The Pressure on Pellegrini to Succeed in Europe

Man City have brought in the new Rafa Benitez, does this mean European success?

Some may believe it has been a somewhat underwhelming start to Manuel Pellegrini’s career at Man City. However his side lie above their rivals Man United level on points in fourth. The performances have been mixed, yet the focus has very much been on David Moyes and Jose Mourinho over Pellegrini. In this way he is fortunate. As too is he fortunate to be playing Plzen in his first Champions League game. This is where the real pressure and scrutiny will be on the Chilean coach. It is here where City will be looking at their coach for improvements on their recent failings.

It was inevitable that Roberto Mancini should leave. Yes he deserved another shot at Europe after winning the league yet the signs were not promising that he could improve City’s performances in Europe. He had proven his shortcomings while at Inter and merely heightened those problems when at City. 

Yes the groups were ‘difficult’ yet he proved that against high quality coaches and teams he was out of his depth and suffered from tactical ineptitude. You see Europe is different to the domestic leagues, especially in England. It is a different type of game;l more tactical, patient and detailed. Mancini lacked these elements with his side and they approached games seemingly unprepared. 

It meant a lack of understanding, balance  and ultimately failure. The writing was on the wall for Roberto after City failed to quality once again from the group.

A man capable of European 'success'

His replacement could well have been Mourinho once again (remember at Inter) yet City’s new board did want a man like Jose whose character and approach was not in line with the clubs new ‘ethos’. 

Mancini had struggled to provide the ‘holistic’ approach which City wished. Out went Roberto along with Tevez and Balotelli, the bad apples were removed and a new era was abound. They sought a coach who was respectful, humble and ‘on board’ with the clubs message. Pellegrini was the obvious candidate. And why else was he sought after? Well he has never won a trophy in European competition yet what mattered was that he had a clear talent in Europe of taking ‘small’ clubs far in the competition.

He was a penalty kick away from the 2006 final with Villareal and the following season took them to the quarter finals. He underperformed somewhat at Madrid in 2010, being eliminated in the knockout stages by Lyon yet by his own admission the team was not ‘his own’ and the balance needed for success in Europe was not provided to him by Perez. 

His next move would be to Malaga, a club which was “nouveau-rich” and showing ambition to be one of Europe’s big sides. In his first full season he qualified for the Champions League coming fourth in La Liga, the first time the club had qualified in their history. Unlike City’s first experience with Mancini, Pellegrini would take Malaga to the knockout rounds, going unbeaten in the group stage winning three and drawing three. 

They made it to the quarter finals to play Dortmund and were two minutes away from qualifying to the semi-finals before they gave up two late goals. It was a disappointing end to a great campaign, especially considering the issues which were plaguing the club due to their owners financial issues.

Pellegrini had proven once again that he was a very talented European coach as well as bring a well-respected man. He was the ideal candidate for City’s next step. 

The expectations on the Chilean at City are clear; he needs to provide success and win trophies yet importantly do better in Europe and take City out of the group stage. Therefore the scrutiny on Pellegrini starts now with the start of the Champions League. He has been favoured a ‘kinder’ draw although the current champions are in there. Yet CSKA and Plzen are not as formidable opposition as City faced last season. Therefore Pellegrini may accomplish what Mancini failed to do.

Tactical adeptness

Pellegrini’s success has come from his talents as a tactician above anything else. Whereas Mancini relied on individual talent to pull the team through Pellegrini appreciates the importance of tactical excellence and this has been proven at his previous clubs. 

At City he has been given a plethora of talent and variety with which to choose from. He has favoured a fluid 4-4-2 which has seen Aguero paired with Dzeko and Negredo as the front pairing. One wonders if he will choose something akin to a 4-2-3-1 in Europe with Aguero playing on the left, Silva through the middle and Navas out wide right with Dzeko playing as the front point. Behind them will be Yaya Toure and Fernandinho who will likely play a double pivot which has proven to be a great success at the top levels of the game.

The attacking variety which City can offer is clearly capable of providing chances and goals. Yet the key will be Pellegrini’s ability to improve the side out of possession. It is unfortunate that he starts the campaign with Kompany and new signing Demichelis sidleined with injury. The importance of Kompany in the team cannot be overstated and in his absence the team looks flustered and weaker. 

In fairness Kompany had a poor season last year yet when he got injured the team really struggled, with Joe Hart particularly being exposed. All the top sides miss their defensive commander when absent and City need to keep Kompany fit if they wish to make progress in Europe this season.

This blog is eager to see how City set up out of possession and how effective it is as this will be the key to their success or failure this season. It is clear that with Pellegrini as coach the expectations on progress are higher as he shows a deeper understanding of what is needed for European football.

Domestic league shortcomings?

This being said it is possible that City may do well in Europe (quarter/semi finals) yet do poorly in the league. The loss to Cardiff must have been a lesson to Pellegrini about what this league is about. The game can become ‘chaos’ at times in the Premier League and for coaches who attempt to control games and obsess about ‘balance’ it can be a real difficulty to adapt to the Premier League’s style. Because of this City may struggle to challenge for the title this season and it may well be that the focus of the season is solely on Europe (of course the team is good enough for a top three finish).

It appears that England has the ‘new’ Rafa Benitez. Benitez was an expert in Europe as his talents as a coach required a tactical brain where games were more like chess matches. These types of games require detailed organisation and balance yet he struggled at times with the chaos of the Premier League and thus failed to win the title. Pellegrini appears cut from the same cloth and so we may see a successful time for City in Europe yet a failure to win the league.

The owners will prefer this deal. The Champions League has become the pinnacle of European football and the top clubs are those who are lifting the trophy and reaching the latter stages. City’s owners want their club to be regarded as one of Europe’s elite. Failure to progress past the group stages is not going to help this vision become a reality. 

Mancini took the club to the top of English football and ticked the boxes of domestic trophy and league title. Pellegrini is now given the remit to take City to European success. The draw has favoured him more so than Mancini and progress should be more likely.

It is questionable if Pellegrini is capable of actually winning the Champions League as well as the Premier League, yet if City are playing Champions League come February then the owners will certainly feel progress is being made. It will be a fascinating year for the City and Pellegrini who will be scrutinised much more in the coming months, this blog will be eagerly watching.  

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