Why Villarreal are struggling under Quique Setién so far – scout report

Quique Setién left football in shame two and a half years ago as FC Barcelona bowed out of the UEFA Champions League following an 8-2 loss to eventual winners Bayern Munich.

This defeat was the first time since 1946 that La Blaugrana had conceded eight times in one match and was the largest defeat in the knockout rounds of the competition since 1990. Furthermore, it was the most goals any team had conceded in one game in the quarter-finals of the tournament.

Barcelona were utterly humiliated. Setién mortified. The then-61-year-old was relinquished from his dream job and went into hiding for the next 26 months, playing his beloved chess at his home in Liencres, Santander.

Setién, who was wildly successful with CD Lugo, Las Palmas and later Real Betis, had become a forgotten man in Spanish football.

That was until Unai Emery announced his shock departure from Villarreal near the end of October after Aston Villa came calling for the Basque manager.

Setién was the coach pinpointed by the Yellow Submarine’s board to rejuvenate the squad since things ultimately began to stale under Emery before his move to the English Midlands.

Bringing Setién back to La Liga was always going to be a risk given how long the 64-year-old has been out of the game. Villarreal were hoping it was one worth taking. So far, it is rivalling his tenure at the Nou Camp for being an unmitigated failure.

Last season’s UEFA Champions League semi-finalists have played five matches under Setién’s tutelage, losing three, drawing once, and winning once scoring in just two of the matches as well, but there is still time for the coach to turn things around.

This article will be a tactical analysis of what’s gone wrong so far for Setién. It will be a scout report and analysis of the coach’s tactics, pinpointing the areas that Villarreal must improve.

A history of his favourite formations

In his final season with Real Betis, back three formations were Setién’s go-to. The highest usage of a back four formation was the 4-2-3-1 which was deployed in merely four percent of the side’s games in that 2018/19 season.

At Las Palmas from 2015-2017, the 4-3-3 and 4-2-3-1 were the predominant structures that the team set up in during Setién’s two-year spell which carried over to his time with Betis in the 2017/18 campaign.

On January 29, 2018, Real Betis were beaten 3-2 by a lacklustre Celta Vigo side away from home. The Seville-based club lined out in their normal 4-2-3-1 but things went horribly wrong.