whether he is the right man for City. I have to agree with them, he’s never won very much as a manager. You can’t deny it, it’s a fact. But, also take a look at the other teams that the Chilean has managed. Real Madrid are on that list, one of the biggest and the best teams on the planet. Not just anyone gets to manage them, showing he must have some quality if they chose him as their manager.

Even when I say to other people that Pellegrini managed Real, they say he failed because he bought £200m worth of new players into the club in his sole year at the club, and left trophyless. He also posted the second highest points total Real Madrid have ever had, with 96 points from 38 league games, only losing four games throughout the season, and finishing just three points behind Barcelona, and 25 ahead of third place Valencia. Even for Real Madrid, that’s no mean feat, and shows that Pellegrini can do it on the big stage. He also brought some very good players into the Real Madrid set-up, including Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benezema, and Kaka, some of the best players in the world. However, thanks to finishing trophyless for the campaign, Pellegrini was sacked, and replaced by Jose Mourinho.

After leaving Madrid, Pellegrini joined Malaga, one of the up-and-coming teams in Spain, in 2010. In his first full season, he finished 4th in the league with 58 points, which was just enough to get Malaga into the Champions League for the first time, via the qualifiers. A 2-0 victory at La Rosaleda against Panathinaikos was enough to seal the qualifiction to the group stages for Malaga, where they were to face AC Milan, Anderlecht, and Zenit St. Petersburg. A tough group for your first time in the competition, but Malaga managed to go undefeated throughout the six games, winning three, and drawing three, winning the group with twelve points. In the round of 16, Malaga were drawn against Porto, and despite losing the first leg 1-0, were able to turn it around to win 2-1 on aggregate. Malaga’s journey came to an end at the quarter-final stage against Borussia Dortmund, the eventual runners-up, but for first-timers in the competition, they did brilliantly.

So, we know Pellegrini has pedigree. But what will make him succeed at City? It’s important he does so, to salvage City’s reputation as a side able of winning cups, but there needs to be something different to last season, to make us succeed. The big thing for me is transfers, which is very important for a side that wants to succeed. It was our big problem last season, we missed out on the key players like Van Persie, and didn’t buy anyone good enough instead of them, meaning we weren’t good enough this year.

The rebuilding process has already started for City this summer, buying Jesus Navas from Sevilla and Fernandinho from Shakhtar already in the window, and we’re shaping up to by more stars. We’ve been heavily linked with Napoli’s Edinson Cavani, one of the world’s finest strikers at the moment, alongside Isco, who played under Pellegrini at Malaga too. Pellegrini certainly needs to bring in a new striker this summer, as a lack of a prolific goalscorer last season was one of the things that cost City, and with both Edin Dzeko and Carlos Tevez being linked with moves away from the club, a new striker is a must.

Many have doubted Pellegrini’s credentials, and whether he has enough ability to manage City successfuly, in recent weeks, and in reality, all you have to do to answer that question is look at his history. The semi-finals and quarter-finals of the Champions League with Vilarreal and Malaga respectively is no mean feat, and neither is gaining 96 points in La Liga. He’s proved his critics wrong before, and will be eager to do it all over again here at City. I think he will have little trouble proving to his doubters that he is capable, and I will be watching very closely as his reign with the Blues begins.