Very sad hours for two Spanish technicians of the highest category, since the defeats of Huesca against Betis and Alavés against Cádiz have caused the dismissals of Míchel and Pablo Machín at the head of the Alto Aragonese team and the Babazorro team, respectively. Pitu Abelardo is close to returning to Vitoria and Asier Garitano is about to attempt the feat of saving the people of Huesca.
If the goodbye of Míchel, on the wire for weeks, was made public after the game on Monday, the dismissal of Machín took everyone more by surprise and was known early this Tuesday. It occurs at a time when Alavés has two points of income with respect to the relegation places. The defeats against Huesca, Celta and Cádiz and the draw in Pamplona against ten players have precipitated their goodbye, taking advantage of the fact that the week ends in a Cup tie against Almería.
There was some discontent with the management of Machín but it did not seem enough for the divorce. His second, Javi Cabello, took over the team on an interim basis and led the morning training session on Tuesday. The Valencian coach already led Alavés in two games in the 2017-18 season, with defeats against Deportivo and Real Madrid.
With the Soriano on the bench, Alavés have won four games this season, lost eight and scored six draws, with a total of 16 goals for and 23 against. These numbers place him in sixteenth place in the standings, two points behind Elche, which marks the relegation zone, although the French-Green have two games less than the Albiazules.
Machín is the fourth coach relieved in First this season. In the few days of 2021 there have already been more layoffs than in the initial phase of the League, in which only Óscar García Junyent, at Celta, had to leave his position, replaced by the Argentine ‘Chacho’ Coudet. In just two weeks of January, Gaizka Garitano have already fallen to Athletic, Míchel and Machín.
Everything indicates that Abelardo will return to Alavés, which he successfully led from December 2017 until the 18-19 season. The Asturian signed a spectacular comeback but then left office. His next stage at the helm of Espanyol, however, did not go well and ended with his departure.
In the case of Míchel, who achieved promotion as champion with Huesca and chose that club when he was splashed by the ‘Oikos operation’, his commitment to touch and brave play has not been successful in the highest category, although his team deserved more points. Huesca was patient and after accumulating 12 games without victories, his victory against Alavés saved his head. But four consecutive defeats, three in the League and the elimination of the Cup, have meant the end of more than 18 months of work. Asier Garitano, former of Leganés, Real Sociedad and Alavés, is the best placed to replace him.
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