Grading Manuel Pellegrini on Manchester City’s 2015/16 Season

If there is one word that best describes Manchester City’s season, it’s “mixed.”

Manuel Pellegrini, who has now collected his belongings from the Etihad Stadium and will seek employment elsewhere, was heavily criticised for the Premier League campaign he oversaw. City possess great quality, imbued by a £150 million spending spree last summer, yet they limped to a fourth-place finish. If the season had gone on for another couple of weeks, it appeared certain they would drop out of the Champions League places.

The picture back in August was very different. Their first five games saw them collect maximum points without conceding a single goal. Chelsea, the defending champions, were swatted aside with ease, as were West Brom, Everton, Watford and Crystal Palace and. It looked nailed on they would win the league, with fans and journalists checking the record books fully expecting City to set some new milestones, such was their apparent dominance.

They were playing with unbelievable pace and creativity, and with Vincent Kompany back from injury and looking sharp after a summer of sacrifice, they had a new steeliness at the back. No other side looked anywhere near their level in those opening weeks.

But it proved a false dawn. City began to falter, and injuries struck. They were inconsistent for the rest of the campaign, unable to establish any rhythm or form. Their wins over Newcastle United and Bournemouth in October were the last back-to-back Premier League wins they managed until early April—a remarkable, damning statistic that underlined their problems.

Pellegrini will feel the announcement in early February that he would be replaced in the summer by Pep Guardiola destabilised his side. They were just three points off top spot at that stage, yet they finished 15 behind surprise winners Leicester City.

That would be an over-simplification, though. City’s demise stretched back to the start of 2015 when their title challenge the previous season collapsed in spectacular fashion. The six games they won at the end of that campaign to steer them comfortably into second, coupled with the five straight wins at the beginning of this one, papered over the cracks.

City’s final statistics are telling. They posted just 66 points and scored 71 goals, losing 10 league games in total. Placed in the context of Pellegrini’s three years in charge, it highlights City’s regression. In his first season, they scored 102 goals, finished with 86 …

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