ABOVE: Manchester City director of football Txiki Begiristain, Brian Kidd, Manuel Pellegrini and acadamy ma
‘The Engineer’, as Pellegrini is known, will have to make sure this particular Manchester machine is working properly.
WITH a name like Manuel, Manchester City fans can be forgiven for holding their breath following the arrival of a new manager.
The most famous Manuel from these shores, played by Andrew Sachs, was the calamitous waiter in Fawlty Towers.
Most
things he did ended in disaster, which is what Manuel Pellegrini’s
appointment will be viewed as if he doesn’t deliver success on a plate
at City.
The pressure is on Pellegrini, not
least because chairman Khaldoon Al-Mubarak has already insisted the
Blues are expected to win every competition they take part in.
Sacking Roberto Mancini last month was a brave decision considering the success he brought to the underachievers.
Three
trophies in as many seasons, including a league title at the expense of
rivals Manchester United, was good but not good enough to keep him in a
job.
The standards have been set. The question now is can Pellegrini meet them.
His
list of triumphs to date is modest to say the least, which means the
Chilean is hardly arriving in Manchester with a CV to die for. Yet he is
walking into an environment that craves instant success and replacing a
manager who achieved God-like status with supporters.
Mancini’s
problem was he lost the dressing room. Cliques developed and he was
accused of being cold and distant towards a squad containing some of the
biggest egos in the business. Pellegrini’s first task will be to win
over his new stars and get them performing as a team again.
It
promises to be a big challenge, not least because Pellegrini will need
time to adjust to the demands of a league and country he has never
worked in before
‘The Engineer’, as Pellegrini is known, will have to make sure this particular Manchester machine is working properly.
At
Villarreal and Malaga, Pellegrini was in charge of teams who were never
expected to win anything. But the Blues’ Abu Dhabi powerbrokers expect
the exact opposite and this is something Pellegrini must adapt to. Jose
Mourinho has returned to Chelsea and is expected to turn them into title
challengers again, while just down the road is the establishment of
English football in the shape of United, albeit without Sir Alex
Ferguson at the helm any more.
For the time being, City supporters should
share the faith club bosses have placed in Pellegrini, who had a brief
taste of high-level pressure and expectation following his short stint
at Real Madrid.
While he was in charge at the
Bernabeu, Real won more points and a higher percentage of matches than
any side before. Only Barcelona’s remarkable exploits denied him a La
Liga crown.
Former Arsenal striker Julio
Baptista, who worked under Pellegrini at Malaga, reckons the
59-year-old’s ability to create a strong team spirit is one of his
greatest strengths.
He said: “Wherever he has
worked, he has managed to create very strong groups, not just of
football players but of people as well, which is also important.
“He managed to create a strong group here at Malaga out of practically nothing. I think his work speaks for itself.”
Pellegrini is renowned for being calm and composed, the exact opposite of Mancini.
But he will need all of his patience to work successfully at the club that has resembled a circus in recent years.
Winning
back the title will be priority No.1, followed by progress in the
Champions League.Pellegrini in the prem: New boss needs success or Sachs
not far away
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