Interviewed by the microphones of BBC Sports during the pre-season tour of Betis Sevilla, the Chilean coach Manuel Pellegrini he recounted some of the steps of his long career so far. Between Manchester City and obviously West Ham in the Premier League, focusing on his adventure as coach of the Hammers.
Harsh admission. “Returning to England with West Ham was perhaps not my best decision, but I did it because I wanted to return to the Premier League,” began the 70-year-old former Malaga and Real Madrid player among many others. “The first season was not bad. But the club was the exact opposite of Manchester City. They had two or three bad moments and wanted to change the coach. They knew I had left a lot of things to go to West Ham. I had a contract in China. I changed a lot of things.”
Continuing the story: “The aspiration to fight for the best started in the first year I was there. They invested more money. For different reasons you can have negative moments. But at that moment, as a manager, you have to be sure that the owners will continue. They did many things to get me to West Ham, but the first thing that went wrong they fired me. It’s not the style of club I like”, the broadside launched by Pellegrini. “I don’t complain about the fans because they have always been with me. Looking back, when I finished in China, if I had waited a little longer I could have had another club. But West Ham were enthusiastic and convinced me”.