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Pellegrini After the disappointment of his last two major appointments at Real Madrid and Malaga, City may prove to be Pellegrini’s last opportunity for success at a big club. After a superb start against Newcastle on Monday, everything looks to be going to plan for the unassuming Chilean as Tim Stannard explains.
Having participated in the grueling business of managing football clubs since 1987 and turning 60 in September, the temptation for Manuel Pellegrini at the end of last season to retire and return to his native Chile must have been enormous. This is especially the case when considering the new Manchester City managers exhausting
spell with his previous club, Málaga. Although the side had tremendous, headline-making success in Pellegrini’s final two seasons in La Rosaleda, the pressures down Spain’s south coast appeared unbearable.
Handling footballers and their various demands and sulks on day-to-day basis is challenging enough for any manager. Handling footballers in a depleted squad who are not getting paid and still delivering exemplary performances in the league and Europe is almost impossible. That is exactly what Pellegrini achieved at Málaga, a team who were just seconds away from the Champions League semi-finals after a dramatic tussle against Borussia Dortmund. Running Málaga was supposed to be the opportunity for Pellegrini to build a legacy in La Liga before riding off into the sunset. It was chance to build Spain’s third great force on the Mediterranean coast in a well-planned, long-term strategy. However, a big team project was beset by small team problems. Players were bought and then swiftly sold, without a thought on how the transfer could ultimately be funded. Wages at Málaga went unpaid as did suppliers and debts to other clubs. For this reason, UEFA took stern action against Málaga last year and banned the institution from European football, despite a sixth-placed finish. Pellegrini was only just starting a journey that was mirroring the success achieved at Villarreal between 2004 and 2009 - turning a small provincial outfit into European sluggers. However, maintaining the outstanding success of the east
Field — Issue 02
Pellegrini
Before becoming a manager, Pellegrini spent the entirety of his career with Universidad de Chile, making over 400 appearances for the club between 1973 and 1984. During his time there, Universidad emerged from one of their most unsuccessful periods to clinch the national Copa Chile, which had eluded them since 1969.