Manchester City have had a good season so far, winning the Capital One Cup and reaching the semis of the UEFA Champions League, but their Premier League campaign has fallen by the wayside.
City may have dispatched defending champions Chelsea over the weekend, but they are far from the summit when it comes to the Premier League. They are behind leaders Leicester City by a massive 13 points, and with just five games left to go for them, that’s a difficult deficit to turn around.
Manager Manuel Pellegrini has known of his imminent departure since the 1st of February, when it was officially confirmed current Bayern Munich manager Pep Guardiola would be taking over in the summer. The Chilean recently claimed that the early announcement of Guardiola’s arrival adversely affected the players.
“At the start of February there was news about the change of the manager, about players who will not continue here next season, about a lot of things that involved the minds of all the players,” said Pellegrini, according to Goal.
“It’s not easy for the players when you read in newspapers all things that will happen next season, all the players who will go out, all the players that will come in. It’s not easy for the players to focus their mind.”
Disrespectful departure for a good manager
The early appointment of Pep Guardiola as Manchester City’s next manager shows Manuel Pellegrini in terrible light, but the Chilean has been a success in his three years at the Etihad Stadium. His debut season brought a Premier League title and a Capital One Cup. A barren second season last time around has been supplemented with success in 2015-16, but one trophy-less campaign has proved enough for the club to show their manager the door.
City have already won the Capital One Cup this season and have also made the semifinals of the UEFA Champions League for the first time ever. The Premier League title has slipped out of their hands though, because of inconsistent performances rather than a lack of quality. When the Guardiola announcement was made, City were in second place and just three points behind the Foxes, and Pellegrini may have a valid point when he says that it may have cost them the Premier League.
