For those who kept saying Pellegerini is better than Jose
Critics lash Manuel Pellegrini, the man 'who can't win even when he tries'
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By saying it would be 'irresponsible' to beat Madrid and then lose to Osasuna, the Málaga coach set himself up for an almighty fall
Manuel Pellegrini does so love it when a plan comes together, but this time there wasn't a blowtorch in that abandoned shed. This time The A-Team let everybody down. Pellegrini's plan lay in ruins and so did his players. On Thursday night, the Málaga manager saw his side battered 7-0 by Real Madrid. No matter, he said, this was not our war. It was, in fact, all part of the plan: a diversionary tactic while the real team prepared for the real battle. Just look at our bench: we rested Apoño, Rondón, Recio, Maresca, and Seba Fernández – and we would have rested even more if we could. It wasn't about beating Madrid on Thursday; it was about beating Osasuna on Sunday. That was Málaga's real "final."
Oh.
On Thursday night Pellegrini said it would be "irresponsible" to try to beat Madrid and then lose to their fellow relegation contenders Osasuna. He didn't say what it would be to not even try to beat Madrid and still lose to Osasuna. Instead, it was left for others to say it for him because, with crushing, fate-tempting inevitability, that is exactly what happened. AS called it "shameful", El Mundo Deportivo called it a "resounding failure", and the Málaga-based newspaper Diario del Sur called it a "disgrace". As for Marca, their headline nailed it and nailed him: "Pellegrini," it read, "can't win even when he tries."
No one could doubt that, this time, he had tried. Forget about that match; this is the one that really matters. Pellegrini recalled The A-Team, making six changes from the side that was defeated at the Bernabéu, and there was even a video made by the club with dramatic music and clips of the players saying just how vital this game was, laid over footage of the fans shouting and screaming, celebrating and cheering. "Defend your colours," the video ended, "come to the Rosaleda." And come they did: in their thousands with flags, scarves and lots of noise. But in the 92nd minute they left again, heads down, in silence – or fingers to their lips, whistling in disgust and frustration. And fear.
In the 92nd minute, the Osasuna defender Sergio Fernández leapt above the Málaga defence and headed in a superb goal. 1-0. Málaga had been beaten again. It was the 16th time they had been defeated this season, more than anyone else in primera. As for Osasuna, it was the first time they had won away from home in over a year. Thirteen months and 21 games later they had actually beaten someone. That's how bad Málaga are. As the full-time whistle went, Eliseu slipped to the floor and remained there, alone, face down, staring sadly into the darkness. As the full-time whistle went, so did Málaga. They were bottom, two points behind Almería, three behind Hércules and four from salvation.
It was not supposed to be this way. Pellegrini's plan had exploded in his face. He tried to explain it away after the game, insisting that he hadn't actually tried to lose at the Bernabéu, but it was too late. The damage was done. And, at least in part, it was done by Pellegrini himself.
The Chilean had been right to insist that his side were pretty much guaranteed to lose to Madrid and his decision to rest players was justified: José Mourinho's team have won every home game, Málaga had won just three away, and they were struggling with injuries. The match came in midweek, with Málaga having had two days' break less than Madrid and only two days to recover afterwards. They didn't actually try to lose and it would have been irresponsible to suffer heavy casualties in a battle that was not his. As the former Zaragoza coach José Aurelio Gay admitted on Onda Cero, "every coach feels the same way": beating Madrid and Barça is virtually impossible, there are two completely separate leagues.
But if others only think it, Pellegrini said it. And by saying it he created a rod for his own back and handed his enemies a stick – a great big bastard of a stick, encrusted with nails – with which to beat him. He couldn't have set himself up for a fall any better if he was an extra on Casualty. Worse, he had set his players up for one too. He had singled out his reserves as reserves, publicly belittling their ability and destroying their confidence and undermining his own credibility by trotting out a rather different discourse to the one he had told the press and players before the match. By stressing the significance of Sunday, he had also made their biggest problem even more acute: he had poured on the pressure. As if they weren't anxious enough already.
Málaga's players know they should be higher up the league; they know that the best that can happen now – survival – is a resounding failure. And they know all too well that the worst thing that can happen is the very worst thing that can happen. A complete and utter disaster. At the same time, they know they're not set up for this. Relegation, like the Bernabéu, is not their battle. Or shouldn't be.
