Pellegrini v Rafa – what their records say!

It hasn’t taken long for the discussion to start  without anybody yet having been appointed as the new West Ham boss.

It seems that in our perfect world it is now a straight fight between Rafa Benitez and Manuel Pellegrini.

Many have already made their minds up so ClaretandHugh – with help from Wiki – has taken a look at their records.

So lets recall their last few years in the game and make the necessary comparison:

Manuel Pellegrini 

2009-201o: Real Madrid: (Source Wiki)

In July 2009, Pellegrini competed in his first cup for the club as manager, the Peace Cup  The club finished as semi-finalist in the tournament, being eliminated by Juventus Juventus. On 29 August, Real Madrid won 3–2 at Deportivo La Coruña in Pellegrini’s first La Liga game as manager.

On 10 March 2010, Madrid were eliminated from the Champions League by Lyon in the round-of-16 with a 2–1 aggregate loss. Florentino Pérez issued an ultimatum to Pellegrini after this defeat, warning him that he would be fired if he did not win the La Liga title. Pellegrini’s Real Madrid side achieved 96 points in La Liga, the highest points total Real Madrid had ever achieved in a La Liga season up to that point (since surpassed by the 2011–12 team under José Mourinho), but still came in runners-up, finishing behind their arch rival Barcelona, who had 99 points. He was sacked to be replaced by Mourinho.

Later Pellegrini reflected that because of the club’s controversial Galácticos policy: “I didn’t have a voice or a vote at Madrid. They sign the best players, but not the best players needed in a certain position. It’s no good having an orchestra with the 10 best guitarists if I don’t have a pianist. Real Madrid have the best guitarists, but if I ask them to play the piano they won’t be able to do it so well. He [Pérez] sold players that I considered important. We didn’t win the Champions League because we didn’t have a squad properly structured to be able to win it.

Malaga (2010-2013)

He moved to tiny Malaga – similar in Spanish terms to the Irons – where he led them to fourth in the league with a club record-breaking 58 points and into the Champions League qualifiers for the first time in the club’s history and progressed to its quarter finals.

Manchester City (2013-2016)

He won the Premier League title in 2013-13 and lifted the league cup in the same year and in 2015-16. He left the club with the fifth highest win per centage in the Premier League’s history and at one stage heard his team being described as the best in the world.

Rafa Benitez

2010 (Inter)

Took the job after leaving Liverpool replacing Mourinho He won  the Italian Super Cup, after they defeated Roma 3–1, and lost to Atlético Madrid in the 2010 UEFA Super Cup.

By December 2010, Inter had slumped to sixth in Serie A, 13 points adrift of the top (although Inter played two games less), having suffered consecutive defeats against Milan  as well as losing to Tottenham Hotspur in the Champions League.  Benítez guided Inter to win the FIFA Club World Cup in December 2010. He told the European champions to back him with new signings or consider whether they wanted to keep him as coach which were dismissed out of hand on December 23.

2012-13 (Chelsea interim boss )

Gained third place and a direct spot in the following season’s Champions League group stage but had his rows along the way having heavily criticised the Chelsea board for giving him the title of “interim manager” and the Chelsea fans for their protests against him. He also confirmed that he would be leaving the club at the end of the season.

2015-16 Real Madrid

Benítez was confirmed as the new Real Madrid manager, signing a three-year contract.^[91][92] Real Madrid remained unbeaten in the league until a 3–2 loss at Sevilla in the 11th matchday. This was followed by a 4–0 home loss in the first Clásico of the season against Barcelona. Real later played Cádiz in the Copa del Rey Round of 32, winning away 3–1 in the first leg. However, they fielded an ineligible player in Denis Cheryshev as he was suspended for that match, resulting in the second leg being cancelled and Madrid being disqualified. Meanwhile, Real topped their UEFA Champions League group with 16 points.^{[citation needed]}

On 4 January 2016, Benítez’s contract was terminated following allegations of unpopularity with supporters, displeasure with players and a failure to get good results against top sides.At the time of his dismissal, Real were third in La Liga, four points behind leaders Atlético Madrid and two points behind  Barcelona, the latter of whom had a game in hand.

Newcastle (2016 -)

Newcastle ended their first season under Rafa with a six match unbeaten run, including a 5–1 final day win over third-place Tottenham Hotspur. However, the team was relegated to the Championsip due to Sunderland claiming 12 points from their final six fixtures.

In May 2017, Newcastle won the Championship, made an immediate return to the Premier League after one season and finished three points ahead of the Hammers this term in 10th place.