Manuel Pellegrini and Manchester City endured a tough 2014-15 go around the block, failing to win any silverware in the process. The former Real Madrid boss was lucky to keep his job at the Etihad, and will be keen to restore the faith that may have been running thin with the owners.
While last season did end without any trophies, it would be harsh to say that City were poor. They finished second in the league, scoring the most number of goals and finished the season with the highest goal difference. Sergio Aguero won the league’s Golden boot award, while Joe Hart’s 14 league clean sheets won him the Premier League’s Golden Glove award. Although the Sky Blues did have a poor domestic Cup run, after they were eliminated in the fourth round of both the FA Cup and the Capital One Cup. Some impressive performances in Europe saw them reach the last 16 stage before being knocked out by eventual champions Barcelona.
Pellegrini will be given another chance to showcase that he is still good enough to manage City. The Chilean enters into his final year on his contract and will be eager to do much better than last time around. Rumours suggest that City will look to current Bayern boss, Pep Guardiola, if the Chilean fails to deliver next season as well. Pellegrini has often stated his appreciation for the league, claiming it to be the best in the world. Undoubtedly, he will be eager to continue at City in the future, his and the team’s performances in the 2015-16 season will be crucial to that goal.
Ahead of next season, Pellegrini will be hopeful of strengthening his squad, with the likes of Paul Pogba, Jack Wilshere, Kevin De Bruyne and Raheem Sterling the likely targets. City are also looking to offload a number of players in order to bring in younger talent and have already lost nine players for the upcoming season, with Matija Nastasic, Alvaro Negredo, James Milner, Frank Lampard, Scott Sinclair, Dedryck Boyata and Micah Richards being some of the big names to depart. Another dilemma hanging over the Chileans head is that of the club’s home-grown player status. Pellegrini will prioritise in bringing in home-grown players like Wilshere and Sterling before chasing other targets, This is solely because City are currently struggling to fill their home-grown quota for the league’s player registration.
The Sky Blues have also been linked to Tottenham’s Danny Rose to replace Aleksandar Kolarov, who is likely to depart the Etihad this summer. Whilst the club’s youth squad has been putting in some consistent performances in the reserve leagues, Pellegrini might also look to promote some of the youth players. If all goes well in the transfer market for City, they look set to have one of the strongest squads in the league, which only adds more pressure on Pellegrini to succeed.
[interaction id=”55952d708ea2c61b04504c91″]
Liverpool and Arsenal have already completed some impressive signings and they too look set to compete for next season’s title. Current champions Chelsea, and City’s cross town rivals Manchester United are already a force to reckoned with and a few tweaks to their side, will see them as a major hurdle in place of City recapturing their crown. Pellegrini will be wary of the fact that the club must act quick in the transfer market, if they want to keep up with the others, the current first team squad consists of only 20 players, with more likely to depart, which would mean more signings are imminent.
With the competition in the Premier League only getting better by the season, Pellegrini will have to do extremely well if he wants to challenge for the title, let alone win it. But with a few good transfers in and the current talent already present in the squad, City have it in them to once again be Champions of England. Only time will tell if this will be Pellegrini’s last season at the Etihad, but there is one certainty at least, that he will be giving it his all to succeed.
What are your thoughts? Let us know by dropping a comment below via our Facebook comment box. Make sure you follow us on Twitter @Outside90 and like us on Facebook.
