Gritted teeth at Espanyol
‘It’s the press conference that nobody wants to give’, said Diego Martínez as he faced the media for a final time as Espanyol manager on Monday. Los Pericos decided after their 2-1 defeat to Girona that their fear of relegation outweighed their trust in Martínez, sitting just a point above relegation ahead of Valencia-Rayo Vallecano on Monday night. Martínez kept his composure, but the thorn was clearly still embedded - “we had to start the project from zero,” he said through gritted teeth, “we still felt we could turn things round.”
Perhaps the defeat against Girona was a fitting result to go on. Espanyol found themselves struggling and a goal down to Arnau Martínez’s thunderblaster. As they have done so often, they rallied and began applying pressure. Rewarded by expert poaching from Martin Braithwaite with 17 minutes to go, he nipped in ahead of David López.
What Espanyol did after that has happened ad nauseum though, and for Pericos, it really is enough to make you nauseous. The referee slightly impeded an Espanyol forward from reaching the ball as it broke, but Sergi Gómez would then clear out Taty Castellanos from behind, using studs for good measure. A red card on VAR review, Espanyol could not get over their sense of injustice, and if the result was decided by a soft Cristhian Stuani penalty, mentally Girona were rampant.
If there are seven basic stories in the world, Espanyol fans have seen the form and shape vary, but the same game repeated again and again. Often battling from behind, often reacting, showing fight and quality. Joselu Mató has 12 goals, Braithwaite has 9. They can score, Sergi Darder can provide, and now they have Denis Suárez to aid that too. Martínez’s project, and Espanyol’s season, have been dismantled by a series of loose, mystifying and obtuse decisions without the ball. A pattern Martínez could not address.
Espanyol fans have gritted teeth too though. Martínez felt like the one. A manager who could perhaps have found a job already in the European places seemed as if long-term he would be taking Espanyol there too. His work at Granada was stellar, he still appeared to have the support of the Espanyol squad, and it feels as if it might be a while before they get another manager of his quality again.
Luis García Fernández, former striker between 2005 and 2011, has returned from RSC International (shortly to become Real Madrid C). He had them second in their Tercera group, but along with his youth experience at Damm, has little to call on in his fledgling managerial career. He was announced during Valencia’s 1-1 with Rayo, which saw Espanyol slip into the drop zone. It feels like an appointment pursuing what Pipo Baraja has - a popular club figure, brought in to unite team and fans, inspire some fire and, well, grit his teeth for the dogfight.
Baraja does have experience in Segunda though, and it is tricky to say how this will go. There is enough quality at Espanyol for García to look around and feel that if he can just return them to their average performance, then they will be better than most of the sides in the bottom half. There is no escaping the fact Martínez was underperforming, and if García can solidify the Espanyol defence, results should improve.
Save for a twist of fate that sees García become their Guardiola though, Espanyol will be left more or less where they were last season. It’s been a constant issue at the RCDE Stadium. Save for Mauricio Pochettino and a solitary season under Rubi, that has been the feeling more or less every August since the Argentine left. They will be starting their project from zero again, only without a manager as esteeemed as Martínez this time.