Football Season Guide

Deportivo La Coruna avoided relegation in the 2016/17 season but not by much, with survival not confirmed until the penultimate weekend of the campaign. With their situation looking bleak in February, they decided to sack Gaizka Garitano as coach and brought in Pepe Mel. However, the former Real Betis and West Brom coach didn't do much better for the Galician club, despite a promising start in which Barcelona were defeated and a draw was earned against Atletico Madrid. Only four of Mel's 15 fixtures were won but it was enough for the club to award him the job on a full-time basis. As a result of that unconvincing stutter over the finishing line of the relegation battle and given that Deportivo have not added much talent during the summer months, the team should expect another relegation battle in 2017/18. Whether or not they will win it remains to be seen but some supporters must be concerned that the likes of Rober Pier and Faycal Fajr have been allowed to go out on loan to potential relegation rivals Levante and Getafe respectively. The loss of starting goalkeeper German Lux and centre-back Pablo Insua – who excelled on loan with Leganes last year – to the Argentinian and German leagues respectively is also worrying. Centre-back Fabian Schar does arrive from Hoffenheim with a good reputation, while midfielders Guilherme, Federico Valverde and Zakaria Bakkali are all expected to perform well in the centre of the park but there remain concerns about the goalkeeping position and about the lack of assistance for Florin Andone up front. The Romanian striker netted 12 times in La Liga last season at the tip of a 4-2-3-1 formation but the team were sometimes too reliant on him being in form, having sold Lucas Perez to Arsenal last summer without ever really replacing him. Perez looks set to return to the club though which will come as a welcome boost.