Last term's Premier League runners-up conceded three
times against Arsenal in Finland on Saturday, and the club's Chilean manager is
eager to shore up a leaky backline
Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini revealed he
could still be in the market for a new defender after the club slumped to
defeat against Arsenal in their final pre-season match before the new campaign.
City were beaten 3-1 by the Gunners in Helsinki on
Saturday, with Theo Walcott, Aaron Ramsey and Olivier Giroud all netting
against the defeated FA Cup finalists before Alvaro Negredo pulled a goal back
late on.
Despite last week saying he had "the best squad in
England", Pellegrini is concerned about shoring up the central defensive
post with Matija Nastasic still struggling with an ankle injury and unlikely to
be fit for another six weeks.
"We'll see next week if I can bring in the player we
need," Pellegrini said.
"If not, we have in our squad the way to resolve
that problem. We had some problems defensively and we will work on that.
"It wasn't the best way to finish pre-season. I'm
always concerned when we're losing 3-0 but we just lost a game in pre-season,
we didn't lose three points and that's important for me."
Pellegrini insisted the lopsided scoreline was not
indicative of his side's efforts during the match and, despite losing four
matches during pre-season, the Chilean feels he is beginning to leave his mark
on the side.
"The score didn't reflect what happened during the
match. We had chances but didn't score. Arsenal had three or four chances in
the whole match and scored three," the former Malaga head coach said.
"It was the pre-season I thought we would have. We
are changing a lot of things, we're starting a new cycle with a different style
of players. It's normal that the team will make mistakes.
"Of course the expectation is too much and that's a
good thing. We all have expectations and are hopeful for the new season.
"When you make a lot of changes you need time but
I'm sure we will improve the little things we have to in the next 10
days."
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