When the Qatari Sheik Abdullah bin Nasser Al-Thani bought the club for €36m in the summer, he talked about Málaga creating a power base in the south to challenge the centre [Madrid] and the north [Barcelona]. They had the sixth-biggest budget in the division, remodelled the stadium and tried to widen the support base – announcements at the Rosaleda are made in English. Jesualdo Ferreira took over as coach. Seven new players joined – including Seba Fernández, the most expensive in Malaga's history at €3.5m.
There were glimpses of their attacking potential and especially their speed. After a 2-0 win in Getafe, Míchel claimed: "you could set a greyhound on them and still not catch them." But it didn't work. The director general Yasmin Al-Sahoud was sacked in week one; by week ten they were bottom and Jesualdo was sacked too. The players, signed by Jesualdo and by Sandro, were not as good as their billing. Malagueño has not played a single game; Rodrigo Galatto, who played just four times, is no longer in the squad; and of the remaining five – Sandro Silva, Sebas, Quincy, Rondón and Eliseu – only the latter two have started more than 50% of the games.
Under Pellegrini, the project was torn up and they started again. A new sporting director came in. Antonio Fernández, who had worked under Monchi at Sevilla and at the Spanish Football Federation, began to build a new team. In a dead winter window, Málaga were a unique case. Sergio Asenjo came on loan, Nacho Camacho joined for €1.5m, Martín Demichelis came in return for Málaga paying half his annual €2m a year salary, Júlio Baptista cost €2.5m and Enzo Maresca was a free transfer. They also signed Diego Buonanotte for €4.5m ready for next season. If at first you don't succeed, buy, buy again.
Except that they still didn't succeed and there is a feeling of decadence already. The owners have virtually disappeared. José Carlos Pérez, adviser to the board, has become the de facto chief executive, running the club – but with little real authority, recently travelling to Qatar to request €25m to see Málaga through. The squad went unpaid last month and have not had March's salary either, while River Plate are threatening to sue after not receiving the transfer fee for Buonanotte.
On the football side of the club there have been similar doubts, a similar lack of clarity and direction. Too little stability, too much going wrong. Their goalkeeping situation is a microcosm of the crisis: Málaga have played five different keepers; Sergio Asenjo, the man who came in to rectify the mistakes of the first failed project, picked up another serious knee injury. Rather than trust in what was already there, they turned to Willy Caballero. Only three players from the entire squad have started more than 20 games, only six have started more than half the matches.
This weekend, they should have won – and the sensation of miserable misfortune is not a unique one. Players have dropped like flies. Baptista, the striker most likely to drag them out of trouble, is out for six weeks. Jesús Gámez and Weligton picked up injuries this weekend. Weligton, hobbling after all three changes had been made, is the man that should have been marking Sergio Fernández when he scored the winner.
But bad luck is not excuse enough. Pellegrini was supposed to turn them round. Instead, they have been even worse. Although there was a hint of improvement with no defeats in four before the trip to the Bernabéu, he has overseen four wins in the 17 weeks. Although Sebas missed three great chances yesterday, Málaga only took their first shot after 51 minutes and Osasuna's goal was the 10th they have conceded from a set play – more than anyone else. It was also the 59th goal they have let in – 14 more than any other team. There is little continuity and little organisation; Málaga look like a decent enough bunch of players, but amidst injury and instability they look a bunch of players who've only just met.
All the while, the pressure and the anxiety builds, the abyss yawns below them. "The anxiety cost us," said Pellegrini, "had we not been so anxious we would surely have finished one of those chances. This is a huge blow." The players know it, they can feel it. Most of them simply do not know how to handle it. They never expected to have to. Abdullah Ghubn, the club's chief executive, claimed that relegation is "not an option" and yet it is a terrifying reality. Málaga were supposed to be the team that shook up Spanish football, the first of the super clubs, buying the best and beating the best too. Not a team that knew they couldn't win at the Bernabéu so didn't try and knew that they had to beat Osasuna but didn't succeed.
On Thursday night, Pellegrini claimed that beating Real Madrid was not Málaga's war. It was supposed to be.
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I guess all those who said Pellegerini would be doing a better job are hiding now , eh ?
