FantasyIreland
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- 29 Oct 2008
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A good article to start a new (hopefully respectful) thread on our Boss.
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Manuel Pellegrini pipping David Moyes to the most recent manager-of-the- month award was hardly a surprise; the only question is to what extent it presages the rest of the season. The Manchester City manager has been in England for six months now and, though he is reluctant to make any promises or predictions at what he describes as only half-time in terms of the title campaign, he already looks a good fit with a team he has revitalised.
Quite possibly he would have been a good fit for Manchester United as well, had the Old Trafford hierarchy been willing to cast their net for a successor to Sir Alex Ferguson a bit wider than Scotland, for the first Chilean to manage in the Premier League is making every aspect of taking over a leading club look quite easy.
Those who criticised the appointment on the grounds that Pellegrini had never won anything – at least on this side of the Atlantic – have already had to accept that his winning something this season looks a distinct possibility. Those who gloated that United won the title by 11 points last season and Pellegrini would need at least three years to bridge that gap have been silenced, although the more that statistic is pondered the more one is forced to wonder what City and the rest of the chasing pack were actually doing this time last year. At least City recognised the need for improvement and acted shrewdly.
Pellegrini made three expensive investments in Fernandinho, Álvaro Negredo and Jesús Navas and all three have paid off handsomely. Even allowing for the fact that Stevan Jovetic's career in England has not really got off the ground that still makes Moyes' dealings in the transfer market look clumsy and indecisive. And while United took a gamble on a manager with no record of top-level success who presently looks painfully out of his depth, City's advisers, Txiki Begiristain and Ferran Soriano, knew from what they had seen in Spain that Pellegrini was unlikely to flounder.
Though his only titles have been won in Argentina and Ecuador, Pellegrini did well enough with Villarreal to get a crack at the Real Madrid job and once at the Bernabéu, even though he disagreed with the galáctico policy and would have preferred to do his own team-building, he was denied a title by only three points and the superlative Barcelona team of 2010 after his side had posted record totals of 96 points and 102 goals.
"We did pretty good work that season but we had an incredible Barcelona team against us and we needed to do better," Pellegrini says. "It was a shame I had just one season at Real Madrid [he was unceremoniously dumped when José Mourinho became available after winning the Champions League with Internazionale], but when I finished I had lots of offers to go to different countries and important clubs everywhere.
"I could have come to England at that moment, I had the option but I chose to stay in Spain. I chose Málaga because it was a challenge and I was very happy there but of course you cannot win the title with Málaga or Villarreal. It is impossible. But Manchester City can win a title in England. I am sure of that.
"And I am also sure they can win it playing attacking football, the way I always want my teams to play. The style of football has been the same at Villarreal, Real Madrid, Málaga and now Manchester City. That is why City came for me, I think. They wanted the team to play the way I wanted. That in turn made it easy for me, knowing that a club was looking to hire me. It was not my agent touting me, it was the other way around and that was a very important part of my decision."
Though Pellegrini's wife and family have remained in Chile, visiting Europe whenever possible, the manager is enjoying life in England. "It is a traditional country, a polite country and it is well-organised," he says. "I like all of that. And of course the Premier League is the best league in Europe at the moment."
Does the City manager really mean that, when there appears to be greater strength in the German and Spanish competitions, or is that just the politeness of a guest in the country? "Other countries might have strong teams," he says, "but in terms of a league England is very good. All the stadiums are full, the pitches in perfect condition, the fans have a lot of facilities and it is well-organised. English football has a lot of things going for it. Maybe six or seven years ago I was not so sure, because the Spanish league was very competitive too, but now there's a big difference between the two leagues."
City can go top of the Premier League with a win at Newcastle on Sunday and, with 57 goals so far, even have a chance of beating the record of 103 in a season, though a seasoned campaigner like Pellegrini does not look that far ahead. "Promise that and you can guarantee it will be nil-nil at Newcastle," he says, wisely.
At 60 he hopes he can carry on for at least five more years in management, assuming he can still find clubs who want him. He believes football managers the world over are under pressure to deliver results. There is nothing remotely new there but he feels England is catching up with Spain and Italy in regarding managers as among the most disposable components of a football club.
"I think some years ago English clubs were more patient with their managers," he says. "They were not as easily sacked from their job, they were allowed more time. Maybe now the patience is not so long as before but I still think you can establish your work here more than in other countries. Most of the pressure comes from within, in any case. It's what I call my pressure. I know if the team is playing in the way I want them to play, and that has been the same in Madrid, Málaga and Manchester.
"I know there are some big clubs in Europe and I have been lucky enough to have been associated with some of them, but I always say you don't know what pressure is until you have managed one of the big clubs in Argentina. If you go into the Superclásico [River Plate v Boca Juniors, Pellegrini took the former to the championship in 2002-03] and lose, you practically have to go into hiding.
"Football everywhere else seems quite relaxing after that. I would recommend River Plate to any young manager who has the chance. It is a very good test for normal jobs you will do in the future."
