Much has been made of Roberto Mancini’s sacking from Manchester City, and although I disagree he deserved to be sacked, this post will discuss whether Pellegrini is the right successor for him.
What Pellegrini will bring is more consistency, and a more friendly feel around the squad. There was a lot said about Mancini and his persona around the City camp, barely uttering a word to other members of staff. This will change under Pellegrini. Also, he’ll add consistency. Mancini was a terrific manager and a huge success, but he was inconsistent. Not just in squad selection, but in results, especially in the past season. Pellegrini will add consistency, as shown by his time at Real Madrid, where he amassed a 75% win rate, which is actually better than Jose Mourinho’s time at the Bernabeu. He also had an impressive 66% win rate at River Plate, although at Villarreal and Malaga he was below 50%.
Trophies What will worry City fans is his lack of major trophies since managing in Europe. While he has a handful of trophies from South America, since his time in Spain, which began in 2004, he hasn’t managed a trophy. That being said, you’d imagine if he’d had more time at Madrid he would have won something, especially after achieving a brilliant 96 points in his debut season. Whether he’ll be able to better Mancini’s last season in his debut season at the Etihad remains to be seen.
Future The future for Manchester City looks bright. The addition of Jesus Navas is a brilliant one, and adds width they desperately need. Fernandinho is a good signing, although over-priced. The two additions of Stevan Jovetic and Alvaro Negredo are brilliant. They now have four top quality strikers to choose from, and they are miles ahead of any other team in the league in the striker department. The rest of the squad as it is, looks promising. Nastasic, at 20, can only get better after wonderful debut season. Kompany needs to stay fit and he will get back to his usual brilliant self. They have plenty of options for the full back position, in Clichy, Kolarov, Zabaleta, Richards and Maicon. In midfield they have plenty of options, with Yaya Toure signing a contract extension, and Jack Rodwell showing glimpses of the player he could become at the end of last season. David Silva and Samir Nasri needs to find more consistency, but hopefully that’s what Pellegrini will get out of them.
It seems when Pellegrini said he plans to topple Manchester United, if he plays his cards right, he’ll be on the right track.