After a highly successful season saw them clinch a return to European football with a fifth-place finish, the summer signs have pointed to Villarreal enjoying an even more profitable campaign in 2020-21.
The east coast club were perhaps the most entertaining team to watch in La Liga last season, with their total of 63 goals ranking third behind just Barcelona and Real Madrid, while a lack of defensive stability saw them concede more goals – 49 – than any other team in the top eight.
Those scoring stats at both ends of the field can be explained by their openness. The Yellow Submarine sought to stretch the pitch and commit plenty of players forward, meaning they were always capable of creating chances but also susceptible to giving the opposition plenty of room to play – a failing most brutally exploited by Barcelona in a late-season 4-1 mauling at the Estadio de la Ceramica.
With the aim of tightening up those defensive weaknesses, and giving the team a chance of making deep progress in the Europa League, Villarreal’s first move during the off-season was firing coach Javi Calleja and replacing him with the experienced figure of Unai Emery.
That was harsh on Calleja, who had taken over a struggling team and turned them into an enjoyable and successful outfit. But based on the old phrase ‘taken the club as far as he could’, it also makes some sense.
Emery, of course, boasts a proven track record in Spanish football after four successful seasons with Valencia and a three-year stint at Sevilla. And his achievements at those two clubs were the attraction for Villarreal’s shrewd president Fernando Roig. With Valencia, Emery finished third in three successive seasons, while his time at Sevilla yielded even greater successes with three consecutive Europa League crowns.
Realistically, small-town Villarreal do not have the finances to regularly qualify for the Champions League, but they can hope to position themselves towards the top of the ‘next best’ group of clubs – leading lights in the level just below the continent’s elite superclubs. Considering his experience there are few better candidates than Emery to achieve that ambition, and he will be hungry to re-establish himself as a top manager after disappointing ends to his time with Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal.
With Villarreal, Emery has a talented crew at his disposal. There was concern at the end of last season when creative wizard Santi Cazorla departed for Qatar, and the return of Frank Zambo Anguissa to Fulham after an excellent year on loan left another hole in midfield.
But those gaps were filled by an audacious double swoop a few miles down the coast, with Valencia duo Dani Parejo and Francis Coquelin being snapped up to continue their solid partnership in the middle of the pitch, where they will receive plenty of support from playmaking Manu Trigueros, one of the finest passers in La Liga.
That double deal was not, though, Villarreal’s only or best piece of work in the transfer market, because the arrival of Take Kubo on a season-long loan from Real Madrid could prove to be the league’s most exciting move of the summer.
The teenage Japanese winger excelled during last season’s loan at Mallorca. Despite the obvious difficulties of playing for a struggling team which eventually suffered relegation, he showed several flashes of brilliance and looks every inch a genuine star in the making. Along with his solid stats of four goals, four assists and a team-high 58 chances created from open play, Kubo also demonstrated that he also possesses the key intangibles: confidence, personality and determination.
A year further into his development, it’s fair to expect Kubo to be even better this season – especially as he can share the attacking creative burden with another exciting right winger who loves cutting inside onto his left foot, Samu Chukwueze.
That’s not all. Villarreal are genuinely loaded with talent in the attacking positions, with clever Moi Gomez and mercurial if inconsistent Javi Ontiveros being joined by another eye-catching summer signing, former Real Madrid man Jose Callejon.
That batch of creators will be supplying the ammunition for arguably La Liga’s second-best centre forward (after Karim Benzema) last season: Gerard Moreno enjoyed an outstanding campaign, finishing third in the league’s scoring charts with a career-best 18 goals, also showing his ability to play for his teammates by providing five assists.
Alongside Moreno, the hard-working and goal hungry Paco Alcacer is another tried and tested performer, with other options provided by veteran Carlos Bacca (whose future is uncertain) and promising youngster Fer Nino.
Moreno, Alcacer, Chukwueze, Kubo, Callejon, Gomez, Parejo, Trigueros…Villarreal’s attacking options are impressive indeed, but to take the next step forward Emery will need to tighten up that leaky defence.
Coquelin will play an important role shielding a back four containing a pair of Spain international central defenders, wily old Raul Albiol and increasingly authoritative 23 year-old Pau Torres. Behind them, Sergio Asenjo remains one of the better goalkeepers in Spanish football, and it’s clear that the number of goals conceded last season was not due to poor individuals, but a precarious overall team structure.
It’s now Emery’s job to get the right balance. If he can do so, making his new team harder to play against without going too far the other way and dissipating their attacking threat, they could quickly become a major force and a serious contender for a top four finish.
