4 players who should've tested Pellegrini's patience at Manchester City

Manuel Pellegrini has often prided himself on his unswerving loyalty, his treasured value epitomised when the much-maligned Willy Caballero saved three spot kicks for Manchester City to overcome Liverpool in February's League Cup final.

"I'd rather lose the title than lose my word," Pellegrini said after the match.

The Chilean kept his trust in Caballero despite a succession of unconvincing performances when deputising for first-choice Joe Hart, including when he let in five goals against Chelsea in the FA Cup seven days earlier.

But should Caballero and others have been given all this trust? Probably not. Here are the four players who should've tested Pellegrini's patience in his final season at the Manchester City helm:

Willy Caballero

Caballero won plenty of fans with his penalty shootout exploits and emotional reaction when the League Cup was secured, but there has been little over his two year stay to suggest that he's much better than his predecessor warming the bench: Costel Pantilimon.

His shocker away at Tottenham Hotspur last September - when City was stuffed 4-1 with Caballero showing a reluctance to try and assume control of his own area - fired an early warning to Pellegrini, but his manager stood firm in his support for his former Malaga No. 1.

Should reports be believed, incoming gaffer Pep Guardiola has identified a considerable upgrade for Caballero this summer in the signing of Barcelona's Marc-Andre ter Stegen.

Martin Demichelis

Another old servant for Pellegrini, first with River Plate in Argentina, then 10 years later at Malaga. Desperate to bring the veteran defender's experience with him to England, Pellegrini encouraged City to part with a reported £4.2 million to secure his services despite Demichelis joining Atletico Madrid on a free transfer less than two months prior.

Pellegrini's biggest error and show of how he is perhaps too nice for a job in the upper echelons was when he handed a clapped-out Demichelis a one-year extension 13 months ago. He then preferred the elderly Argentine to the promising Jason Denayer, who was shipped out on loan to Galatasaray.

You can't blame Demichelis for wanting to prolong his top-level career, but his one-man demolition job in the 1-0 home loss to Manchester United in March was a damning indictment to how far behind the Premier League pace the 35-year-old is. Since then, he has only been entrusted with a substitute appearance when 3-0 up over Stoke City last Saturday.

Jesus Navas

Hug the touchline. Look inside. Drop a shoulder to get to the byline. Produce a cross which shaves a line of grass until it meets the grateful toes of the first defender. Repeat.

Jesus Navas has featured more than any other City player this term, and although that says a lot about the injury issues suffered at the Etihad Campus, it also displays how highly Pellegrini values what the diminutive Spaniard brings to the starting XI beyond his predictable forays down the right flank.

His wide play does provide space for the likes of Kevin De Bruyne and David Silva to curate their spells, but his four goals across all competitions in three years at City is unequivocally poor. His evident lack of confidence does not befit the considerable number of winners' medals Navas has from both his club and country adventures.

Wilfried Bony

Finally, Pellegrini handed Kelechi Iheanacho a rare start against Stoke on Saturday, and he justified his inclusion with a brace and overall busy performance. Wilfried Bony laid on the assist for the young Nigerian's second - his only contribution since he scored on Boxing Day.

Iheanacho has 11 goals in all competitions this season, while Bony has eight despite playing 672 more minutes. The lack of trust in the former is a cause for consternation among the Etihad Stadium faithful, who rightly rewarded the precocious teenager with man of the match for his contributions at the weekend.

Bony does offer more defensive help than Edin Dzeko, who departed for AS Roma last summer, due to his strength allowing him to hold up the ball more effectively, but elsewhere his game has been lacking. His constant fluffed attempts on net contrast somewhat with his Swansea City exploits before moving to northwest England in January 2015, a sign that Bony isn't cut out for life at the top.

His leaden-footed wanderings don't appear to fit the mould of a Guardiola striker, either.