Former Valencia player Mauricio Pellegrino will be the club’s new manager. Valencia have been in search of a new man to lead the club ever since Unai Emery announced he would be leaving the club at the end of the season and they have decided on Pellegrino despite the fact that he has never managed before.
Valencia Hires Mauricio Pellegrino As New Manager
Valencia have found their replacement for Unai Emery in former player Mauricio Pellegrino.
Pellegrino spent six years at the Mestalla after leaving Barcelona where he helped Los Che to two La Liga titles and a UEFA Cup title. The Argentine might be most famous for missing a penalty in the 2001 Champions League final, but he was still a key member of some of Valencia's best teams ever.
Two years after retiring in 2006, Pellegrino got a spot on the coaching staff at Liverpool, where his former Valencia manager Rafael Benitez was in charge. He then followed Benitez to Internazionale, but those two and a half years are all of the coaching experience he has, making this a very risky hire for Valencia.
Emery led Valencia to a second consecutive third place finish this season, but he was under some pressure after the club lost to Atletico Madrid in the Europa Cup semifinal. He announced not long after that he would leave the club after the season, with some Spanish media reporting that he had taken the manager’s post at Spartak Moscow.
Pellegrino will certainly have some big shoes to fill because Emery is considered one of the best young managers in the world and expectations are high with the Champions League on tap next season. But with Roberto Soldado, Jordi Alba, Ever Banega, Jérémy Mathieu and even the aging David Albelda in the team, Pellegrino has more than enough talent to work with.
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