Marcelino
Garcia
Toral has called its players on July 7 to start the preseason after passing the relevant medical examinations the previous two days prior to any preparation phase. The Asturian coach will take the team from the beginning, unlike the campaign that ended on May 22 with the defeat in Elche, when he took charge of the rojiblancos with the entry of 2021 after the dismissal of Gaizka
Garitano then to beat the people of Elche in San Mamés (1-0).
The coach of Villaviciosa will be able to work for a little over five weeks in the face of the regularity tournament that will begin on the weekend of August 14 and 15, according to the dates that are handled informally and that have yet to be confirmed. official.
“Almost all of our experiences indicate that the second season is better than the first. I think that in all of them, because only in some there were certain conditions that did not work under the same conditions. The facts are what will be able to show us if we are going to be a better team. If I wasn't absolutely sure that we have to improve this season's numbers in my head, I think it would be best not to start. If we start it is because we have within us that conviction that the team is going to compete at a very good level and we hope that we are all satisfied with their behavior ”, he said before facing the last league event.
Virtually all of our experiences indicate that the second season is better than the first
The Asturian improved considerably the results in his second year in his last two experiences on a bench before taking charge of Athletic. With Valencia, he finished the 2017-18 season in fourth position and fell in the Cup semifinals against Barça. The next, the team that finished in the same place in the Champions League, but the improvement came mainly in the KO and Europe tournament. In the first, he won the Barça team in the final against all odds (1-2) and reached the semifinals of the Europa League (he was eliminated by Arsenal) after falling in the group stage of the maximum continental competition. A whole season. Differences with the owner of the club led to his dismissal the following season with only three league games played.
Four years at Villarreal
At Villarreal he completed a cycle of almost four years, his longest period at the helm of a team apart from his time at Sporting, in which he trained as a coach after his time at Loyalty in Third. He was promoted to the yellow team to First in the 2012-13 campaign and in the 13-14 season he achieved a more than meritorious sixth place and fell in the eighth of the Cup. A good balance for the Castellón team after having made a pilgrimage for a year in the division of silver from state football. Marcelino he improved the numbers in his third season in the Yellow Submarine, his second in the top flight. They were also sixth in 2014-15, they stayed on the verge of playing the KO final (Barça also eliminated them) and reached the eighth of the Europa League.
He was only at Sevilla for one season (2011-12). He was sacked after playing 21 league games, falling in the round of 16 and in the Europa League qualifying phase against Hannover. Monchi, the sports director who has marked an era in the Seville club due to his ability to sign cheap and good quality footballers, later affirmed that he felt responsible for their dismissal. “I was not able to make a template according to the profiles that Marcelino needed. I did not do something key in the task of a sports director, that of not interpreting what a coach wants. Marcelino is a top coach, one of the best in Spain. Here he had to be dismissed after six months, “said the former goalkeeper.
The current Athletic coach led Racing during two separate seasons, 2007-08 and 2010-11, both in the top flight. In the first one, he qualified the Cantabrian team for UEFA for the first time in its history and reached the Cup semi-finals for the first time as well. In the second he took the team after the dismissal of Michael
Angel
Portugal, saved him from relegation to Second but left office at the end of the season due to discrepancies with the owner of the club, the businessman Ahsan
Ali
Syed.
Zaragoza was promoted to First in the 2008-09 academic year and the following year he was dismissed precisely after losing to Athletic on December 12, 2009. With Recreativo he also achieved a place in First in the 2005-06 campaign and the following year he achieved a good eighth place.
The Villaviciosa coach will have the opportunity to make good the prognosis for his second seasons next year at Athletic. In the previous one he has had everything. He made the Bilbao team champion of the Super Cup as soon as he arrived, he qualified for the Cup final, but had a very irregular trajectory in the League and suffered two important disappointments in the KO finals.