Manchester City: 5 Takeaways from Manuel Pellegrini's First Press Conference

Manuel Pellegrini addressed the assembled media for the first time as Manchester City's manager today, per David McDonnell of The Mirror.

Pellegrini only took questions and answers for about ten minutes, but even within that brief exchange of questions and answers, there were some gems from the new boss.

Of course, the first press conference was more likely than not to be a gentle, subdued affair. Even the notoriously prickly British media could not realistically work Pellegrini over before his new team has played even an exhibition with him in charge.

Still, some of the questions were pointed, and all of Pellegrini's answers were thoughtful. A few were even insightful.

Here, then, are five takeaways from Pellegrini's first press conference as City's man at the helm.

Manchester City Is Getting Another Striker

Never bury the lede, they say, so I won't: the biggest news from Manuel Pellegrini's first press conference as Manchester City's manager was Pellegrini's admission that City is a striker short.

Per David McDonnell's summary of Pellegrini's press conference in The Mirror, Pellegrini put it right out there: "We have two strikers at the moment and we need another one."

Naturally, Pellegrini would not start throwing names out carelessly. At some level, it does not matter so much who that new striker is. It matters that City understands and accepts that more help at the tip of the spear is needed.

It is not as though City is likely to scrimp on this acquisition. Just knowing that City is still actively in the market for a striker is very good news for the Etihad faithful.

Pellegrini Will Not Be Spooked by the Task at Hand

Manuel Pellegrini's predecessor at Manchester City, Roberto Mancini, progressively lost his cool as last season unraveled around him.

At least from today's performance, Pellegrini in contrast appears to be just about impossible to unnerve.

Asked whether the mandate from the club's brass that City win five trophies in the next five years, Pellegrini deadpanned: "Just five? No problem." (H/T David McDonnell, The Mirror).

Pellegrini later easily parried a question about the possible difficulty of managing in the Premier League.

"It's different," Pellegrini noted per Goal.com. "England is a different country. It's the fifth country I have worked in in my career. I know what I need to know about the Premier League. I'm not concerned."

All right then.

Pellegrini Knows Not to Underestimate Anyone

You have to hand it to the British media. They try to bury interview subjects with the most seemingly innocuous inquiries.

A reporter asked Pellegrini whether the new managerial situations at Manchester United and Chelsea will make his task of beating those clubs more manageable.

Pellegrini was never going to fall into that trap.

"I'm sure David Moyes will do very well, Jose Mourinho knows about the Premier League. It will be a very competitive Premier League with five or six teams trying to win it," Pellegrini demurred (per Goal.com).

Always kill them with kindness.

Pellegrini Is Not Going to Fix What Is Not Broken

Manchester City fans will be happy to know that Manuel Pellegrini's decision to manage in the famously rugged Premier League will not cause him to abandon the style of play that made him successful.

"We are hoping and always going to try to play attractive football," said Pellegrini according to the Manchester Evening News.

Pellegrini then acknowledged that there would be no point in reinventing himself, particularly where what he has done in the past has worked. "All the other teams I have worked before I have wanted to play attacking football and I want to try that again at Manchester City."

Hey, if that means fewer sleepwalking draws against relegation-fodder sides, so be it.

Pellegrini Knows That Silver Is Silver No Matter Where It Comes from

"I think the Premier League is as important as the Champions League," Manuel Pellegrini said when asked whether his emphasis would be on improving Manchester City's abject Champions League record (per Goal.com). 

The media could be forgiven for assuming that Pellegrini was brought in with the intent of fixing City's strange inability to play even passable football in Europe. The manager they sacked, Roberto Mancini, had already won the Premier League title.

Still, Pellegrini would not concede the point.

"I know the last two years at City was not very good for the Champions League. I will try to win another Premier League. When City won the Premier League I think it was one of the most important things for the club, we will try to repeat that."

Ultimately, that is all City fans ever want to hear.