A Second with History
With no time to lick their wounds for the goals not achieved a month and a half ago, it’s time to reset and regain strength for the new season of LaLiga SmartBank that is just beginning. It is useless to remember past mistakes, since the competition does not let you catch your breath. And it is that still in the middle of summer and with the beaches overflowing, the fans will change the deckchair by the pool for their seat in each of the Second Division stadiums. In this way, a new long-distance race of 42 stages begins (or 46 for the teams that play in the playoffs) in which the 22 teams that make up the category will fight for the three positions that lead to glory, promotion to First Division. For their part, everyone intends to avoid those four places that lead to the hell of the First RFEF.
It should be remembered that this SmartBank League is one of the most competitive competitions, allow me the redundancy, of the entire old continent. Neither the Santander League, nor the Premier, nor the Bundesliga are leagues as tight as our Second Division, in which all teams have options for everything. There is no better sample than this data to demonstrate how even the competition is: last season, to give an example, with 5 games to go, up to 16 teams had options to get a place in the promotion playoff.
Seasons in Second
Any team can win or lose a match
A good run of results takes you to the skies and a couple of consecutive defeats can mean losing the option of going up and putting you on the brink of the abyss of First RFEF. Last season left us a clear image of how complicated this Second Division is: Eibar, leader of the competition on the last day of the regular phase, depended on themselves to get direct promotion, lost their game against Alcorcón already relegated, their direct rivals won their matches, so the armory group failed to rise, falling to the promotion playoff. It was in that promotion promotion where Eibar was surprised by Girona at the first change. Finally, Almería, Valladolid and Girona were the teams that achieved promotion to the First Division, so they are the clubs to follow this season by the 22 militants in the Second Division. Surely the images of the celebration of the promotion of these clubs were recorded in the memory of players and fans who dream of being the ones to celebrate such long-awaited promotion next year.
More ‘FIFA viruses’ than ever
Undoubtedly, there will be many conditions that will mark this very long season that will end around June, the date on which we will know all the teams that will go up to the top category once the playoff is over. But there is one detail that stands out above all: the ‘FIFA virus’. And it is that LaLiga SmartBank has always been affected by selection windows, since many of the teams have a large number of international players who are called up by their national teams. This would not have much relevance if, as in the First Division, the competition stopped, but in the Second Division, the league did not stop. This is a debate that has been going on for many years and this season will have its greatest exponent during the months of November and December, when the World Cup in Qatar is played. Unlike what will happen in the First Division (which will stop from November 9 to December 31), the Second Division teams will continue to play league games. Up to a total of 6 days will be played in the temporary space that the World Cup is played. This could be transcendental in the development of this season because, as we have said before, the teams that lose their internationals, who as a general rule are key players in their clubs, during so many days they can see how their goals go down the drain. We will see how this long and hard ‘FIFA virus’ affects the category.
Quality by flag
That so many LaLiga SmartBank players can play in this World Cup in Qatar is proof that we are facing a competition in which quality is one of its most outstanding characteristics. There are many names that could well be in the First Division. Players like Callejón, Vitolo, Rubén Castro or Iborra are known by all and they will surely play a fundamental role in their respective teams. For signings like these, it is not possible that Granada, Las Palmas, Málaga and Levante rely on experience to fight for promotion and, therefore, they are four of the teams to take into account this season in the silver category.
But this silver category not only has room for already established players, but also serves as a showcase for future players. The best example is that of Pedri, who left Las Palmas, after a great season in the Second Division, to shine at Barcelona. In the Islands another very similar event is about to occur again with Alberto Moleiro. The youngster from UD Las Palmas is on Barça’s radar and will follow him very closely. But not only the Barça team will want to see the midfielder, all fans of good football will follow a future star. Also it will look for his opportunity Giuliano Simeone. Cholo’s son, who made his debut last season in the First Division, will play on loan at Zaragoza with the aim of getting minutes and tanning in a team that will have the pressure of a historic club. Another player trained in the Atlético youth academy, yes, somewhat more seasoned in professional football, will be Giuliano’s partner: Mollejo wants to make the leap that is expected of him at 21 years old and stop being the eternal promise.
In short, LaLiga SmartBank is a mixture of experience and youth, which makes it a special competition worth following.
