Biggest Test Yet For Manchester City's New Lamborghini

It’s hard not to feel sorry for old Manuel Pellegrini. Ever since he joined Manchester City from Malaga with the mandate of improving City’s performances in European competition, he has always looked world weary; like a man for whom disaster is constantly pending. Remember when he guided City to the Premiership title in 2014, a day that should have been the happiest of his career, well even as he gave his celebratory interview on the pitch at Eastlands, he still looked haunted.

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Article by Brian Ennion

Yes, in his heart of hearts, ashen faced Il Ingeniero has always known that sooner or later, his time was going to be up at City. He has always played the role of the dutiful old family saloon while the head of the family has been awaiting the construction of his top of the range new sports car. The best he can hope for now is a long period of collecting rust in the garage, the worst he can hope is to be sent out to be used for scrap.

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The latter is probably the more likely fate, in all honesty. No one wants an unwanted, dull old car taking up valuable garage space. Pellegrini still has usable parts that could be utilised in one of football’s backwaters, perhaps out in the Middle East or even in one of Europe’s less stable states. Whatever the case, it would be hard to imagine we will ever see him managing again at the top table of European football.

This is something that will not bother the English press one jot. Unlike Jose Mourinho or Jurgen Klopp, plodding old gentlemen such as Pellegrini hardly make for good copy. However, for all of his boringly polite manner, Pellegrini always told his teams to go out and play football in the right way. He gave the likes of David Silva and Sergio Aguero, even the ever enigmatic Yaya Toure, freedom to express themselves and play football that at times has been tantalising to watch. His great sin was to be a manager who allowed for entertainment on the pitch in an age when the media believe all the entertainment should come from press conferences.

Even as Pellegrini departs into the footnotes of English football history (the first South American manager to win an English league title), City’s owners are having their backs slapped by the press gang, as they drool over the features of their latest acquisition. With 21 major trophies to his name in two of the most respected footballing countries in the world, Pep Guardiola is surely the magic formula that when applied, can bring instant success to any football club.

Already, the press gang are fluttering their eyelashes, waiting to see what wonders this Willy Wonka like figure will produce. Will Messi finally be tempted to leave Barcelona? Can City now go on a period of sustained domination domestically and in Europe? What’s Pep’s favourite television show?

There is a problem here, though. Without having coached in England before, assuming any manager will carry all before them is a dangerous strategy. A close examination of Guardiola’s record at Bayern Munich, particularly on the European front, is not perhaps as mesmerising as the fanfare might have expected you to believe. The way in which first Real Madrid and then Barcelona emphatically dumped his Bayern Munich side out of the Champions League at the semi-final stage in 2014 and 2015 respectively does not scream of a man who is invulnerable tactically, and given the current fragile state of City’s defence, it would suggest that shoring up Manchester City’s back line may be the biggest challenge he has yet aced as a manager.

The challenge is even more acute because, as a result of the new TV deals, the English Premier League right now is financially the strongest in the world and there are many, many clubs with teams that on their day, can beat anyone, as this season has so captivatingly proved.

Whatever footballing utopia it is that England’s starstruck media are expecting from Pep Guardiola and Manchester City next season, there ought to be a note of caution against the belief in Guardiola’s magical powers.

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