Sacked Coach Manuel Pellegrini Laments Restricted Real Madrid RoleChilean proud of his efforts but wanted a greater say...Former Real Madrid coach Manuel Pellegrini has revealed that he never had a say in how los Merengues played during his season-long reign at the Bernabeu and stated that he did not speak to club president Florentino Perez once since last August.
While he had little say in their style of play, Pellegrini was adamant that it was he who picked the team.
"The coach never had a voice to say how we needed to play but I played who I felt had to play and wasn't under pressure to pick who they [the board] wanted," he said as quoted by AS, before noting that he never knew the club president but will shake his hand if he does meet him again.
"It was he [Perez] who brought me to Madrid. I could not do what he wanted, but it was very difficult to maintain a relationship. It was a difficult season.
"I have not talked to him since August. I would have liked to have known him better as president and him known me as a coach, I don't know him either as an individual or as president. I leave an important job done but the president has every right in the world to change the coaching direction of the club.""I do not know him either as individual or as president. I don't have anything good or bad to say about him. When I see the president I will take his hand and say that for me I am proud to have been coach of Real Madrid and I think now I leave having done an important job."
The sacked Chilean also declared that he was never consulted about the sale of Wesley Sneijder and Arjen Robben, departures he lamented as mistakes on the part of the club.
"I wanted Sneijder and Robben to stay but I never had a conversation at Real Madrid about who I preferred, if it was Cristiano or Kaka and Sneijder and Robben," he added.
"He decided to sell [Robben and Sneijder], and I think that was wrong. I never had a confrontation with the president. The coach should have had a more important voice in what the team needs. At that point I felt small."The Chilean fired a sarcastic parting shot at his former employers stating that had the club played in his way perhaps they would have won all their home games and scored more goals.
"Who knows, if the team played with wingers maybe we would have won 19 games in the Bernabeu and scored 120 goals," he noted.
http://www.goal.com/en/news/12/spain/2010/05/27/1944677/sacked-coach-manuel-pellegrini-laments-restricted-real
