10 Things You Didn’t Know About – Manuel Pellegrini
It’s exciting times for West Ham as Manuel Pellegrini takes his place in the West Ham hot seat. Here are 10 facts about the highly decorated Chilean.
1 # Pellegrini was born in Santiago to Italian parents, he graduated in civil engineering in 1979, he wanted to use his qualification to help with the reconstruction projects in the Chilean Central zone after the 1985 earthquake.
2 # Pellegrini spent his entire playing career with one club, Club Universidad De Chile.
3 # Pellegrini retired as a player in 1984.
4 # Pellegrini has coached in England. Spain, Chile, Argentina, Ecuador and China.
5 # During his tenure with Real Madrid the club amassed a then-record 96 points in a league season, despite this huge total, they still finished second to Barcelona and Pellegrini was subsequently sacked after one season in charge.
6 # Pellegrini led the unfashionable Villareal to the Champions League semi-finals in 2005-2006 and a second place finish in La Liga in 2007-2008.
7 # He has also led Malaga to the 4th place in La Liga and the quarter-finals of the Champions League where they were eliminated by Borussia Dortmund, the German side scoring two stoppage-time goals.
8 # Pellegrini was the first manager from outside Europe to win the Premier League.
9 # Pellegrini’s City side secured the title with a 2-0 win against West Ham in 2014.
10 # The Chilean becomes the 16th permanent Manager in West Ham’s history.
