Manuel Pellegrini is unconcerned if he does not receive the credit he deserves and believes his record in charge of Manchester City proves his worth, with one Premier League title win already and his side favourites again this season.
City are third in the league, have reached the Capital One Cup semi-finals and finished top of their Champions League group.
Pellegrini shrugged off any notion his worth is going unacknowledged. “I don’t think like that. For me it’s not important. The only important thing is to see what I did in my career,” he said. “If I finish this season winning the Premier League: in three years to win two Premier Leagues and be runner-up once is very important.
“I’m very happy about my career and my work. I would not be happy if I don’t win silverware this season but all the other things I cannot be thinking about.”
In his first season in charge Pellegrini claimed the Capital One Cup in addition to the title. In a 27-year career he also won cups in Chile – with Universidad Católica – and domestic championships in Ecuador, at Quito, and at the Argentinian clubs San Lorenzo and River Plate.
Pellegrini believes this offers the most eloquent answer to any critics. “Of course if I am a manager for around 25 years in different countries and continents and different teams and come to England and have the highest scoring team in history here that’s something for me to be happy about,” he said of City’s tally of goals in the first year under him.
“We won two titles in my first year, the second year I always say was not a good season because we must win a title, but it was not a disaster. Maybe it’s not so easy when you’ve won two titles to continue in the same way the next season. It’s not good because we didn’t win but we finished second behind Chelsea and this season we’re in all the competitions. You’re going to have good performances, bad performances, you’ll be criticised, receive praise – different things – but you can’t be too concerned about those things.”
Pep Guardiola is due to announce his future as Bayern Munich manager after ’s game with Hannover and there is speculation he could leave next summer for City. Responding to the speculation, Pellegrini pointed to his previous high-pressure role in charge at Real Madrid.
“When you have the experience and manage so many big clubs you know every result that is not the result the club wants the media will start with different rumours about different things but, if you are worried about that, it’s impossible to work in a big team,” he said. “Pep is one of the best coaches in the world so, if he doesn’t continue at Bayern, maybe a lot of teams can try to have him manage their team.”
Sergio Agüero may return for Monday’s trip to Arsenal following a heel injury. “Kun is working with the squad,” the manager said. “We will assess if he is 100% or not but he is working without problems. I think he will be in the list.”
