Analysing the Fall of Athletic Bilbao from Champions League to La Liga Drop Zone
The end of the 2013-14 season in Spain marked an important event in La Liga's annual conclusions: Atletico Madrid lifted the league title, the first side in a decade to do so other than Barcelona and Real Madrid.
That unexpected outcome—along with Spain bombing at the World Cup, perhaps—took away plenty of spotlight from Athletic Bilbao's excellent campaign and fourth-place finish, which earned them a Champions League place and their highest La Liga placing since the late '80s in the process.
Hampered—or strengthened, depending on your point of view—by their own Basque-only policy, trophyless in decades and up against the might of the big two (or three), a fourth-place finish showed the exceptional work of Ernesto Valverde and his side last season.
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Howver, that form hasn't translated into sustained success this term, with Athletic Bilbao currently residing in the relegation zone after a 5-0 defeat by Real Madrid.
Increased Expectations—and Challenges
Of course, it was always going to be tough for Athletic to maintain a top-four standard while balancing Champions League football, but extra games aren't the only issue this season.
Indeed, it doesn't seem to have had any effect at all thus far. Sevilla and Valencia have both shown early signs of being capable to challenge in the top four again, while the likes of Real Sociedad, Villarreal and Celta Vigo cannot be ignored.
Competition is fierce for that fourth place in La Liga, and unlike other teams, Athletic cannot simply go out and spend £20 or £30 million on a few players to improve the squad, simply because of the requirement for players to have either been born or had their footballing education in the Basque region. This limits the amount of players they can reasonably target to make the squad bigger or better: Ander Herrera left for Manchester United in the summer for over €30 million, but only Borja Viguera, a €1 million forward, came in.
It also stands to reason that Athletic have quickly become a bigger scalp for teams to take, and thus teams may play harder, better and more quickly against them as they seek to take a big result.
Perhaps this latter point shouldn't be an issue if Athletic have designs on being a regular top-four side, but either way the current squad haven't gotten to grips with needing to show that relentless, winning consistency which La Liga's top sides muster.
Settled Side the Problem?
While no new signings can be seen as an obvious downside, the flip side suggests having a settled squad might be a good thing for a team; they already know their own strengths, weaknesses and tactics.
But that's not such a good thing when form or fitness dictates that certain areas of the team are underperforming and there is nobody new to come in and freshen up the side.
Unai Lopez is a young attacking midfielder who has come in this term and made fleeting appearances as Valverde looks to offer something new, but too many of the same faces just haven't clicked into gear this term.
Mikel Rico and Ander Iturraspe, for example, have been a very good pairing in the centre, mixing the energy and aggression that both players possess with the technique, creativity and ability to run forward that Iturraspe brings. He's a player who could easily play at a (consistently) much better team, but he's the heart of this Bilbao midfield anyway.
The duo have largely been good—but ahead of them, Benat has been very poor in the No. 10 role. Others have been tried in the same position, but chance creation is a major problem right now and, the untested Lopez and the more-effective-out-wide Iker Muniain aside, there isn't really another option for Valverde.
He went with two strikers against Eibar but as a result had a very weak supply line to them. Athletic didn't score in that match and repeated the trick against Real Madrid.
Reversing the Issues at Both Ends
Individually, Athletic's usual starting XI and handful of squad players are generally good, strong, reliable and technically sound. Here and there—Muniain, Gorka Iraizoz, Iturraspe—they have standout players, but similarly they have some who are a step below.
The full-back areas have been problematic this season.
Mikel Balenziaga hasn't been at his best, and Andoni Iraola looks to be seriously on the decline. By the end of this season he'll be one of the top four players of all time in terms of appearances for the club, but the 32-year-old's powers are waning. Oscar De Marcos played right-back against Real Madrid but was, in the nicest way possible, torn apart by Cristiano Ronaldo and Marcelo.
Who hasn't been this season?
De Marcos has his strengths, but he's a converted full-back at best, much more suited to the constant running in midfield roles than having to backtrack continually and hold a rigid line against the fastest transition attack in the game. He was caught out a number of times by the movement down Real's left, and in truth the score could have been worse than 5-0.
Between both full-backs and their respective central partners, Real fashioned chance after chance down the attacking channels.
At the other end, creativity is a major issue. The whole system is built on getting a supply line and support to Aritz Aduriz, but aside from Muniain there has not been anywhere near enough from Markel Susaeta, Ibai Gomez and the like this term, as well as Benat.
Whether the Champions League is the big distraction, players have become complacent in the team on account of no huge competition for places or simply that this group have achieved all they can and are running on empty right now, only more time will tell.
But Bilbao cannot afford much more time to start getting things right. Celta Vigo, Almeria, Sevilla and Valencia are their next four La Liga games, with FC Porto sandwiched twice in between in Europe. None of those matches will be easy, but last season Athletic thrived on the battle and the chase of the top four.
That mentality, that togetherness and, above all else, that quality needs to return sooner rather than later before the entire campaign fizzles out in depression and disappointment or, at the very worst possibility, only a desperate, bottom-of-the-table struggle is left to wage.
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