Pellegrini: I have Malaga´s trust

Malaga coach Manuel Pellegrini believes he has the full support of the La Liga club’s hierarchy, despite his team’s poor run of form.

With the wallet of owner Sheikh Abdullah Al Thani allowing Malaga to strengthen considerably in the transfer market, the club got off to a good start to the 2011/12 campaign.

Three consecutive defeats, however, have left them 12 points off the top of the league table.

Malaga spent nearly 60 million euros in the off-season to bolster their squad, but still look some way off challenging La Liga heavyweights Barcelona and Real Madrid.

But Chilean coach Pellegrini has underlined Sheikh Al Thani’s trust in Malaga’s progress.

“I understand that when defeats happen you have to accept criticism,” Pellegrini said ahead of his side’s hosting of Espanyol in the league on Sunday.

“The doubts can be bigger or smaller, depending on the area of the team, but within the club there are no doubts about the project.”

“It is hard to find an explanation for these defeats. The difference between winning and losing is very small.”

“We are not comfortable playing with the ball and without it, we have to improve the distance between players, when defending and attacking.”