Our look at the biggest underachievers in each of Europe’s top five leagues sees WhoScored turn our attention to La Liga. Following on from Arsenal and Hamburger SV in the Premier League and Bundesliga respectively, Athletic Bilbao come under the spotlight for their performances in the six rounds of matches so far.
A sixth place finish last time round, picking up 58 points, Bilbao – spearheaded by the lethal Fernando Llorente - ended the 2010/11 campaign just four points shy of a Champions League qualifying spot. This season, however, with former Chile coach Marcelo Bielsa installed in the hot seat, a disappointing series of results sees them sitting in 16th place, just one point off the relegation zone, with a single victory to their name thus far.
Cause for Hope Compared to Last Season?
Analysing their six fixtures to date against the corresponding games last season suggest Bilbao aren’t faring quite as badly as perhaps expected. Certainly, their opening two home fixtures were hardly ideal - clashes with promoted Rayo Vallecano and Betis produced a single point, with scorelines of 1-1 and 2-3 respectively - clearly, a case of over-confidence appears to have been their undoing. The 2-1 away defeat at Espanyol in gameweek two is an exact replica of last term’s result, and a 1-0 loss in Malaga is perhaps not too much of a shock, given their opponents’ summer spending spree.
A 1-1 home draw with Villarreal is an improvement on last season’s 1-0 reverse, while the 2-1 win in Real Sociedad is significantly better than the 2-0 defeat in the equivalent fixture of the 2010-11 campaign. Overall then, those four fixtures last season harvested 1 point, 2 goals scored and a goal difference of -3. This time round Bilbao have amassed 4 points, 4 goals scored and a goal difference of -1. Throw in a 2-0 Europa League win over Paris St Germain and Bilbao are currently on a three-match unbeaten run in all competitions - perhaps their fortunes on the up.
Performance Analysis v Real Sociedad
The 2-1 win over Real Sociedad brought about Bilbao’s first league win of the season, but how does this match up with their display in the 2-0 defeat in 2010/11? Surprisingly, last season’s loss was all one-way traffic Bilbao’s way; they had 57% possession, fired off 23 shots to their hosts’ 7, but lost out due to poor finishing –only 3 shots on target- and bad luck, with an own goal and a penalty handing Sociedad the victory. The winning side certainly battled for their victory, though, making 22 tackles to Bilbao’s 11, though the visitors were comfortably superior in terms of distribution, with a 75% pass accuracy compared to Sociedad’s 64%.
This time round, the stats are far different. The shots were evenly balanced, just 16-15 in Bilbao’s favour, though their accuracy certainly improved, with 7 on target. The hosts just edged possession, with 52%, and also improved their pass accuracy, proving the better of the two by 78% to 76%. Bilbao’s determination and will-to-win proved crucial, though; this time they were the ones flying into challenges and showing their commitment, with 27 tackles to the home side’s 17. A double from Llorente saw triumph in the end.
A Work In Progress
Last season Bilbao’s main formation was a 4-3-1-2, with Javi Martinez tucked in behind the front two but this time round, they’ve tended to field a 4-2-3-1 most often, with Martinez further back in the double pivot. Bielsa has even trialled Martinez as a central defender in a conventional back-four in addition to a back-three - clearly there’s plenty of tactical tinkering as the new boss and his players become more accustomed to one another.
Martinez’s performances have suffered, though, according to the WhoScored ratings; dropping from 7.05 to 6.75, the seventh-highest of the first-team. With less of an attacking outlook, Bilbao are finding the net less often; 59 goals in 2010/11 equates to 1.55 goals per game- so far, they’ve scored just 7 goals, an average of 1.16 goals.
A look at Fernando Llorente’s goals so far suggests he’s doing more than his fair share. The forward has scored 3 goals from 18 shots, an average of 1 goal per 6 attempts, while last season he grabbed 18 goals from 118 shots, averaging 1 goal for every 6.55 efforts. Playing as a lone frontman, though, his creativity has dropped significantly- an average of 1.1 key passes per game in 2010/11 has fallen to just 0.5 key passes per game this time round. The lone role is clearly improving his work-rate, though; 1.5 tackles and 1.3 interceptions so far, with just 0.6 and 0.4 respectively the previous season- his determination to graft as well as get the goals is mightily impressive.
Ikor Muniain has stepped up under Bielsa and excelled as the team’s chief creator but has yet to see any significant returns for the number of chances he’s set up for his Bilbao team mates. Playing more centrally this season, he’s produced 2.3 key passes per game –compared to last season’s 1 – but has picked up just a single assist. He’s managed only 1 shot per game and has failed to find the net to date, however.
With the work ethic exemplified by Llorente’s defensive output and the current unbeaten three-match run, perhaps Bilbao are slowly but surely coming round to Bielsa’s style of play. A home match with Osasuna – a side who have failed to win any of their last four games - offers a chance for Bielsa’s good work to continue this upcoming Monday evening.
