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Why has this Chilean been forgotten in the managerial debate?

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With all the talk about Kenny Dalglish and Roy Hodgson in regards to the vacant managerial post at Liverpool, I thought it would be interesting to look at another candidate who has been hardly mentioned at all in the managerial debate, one Manuel Pellegrini.

Probably best known for his year spell with the new galacticos at Real Madrid last season, it has been a long rise to the top for Manuel Pellegrini. In his playing career, he only played for one team Universidad de Chile in his native Chile before retiring in 1986. He was then invited to become manager of the team in 1988 but his year in charge was seen as a failure as the team struggled in the league. After spells at Palestino and O’Higgins, he rose back to the top of Chilean football with another big club Universidad Catolica. He again failed to win the title at the club but he made one crucial acquaintance at the club, one of his players Nestor Gorosito, who would play a crucial part in his managerial career.

After his two year spell at Catolica, he returned to management three years later in Ecuador, taking charge of LDU Quito. During his brief spell in charge he won the Ecuadorian league title and had an impressive run in the Copa Libertadores which grabbed the attention of many South American teams. Argentina’s San Lorenzo were looking for a manager at the time and Nestor Gorosito, a fan favourite at San Lorenzo, recommended Pellegrini for the role. The gamble would pay off as San Lorenzo won Argentina’s Clausura (Closing Season) Championship in 2001 and won the Copa Mercosur (later to become the Copa Sudamericana, the continental cup below the Copa Libertadores). It was San Lorenzo’s first continental trophy and it led to him being poached by Buenos Aires giants River Plate.

After winning the Clausura Championship in 2003, he failed to defend the title in the Apertura (Opening Season) Championship later in the year with River Plate, and he quit at the end of the campaign. It was not long before he was back in work though, and this time he was to end up in Spain where he made a name for himself in European football at Villarreal. Nicknamed the “Yellow Submarine,” the team was based in a small town in the province of Castellon. Financed by Fernando Roig, a rich benefactor, Villarreal had been promoted to La Liga in 2000. After July 2004 when Pellegrini was appointed though, the small town from Castellon which has a population of just 50,000, were to hit new heights as they finished 3rd in his first season in charge, and got to the quarter final of the UEFA Cup. Players such as Juan Roman Riquelme, Juan Pablo Sorin, Diego Forlan and Marcos Senna all became big names for Villarreal and in his second season they remarkably got the semi final of the Champions League, only to lose to Arsenal.

Successive seasons of finishing 5th, 2nd (the highest ever the club had finished) and 5th brought Pellegrini to the attention of Real Madrid. With Florentino Perez reappointed president for a second term, technical director Jorge Valdano believed Pellegrini would be the man to change the Madrid’s giant’s fortunes. After massive outlays on players at the club with the acquisitions of Cristiano Ronaldo for £80m and Kaka for £56m, big things were expected of the team. Unfortunately for Pellegrini though, Madrid lost out to Lyon in the last 16 of the Champions League, a catastrophically early exit which put the Chilean manager under pressure. It had been no different to the five previous campaigns which had seen Real go out at the same stage of the competition. but after spending £250m, Perez expected a far better return from the club’s investment. In the league though, things were going much better. Despite finishing second to Barcelona, Madrid attained the highest point’s total they had ever achieved in La Liga. 96 points would have won the title in any other season but with Barcelona around, it was never going to be easy. Pellegrini finished 3 points behind them despite winning all but one of his home matches, 18 in total, and only drawing three times and losing four all season . For his troubles, he was promptly sacked from his position despite his record points tally and was replaced by Jose Mourinho.

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8 comments

  • Mark says:

    Isn’t he about to take a job in Turkey with Fenerbache?

  • Kevin says:

    Would love Pellegrini at Liverpool. Performed miracles at Villareal. Did a good job at Real Madrid had them playing attractive football as a team and was able to control the egos. Was very unlucky to be sacked. Given time I think he could have won La Liga with Real.

    The only problem with Liverpool is that they cant afford to wait a few seasons again for another foreign Manager to find his feet and get use to the Premiership.

  • Donal says:

    Pelligrini is a great manager and Real Madrid are ridiculous sacking him after the highest points tally ever same way they sacked Capello for not winning the league with enough style that is mental,imagine winning the league and gettin sacked,come to lfc

  • Andy says:

    Good article unfortunately Liverpool FC seem to be dancing to the media’s tune at the moment, do the Ynks really believe tht we agree with the tripe being printed? Pelligrini is a step above Hogdson at the moment, he’s used to dealing with high profile players and the expectations involved with a’super club’. Kevin you’re judging GH on a season when he wasn’t in true charge, it was Evans’s team which was already on the slide. Don’t forget Rafa had to deal with a shocking injury crisis in his 1st season and we’d have finished 4th if we hadn’t have been doing so well in the CL in 04/05.

  • Pete says:

    It’s ridiculous that he’s out of work. Did a fantastic job at The Yellow Submarines. HUGE stumbling block is his English is apparently awful. Probably rules him out. He’s an excellent manager though.

  • meh says:

    Because Liverpool want a cheap choice and cannot afford him 🙂

  • Greg says:

    I think Pellegrini will be looking for a longer-term appointment than we’re likely to offer him.
    “We’d like to offer you a contract, Manuel.”
    “How long for?”
    “Well, until the new owners show up.”
    “When will that be?”
    “Who knows? But you’ll have no money until then. Just sign here.”
    I can’t see him going for it.

  • m kop says:

    We want a winner, we had good league finish with Benitez a year ago – 2nd.

    We want Kenny!

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