Faltering Manuel Pellegrini Hands Manchester City Incentive to Get Pep Guardiola

It could have been Manuel Pellegrini’s best weekend as Manchester City manager since he won the Premier League title on the last day of the 2013/14 season.

It started so well for the Chilean. His Friday press conference was bullish and expansive. With rumours of City’s hierarchy targeting Pep Guardiola going into overdrive, he knew he had to act.

“I am not concerned about that [Guardiola],” he said. “The only concern that I can have in my profession is to try and win the next game and to win the Premier League.

“That would be very successful in three years to win two Premier Leagues and be runner-up. Those are things that maybe I can worry about, not about speculation or rumour.”

It was good to see him fighting, prepared to put forward his record and present the case he has been a success. So often accused of being passive, this was a manager on the front foot, showing everyone he cares about his job and the legacy he will leave when he finally does exit the Etihad.

“Of course if I am a manager for around 25 years in different countries and continents and different teams and come to England and have the highest-scoring team in history here that’s something for me to be happy about.

“I always listen and consider. I think all the fans have been right behind my work since I came here, I never hear any complaints from the fans. We won two titles in my first year, the second year I always say was not a good season because we must win a title but it was not a disaster.”

The message was clear: My record at City is impressive, and I want to fight for my job.

A win over Arsenal would have altered the perception of both him and City’s season further, but his side, once again, fell short, losing 2-1 and remaining six points adrift of leaders Leicester. The Blues are struggling, and their chances of winning a league title they should be firmly in control of are decreasing with every defeat.

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FT: #arsenal 2-1 City Despite a late rally, #mcfc are defeated at the Emirates. #arsenalvcity pic.twitter.com/SChNihTlbx

— Manchester City FC (@MCFC) December 21, 2015"

Where is the side that started so well, winning their first five games without conceding? Vincent Kompany is injured, but should the absence of one player have such an adverse effect?

It could have been very different had Kevin De Bruyne squared the ball to David Silva with the game at 0-0 and City looking comfortable. The Belgian hasn’t taken the wrong option too many times in his short Blues career, but this one was costly.

However, there are much bigger, systemic failings than one misjudged moment in possession.

Eliaquim Mangala yet again made a grave mistake, with his poor clearance handing the ball straight to the home side in the build-up to Olivier Giroud’s strike. His partner, Nicolas Otamendi, was pulled out of position for Arsenal’s first. It was dreadful defending, not for the first time this season, and the combined £75 million price tag for the two looks horribly misjudged.

ADRIAN DENNIS/Getty Images

Put simply: City are far too easy to play against. Yaya Toure continually allowed Mesut Ozil, who registered his 14th and 15th assists in the league this season, to get goal-side and hurt City. It's not difficult to realise Ozil is the architect of their best moments, yet he was too often given the freedom to drop between the lines and hurt City. 

Toure was anonymous for 75 minutes before a late rally saw him take control of the game in the way we know he can. After drifting around aimlessly and putting City at risk of quick counter-attacks with his negligible defensive contribution, he suddenly began to dictate the game and produced a mind-bending left-foot strike into the top corner to offer City false hope.

He rolled back the years for the final 15 minutes, but it isn’t enough. City have got a fight on their hands if they want to win this title, and it requires more than what was offered up on Monday evening.

All of which is very worrying for Pellegrini. He knows the spectre of Guardiola looms large. He knows the likelihood he’ll be replaced is increasing.

He wants to leave City a success. Two trophyless campaigns out of three would render him a failure.

But all is not lost. City have made Champions League progress and have a real chance to go further than they ever have. The League Cup is nearing its conclusion, and they remain in the hunt. They’re six points off the top of the table and, on paper, have the strongest squad.

If they can establish some consistency in this most inconsistent of seasons, a second league title of Pellegrini’s reign is not out of the question.

“I am thinking about the future not the past,” he said afterwards. “We have 63 points more to win. I think the way we played in the second half we are going to be an important team in fighting for the title.

“In the second half we took more risks, we created a lot of chances, we had more possession, we had lots of shots but in a match this important you can’t make mistakes.”

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"We fought to the end" says Manuel Pellegrini following #arsenalvcity. Read: https://t.co/zLZdjDPxuA #MCFC pic.twitter.com/gv6Dxzvja5

— Manchester City FC (@MCFC) December 21, 2015"

It was difficult to feel inspired by his defiance given what City are serving up on the pitch. 

Their form away from home is now a real concern. They haven’t won in five on the road in the league and have scored just two in that time. With a run of away fixtures on the horizon, improvements are needed quickly. But if City's error-strewn back line continue to undermine things, the chances of improvement are limited. 

Pellegrini did well when questioned about Guardiola on Friday, but it's going to become increasingly difficult for him to repeat that trick if his side's results don't improve. If he starts winning and City start looking like a side capable of winning silverware, dealing with the speculation in a dignified way will be far easier. 

The way things are going, he needs to get used to being asked about Guardiola because the questions aren't going to go away. 

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Rob Pollard is Bleacher Report's lead Manchester City correspondent and will be following the club from a Manchester base throughout the 2015/16 season. All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Follow him on Twitter @RobPollard_.