The historical ones go for all
If something characterizes this Second Division, it is the packaging of many of its teams. And it is that a large part of them are historical in Spanish football. That yes, with the name and with the shield does not go up to First. That is why the clubs prepare thoroughly during the summer to achieve their goals. And, where do you start building a project? The answer is clear: by the bench. The lesson has been more than learned and in this SmartBank League we have some coaches who could well be directing their teams in the First Division.
Such is the importance that directors give to the benches that facing this start of the season that up to 10 teams have a new coach. Alavés and Levante, teams relegated from the First Division, have entrusted their fate to Luis García Plaza and Nafti, respectively. These technicians play with the pressure of returning their teams to the top flight of Spanish football. Also noteworthy is the signing of Bolo by Oviedo after his great role with Ponferradina, who almost entered the playoffs last season. José Gomes, who had a great role in Almería a couple of seasons ago, will take the reins in the El Bierzo team. Idiákez will try his luck at Leganés and Rubén Albés replaces Rubén de la Barrera in a recently promoted Albacete. For its part, a historical like Zaragoza has chosen Juan Carlos Carcedo to achieve once and for all the long-awaited promotion. Finally, Ziganda starts a project in Huesca and Hernán Pérez and Javier Bajara will train Lugo and Ibiza.
Not everything is signings on the benches
Teams like Granada or Sporting have opted for the continuity of two more than proven coaches. Karanka, despite not achieving permanence with the Nasrid team, will continue one more year in Granada. For his part, ‘Pitu’ Abelardo is the hope of a Sporting team that is looking forward to this season. In fact, the Asturian team is putting together a great team and the fans are committed to their team and to their coach, an idol. From the benches we will have to be attentive and see how many coaches are still at the end of the season, since the Second Division is a true crusher of technicians. So much so that the coach who has been in charge the longest is Miguel Álvarez, from Villarreal B, who has directed the yellow submarine subsidiary for almost 5 years. But this is not the reality of the category, since the teams that have been in the Second Division for the longest time, the average duration of a coach is one year. It is rare to see that a coach continues after two seasons.
Is it better to be 6th?
Recent history says so, if not, tell Girona. The Catalan team, led by Míchel, faced the promotion playoff in sixth place without being in the pools to be promoted. But he had the ‘ace’ of ‘tradition’ up his sleeve. The Catalan team left victims on their way until they got promoted to First Division. And this is not an isolated incident. It is something that has occurred in the last three years, including this last one. Elche and Rayo Vallecano were sixth in the seasons in which they achieved promotion. Something that, a priori, seems complicated since the conditions of the playoff do not favor the worst classified. It should be remembered that this is a two-leg tie in which the team that achieved the best position in the table plays the second leg at home and also, in the event of a tie after extra time, passes the round or is promoted, the best ranked in the regular phase. Another example is Córdoba from the 13/14 season. Of course, in the case of the Cordovan team it was even more convoluted. The team trained at that time by ‘Chapi’ Ferrer played the promotion being 7th, due to Real Murcia’s administrative relegation, and ended up going up to First. All this series of coincidences encourages all the teams to fight to enter this promotion playoff, where anyone can go up. Of course, perhaps the lower pressure of a sixth classified compared to the third makes this casuistry have so many examples.
fear of falling
Albacete, Andorra, Racing and Villarreal B face this season of their promotion to Second more than forewarned. What happened with Amorebieta and Sanse has put the teams that came up from Primera RFEF last June on notice. And it is that both teams failed to confirm their promotion a season later and this season they will return to the hell of the extinct Second B. That is why the four promoted have learned the lesson. If you want to think positively and face the season with hope, you should look at Burgos and Ibiza, which in addition to staying in the silver category for another season, did so showing a high level. In fact, people from Burgos and Ibiza were fighting until the last moment to enter the promotion playoff. Andorra, a debutant team in the category, wants to be the new Ibiza and confirm its permanence and that the dream does not turn into a nightmare. Meanwhile, Villarreal B will have the opportunity to represent the Spanish affiliates, since after the relegation of Sanse, we only have one academy team in this Second Division.
For their part, the teams that reach the category after falling from the First Division (Levante, Granada and Alavés) must be vigilant so as not to get an unpleasant surprise. And it is that, as we have been talking about during this report, the competition does not wait for anyone and a poor adaptation to the season would complicate their lives. In LaLiga SmartBank, as in life, nothing is guaranteed and merits are achieved on the pitch.