Life has never been easy for Espanyol fans. Just like Rayo Vallecano, Leganes or Getafe have always been living in the shadows of Real Madrid at the capital, Espanyol was always known as the smaller club in Barcelona. Even now, when Girona finally made it to the top flight, things have not started to look up.
We don’t have to look far back in order to find proof of that thesis. The Barcelona outfit scored just 36 goals in 38 games last season, and then the (mostly) freshly appointed Quique Sanchez Flores was sacked in April as the club was dancing the relegation dance with only five games to go until the end of the season.
They had a bad summer before that, and a bad one preceding this season as most of the key personnel was either sold for peanuts or loaned out in bad deals that hurt the club. The likes of Gerard Moreno or even some new faces like Marc Navarro were shipped away, and the profit was simply non-existent, and therefore not used to strengthen the squad.
But still, the dark cloud of pessimism that spread all over the south-western part of Barcelona has recently let some rays of optimism through. The appointment of Joan Francesc Ferrer Sicilia, or simply known as Rubi, has brought many changes for the royal club of Espanyol.
But after an initial resurgence, the Catalans are back to fighting an uphill battle.
This tactical analysis will use statistics and insight to determine whether Espanyol should once again be worried or do they have the firepower under Rubi to weather the storm that has been brewing for quite some time now.
The Catalan renaissance
Rubi really did start from scratch when he took over a significantly weaker side to the one that was in the hands of Flores before him. Surprisingly enough, the preseason went marvelously and Espanyol ended up being the Spanish side with the best record abroad, winning all six of their games in the process.
But that was only preseason and while it may have some connotations when it comes to form, state of the team or even predicting how the upcoming campaign might go, it is usually, for the most part, taken for granted and as a meaningless exhibition.
To everyone’s surprise, Rubi continued his unbeaten streak in La Liga as well. Their opening fixture was a tough away visit to Celta Vigo. The team ended up getting a point for their troubles, and while that result was good, no one thought much of it.
Until the next week, that is.
Espanyol vs Valencia: The beginning of something good
If you ask top-flight Spanish teams about Valencia, almost all of them will confirm that they pack one hell of a punch. The Bats of Valencia usually fly in the upper levels of the La Liga table, and while this season might be an oddity for them, as well as for others, Espanyol did not have their hopes up in the second round.
Honestly, a rough and well-fought victory was expected for the visitors inside of the Estadi Cornellà-El Prat but instead, they went back home with no spoils to their name, and a net filled with two goals in it.
Quite a remarkable result but the manner in which it was done was what made it even more impressive. Rubi somehow took a fairly weakened side, aided only by homegrown talent, and players that had to make a step-up to the senior team, and dominated the match.
The first thing that was noticeable was the way the team attacked: Aggressive, proactive, with fast transitions and excellent counter-attacking mechanisms that were used to the best of their potential.
Rubi also brought much more balance to the team. Espanyol still look to preferably attack through their right wing and to combine that with lethal interiors but looking at the way they score goals this season, both the right and the left are utilized almost equally with 34% on the left, and 39% on the right, and with more emphasis on the middle (27%) than ever before.
Although it might seem like the difference is still there, when we compare it to last season’s 35% 27% 42%, the change is palpable.
The image above is the prototype of Espanyol’s counter-attacking mechanism that they practice this season. After a quick set piece clearance, both wings spread the pitch as much as possible, and transitions are made quickly and more importantly, successfully.
Although this specific example did not result in a goal for the hosts, last season they had zero goals scored through counter-attacks while in the 2018/2019 campaign they already have two to their name, which totals to 12% of all their goals.
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