MARCELINO Garcia Toral’s surprise sacking by Valencia last month has put him on the market just as Premier League clubs including Everton could be looking to hire a new manager.
However the nature of the highly-rated Spanish coach'S exit from Mestalla, with his former employers sharply critical of his professionalism, may give pause for thought to Premier League directors considering hiring him next.
Marcelino did an excellent job in often trying circumstances at Valencia, where just keeping your job for over two seasons had been beyond his eleven immediate predecessors, most of whom were hired and fired by the club’s Singapore-based owner Peter Lim.
Valencia president Anil Murthy has spoken out
“There was a loss of confidence in Marcelino’s role in the long term model that the majority shareholder has for the club.”
“The club had supported him in everything, including his decisions in the transfer market.“#LLL
⚽️ pic.twitter.com/d5Njo5aDf8— La Liga Lowdown ⚽️ (@LaLigaLowdown) October 14, 2019
Los Che finished 12th in both the seasons before the Asturian took over in summer 2017, but in both his completed campaigns qualified for the Champions League, while last June they won the club’s first trophy in 11 years by shocking Barcelona 2-1 in the Copa del Rey final.
Even that was enough to mend cracks in his relationship with Lim, and the club’s also Singaporean president Anil Murthy, who lost patience with regular public insubordination.
“In the summer there was a distancing between the decisions of the club and the decisive role, of great influence, that Marcelino demanded in our transfer policy,” Murthy told the club’s website on Monday. “As well as public pressure that made things even more difficult. The club had supported him in everything, including his decisions in the transfer market. This summer, however, the challenge and constant individual discrepancy towards that club model was unacceptable, and was not going to stop. His project was different to that of the majority shareholder.”
Marcelino had also not gone quietly – telling a press conference the week of his departure that the real reason he was sacked was for trying to win last season’s Copa when his bosses wanted to focus on other competitions instead.
The coach also spent much of last summer publicly admitting to differences of opinion with Lim and Murthy over transfer issues – specifically the club’s attempts to sell last season's top scorer Rodrigo Moreno to Atletico Madrid, and his own thwarted efforts to sign playmakers Rafinha and Denis Suarez. Hanging in the background was the influence of Portuguese super agent Jorge Mendes on player deals at Mestalla.
Valencia's president Anil Murthy met with local fan groups & explained why Marcelino was sacked. The original idea was for the coach to see out the season but Peter Lim didn't like some of Marcelino's comments to the press. Particularly when he (allegedly) compared Lim to a crab.
— Andrew Gaffney (@GaffneyVLC) October 11, 2019
It was a messy end – and reminiscent of how Marcelino had left his previous job, being sacked by Villarreal just days before facing Monaco in a crucial Champions League play-off in August 2016.
Three and a half seasons in charge at El Madrigal had seen him lift the Yellow Submarine from the Segunda Division into the Europa League semi-finals and briefly atop the La Liga table for the first time ever. But results on the pitch did not protect him after differences of opinion with club president Fernando Roig over transfer and other matters.
The former Sporting Gijon midfielder, now 54, has generally left all his clubs in a better situation than he found them – bringing Recreativo de Huelva and Real Zaragoza up from the Segunda, and leading Racing Santander to their highest ever Primera finish. A seven-month blip at Sevilla is the only black mark on his CV.
However it has never been plain sailing anywhere for an intense character who is detail-oriented to the point of control freakery. An obsession with players’ weight and diet has not always been happily accepted – amid claims some have skipped meals for fear of getting in trouble by being a gram overweight.
Those who respond well to such micro-management can see impressive leaps in performances. At Valencia previously talented but inconsistent midfielder Dani Parejo, striker Rodrigo Moreno and left-back Jose Gaya all improved significantly and were rewarded with call-ups to the Spain senior team. Youngsters Ferran Torres and Carlos Soler also settled quickly at senior level. Meanwhile, those who did not shape up were soon shipped out.
How long has Marco Silva got left at Everton?
@grahamruthven thinks the Toffees should target Mikel Arteta | #EFChttps://t.co/QXHW3xsQ9Z
— Unibet (@unibet) September 25, 2019
Opposition coaches can also be rubbed up very much the wrong way by Marcelino’s intense will to win. Last season’s regular public spats with Getafe counterpart Jose Bordalas got quite personal. Everton supporters might warm to hearing he also got under Jurgen Klopp’s skin during those Europa League semi-finals in 2016. The fiery personality also leads to regular trouble with referees, and at least 19 games watched from the stands due to touchline bans.
Still there is no doubt that Marcelino knows how to organise a team – and specialises in coming into underperforming clubs and getting them back into shape. While sometimes compared to fellow former Valencia coaches Unai Emery and Ernesto Valverde, a better comparison is with Diego Simeone, whose teams are also a reflection of their no-nonsense coach. He should definitely be on the shortlist for the Wanda bench whenever Simeone eventually leaves.
That should be further down the line however. It is no surprise that Marcelino’s name has been linked in recent weeks with both Sporting Lisbon and Milan, and maybe lucky for him that he avoided either of those basket case clubs. It seems pertinent that he has learned English over the years, with most of Spain’s top managers now aiming for a lucrative spell in the Premier League at some point in their careers.
Marcelino’s problem – if it is a problem – is that he expects the highest standards from everyone around him. This includes his own players, officials and club owners. But also of himself, and he gets results.
