Villarreal in for a tough challenge as Spanish top flight resumes – La Liga Special
Villarreal fans will have their fingers crossed as La Liga and European football gets into top gear. El Madrigal-based club was given a thorough discourse on the importance of tactics by a far superior Barcelona side in the season opener. Manager Juan Carlos
Garrido would be dreading the upcoming three weeks as he motivates his side to an amazing seven matches in twenty two days.
He will have to juggle his formations, squad personnel, travel schedules and take care of other administrative functions to ensure that the Yellow Submarines do not fall behind the leading pack.
However, as tough as the assignments might be, Garrido has enough in the tank to overcome them with ease. Starting in a managerial position as a 23-year-old, El Puig born has risen through the leagues to get to this position and is well versed in ways of
La Liga to get his way around. In the 2010/11 campaign, he led a small group of talented individuals to Champions League playing berth and will take the hurdles as a new challenge. Fine-tuning his skills during his progression in Villarreal setup over the
years, Garrido’s biggest trial awaits him.
Garrido has managed to keep hold of the majority of his star players with http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Jonathan-c18993 de Guzman, Javier Camunas and Christian Zapata will be complemented by a host of
players making the jump from Villarreal B. The Yellow Submarines will have a bigger squad from last year, though, they still have one of the smallest squads in La Liga.
Players’ strike delayed the start of the season. La Liga finally started on the second matchday. The lost round of matches was to be played during the Christmas break. However, LFP has scheduled the matches as La Liga resumes after the international break.
This has led to a packed match schedule and clubs competing in Europe ware left facing the music. Participation in the Champions League has added to the woes of the squad, which will drain the energy from the players as the Yellow Submarine are stacked in
the group of death – the group of Bayern Munich, Manchester City, SSC Napoli and Villarreal.
Villarreal are not in the best of shapes as a defensively weak Barcelona side ripped apart the Yellow Submarine at Camp Nou. Last season’s standout performer http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Giuseppe-Rossi-c15027 was below par and the midfield was hapless in getting the ball forward, or retaining
possession for a prolonged time. In Garrido’s defence, he was without a replacement for Cazorla, the creative force in the squad for over three years.
Towards the end of the 22-days period, players will be exhausted and this is going to be a big problem at the start of the season. Players need to be brought in line with the pace of the league over time but Garrido does not have the luxury of a bigger squad;
his troops will be the ones to suffer.
The test will start against Sevilla at home as the first battle with a competitor for European qualification starts early in the season. A usually tough opponent, Sevilla have bounced from Europa League knockout with a win over mega spenders Malaga and will
provide a stiff challenge.
Champions League journey starts from then onwards. Matches against Granada, Mallorca and Athletic Bilbao are sandwiched between fixtures against Bayern Munich and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Napoli-c40003. The match against Zaragoza at El Madrigal would surely be welcomed with a sigh of relief
by the players and coaching staff. However, this will not be the end but a start to a hectic campaign that lies ahead of them.
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