This LaLiga season has undoubtedly been a record-breaking one for Almería, but for all the wrong reasons.
Their inability to achieve a win in this campaign has reached unprecedented circumstances, shattering Sporting Gijón’s record of 24 matches without victory in a single season.
Burdened by consistent injuries, tactical inflexibility and financial rules restricting their spending, these compounding issues have translated into a once-promising Spanish outfit going down with a whimper, despite what many may have otherwise witnessed against some of the best teams in world football.
Almería represents a football club that has experienced significant growth and backing since being bought by Saudi billionaire Turki Al-Sheikh in 2019.
They have the fourth-largest net spend in LaLiga since his takeover, spending €38.4m on bolstering their squad and looking to compete at the highest level.
However, with former manager Rubi resigning before this campaign after guiding Almería to safety last season, the club have failed to accomplish coaching consistency.
With Pepe Mel being appointed as their third permanent head coach since the start of the season, his opportunity to take the reins and avoid total embarrassment appears too little, too late when it comes to battling for survival.
This tactical analysis and scout report will begin to address some of Almería’s shortcomings this season, highlighting the physical and psychological burdens on their journey to that elusive first victory.
Our analysis will also discuss the tactics which saw Almería overcome a once-perceived insurmountable challenge, as they were able to gain their first win in LaLiga against Las Palmas this past weekend.
Almería Injury troubles and attacking aridity
Over the years, Almería has been incredibly successful in the development and consequential selling of attacking talent, with huge fees used to bolster their squad.
The Andalusian club have welcomed several strikers through their doors and transformed them into talents showcasing their abilities across Europe’s top leagues.
Since they signed Darwin Núñez in 2019, Almería has successfully turned a profit on both Umar Sadiq and El Bilal Touré, offloading them for significant profit to Real Sociedad and Atalanta, respectively.
With this in mind, the permanent signings of both Ibrahima Koné and Luis Suárez were rightfully made in the hope that their conveyor belt would keep on producing underrated attacking talent with crucial goals to help them once again pull off survival.
The reality of the matter has been much more damning for Almería this year, with their investments failing to yield the desired output.
One of the reasons for this would be that their tactical setup has failed to provide attacking dynamism in an attempt to be more resilient in defence.
As we will discuss in more detail later on, Almería’s atrocious defensive record to begin the season left Gaizka Garitano (their second manager this campaign) looking to find a tactical setup which appeared more cautious to prevent the increased concession of goals, in turn hurting their attacking intent.
They struggle with build-up from the back, with the goalkeeper’s distribution looking to spread the ball wider to the full-backs and look down the line, with long balls aimed for Almería’s speedy wingers in behind.
Whilst it has been profitable on occasion, their vulnerability to the opponent’s press often results in inaccuracy when looking long, gifting possession back more often than not.
Whilst injuries happen within every club in world football, Almería’s injury history has compounded upon their ability to convert in front of goal.
Filled with promise about their summer signings, both Koné and Suárez have spent significant time on the sidelines with serious ankle injuries, with the two major additions combining for just four goals this season.
