For those football fans not familiar with the discipline of Civil Engineering, in a nutshell it encompasses the design, construction and maintenance of roads, bridges, canals, dams and buildings – the perfect grounding for a new challenge in industrial Manchester. So to labour the engineering analogies while they’re still fresh – even Gary Lineker will have run out of these by Christmas.
Building Roads
The key area Pellegrini must succeed in is primarily plotting the road to European success. With City being knocked out of the group stages of the Champions League in both previous appearances in the tournament, the club’s coefficient is in desperate need of redress if long term European success is to be achieved. Though not quite in the realms of Abramovich like obsession, Champions League progression is highly prized – with a view to at least reaching the semi finals being this season’s target.
Bridging Gaps
The Chilean must also succeed in bridging last season’s 11 point gap between Champions and local rivals Manchester United. Winning the league, he has been told, is not a prerequisite for being in the job for the following season but the title race must be a more competitive affair – and Pellegrini will probably fancy his chances given his squad and the possible bedding in periods of the other potential title challengers.
So can The Engineer rebuild the City?
Pellegrini’s balancing act will come in practically applying these measures whilst “always trying to play in the opponent’s half” and offering the type of attractive football that has been the hallmark of his Malaga team. With players already bought for him in the Brazilian Fernandinho and Spain’s Jesus Navas a question remains though over who will be controlling the personnel coming in and out of the club. If the club are intent on incorporating a holistic approach with whom does the overarching responsibility for club strategy lie?
If Pellegrini is given the full running of the club, including transfer policy, he stands a chance of achieving his own targets and those of his employers, but if he finds himself in the labyrinthine bureaucratic mire of Sporting Directors, Heads of Transfer Policy and Deputy Assistant Bib Dispensers then his grand vision may well be left unrealised. The holistic approach will no doubt take some time to be fully understood or evidence any real changes but for the manager who publicly criticised the Real Madrid Galactico policy following his tenure may once again find that holistic means owner wants-owner gets.
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‘recently appeared to be a disjointed squad of individuals lacking any sense of squad unity and teamwork?’
Based on what?
As for your lack of knowledge on who sanctioned the transfers, I’d suggest you do some research, Pellegrini sanctioned both.