Pellegrini: At Real Madrid I lacked creative options Football - Interview Chilean coach enjoying spell in China

Following a successful stint with Manchester City, Manuel Pellegrini rebuilt a reputation that had been somewhat damaged by an unsuccessful season with Real Madrid, now with Hebei China Fortune the former Los Blancos coach has discussed his time in the Spanish capital.

In 2018 he will start his second, and probably final, campaign in the Chinese Super League with his first year bringing a fourth place finish.

In an exclusive interview with MARCA, the former Malaga coach makes clear just why he failed at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, as well as his hopes for the upcoming season in China.

What rating, from 0-10, would you put on your time in Madrid?

"I would give it a six, it wasn't great because we didn't win a title, but we had a good domestic season, earning 96 points even though we started with a three month injury to Cristiano Ronaldo. Above all I was starting with a team that I had never agreed upon."

What was missing?

"Attacking, creative midfielders. It was what I asked the club for; I didn't have technically gifted players in midfield. Today they have Modric, Kroos, Casemiro and Isco who make the difference behind the forwards. I had many midfielders but few with creative ability. Unfortunately, Guti was nearing the final stage of his career. Creative midfielders have always been the basis of my teams: Cazorla, Riquelme, Isco, Pires, Silva and Senna. "

Are you surprised by the 19 point lead Barcelona has over Real Madrid?

"Yes, Madrid have a great team, but maybe they won too much and relaxed a little. Excessive success doesn't allow for complacency and, although it isn't intentional, there is an inevitable relaxation. For a coach, it's difficult to detect."

Can you not fight against that in any way?

"It's one of the most difficult things to solve. Barcelona was there a year ago and it looks like it will cost Real Madrid the league this year, however with the coach and squad they have, they will reorganise themselves in the Champions League."

Your Hebei Fortune team was fourth in the league and out of the AFC Champions League on the last day, were you satisfied with the 2017 season?

"With qualification it would have been excellent, but it was still good. This is a very young club and we have made a lot of progress in every department, with 30 percent more points and being in the Champions League spots for almost the entire second round, only on the last day did we lose that position."

Is winning the league impossible for your team?

"It's certainly a more complicated step; it's no coincidence that Guangzhou Evergrande have won the title seven years in a row. There are the two clubs in Shanghai, Beijing too, I don't know if it will be in the short term, but we will win a title."

You're obviously enjoying China, but you contract ends in December, will you stay?

"I'm still happy here, we'll see what happens. This football has demanded work from me that makes me happy. I don't think too much about the future. Back to Europe? I've had offers from very important clubs to return, I still have that same motivation for it."

Would your team be able to compete in LaLiga?

"There isn't a single Chinese team that is equipped to compete in LaLiga; Chinese teams lack 20 or 30 years of development."

Would you give Ronaldo a contract renewal based on what Messi earns?

"I don't readily give opinions on such matters. What I know is that what Cristiano has done for Madrid is exceptional, as well as Messi for Barcelona, and both for the league itself. I don't know how Cristiano is at this moment, but he deserves a lot for everything he has given to the team."

The millions in football are crazy, right?

"I'm a bit scared by the inflationary spiral that we've seen. I don't know how far it will go. Behind it are very significant television contracts and behind those are the people who pay to watch football on TV. The subject can be studied, but football is a business and the importance of the media in a sport like football is increasingly intense. Therefore, China is strongly committed to this sport, all the businesses in the world are production and sales, football is no different."

At Manchester City, would you have ranked yourself higher than a six?

"Yes, for many reasons: we won three titles. It's true that we faced a Barcelona that was better than us twice in the Champions League, but in Europe you depend on luck a lot. We were the highest scoring team in the history of English football. With me, City made forward leaps and developed."

Is Pep benefitting from that now?

"No, I believe that City has a clear project and will continue to succeed in the future whichever coach is on the bench."

Can you compare your City that scored 156 goals with the current team?

"It's difficult. What he's doing now is brilliant and I like how the team plays. Things change and players do too. That first year of ours was brilliant and now this City is brilliant too."

Have you seen enough improvement in Unai Emery's PSG for them to win the Champions League?

"It's a great team that has grown a lot in recent years. That's why it was a big deal to eliminate them in the Champions League quarter-finals, whilst playing better than them; they will be a tough opponent for Real Madrid."

You've always said that coming to Malaga was the best decision of your career, are you sad to see their current plight?

"It's very sad; they are a team for which I only have good things to say. Seeing Malaga in this situation produces unease and anguish, it's also an area where many talented players emerge from."

Would you return and help?

"I don't like to be the absolute solution in such ideas, but it would be very difficult to return to a team where I worked previously. I always say that Madrid allowed me to come to Malaga, that why, when Mourinho criticised that, it was, for me, an honour. I'm looking to go to new leagues: Italy, France, the United States and maybe a return to the Premier League because of its importance."

Do you live more comfortably without Mourinho's presence?

"He's not my enemy; I lived without problems when he was close to me. We both won and lost matches. Just because I had deep problems with him, it doesn't mean he was my enemy."

In your profession are there more Simeones than Guardiolas?

"It's likely. It's easier to defend than to attack with freedom. Hopefully that reality is now merely in a phase and we'll see attractive football once again. With the millions that are spent, you must attract people and not waste it. Italy, and its league, are an example with its catenaccio."

In 2004 you said that Xavi was a player you needed to coach; do you think he will be a good coach?

"He had a great clarity of play and got his teammates out of trouble. Like Juan Roman Riquelme, he had the pitch in his mind. A good coach? I don't know: one thing is to see the spaces on the pitch, another is motivating a group, that's the most difficult task."