Spanish Debate: What Makes Pellegrini Stand Out?

South American players have become an integral part of Spain's footballing culture and a great many of them are forever linked with success. From Di Stefano to Santos, Ronaldo to Ronaldinho, the cream of talent from the region has inspired many a Spanish team to victory over the years.

The same cannot be said of coaches from the region. Since César Luis Menotti's generally barren spell at Barcelona in the early eighties, a number of South America's finest coaching talents have tested themselves in Spain without a great deal of success. Carlos Bianchi, Carlos Alberto Parreira, Washington Tabárez, Miguel Ángel Russo, Gustavo Benítez, Marcelo Bielsa, Vanderlei Luxemburgo... the list is seemingly endless.

Héctor Cúper came close to titles on numerous occasions with Valencia, but his record in Spain – and elsewhere - since then has somewhat blotted his copy book. Troubled spells at Mallorca and Real Betis perhaps indicate that much of his success with Los Che was piggybacked on the team that Claudio Ranieri had built before leaving for Atlético Madrid in 1999.

In fact, the only two coaches from the region that have won trophies on a fairly consistent basis both spent the majority of playing careers in Europe: Helenio Herrera – who among other achievements, won four La Liga titles with Atlético Madrid and Barcelona – in France and Alfredo Di Stefano – a La Liga, Copa del Rey and Cup Winners Cup winner with Valencia – in Spain itself.

However, in recent years another coach has emerged who defies the logic that explains the success of Herrera and Di Stefano. A coach who took a team that first tasted top flight football in 1998 to the semi-finals of the Champions League in 2006 and to a best-ever league finish of second place in the season just ended. That coach is Manuel Pellegrini.

While Pellegrini has had the fortune to coach a club with steady long-term ambitions, a sensible board of directors and an extensive South American scouting network – something that neither Bianchi or Luxemburgo were, for instance, blessed with – perhaps primary to his success in Spain has been his ability to adapt tactically to the rigours of the European game in a way that so few of his contemporaries have been able to.

In his first season with Villarreal, Pellegrini inherited a squad with players suited to the classic South American 4-4-2 diamond formation. He had Juan Román Riquelme at the top of the diamond, Josico, Marcos Senna or Sebastián Battaglia at the bottom, Hector Font on the right and Juan Sorín on the left. He stuck with the tactics that he was comfortable with from his time with San Lorenzo and River Plate in Argentina, and led the team to a superb third place in his debut season.

The top four finish gave Villarreal a crack at the Champions League for the 2005/06 season and while Pellegrini often employed a solitary striker in La Liga, the diamond was his preferred formation for Europe's premier competition. The signing of Alessio Tacchinardi allowed Marcos Senna to spend more time on the right of the diamond, a position in which he flourished, attracting the attention of Manchester United with some excellent performances throughout Villarreal's Champions League campaign.

Riquelme ran the show as Villarreal played some superb football on their way to the semi-finals, where they were a saved penalty away from taking Arsenal to extra time in the second leg at El Madrigal. However, cracks were starting to appear in La Liga. Whenever Riquelme was absent from the team, neither Roger or Guayre were anywhere near as effective as the play-maker, and Villarreal suffered as a result, finishing the season in seventh.

Pellegrini had much to muse over during the summer and the signing of Robert Pires from Arsenal held the key to understanding his tactical thinking for the season ahead. Having observed that Riquelme had become the irreplaceable focal point of the team, Pellegrini wanted to find a more fluid style of play that was less reliant on any one player and would counteract the stiffness that Villarreal had shown at times in the previous campaign.

His solution was to employ a variation of 4-4-2, in which two central midfielders would generally hold, while two attacking midfielders were given freedom to roam from initial wide positions in the attacking third. His plans were dealt a blow when Pires picked up a serious injury in pre-season, but he persevered, using Riquelme and Ruben Cani in the attacking roles in the early part of the 2006/07 season.

The new formation was not a great success and the relationship between Riquelme and Pellegrini started to deteriorate, culminating in Villarreal's 4-1 defeat at home to Osasuna in December. Riquelme was shipped out on loan to Boca Juniors in January and Pellegrini decided to revert back to a central play-maker, with new signing Matias Fernandez fulfilling the role. Pires returned from injury in time for the final stretch of the campaign and inspired the club to a eight straight victories, taking them to a fifth-placed finish.

Pellegrini's initial attempts to integrate his new formation had been largely unsuccessful, but that was all set to change. Villarreal's summer transfer dealings saw Santi Cazorla return from his loan spell at Recreativo and Diego Forlan replaced with Giuseppe Rossi. With some other minor changes to the squad, Pellegrini now had the players at his disposal to play the sort of football he had envisioned at the start of the previous campaign.

Villarreal began the season in fine fettle with five wins from their first six games, and despite some indifferent form in the middle part of the season, they picked up once more going into the final stretch, overtaking Barcelona and confirming a second place finish.

Pires belied his increasing age with some excellent performances, while Cazorla was able to reproduce the form that had seen him lead the goal assist charts during his year at Recreativo. In fact, such was the consistent level of Cazorla's displays that Spain coach Luis Aragones called him up to the national squad for this summer's European Championships.

With Cani and Fernandez providing ample back-up in the attacking midfield positions and January signing Sebastian Eguren proving to be the ideal partner for Senna in the centre of midfield, Pellegrini's vision is finally beginning to take hold. Rossi has forged an excellent understanding with Nihat Kahveci up front and there is certainly a more free-flowing nature to Villarreal's attacking play compared to seasons past.

Greater defensive solidity came with the signing of imposing goalkeeper Diego Lopez, while Diego Godin and Gonzalo Rodriguez have established a formidable partnership in the centre of the back four. All in all, Villarreal are beginning to look like serious long-term challengers.

The likes of Sol Campbell, Edmilson, Cristian Villagra, Mane, Joseba Llorente and Diego Valeri have already linked with summer moves as Pellegrini looks to improve the squad and it is clear that the Villarreal board are fully behind their coach. The tactics are now in place and next season will be a case of Pellegrini taking what he has learnt this season and making a few subtle tweaks in order to improve the formula.

If his time at the club so far is anything to go by then it is totally possible that Pellegrini could lead Villarreal even closer to the Primera Division title next season. With a Champions League campaign sure to bring greater exposure to his work, it would not be at all surprising to see Europe's biggest clubs vying to secure his signature come the end of the next campaign.

Whether or not he would want to leave the calm atmosphere of El Madrigal, however, is another matter entirely.


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