There were times when a former England captain attended Manchester City press conferences in case an emergency interpreter was needed. David Platt is bilingual and his managerial double act with Roberto Mancini was one of opposites. The cautious Englishman would stand there, seemingly irritated but doing his best not to show it, when the reckless Italian happily talked his way into trouble.
Mancini was box office. Manuel Pellegrini is not. The Chilean was hired in part to be the anti-Mancini, something he has taken to extremes at times. Pellegrini seems to have stock answers rehearsed, ways of avoiding giving a revealing response to a range of enquiries. Every now and again, however, even he says something notable.
And so it was after Manchester City’s 4-2 defeat at Old Trafford on Sunday. Pellegrini declared his side have had “a bad 2015”. That comment might not have stood out if others had stood out. Yet Pellegrini, perhaps unwittingly, cut to the heart of the issue. City’s troubles have not lasted a week, they span back over three months, a time in which they have lost to superiors, in Barcelona, peers, in Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United, and inferiors, in Middlesbrough, Burnley and Crystal Palace. The best team City have beaten in 2015 are Stoke City, who are 10th in the Premier League table.
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David Moyes was sacked when United had a bad 2014. Kenny Dalglish was dismissed when Liverpool had a bad 2012. Carlo Ancelotti was axed when Chelsea had a bad 2011. The precedents are there when elite clubs have an extended slump that cannot be excused simply as a blip and it is the manager who pays the price.
It is not the case that everyone at City is desperate to be rid of Pellegrini. Given Pep Guardiola’s potential availability in 2016, his departure this summer could pose them problems they had hoped to avoid. But decision-makers sometimes are forced to conclude a manager’s position has become untenable. Pellegrini has six games left to prove his has not.
He prospered initially by being the antithesis of Mancini, approachable instead of autocratic, compassionate instead of critical. Edin Dzeko, Aleksandar Kolarov and Samir Nasri were three of those who welcomed the regime change and raised their games to new levels. Yet this season the selfsame Dzeko, Kolarov and Nasri rank as three of City’s greatest underachievers. They are illustrative of a wider malaise, suggesting Pellegrini was the ideal short-term appointment but lacking the mettle to prosper over several years. Once that early impact subsides, and it has, managers face the test of longevity. Can they respond and react to setbacks? Because, this season, Pellegrini has not. His capacity to be outmanoeuvred tactically is a concern. So, too, the drop-off in City’s physical efforts.
They look a group in need of fresh ideas. Perhaps a tired team would be re-energised by a different voice. Certainly, while they are an ageing group, many should not be in terminal decline. Pablo Zabaleta is only 30, Vincent Kompany just 29. Neither has had a distinguished season, but that does not automatically mean either is finished. Yet the way Mancini’s defence is falling apart on Pellegrini’s watch is damning. City conceded four goals in a league game for the first time since 2009 — also against United — on Sunday. Ferran Soriano outlined last week that a commitment to attack will remain part of the club’s ethos. It doesn’t mean that the defensive fundamentals should be abandoned.
That is not entirely Pellegrini’s fault, just as others should shoulder responsibility for the decision to spend a barely credible £40 million (Dh214.3m) on Eliaquim Mangala or to buy Fernando at all. Amid all the talk of a clear out at City, there are very few, besides David Silva and Sergio Aguero, with a cast-iron case to stay. But like Chelsea last summer, they could be transformed by four or five astute acquisitions, coupled with suitable departures. In any case, it is cheaper to sack a manager with a year left on his contract than to overhaul a squad.
Pellegrini is not Mancini, who made so many enemies that his sacking a year after he won the title became essential. Few have been antagonised by anything he has said, even if the audience are sometimes frustrated by its blandness. The case against him is not personal. It comes down to results. Mancini’s were far better two years ago whereas as Pellegrini himself conceded, City’s have been substandard for the whole of the calendar year.
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