Friday, May 18th, 2012
The new season is just around the corner, so it’s only right we make a summer signing of our own. With his first appearance for us since joining on a free transfer, Luke Colbourne looks past the money that is flowing on the south coast of Spain, to try to make sense of just how Málaga will operate in 2011/2012.
It’s that time again. It’s summer. And in football, summer means transfers, and endless transfer rumours. Usually around this time the people of Spain, and indeed the rest of the world, would be sat wondering just who the likes of Real Madrid and Barcelona are going to sign. Well, this time it’s a little different. There’s another team everyone has their eye on – Málaga.
As you may or may not be aware by now, the south coast club was sold to Qatari royal Sheikh Abdullah Al-Thani in June last year for €36m. The Sheikh’s first move upon arrival was to appoint ex-Porto boss Jesualdo Ferreira as the new manager, but that didn’t go too well – he was sacked after just nine league games in charge. With stability promised, the Ferreira sacking came as a surprise to many, but the Sheikh was on hand to redeem himself. Former Real Madrid coach Manuel Pellegrini was brought in shortly after, a move which created a real sense of excitement among the supporters.
Pellegrini got off to a good start, winning his first game at home to Levante. However, it didn’t last long. What did last, though, was a terrible run of form spanning almost two months. Pellegrini’s record was just as bad as his predecessors’, and some of the performances almost embarrassing, especially defensively. Come January, Málaga were struggling badly, languishing in the relegation zone. Something had to be done. Luckily for Pellegrini it was transfer window time, and he was given the funds to sort things out.
Ferreira had already splashed €17m on players, now it was Pellegrini’s turn. Thankfully, he did a much better job, bringing in the likes of Sergio Asenjo, Martin Demichelis, Enzo Maresca and Julio Baptista. Málaga’s fortunes started to turn around, and they were winning games again. An incredible end of season run saw them climb out of the relegation zone, eventually finishing in 11th. Incidentally, it was Salomón Rondón (a Ferreira signing) and Baptista (a Pellegrini signing) who were most influential in the end. Rondón, signed from Segunda side Las Palmas, racked up 14 goals for the season, while Baptista’s record read 9 in 11 – most of which came in consecutive games during the run-in, after his injury.
A few months on and the owners have entrusted Pellegrini with their riches once again. Eight players have already signed up to play in blue and white next season, with an estimated €35m spent on fees. The list in full includes Ruud van Nistelrooy, Joaquín Sánchez, Jeremy Toulalan, Nacho Monreal, Joris Mathijsen, Diego Buonanotte, Sergio Sánchez, and Isco. As you can see there are a number of experienced and established ‘stars’ in there, mixed with a few potential talents, representing a sensible summer spend so far.
The question is who does Pellegrini play, and where? Well here I am, doing my best to unravel the mystery no one else dares to/is stupid enough to attempt.
Our starting point is going to be the formation. If we look at last season, the preferred formation was a 4-2-3-1. Occasionally, Pellegrini also opted to play a 4-3-1-2 system. Therefore, evidence suggests we’ll see something similar this season, so we’ll focus on those for now.
The acquisition of Joaquín, an out-and-out winger, means the 4-2-3-1 could be the best option for him. It would be well-balanced, with natural left-footers Eliseu and Duda able to play on the opposite side. It would also mean that there would be an opening for an attacking midfielder to play off, presumably, Van Nistelrooy. Options there include Julio Baptista, arguably their best player last season, and the extremely talented teenager signed from Valencia, Isco. The problem this system throws up comes upfront. After the season Salomón Rondón had last time out, it would be difficult to leave him out. A solution could be to accommodate him either out wide, or in the attacking midfield role mentioned above.
Playing the 4-3-1-2 (essentially a diamond), would solve the striker issue, but would then affect someone like Joaquín. Perhaps he could play a more narrow position on the right than he’s used to – a similar role was occasionally undertaken last season by Uruguayan forward Sebastián Fernández, and often by the more natural midfielder, Recio. In both systems, Jeremy Toulalan is expected to be the key man sat in front of the defence, only in this one he’d be doing the task alone (which I believe he is capable of).
Either way, the coach has some thinking to do. As ever, the formations have their pros and cons, but most importantly, a balance must be found and the players must be comfortable. Not to mention the fact that the influx of so many new faces means the team has to focus on gelling again. Will Málaga sign someone else to complicate things again? Probably. It’s still early though, and only time will tell how the team will look come week one of the new season.
You can expect more from Luke throughout the season, so keep an eye out for that. Luke also contributes regularly to Just Footballwith a regular weekly round-up, and you can also follow him via Twitter here if you’re that way inclined.
Tags: Joaquin, La Liga, Malaga, Pellegrini, Qatar, Rondon, Van Nistelrooy
