Joseph Sexton
WHEN struggling teams change managers, the clear hope is for the fabled ‘bounce’. They even have a nice rhyming phrase for this upturn in form in Spain. The sad thing is that so far this season, it simply hasn't been true. We've had short-lived bounces followed by a nosedive. We've had those that skipped initial improvement and headed straight for tailspin. Only two cases fit the supposed narrative this season, and that which we've seen so far from Miguel Ángel Lotina (pictured, right) at Villarreal so far has taken many by surprise.
It's not just Lotina's presided over the relegation of Galicia's big two - Celta Vigo, and a year ago Deportivo La Coruña - in recent times. It's the curious case of this club, and how they've gone from being perennial top four contenders to knocking around the lower reaches of the table in the last 12 months.
This is a club of contradictions, for sure. A club from a town of barely 50,000 souls that reached a Champions League semi-final. A club that has been graced by the likes of Juan Roman Riquelme, Juan Pablo Sorín and Diego Forlán at the peak of their powers. A club bankrolled during its rise by the Roig family, who have fallen on hard times with Spain's current economic woes. But it's also a club that has been bestowed with a lasting legacy in terms of infrastructure to lend it self-sufficiency. Their training facilities and youth set-up are excellent; their B team, along with Barcelona's, is the only competing in Spain's second tier. Yet, somehow, they've found themselves in an almighty mess this year.
With hindsight, the reasons are clear. Faced with the need to cut costs last summer, the club would have to sell one of its star names. That, effectively meant Giuseppe Rossi or Santiago Cazorla. And few would argue they made the right call.
It could not have been foreseen that Rossi would spend most of this season sidelined of course, but they are going to have to sell him for a lot less than the figure they held out for last summer as a consequence. Instead, they practically forced Cazorla out against his will to Málaga. Given his performances there, it impossible to deny that were he still in this side alongside Borja Valero, things might never have got to this stage.
When Lotina took charge last Monday, he said he wouldn’t be looking to alter the club’s trademark style. But clearly he’s added an element of steel. If Juan Garrido should never have been sacked in the first place, given the catastrophic injury list which had befallen the club was finally beginning to ease, then hiring B team manager José Molina was clearly an even bigger cock up. But maybe, just maybe, they’ve now found their man. A point against Real Madrid in the midweek round of matches was followed up on Sunday by an impressive 2-0 win at Rayo Vallecano, and suddenly this club for whom relegation might well have been the end, that fear is receding.
Six points clear of the drop zone, occupied by three frankly awful sides. The Madrigal faithful can finally breathe a sigh of relief.
It’s no mean feat to win in Vallecas, but that's exactly what they did. More than that, they played well, carving out plenty of chances and on the few occasions where the hosts threatened, goalkeeper Diego López was equal to the task. Marco Ruben even missed a penalty at 1-0 for the visitors, but made amends in setting up Ángel (his first goal in nearly two years) to secure the points. After the game, Rayo's coach José Ramón Sandoval claimed he felt the result to be harsh, but Lotina was probably closer to the truth when he opined that his team that been the better on the night, and that “every game is now like a cup final”. A few more cup finals like these, and Villarreal will have that luxury of kicking up their feat early for the summer that those successful in real cup finals have.
At the other club to experience the bounce this season, the Simeone effect has begun to wear off in recent times as Atlético's form begins to stabilise. It's still been a vast improvement of the dark days of Gregorio Manzano's reign, and the team has, on the whole, displayed an admirable degree of purpose and clarity. But some old problems remain. Radamel Falcão has scored 19 of their 39 league goals, but tends to score in bursts. When he doesn't, few of his team-mates look capable of stepping up to the mark, but there can be few excuses for a 1-0 defeat at basement club Zaragoza.
Elsewhere, Bilbao failed to get back to winning ways at home to Sporting, but at least both sides arrested a three game losing streak. Fernando Llorente returned for the Basques and looked lively before hobbling off in the second period. Bilbao, for whom Iker Muniain missed a first half penalty kick ought to have been of sight, but an injury time strike from Lora meant they paid the price for their profligacy. Having lost against nine men in midweek, Valencia went down 3-1 at Getafe, which had their notoriously intolerant supporters shouting 'Emery! Go NOW!' to their coach, and 'players! MERCENARIES!' at the team. With supporters like these...
At the top of the table, they won. And the others did too. Real in emphatic fashion against Sociedad, and Barcelona coming through impressively in what looked like a tricky trip to Mallorca despite Thiago Alcántara's sending-off. The gap remains six points, with next month's clásico looming large.
Results: Getafe 3 Valencia 1; Mallorca 0 Barcelona 2; Real Madrid 5 Real Sociedad 1; Athletic Bilbao 1 Sporting 1; Espanyol 2 Málaga 2; Levante 0 Osasuna 2; Rayo Vallecano 0 Villarreal 2; Real Betis 1 Racing 1; Zaragoza 1 Atlético Madrid 0
Tonight: Granada v Sevilla (20:00)
*Follow Joseph Sexton on Twitter @josephsbcn
Source: http://feeds.examiner.ie/~r/iesportsblog/~3/a1DaGf62Gko/post.aspx
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