Manuel
Pellegrini has the final 12 matches of Manchester City’s season to save
his job, with the manager needing to defend the Premier League title or
win the Champions League, otherwise Pep Guardiola will be approached as
his replacement.
If City fail to claim either the title or
the European Cup and Pellegrini’s second campaign ends without a trophy
then his future would be precarious, and the 61-year-old could be sacked
following an end of season appraisal.
Pellegrini
is a popular figure at City, from executive level to first-team squad,
and so the hierarchy would be reluctant to remove him. However, given
City’s unconvincing display in the Champions League and a Premier League
campaign in which they will be eight points behind Chelsea if the
leaders win their game in hand, a prevailing view is that Pellegrini has
failed to improve the team.
When Ferran Soriano sacked Roberto
Mancini after he oversaw a dismal championship defence in the 2012-13
season the chief executive stated the fundamental reason was because
there was minimal evidence of the side evolving under the Italian.
City
trail Barcelona 2-1 in the Champions League last 16. In the first leg
Pellegrini’s tactical limitations were shown up for a second successive
year against the Catalan club. His insistence on always playing in an
attacking mode meant he fielded a 4-4-2 formation that had Segio Agüero
and Edin Dzeko as the strikers so City were overrun. Although they
rallied in the second half the poor performance followed an unconvincing
group stage before Christmas, Pellegrini’s side only just qualifying.
In
Sunday’s 2-1 defeat at Liverpool Pellegrini persevered with the
two-striker system and saw City beaten by Brendan Rodgers’s side. With
City needing to win to exert pressure on Chelsea – who were playing
Tottenham Hotspur in the Capital One Cup final later in the day – the
game at Anfield was poised at 1-1 after 75 minutes yet Pellegrini
readied the defensive midfielder Fernando to come on. Only when Philippe
Coutinho scored did the Chilean change his mind and ask the
attack-minded Frank Lampard to enter and chase the match.
When
replacing Mancini in the summer of 2013 Pellegrini signed a three-year
deal and despite winning the title and Capital One Cup last season,
fresh terms have yet to be offered. At the end of this season he will
have 12 months left but there is no mood to open talks regarding an
extension.
Credit: Jamie Jackson/Guardian Sport
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