The trend of Southampton hiring slightly off-the-radar managers from the continent has continued this season, with the Saints hiring Mauricio Pellegrino to take over from the recently departed Claude Puel.
Mauricio Pellegrino named new manager of Southampton
The Argentine comes over from Alavés after a successful season in La Liga.
Photo by Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images
Pellegrino, a 45-year-old from Argentina, does have some experience in the English game. He was an assistant at Liverpool for two seasons before taking his first job in management.
In his first two jobs, Pellegrino failed to find success, with Valencia and Estudiantes La Plata both firing him for poor results. He did well in his next job at Independiente, though, earning him another shot in Europe with newly promoted La Liga side Deportivo Alavés.
Pellegrino enjoyed a wildly successful season at Alavés, finishing ninth in La Liga despite having one of the division’s smallest squads and lowest budgets. He also made it all the way to the Copa del Rey final, where Alavés was defeated by Barcelona.
Southampton supporters will be happy to get a manager who prefers a fast, attacking style of play, but who is versatile. Pellegrino’s teams have looked proficient at defending deep and counter-attacking when the situation called for it and looked equally well-versed in 4-3-3 and 3-4-2-1 formations.
But before you get to thinking Pellegrino worked miracles without any talent, we have to spoil the fairy tale. Alavés had players on loan from some of the richest clubs in the world — Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atlético Madrid, AC Milan, Manchester City, and Shanghai Shenhua. Atléti loanee Theo Hernández and Real Madrid loanee Marcos Llorente were the best players on the team and will be big stars in La Liga shortly.
Still, Pellegrino has experience working on a small budget and with young players. He’s unlikely to complain about Southampton selling stars or about being asked to give as much game time as he reasonably can to young academy products. The last three Saints managers have gotten into disagreements with management over transfer policy, and chairman Ralph Krueger will be hoping that Pellegrino ends that trend.
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