Traveling España: Previewing La Liga’s Basque Country, Andalucia, and Valencia

Traveling España: Previewing La Liga’s Basque Country, Andalucia, and Valencia

Traveling España: Previewing La Liga’s Basque Country, Andalucia, and Valencia

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By Kaushik Lakshman, our new La Liga expert. Give him a warm welcome!

The new season of La Liga is almost upon us and there has been a lot shake-ups in several squads. The big two have gotten stronger, but there have also been significant improvements in the next rung of teams. While these may not result in the big two being toppled, there is still lot to look forward to. This preview is split into two parts, and we will take a look at each team, region by region and how their season looks to be headed. In part one, we travel through the Basque country, Andalucia and Valencia; and in part two, the big cities of Madrid and Barcelona, as well as the rest of España.

Basque Country

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Athletic Bilbao - Athletic have a new presidential regime, where Jose Urrutia won the elections and promised to bring South American legend Marcelo Bielsa back to Spain to coach the team. Bielsa is not the traditional coach. His methods are radical, his formations are anything but usual, and most often they result in something credible. Athletic have a lot to look forward to under Bielsa, with what appears to be one of the brightest phases of their cantera. It is now a well known fact that Athletic only play with players who have Basque ancestry. Yes, the rules are a bit more relaxed these days, but it is exceptional that they are one of only three clubs to have never been relegated from La Liga, the other two being Madrid and Barcelona. With the likes of Spanish national team regulars Fernando Llorente and Javi Martinez; bright talents like Iker Munain and Aurtenetxe; solid team players like Iraola and key signings like Ander Herrera, Athletic is looking at a positive immediate future. Bielsa’s teams usually take time to evolve and adjust to radical methods, and perhaps, just perhaps, San Mames, also known as La Catedral gets to see Champions League football before it is vacated in 2013.

Real Sociedad - Gone are the days of Nihat Kahveci and Darko Kovacevic when Sociedad actually looked more than capable of beating any team in Europe. Now La Real are a bottom of the league club, who merely survived relegation last season. It is hard to say something positive about the club that has regressed by a huge margin from its most recent glory days of the early 2000s. Exciting prospects are few and far between in this team. Xabi Prieto and Antoine Greizman are the only names that ring a bell, and if rumour has its way, Greizman might be taking his talents to the captial city to the Vicente Calderon stadium. Coach Martin Lasarte has been sacked and replaced by Philippe Montanier, and there have been no additions to the squad except a couple of loan returns. To add to this, experienced candidates like Raul Tamudo and Diego Rivas have been let go after the expiry of their contracts. Real Sociedad look prime candidates for relegation this season, and if Gerizman does make his move, it will be very difficult for them to stay afloat.

Osasuna - Technically not Basque, Osasuna shares a rivalry with Athletic, its neighbours and thus has been included in this category. The Pamplona outfit finished an impressive 9th last season. Being a club that operates on a very low budget, much like many other Spanish clubs, they are often forced to sell their best prospects to wealthier teams in order to sustain themselves. Nacho Monreal left for the coastal team of Malaga and Camunas was picked up by Vilarreal. They are expected to welcome the return of their old canterano Raul Garcia who has had a terrible time at Atletico de Madrid and is on their transfer list. With Manager Mendilibar in charge for his second season Osasuna would do well to repeat last season’s performance, but things don’t look as bright as they would like it to.

Andalucia

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Real Betis - La Liga has long awaited the return of the Verdiblancos, one of the most loved and supported teams in all of Spain. A very exciting set of young players, under coach Pepe Mel, Betis play an up tempo fast paced game which has put a lot of teams including the great Barcelona under a bit of trouble. Betis’ promotion is not all rosy, as they have their own fair share of money problems largely thanks to the suicidal ownership of the club with Lopera in charge. Things are recovering, but technically, they are under administration. The positive thing though is that they have a rather solid squad, unlike their fellow promoted clubs and one that has enough quality to stay afloat in La Liga. They have made interesting signings in Villarreal’s Matilla, and Amaya from Wigan. The star player of their team is without doubt Achile Emana and with other key names to watch out will be Jorge Molina and Ruben Castro. Among the three promoted teams, Betis are most likely to stay up and perform well in La Liga.

