Asier Garitano is no longer coach of Deportivo Alavés. From this Sunday, around six in the afternoon, as EL CORREO announced in its digital edition. An hour later came the official confirmation from the club, which extended to dismissal the members of the coach of the Gipuzkoa coach. Among them is Javier Cabello, discarded as a substitute.
Because his replacement will be Juan Ramón López Muñiz, as it became official at night. The Asturian coach will seek the difficult challenge of promoting the blue and white squad in the four remaining games of the season. The Asturian, 51, signs until the end of the campaign. He had not been training since April 2019, when he was dismissed by Málaga, in the Second Division. Before, he had directed Levante -with whom he promoted to the League-, Alcorcón or Racing de Santander. He was also an assistant to Juande Ramos in the Ukrainian Dnipro. As a footballer he competed in Sporting, Rayo and Numancia.
The possible change of course had already been warned by Josean Querejeta. The top manager of the club had directly targeted the players, whom he accused of being unprofessional, but made it clear that, with an image as “depressing” as the one the team was transferring, “everyone can be in danger.” A clear allusion to the coach, the weakest link in football. The defeat in Valladolid was the straw that broke the glass of an unsustainable situation and the albiazul entity agreed to dismiss the coach, who had one more year of contract in case of permanence.
Garitano never finished fitting into Mendizorroza. Already on matchday 6 he came into question, after a hesitant start and a lousy image in the derbies of San Mamés and Anoeta. He saved his head in Mendizorroza against Mallorca (2-0), the same team that now threatens him from behind. But yours has been a continuous examination. With very tight notes. Approved scraped: within the goal all season – he has not once been in relegation positions – but with a feeling of scarcity. Of a tough and timid football that, clinging to the scoring streak of its two forwards, lived more dependent on the rival than his own virtues. In each game, the objective was to deactivate the opponent and, from there, wait for some spark of inspiration that could tip the balance in their favor. A grim bet, with more fears than ambitions.
Thus he stumbled forward on a trajectory marked by irregularity, fragility at home, the dark cup stain and the intermittency of a team that won in prominence after the winter market. That was when Garitano seemed more comfortable. Then the break came due to the pandemic. At the best moment of the season for the albiazul team, with the permanence on track and, for the first time, a feeling of a certain solvency in the tight tactical corset of the Gipuzkoan coach.
Then it all fell apart. Seven games, one victory and six defeats, the last five consecutive (12 goals against and only one in favor). The worst streak since September 2017, when Luis Zubeldía’s team, with two interim days of Javi Cabello, lost the first six matches of the championship. And, beyond the numbers, that perception of broken equipment. fragile. Without soul. In the middle, a tough salary cut negotiation that seems to have blown up the foundations of the team, which has wandered aimlessly around the field of play.
Forged over low heat in the lower categories of Spanish football –Alicante, Castellón, Orihuela and Alcoyano–, Garitano earned the right to train in First after promoting Leganés from the bronze to the gold category in three years and ended up in Mendizorroza after a frustrated jump in Real Sociedad, where he only lasted 17 games. In Vitoria it has not worked either. He leaves with 35 points in 34 days, with an average of 1.03 per game, notably worse than that of his predecessors on the Alaves bench – Abelardo (1.44) and Pellegrino (1.45) – and too fair to seal staying with ease. The one that no longer exists in the club. Not on the team. Nor in the hobby.
El Alavés, thanked Garitano and the rest of the members of his coaching staff, for the work and dedication given, and wishes them the best of luck in their professional future. In addition, it has confirmed that as soon as possible the members of the new technical team responsible for the team will be notified at the end of the season.
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