Can new manager bounce propel Deportivo to La Liga safety?

Losing 4-0 to your relegation rivals is never a handy result for an already insecure coach, and so it proved for Gaizka Garitano last weekend. Leganes, known more for their profligacy than being prolific, netted 20% of their goals for the season against Deportivo La Coruna and sent the former Eibar boss packing. 

While a four-goal defeat was unprecedented, it was only down to the measly previous goalscoring record of their opponents, rather than surprise, that Depor had crumbled in such emphatic fashion. Their misfortune at Butarque made it four successive defeats in La Liga and left them still without a win in 2017 as the relegation zone creeps ominously closer.  

Deportivo are on their way towards the bottom three, and it is clear that the club’s board had no faith that Garitano was the man to turn things around. “Due to the pressure of results in recent games, the club had looked for a kick-start, and in these cases it is always the coach that pays for it,” explained the man who heroically managed to get lowly Eibar promoted in the not-so-distant past. 

From the bottom half of the La Liga table as things stand, Depor are the penultimate side to sack their coach - bottom-place Osasuna have done it twice already. Rubi’s introduction at Sporting Gijon has seen an upturn in form of late, with Lucas Alcaraz getting a reaction at Granada. It is easy to see why the club felt that they had to take the risk of change. But as Garitano’s comments rightly hint at, it isn’t fair for him to have taken the bullet for a team that hasn’t been performing to standard - especially when club’s decisions on buying and selling players are somewhat out of his control.  

Last season, Lucas Perez netted 17 league goals for Deportivo, with Luis Alberto chipping in with six as their second-top goalscorer. As we close out February, lone striker Florin Andone has just seven to his name. At this point last campaign the now-Arsenal forward had 14 goals and was level with Lionel Messi, but there has been no significant reinvestment in the squad to bridge the obvious gap. 

Joselu has been unfortunate with long-term injuries after announcing himself on the scene with two goals against Real Madrid back in mid-December, with Costa Rica midfielder Celso Borges having previously spent a good portion of the season as Deportivo’s leading hitman. The frailties in the squad run deeper than simply how Garitano chose to deploy them on a matchday. 

The club took a chance on Ryan Babel at the start of the season, who arrived on a free, but the Dutchman’s resurgence at the top level would only benefit Deportivo until the winter due to their short-term contract gamble. The ex-Liverpool winger put himself in the shop window with four goals and an assist in 11 league appearances, and was soon off to Besiktas.  

Lucas Perez and Ryan Babel’s departures have left Deportivo in the lurch offensively. Turkish midfielder Emre Colak is a very gifted playmaker and has offered four assists and three goals so far, but can’t do it all himself, while Carles Gil and Juanfran have four assists apiece from the right-hand side. The offensive likes of Gael Kakuta, Marlos Moreno, Bruno Gama and Faycal Fajr are yet to stand up and be counted this season, while Garitano had just Andone to choose from as an orthodox striker while Joselu spends time on the treatment table.

Pepe Mel, a former striker, is the man chosen to take over the reins at the Riazor, after being previously linked with the Granada job earlier in the season when Paco Jemez was given the boot. Having earned plaudits with some forward-thinking football at Real Betis in the top-flight years ago, the 54-year-old was one of the few obvious candidates for the job. 

Deportivo desperately need the reaction that Garitano outlined on his departure. The club have been leapfrogged by Leganes and now sit in 17th-place, just two points off Sporting and three from being dragged into the relegation mire by Granada. An away trip to El Molinon early next month could prove vital, but first Pepe Mel must play host to Atletico Madrid.  

If games ended at half-time this season, Deportivo would find themselves in seventh place in the table, losing just six of their 23 games. At the Riazor, they would boast just one defeat, while on the road they would have seven draws to their name. There is clearly a base to build from, but a misfiring lack of goals is asking too much of what was a previously promising unit of a back four. 

La Liga has claimed yet another managerial victim and the rest of the fixture list promises to coax a few others to head the same way as Gaizka Garitano. Pepe Mel will have to get his foreman’s hat on, because it is going to take some serious work. Lose to Sporting at the weekend, and it could all come crumbling down around him.