Manuel Pellegrini's Most Telling Quotes so Far as Manchester City Manager

Manchester City's new manager, Manuel Pellegrini, may or may not turn out to be an improvement over his predecessor Roberto Mancini from a results standpoint.

Journalists covering City, though, have to be thrilled at the change.

Mancini was notoriously crusty and terse, traits that he overcame when things were going well.

When Mancini's team fell apart at the end of last season, though, neither his players nor the press had many kind words for him.

Every end is bad in its way, sure, but somehow it is difficult to imagine such a crashing fall for Pellegrini at City.

Particularly since just about every word he has uttered since assuming control of the Sky Blues has been so thoughtful and well-chosen.

Pellegrini is going to be a boon to the media covering Manchester City. Even in the short time he has been in charge he has been very quotable.

"A Different Way of Playing"

For the past few seasons, Manchester City's playing style has been analogous to American football's "three yards and a cloud of dust" strategy.

Under Roberto Mancini, City funneled play through the middle of the field, tried to post an early goal and then often seemed to ease off the accelerator.

That will not happen under Pellegrini.

Per Saj Chowdhury of BBC Sport, Pellegrini has promised a different way: "Man City fans will see a different way of playing than they have seen in other years. We will try to be an attractive team."

If City's recent 5-3 friendly win over AC Milan is any indication, Pellegrini is likely to deliver on this promise.

"Just Five?"

Manchester City chief executive Ferran Soriano is either a genius motivator or a fool for revealing City's expectation of winning five trophies in five years.

He's acting as if winning the Champions League or the Premier League (or even an FA Cup) is something to be checked off a list like bread or milk at the market.

Still, when Manuel Pellegrini was asked about this daunting mandate from his bosses at City, he handled the question deftly.

"Just five?" Pellegrini deadpanned, per Jamie Jackson of The Guardian.

That Pellegrini could blithely discuss this topic with the same urgent concern as he might have about ordering lunch put on display the cool demeanor for which Pellegrini is known.

"Two Players for Every Position"

When asked about his many summer signings (Jesus Navas, Fernandinho, Stevan Jovetic, Alvaro Negredo), Pellegrini explained the motivation behind the movement quite simply.

"We need a squad with two players for every position," Pellegrini has said, per Goal.com.

Pellegrini doubtlessly saw what happened to Manchester City last season, when the Sky Blues struggled to account for the departures and absences of players like Mario Balotelli, Sergio Aguero and Yaya Toure.

For the third straight season, City will compete in the Champions League, the Premier League and the FA Cup.

And this season, of course, the Citizens hope to advance past the group stage in Europe.

If they do, their skill and resolve will be tested. So will their depth.

That is why City needs a squad with two players for every position.

"If You Lose the Superclásico...You Have to Hide"

The British media asked Manuel Pellegrini about the scalding, bubbling cauldron of pressure he was willingly stepping into as manager of Manchester City Football Club.

In reply, Pellegrini stopped just short of laughing in their faces.

"A coach who has worked in Argentina can work in any part of the world," said Pellegrini, according to James Riach of The Observer.

In case the assembled throng of scribes missed his point, Pellegrini sharpened it: "If you lose the superclásico you can't go out of your home for at least a week, you have to hide. You must stay in the training ground at least two or three hours after the session has finished."

So, yeah, good luck scaring Pellegrini with your Premier League and Champions League stress and angst.

Pellegrini has seen a lot worse.

"I Am Not the Fashionable Coach"

Manuel Pellegrini's appointment at Manchester City was probably a disappointment for people who were looking for a bigger name.

Jose Mourinho was still available when City named Pellegrini manager. Michael Laudrup could surely have been pried away from Swansea City. Ditto for Roberto Martinez of Wigan Athletic.

Pellegrini knows there were other names in City fans' minds. He has no worries there.

The Observer's James Riach quoted Pellegrini saying: "I am not the fashionable coach who won the last title last year. It's more important for me that I am here in Manchester City for the work I did over the last years in Spain and South America and the way my teams play."

Manuel Pellegrini is therefore focused not on proving City right for choosing him, but on managing his team his way.

As he says, it has worked before.

"We Will Try to Be an Attacking Team"

Consistent with Pellegrini's promise of a different way of playing is his commitment to aggression.

"We will try to be an attacking team. All the teams I worked at before did that and that is why I am here now," he said, according to Goal.com.

This is not a new sentiment from Pellegrini.

Perhaps a better version of that quote above predates Pellegrini's time as Manchester City manager.

Per Lee Roden of talkSPORT, Pellegrini not only prefers attacking football, he outright dismisses any other way.

"My teams think more about building than destroying, and I don't like those who prioritise destruction through constant man-marking and fouling. It bores me, I'd never go to see that kind of football," Pellegrini has said.

That has to be sweet music to the paying patrons at the Etihad.

"It's Very Important to Think and to Play as a Big Team"

We are breaking no news here by stating that Manchester City (club, fans et al) have a self-image problem.

When "Typical City" is easy shorthand for a history of failure, some inflicted by opponents and some self-inflicted, there are issues to be dealt with.

New manager Manuel Pellegrini seems determined not to let the past define the present or the future. Rather, he wants City to dress for the job they want, not the job they have.

"It's very important to think and to play as a big team and try to always play – not just score a goal and then play on the counterattack. We try to score another goal and to play always the same, not changing the style," Pellegrini stated, as recounted by James Riach in The Observer.

If you want to tangle with the likes of Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Manchester United, you must start by acting as if you belong there.

You don't see the big clubs playing games of craven retrieval after scoring one lousy goal.

"A Dictator and a Democrat"

An enduring trait of successful coaches in any sport is the respect between those coaches and their players.

Legendary American football coach Bill Parcells, recently inducted into the American Pro Football Hall of Fame, preached this repeatedly.

Tedy Bruschi, a Parcells player and himself a Hall of Famer, remembered Parcells' lessons according to Mike Reiss of ESPN.com.

Bruschi recalled Parcells saying:

"

Football will give you a lot of things -- you can buy a nice car, you can buy a nice house, it will get you some fame. But there are certain things you have to earn in the game of football. And you have to earn your respect, and you have to earn championships.

"

He observed: "That's what Bill Parcells taught me."

New Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini has echoed similar sentiments.

"You have to show authority to be a coach, but I can be a dictator and a democrat," Pellegrini said, according to Ben Lyttleton of Sports Illustrated. "A dictator because footballers have to obey you, but a democrat because I have to convince them if I want them to do it."

These promise to be thrilling and fascinating days ahead at Manchester City.