Season Preview: Getafe

Published on August 3, 2011 by Guest Writer · 1 Comment

In day three of our season preview, Ewan Macdonald from Peña Getafense Escocia previews Madrid side Getafe.

Getafe’s eighth consecutive season in the top flight sees them yet again at a crossroads. For the second time in three years the Azulones only avoided the drop on the final day of the campaign, this lack of success seeing to the departure of former coach Míchel. Young Luis García, the former Levante and Elche boss, has been charged with making things a bit less stressful this time around.

Yet he faces a real challenge. Questions about the club’s ownership by a Dubai investment consortium have yet to be entirely answered, pre-season has seen a series of dreadful performances, and above all his squad has been severely weakened in just a few short weeks.

Indeed, it just wouldn’t be summer in Getafe without a series of sales. So far Getafe have raised almost €20m in the market, with captain Manu del Moral leaving for Sevilla, Dani Parejo joining Valencia and Derek Boateng signing up with Dnipro in Ukraine being the three biggest deals.

On the other hand, half the north coast of Spain has arrived on free transfers, with two refugees from Deportivo joining a Racing Santander import in the form of Mehdi Lacen. Perhaps the most impressive of all, though, is Diego Castro, an experienced left winger who’s set to compete with Jaime Gavilán for a berth on the right.

Speaking of the flanks, rumours persist that Pedro León, the Real Madrid misfit, could be on his way back to the Coliseum on a loan deal. Meanwhile the search for a right-sided defender and a striker is set to go down to the wire. For García and sporting director Toni Muñoz the race is on to see this team gel once more as they fight to secure a mid-table position sooner rather than later.

To achieve this goal, García is lagely relying on experience. Daniel ‘Cata’ Díaz will marshall the defence for the fifth season in a row, while midfield dynamo Javier Casquero remains captain at the grand old age of 35. Add to the mix seasoned campaigners like Mané and Juan Rodríguez, and Geta will look for a less nervy campaign this time around.

However, that will only happen if this side can shed its aversion to scoring goals. In the absence of a new striker, up front a great deal is expected of last season’s misfiring trio: Javier Arizmendi must finally justify his wage packet, Nicolás ’Miku’ Fedor needs to bring his international form to Madrid, and number nine Adrián Colunga surely has to better his tally of seven goals from last season.

That’s not to say that things couldn’t have been tighter at the back, too. Getafe’s record signing, Oscar Ustari, is considered too inconsistent to hold the number one jersey; he and Jordi Codina now have competition on the form of Valencia loanee Miquel Moya. And if that aforementioned right-back arrives before the window closes, both Miguel Torres and Pablo Pintos could well find themselves sitting in the stands as García looks to cut that 60-goals-conceded column to something a bit more respectable.

All seasons are 38 jornadas, so there’s little sense in the old cliché that this season will be long and hard. In fact it will just be hard. Luis García might well have worked wonders at Levante, but a comfortable finish with goal-shy Getafe might in fact be his greatest achievement yet.

You can check out more by Ewan and all things Getafe related at the excellent Peña Getafense Escocia.