A season at the stroke of match ball. Saving one ultimatum after another. Indicated. Making the rubber. Drawing balances on the wire. Quarantined credit. Questioned. Questions by land, sea and air about his future in each appearance before the media that he claims to answer with patience. It is the stage in which you are moving Gaizka Garitano. He could identify with the protagonist of one of those films in which it is not known how, but he ends up coming out of extreme situations alive. The last number of escapism was exhibited after the victory against Huesca. Part of the board wanted his head. Although it continues. The figure of the president, Aitor elizegi, is proving key to sustain you.
Athletic works jerkily. There is no continuity in performance. Sawtooth. The result of this is the anxiety that the tenant of the bench endures. In the first four games, the rojiblanco team conceded three defeats against Granada, Cádiz and Alavés. With a win in Eibar in his second performance. After chaining those two stumbles before the people of Cádiz in San Mamés and the Albiazules in Mendizorroza, with an image of great helplessness, the first red lights were turned on. Alarm. There was already noise against Garitano in the ‘noble zone’ of the club. The matches won against Levante and Sevilla alternated with those lost against Osasuna and Valladolid. This is how the appointment with Betis on November 23 was reached. With the ultimatum for Derio's, filtered, on the table.
And he dodged it with the widest victory in the League (4-0) since his arrival on the rojiblanco bench. The second time that theirs scored four goals in the league competition after 1-4 last season in Pucela. Surprised by lining up Victor and Vesga in the engine room and Villalibre up on the day he played it. He came out face with the goals of the verdiblanco Victor Ruiz own goal, Capa, Muniain and Berenguer, his transfer requested and granted. Did the match end with the feeling of having overcome a match ball? “I'll have another next week …” he replied wryly, gaining some leeway anyway. Risk practice.
In Getafe (1-1) they had a good first half, but took a step back in the second. Another yes but no. Again you doubt. To the limit. With an important hit (0-2) on the following day against Celta. Garitano, at the trigger once more. A result that hurt, with the addition of his subsequent words. “We are not having that regularity of being able to win often or we do not have that potential to achieve it,” he launched. He also said that “it is difficult for us, we are playing with young people and it is a toll that must be paid.” Tempers flared. There was an urgent meeting of the board of directors, with a sector calling for his dismissal. In danger. Another dribbling. Saved. The hand of Elizegi.
With Valencia in Mestalla they played to win, but they ended up drawing (2-2) with errors that again took their toll. It was time to go to Valdebebas. The previous day Elizegi appeared before the press. He was asked in every possible way for the continuity of the coach. A wall. Defense at all costs. “The board supports a project that is clear with Gaizka, with him we travel to Madrid and we will face the game on Friday (with Huesca) ”, he stressed. He argued that the Derio team “is getting a strong, competitive team with attitude.” And he was “convinced” that it was going to be “a good week for Athletic, for us and for Gaizka”. That is, whatever happened against those of Zidane, he would keep the job.
That clash at the Alfredo Di Stéfano (3-1) was marked by the express expulsion of Raul Garcia, who committed a reckless act. Garitano He thought that with this scenario they had played a “very good game” and that anyone would have been “thrashed” in the same situation. And something very important. “I have the support of the players, we are very united,” he said. Message.
Suspense and paradox
With Huesca another victory has come, yes. But with the smell of firecracker. With pins. Achieved with suspense. And with paradox. Signed with the goals of Kodro, which until Friday only added 12 minutes, and for Nuñez, the central one that has on its scale behind Iñigo Martínez and Yeray, absent due to suspension in this last game. More seismic movement. Another board meeting with urgent stamp. Another escape.
On Tuesday, the lions play at Villarreal. 'The Groundhog Day'. Caught in time. Again, Garitano, already marked, will wake up early listening to 'I Got You Babe' by Sonny & cher on the radio. Ultimatum. And they go…