MANUEL PELLEGRINI

Manuel Pellegrini looks across the Staffordshire countryside and spies a hint of blue between the heavy clouds of late July. “An English summer,” says the smiling Real Betis manager, 67, who has brought his team to England for pre-season.

With Seville’s temperatures touching 40 degrees, St George’s Park and its plush facilities make for a welcome base as Betis prepare for their return to European competition. Last term was a roaring success under the manager who joined them a year ago, as Betis leapt from 15th to sixth under Pellegrini to nab automatic qualification for the Europa League group stage.

After a rough ride at West Ham – an uncharacteristic failure for the Chilean – it was a welcome return to normality for Pellegrini, who has made a career of taking unfancied sides into Europe ever since he guided Villarreal to the Champions League semi-finals back in 2005-06. That came after a decade spent managing in his native Chile, followed by stints in Ecuador and Argentina, and preceded high-profile spells with Real Madrid, Malaga and Manchester City, whom he steered to the 2013-14 Premier League title and a pair of League Cup triumphs.

Now, following a day’s graft with Los Verdiblancos, the jovial Santiago native perches on a patio with FourFourTwo to answer readers’ questions...

Were you close to going into civil engineering instead of football? Did your degree help you as a manager?

@spursdab, via Twitter

I worked a lot of years as an engineer. First, I was a professional footballer, but I’d been at university from 17 and by 24 my studies were complete. I was a player and also an engineer, but when I finished playing I decided to see if I liked being a manager. That was 1986 – until 1994, I was both an engineer and a professional football manager. I was working mainly on houses and small buildings, including those affected by the earthquake [of Algarrobo in 1985], which is a big part of our history. But I reached the point where I had to decide. For the last 33 years, I’ve worked only as a manager.

As a player, you were a one-club man with Universidad de Chile. Why didn’t you move on? You’ve said before that Ivan Zamorano basically retired you!

Tyler Spencer, Ashbourne

Universidad de Chile are one] So, maybe it was time to retire, but it wasn’t simply because of that. I was happy with my career. I played once for the national team, against Brazil in 1986 – it was only a friendly but it was a special, emotional moment.