London, April 18 (IANS) Manchester City's Chilean coach Manuel Pellegrini believes the appointment of Pep Guardiola to coach the English club from next season, has negatively affected the team and damaged its chances to fight for the Premier League title.
The decision to replace Pellegrini with Guardiola, announced on February 1, was followed by two defeats against Leicester City 1-3 and Tottenham Hotspur 1-2, derailing Man City's bid for top place in the Premier League, reports Efe.
"It's not easy for the players when you read in newspapers all the things that will happen next season, all the players who will go out, all the players that will come in," Pellegrini said on Monday in an interview with Sky Sports.
The Chilean coach believes that the two defeats against Leicester and Tottenham "don't allow us now to be involved in the title".
Pellegrini pointed out that the announcement of the appointment of Guardiola led to many things that "involve the minds of all the players."
"We had those defeats at home. Now I think we are stable again and I'm very happy to finish the way we are doing in these last games," he added.
Manchester City, which will face Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-finals on April 26, thrashed Chelsea 3-0 at Stamford Bridge on Saturday in the Premier League.
City is currently in third place with 60 points, 13 points behind Premier League leaders Leicester and five points after second-placed Tottenham.