Sevilla - Sevilla have been on a decline these last couple of years. Since their days of challenging for the title and being a regular feature in European competition they have come down a bit. Partially due to talents leaving the club like Alves, Keita, Adriano, Ramos all leaving for greener pastures, and partly also due to their team lacking something new, as the likes of Fabiano, Kanoute, Navas are seemingly saturated. None the less, changes can be expected with new coach Marcelino Toral. There are a few changes to the squad. Confirmation of Caceres, bringing in of Trachowski, and the departures of the likes of Zokora and Capel should inject a new spirit into the team, and should see them finish in Europa league positions comfortably, and if things go well, probably even a Champions League spot.

Malaga - One of the most exciting projects in all of European football, the makeover this club in Costa del Sol is getting is certainly a team to lookout for. With an excellent manager in Pellegrini, and some absolutely wonderful players, of youth and experienced, in Van Nistelrooy, Cazorla, Isco and several others, Malaga will look to put on a significantly better show than last season. It is perhaps a bit ambitious to wish for Malaga to challenge the top two but a Europa league spot is the very minimum, and if things go their way, a Champions League spot wouldn’t be too far away either. Not only have they brought in important players, but they have also made some shrewd hires like Fernando Hierro proving that they are in it for the long term. With such forethought, there is only one way this project can go.

Granada - One more of the newly promoted teams, Granada makes their way into La Liga after 35 something years. What makes this club fascinating is that, nearly half the players that played for them, are not really theirs. 2 years ago, they struck a deal with Italian club Udinese, for player sharing, where players contracted to Udinese be loaned out to Granada, that way the balance sheets look better and Udinese gets its players vital experience for virtually no cost. The downside to this of course, is that they will probably never be able to maintain a core of players, and settling in time each season could be too long and could cost them their Liga spot. They have signed a lot of players this season, majority of them on loan from several clubs, and are under administration as well, making things all the more difficult for them in what might be their only La Liga season in 35 years.

Valencia

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Valencia - The champions of the rest of the league, who are in dire straits financially, have done rather well in the context of their situation. After having sold Silva and Villa, easily their two biggest standouts, to finish with a points total higher than the previous season is no mean feat. What Unai Emery and the folks at Valencia have done, is to invest the money partly in clearing their debt and partly in reinforcing the squad in multiple areas. That has continued on to this season as well. With shrewd signings like Piatti, Parejo, Rami and most recently Canales, Valencia have the adequate depth needed to endure a long campaign. The possible sale of starlet Mata has been silenced and with him thriving as captain, Valencia look like a sure lock to the third place spot once again. They will look to progress further in the Champions League as well as Copa del Rey after perhaps getting knocked out one round too early in both, last time out. Valencia play a really exciting brand of football, the traditional Spanish possession style if you could call it, and given that they have added depth to an already talented team, things are looking up again for the Mestalla faithful.

Villarreal - The yellow submarine, darling team of many a fan, has done what all not-blessed-with-money clubs have to do regularly. Sell a star player regularly to keep up with the demands of squad depth, contract extensions and the likes. It was tipped to be Rossi, but eventually ended up being local hero Santi Cazorla. Santi is key to their style of play and it is possible Villarreal could find it hard to deal with the loss. Talent though, thankfully for them is not something they are short of. More vital roles for the likes of Cani and Borja could be the positive outcomes of this move. Good signings like Camunas and Zapata will certainly help their cause. They still have an excellent forward combination in Rossi and Nilmar and with consistent performances can be involved in a fight for third spot with Valencia. They will look to progress to, at the very minimum, the knockout rounds in the Champions League, beyond which anything will be a bonus.

Levante - Last season’s surprise team Levante, is a great story. Luis Garcia’s men hadn’t spent any money at all and were tipped to go down for the very same reason. But they hung around, hung around they did to such extent that at one point they went on a 12 match unbeaten run, picking up more points than they had ever imagined. Filipe Caceido who was banging in goals out of nothing, will no longer be part of the club as his departure to Lokomotiv Moscow brings in some much required inflow which the Levante squad could use to patch up the squad in time for the upcoming season. An unpredictable season lies ahead, and it will be an achievement for them if they can stay afloat.

Kaushik also writes for Real Madrid Football Blog, so be sure to check out his writing there.