Valverde is going to face his seventh season at the helm of the Athletic first team with a significant difference compared to the previous six: the goal. The lions, according to this last campaign under the orders of Marcelino, see the goal much less frequently from time to time, but, on the other hand, they receive fewer goals against, for another. The rojiblanco team, in other words, has gone from being distinguished by its effectiveness in shooting to doing so by its defensive solidity.
The data speaks for itself. Iñaki Williams, top scorer for Athletic in the last league with 8 goals, would not have won this distinction in any of Valverde’s seven years as coach. The striker from Bilbao would have finished second as the top scorer on four occasions (in 2014-15 alone and in 2003-04, 2013-14 and 2015-16 tied with Urzaiz, Ibai and Williams himself, respectively), and third on two occasions (2004-05 and 2016-17).
Another fact to take into account, at a collective level in this case, is that Athletic surpassed the barrier of 43 goals in favor established in this last year with Marcelino in six of Txingurri’s seven campaigns as coach of the Bilbao first team. The only League in which the lions fell below this record with their new coach on the bench was 2014-15. The rojiblancos, who finished seventh, had 43 goals, 18 of them from Aduriz. San José, with 5, was the second scorer.
That season, in any case, was the exception, since in the other six Athletic de Valverde exceeded the 50-goal barrier and even exceeded 60 in one. therefore, it stands at 66 goals in the 2013-14 League, when the team finished fourth and qualified for the Champions League.
Athletic, goals and scorers with Valverde
In 2004-2005, second to the current coach in his first stage; the lions finished with 59 goals, one more than in 2015-16, while in 2003-2004 (their debut in the First Division) and in 2016-17 (the last with Athletic) they stayed at 53, ten more than this year with Marcelino.
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The Bilbao team, as reflected in the data reflected so far, has suffered a production decline since the times of Valverde, especially in the second stage, to this part. What the lions have lost up front, however, they have gained defensively. This last League with Marcelino on the bench from start to finish, for example, the Bilbao team has conceded fewer goals than in each of the seven seasons with Txingurri on the bench.
The lions, to be specific, closed the last edition of the regular tournament with a record of 36 goals against. Valverde only managed to drop below the 40 barrier on one occasion. That time, in the 2013-2014 season, Athletic managed to enter the Champions League as fourth-placed having conceded 39 goals.
From there, the ceiling of goals against in the same season, with the coach from Gasteiz as coach, coincides with the second year of his first stage. That Athletic of the 2004-2005 campaign closed the league tournament with 54 goals conceded. That was the only occasion, in any case, in which Valverde’s lions exceeded the 50-against border.
In 2003-2004, Valverde’s debut in the First Division, the rojiblanco team conceded 49 goals, in 2015-16 they conceded 45, in 2016-17 they reached 43 and in 2014-15 they finished with 41 against. It remains to be seen if from now on Athletic will have more of an impact on scoring than on not receiving or quite the opposite.
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