Marcelino goes through hell at Villarreal

Marcelino Garcia Toral’s Marseille adventure did not last very long… After only five days of the championship, the Spanish tactician decided to pack his bags, largely because of the events which took place between certain supporters and Pablo Longoria , its president and above all close friend. Subsequently, he found work at Villarreal, a club he had already coached in the past, and which was in bad shape at the time. The Yellow Submarine was actually fourteenth, far from its usual standards and from the top of the table…

Two months later, what is the situation? Well it’s not necessarily better, and the former Marseille coach has not managed to raise the bar. Villarreal is in fifteenth place in the La Liga standings, even if it is true that the Spanish team was able to finish in first position in its Europa League group, ahead of Stade Rennais. This weekend, Marcelino’s team was swept aside by promoted Villarreal with a score of 3-0, and is falling further and further away from European positions. A few days after being eliminated in the Copa del Rey by Unionistas de Salamanca, a third division team.

It’s difficult !

“Anyone who analyzes our statistics sees that we need to improve a lot of things”, confided Marcelino a few days ago. It must be said that his team has many problems… If the offensive aspect is rather satisfactory, with a team capable of scoring fairly regularly, there is a disaster behind it. Villarreal is the second worst defense in La Liga (41 goals conceded), tied with Granada, penultimate. Only Almeria, bottom red, is worse (43 goals conceded). Concerns which can be partly explained by major concentration problems, and a team which has too many weak moments in matches.

Suffice to say that this second adventure with Villarreal, after having brought the club up to La Liga and having led it to the Europa League semi-finals between 2013 and 2016, is much more complicated. It should still be noted that he was not very lucky with injuries, since several major players like Alex Baena or Yeremy Pino experienced recurring physical problems, even being unavailable until the end of the season for the second. But we will quickly have to redress the bar…