It seems like yesterday but it’s been almost three months since Pablo Machin assumed the challenge – as he always called – to get the Spanish from the bottom of the ranking. He caught the penultimate team and three points from salvation. Now he is last and the limit of the descent, although it seems a miracle after all, is five. One win, two draws and seven losses in ten rounds of League as balance.
The Soria coach arrived in Barcelona with the approval of analysts and fans. It was a revolution and, furthermore, it had already sounded in summer when Ruby left the entity to sign for him Betis. David gallego, the coach chosen to lead the project of a European Espanyol, got five points out of twenty-four possible. Machín has not managed to improve those numbers. It has made them worse: five points out of thirty possible.
The second part against Osasuna and his subsequent statements set the situation on fire
Neither the numbers nor the sensations have saved Machín, who arrived at Espanyol that did not transmit anything on the pitch and leaves a team that continues to transmit nothing and, sometimes, even less than nothing. Although the results did not accompany, at least the sensations, at first, yes. Espanyol deserved more against him Villarreal (0-1), the Valencia (1-2) and even against Atlético de Madrid (3-1). But everything ended up falling apart in the second part of the match against Osasuna.
The Blue and Whites had returned from the league break with the opportunity to win two games at home. It was worth to start coming out of the hole and also to end the curse that this campaign haunts Espanyol in Weather in Cornellà, where he has not yet won. Against him Getafe, and after a campaign launched by the club to encourage the stands and the players, they achieved a draw at one. Against Osasuna, a defeat by two to four that embarrassed the entire parish parish for having missed an advantage and for the image of incapacity on the field of play.
In his presentation he already said that no trainer could “make a racehorse out of a donkey”
Machín’s press conference at the end of the match will go down in history. The trainer spent the last bullet in his magazine. He came out and lunged at his players. He said that he needed “real guys” and not “pipiolos” and, although he assumed “all responsibility”, he assured that he did not see “a team ‘Made in Machín’”. It was a strategy that served him both to wash his hands and to motivate the squad. A strategy that did not work neither to save the position nor to change the face of the team.
And what is a team ‘Made in Machín’? Many of those who trusted in a coach will wonder who, exultant on the day of his presentation, affirmed that the players would adapt to their particular system and style and that one of the objectives was to “recover the historical identity of Espanyol , as the “effort, work and sacrifice.” That day he also dropped that no coach “can make a racehorse out of a donkey.” His job had to go beyond going to play with three centrals and trying to give identity to an aimless team.
He has not recovered the level of key players such as Roca, Melendo, Vargas or Pedrosa
So it didn’t take long for him to demand reinforcements, given what he had. After his first and only victory, against the Levante at City of Valencia On October 27, he said he needed a forward. And Machín has not even reached the transfer market. This Sunday he had the opportunity to end the year with a victory, overtaking his closest rival (the Leganes) and everything went wrong after eleven minutes with the goal of Braithwaite. Espanyol ended up losing 2-0 and will finish last year in the standings. On January 4 the Barça will visit the RCDE Stadium in perhaps one of the most decisive derbies for the Blue and Whites in recent years.
It is possible that the replacement for Machín will reach the derby with the reinforcements that the Soriano demanded from the club’s sports management. If not, they will have to continue with a depleted workforce, especially psychologically, since they do not seem capable of taking flight. The new coach will have as challenges, in addition to saving Espanyol, recovering the best version of important players for the team who have not yet appeared either with Gallego, or with Machín, as Marc Roca, Óscar Melendo, Matías Vargas, David Lopez, Fernando Calero O Adrià Pedrosa.
Espanyol is still weak in defense and anosmic in attack
Injuries conditioned the team a lot during these months in which Machín led the team, but he was not able to squeeze the best out of healthy players either. The most positive thing about his passing was the debut and subsequent consecration of Victor Gomez, side formed by Gallego and called to have a great future. However, the defensive warmth did not heal her either with the three centrals, or with Bernardo Espinosa, one of his most personal bets. And the lack of goal was not covered or Facundo Ferreyra, ni Jonathan Calleri, ni Wu Lei, ni Victor Campuzano.
Whoever arrives must be precise, work well all the facets in which the team limps and thus be able to see if both Rubi first, when fleeing from a project that was not the one they promised, and Machín later, when not turning “a donkey” into “a racehorse” or to make his “pipiolos” turn into “real uncles”, they were right.
The changes in the bench cover the problems that go from the staff to the offices
The removal of Machín cannot be disputed. He is the coach with the worst numbers in the history of Espanyol. But if the team does not improve drastically, it can be said that the problem was perhaps not on the bench, but on the grass, the dressing room or in the offices, from where they have not known how to plan a competitive squad for one of the most exciting seasons to date. just as demanding in the recent history of the club. And if the team does not improve drastically, Espanyol will become a team of Second division. The only hope lies in the implausible, and that is that the Blue and Whites, without knowing exactly how, are still “only” five points from salvation.