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Manuel Pellegrini pipping David Moyes to the most recent manager-of-the- month award was hardly a surprise; the only question is to what extent it presages the rest of the season. The Manchester City manager has been in England for six months now and, though he is reluctant to make any promises or predictions at what he describes as only half-time in terms of the title campaign, he already looks a good fit with a team he has revitalised.
Quite possibly he would have been a good fit for Manchester United as well, had the Old Trafford hierarchy been willing to cast their net for a successor to Sir Alex Ferguson a bit wider than Scotland, for the first Chilean to manage in the Premier League is making every aspect of taking over a leading club look quite easy.
Those who criticised the appointment on the grounds that Pellegrini had never won anything – at least on this side of the Atlantic – have already had to accept that his winning something this season looks a distinct possibility. Those who gloated that United won the title by 11 points last season and Pellegrini would need at least three years to bridge that gap have been silenced, although the more that statistic is pondered the more one is forced to wonder what City and the rest of the chasing pack were actually doing this time last year. At least City recognised the need for improvement and acted shrewdly.
Pellegrini made three expensive investments in Fernandinho, Álvaro Negredo and Jesús Navas and all three have paid off handsomely. Even allowing for the fact that Stevan Jovetic's career in England has not really got off the ground that still makes Moyes' dealings in the transfer market look clumsy and indecisive. And while United took a gamble on a manager with no record of top-level success who presently looks painfully out of his depth, City's advisers, Txiki Begiristain and Ferran Soriano, knew from what they had seen in Spain that Pellegrini was unlikely to flounder.
Though his only titles have been won in Argentina and Ecuador, Pellegrini did well enough with Villarreal to get a crack at the Real Madrid job and once at the Bernabéu, even though he disagreed with the galáctico policy and would have preferred to do his own team-building, he was denied a title by only three points and the superlative Barcelona team of 2010 after his side had posted record totals of 96 points and 102 goals.
"We did pretty good work that season but we had an incredible Barcelona team against us and we needed to do better," Pellegrini says. "It was a shame I had just one season at Real Madrid [he was unceremoniously dumped when José Mourinho became available after winning the Champions League with Internazionale], but when I finished I had lots of offers to go to different countries and important clubs everywhere.
"I could have come to England at that moment, I had the option but I chose to stay in Spain. I chose Málaga because it was a challenge and I was very happy there but of course you cannot win the title with Málaga or Villarreal. It is impossible. But Manchester City can win a title in England. I am sure of that.
"And I am also sure they can win it playing attacking football, the way I always want my teams to play. The style of football has been the same at Villarreal, Real Madrid, Málaga and now Manchester City. That is why City came for me, I think. They wanted the team to play the way I wanted. That in turn made it easy for me, knowing that a club was looking to hire me. It was not my agent touting me, it was the other way around and that was a very important part of my decision."
Though Pellegrini's wife and family have remained in Chile, visiting Europe whenever possible, the manager is enjoying life in England. "It is a traditional country, a polite country and it is well-organised," he says. "I like all of that. And of course the Premier League is the best league in Europe at the moment."
Does the City manager really mean that, when there appears to be greater strength in the German and Spanish competitions, or is that just the politeness of a guest in the country? "Other countries might have strong teams," he says, "but in terms of a league England is very good. All the stadiums are full, the pitches in perfect condition, the fans have a lot of facilities and it is well-organised. English football has a lot of things going for it. Maybe six or seven years ago I was not so sure, because the Spanish league was very competitive too, but now there's a big difference between the two leagues."
City can go top of the Premier League with a win at Newcastle on Sunday and, with 57 goals so far, even have a chance of beating the record of 103 in a season, though a seasoned campaigner like Pellegrini does not look that far ahead. "Promise that and you can guarantee it will be nil-nil at Newcastle," he says, wisely.
At 60 he hopes he can carry on for at least five more years in management, assuming he can still find clubs who want him. He believes football managers the world over are under pressure to deliver results. There is nothing remotely new there but he feels England is catching up with Spain and Italy in regarding managers as among the most disposable components of a football club.
"I think some years ago English clubs were more patient with their managers," he says. "They were not as easily sacked from their job, they were allowed more time. Maybe now the patience is not so long as before but I still think you can establish your work here more than in other countries. Most of the pressure comes from within, in any case. It's what I call my pressure. I know if the team is playing in the way I want them to play, and that has been the same in Madrid, Málaga and Manchester.
"I know there are some big clubs in Europe and I have been lucky enough to have been associated with some of them, but I always say you don't know what pressure is until you have managed one of the big clubs in Argentina. If you go into the Superclásico [River Plate v Boca Juniors, Pellegrini took the former to the championship in 2002-03] and lose, you practically have to go into hiding.
"Football everywhere else seems quite relaxing after that. I would recommend River Plate to any young manager who has the chance. It is a very good test for normal jobs you will do in the future."
