Sunday 18 January 2015 14:27, UK
It’s Manchester City versus Arsenal on Super Sunday and there’s a Chilean feel to the contest, with Manuel Pellegrini and Alexis Sanchez at the heart of things. Adam Bate caught up with football correspondent Claudio Herrera to get a Chilean perspective on the biggest game in England this weekend…
Everybody knows the Premier League is a global business these days but Chilean fans will have a particular interest in events at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday. Manuel Pellegrini is the man charged with finding the right blend as Manchester City look to retain their title, while Arsenal’s hopes surely rest on the extraordinary efforts of their star man Alexis Sanchez.
Pellegrini is among those marvelling at the impact of his compatriot. “I am very happy for him,” he told AS this week. “At the moment, he is the big star of English football.” But it’s not only in England that Sanchez has been warmly embraced while Pellegrini finds himself viewed with respect of a chillier variety. The feeling in Chile is very similar.
There can be no shock, of course, that it’s Sanchez who has the popular backing. The effervescent forward has been capturing the imagination from Seven Sisters to Santiago. But the ambivalence towards Pellegrini might be a surprise to those who imagine him as a hero in his homeland, having enjoyed success in Spain and conquered the Premier League at the first attempt.
Pellegrini himself tells a self-deprecating anecdote about the moment that prompted him to retire as a player. It’s one that also hints at the limitations still held against him. Outjumped by Ivan Zamorano, he felt his time was up. After the 17-year-old went on to stardom with Real Madrid, Pellegrini joked: “Had I known, I might not have quit so soon.” But the memory of a sluggish centre-back has stuck.
Claudio Herrera, football correspondent at El Mercurio, Chile’s paper of record, insists that despite 15 years as a player with Universidad de Chile, Pellegrini’s reputation in the country has taken some rehabilitating because of an unspectacular playing career and an unconvincing start to management. Even at the club where he forged his career, there is mixed feeling.
“As a player he was stigmatized as a slow lump, even though he did play a game for the Chile national team - a friendly against Brazil,” Herrera told Sky Sports. “His first coaching experience was traumatic too because he oversaw a period of unprecedented decline in the history of Universidad de Chile.
“Then as coach of Universidad Catolica, leading a team with many big signings, he failed to win the title, which generated ill-feeling among supporters and earned him many critics. He only started to demonstrate his ability when he went abroad. First in Ecuador, then in Argentina, Spain and now in England, he has come to be recognised in Chile.
“Despite his achievements that have cemented his position as one of the top three coaches in Chilean history, Pellegrini still has detractors in the country. Fans of Universidad de Chile do not forgive the decline he was involved in, nor can he count on the support of Colo Colo followers, the most popular team in the country, because he played his entire career for their traditional rival.”
Sanchez’s life began 35 years after Pellegrini's, 1000 miles up the coast - and is now a world away in terms of the affections of the Chilean public. “Alexis Sanchez has always been the darling of Chilean football since his days with Cobreloa and Colo Colo,” said Herrera. “His performances with the Chile national team have always been high since his participation in the Under-20 World Cup in 2007, when Chile came third, until the World Cup qualifiers and in the World Cups in 2010 and 2014.
“Sanchez is a national figure considered a hero to all rather than tied to a particular club. Many people have welcomed Sanchez’s move to Arsenal because the public perception was that he was misused at Barcelona and not given the prominence to show his abilities. In London, he has been given the freedom to show what he can do.”
Whether he gets that freedom against City will largely depend on the plans Pellegrini puts in place to stop him and opinion in Chile is curiously divided. “The Premier League is the most watched league in Chile,” added Herrera. “Sanchez will have the support of the public, but at the same time, others will see the merit in Manchester City winning to prolong their title race with Chelsea.”
Those contrasting opinions on the game – one passionate, one analytical – would seem to sum up the two protagonists. Sanchez, nicknamed Ardilla, Squirrel, is a force of nature. Pellegrini, nicknamed El Ingeniero, the Engineer, is a more methodical character. On Sunday, there can only be one winner. And Chile will be watching.
Watch Man City v Arsenal live on Sky Sports 1 HD this Sunday from 3.30pm
