Football Season Guide

Villarreal were expected to challenge for European qualification last season, but almost ended up being relegated. They started with Javi Calleja as coach, then replaced him with Luis Garcia Plaza and then brought back Calleja for the final stretch to secure survival. Calleja has stayed on, but there is clearly not much confidence in him since he was literally sacked during last season. Calleja showed serious flaws, as he had a super talented squad and was unable to find a tactical system that suited the players. While the doubts over Calleja remain, Villarreal have worked hard this summer to strengthen their squad in certain areas. Defence was a major problem last season and their three most significant summer signings of Ruben Pena, Raul Albiol and Alberto Moreno are all defenders. This squad should be better than last year’s. Many of the fringe players have been moved on, while there have also been a few unavoidable exits of starters in the cases of Pablo Fornals, Victor Ruiz and Alfonso Pedraza. But recruitment seems to have been smarter. There are also many young players coming through at Villarreal and this should spur them on to great things. 20-year-old Samuel Chukwueze, 20-year-old Manu Moralanes, 22-year-old Santiago Casares and 22-year-old Xavi Quintilla should all take steps forward. In terms of their main weakness, it has to be the coaching as was alluded to above. Calleja knows the club and the players well, but has struggled before and could struggle again.