Strengths:
The Egos are leaving – For as brilliant as they were, there’s no doubting that Carlos Tevez and Mario Balotelli caused the club all sorts of unwanted attention for their antics both on and off the pitch. City, last season anyway, didn’t have the management in place to deal with the outbursts and indiscretions either and things would eventually end with a war of words, and sometimes handbags, instead of the matter being dealt with quickly and efficiently. Of course, Mancini’s ego didn’t help matters either, as the manager it should have been his way or the highway, instead he flip-flopped so many times that he could have turned himself inside out. Not all of the egotists are out, of course, but the key three disruptors have been displaced and now Pellegrini must ensure that it stays that way and make sure the boat isn’t rocked at such crucial times.
Strength in depth – In the midfield the options available to the new manager are almost scary. City have ten players that can quite easily slip into the open slots in midfield and the only question is how on earth will they all be kept happy? Ranging from the dynamism of Yaya Toure, to the steadiness of Gareth Barry, the trickery of David Silva and the pace of Jesus Navas, there are at least two players for every position, and the defence isn’t badly covered either. The latest additions of Navas and Fernandinho are most likely set to go straight into the side considering the amount of money that has been spent to bring them in, and there should be some room out wide soon with Scott Sinclair’s mooted departure likely to happen before September 1st.
Tactical Intelligence – This is not to say that Roberto Mancini is a bad manager, on the contrary, his record speaks for itself, but he never gave off the feeling that he knew exactly what he was doing with his squad. Pellegrini, though, and under somewhat similar circumstances managed to guide Malaga to the latter stages of the Champions League, and though older, can count some greater clubs on his resume than Mancini can.