West Ham’s shaky foundations a big job for Pellegrini the engineer
He will be hoping it is different today, but there have been times over the four defeats that Manuel Pellegrini has presided over so far at West Ham when watching from the touchline with his wind-ruffled plumage, dark suit and troubled gaze he has looked like a man waiting for roadside assistance. The kind of travelling see standing bemused on the grass verge of the M1 near to a car that looks far too expensive not to be operational.
Pellegrini does not have one of the edgy South American managerial nicknames like “El Loco”, Marcelo Bielsa’s moniker – no translation required – or Diego Simeone’s moody “El Cholo”, a heritage marque he was bestowed for his tackling prowess. They call Pellegrini “El Ingeniero” – The Engineer – because he has a civil engineering degree. A bit unfair given that Arsene Wenger’s BA Hons in economics from Strasbourg University routinely got him upgraded to professor status.
Pellegrini designed and built his own home in his Chile and at Manchester City was regarded as a well-rounded individual who would take day trips to historical cities and museums in the north of England.
When he left City in 2016, on extremely good terms it should be said, the club thought about buying him one of those watches that costs more than the average UK family home but decided that he would appreciate something different. Instead they presented him with an LS Lowry original painting with which, one is reliably informed, The Engineer was well pleased.
It would be fair to say that
West Ham have in recent times, been in desperate need of an engineer. There was that long-running problem with the retractable seating over the running track at the London Stadium. Then there is still the issue of the wrong colour perimeter. And if he is still interested in house-building, Barratt
Homes is busy turning
Upton Park into something just about identical to every
London residential development.
But this engineer came for the football, and while the football has not been the only problem, it is the only one that cannot be blamed on the stadium landlord, E20, or the police radio system.
Pellegrini came to City after Roberto Mancini’s regime flamed out – the antidote to all the confrontation, especially in that first title-winning season of 2013-2014 – and he worked under the Spanish duopoly of Ferran Soriano and Txiki Begiristain. He is remembered as a collaborative manager who could be deeply stubborn on some smaller details around travel and logistics but, on the broader picture, well in tune with the structure that recruited players.
He never thought he got the credit at City in that first season for a team who scored 156 goals and won a league title only for Brendan Rodgers to walk
We are accustomed to coaches taking the money without a backward glance