VUSA Pod #100: Lots of Blame to Spread Around

What is going wrong with the Yellow Submarine? Losing to Elche, Rayo and Mallorca has put pay to any Champions League dreams, and the team on the pitch has looked woeful much of the time, with injuries leaving us with a very weak bench.

Javi Mata was very critical of Quique Setién during his broadcast of the Mallorca match. Is that fair? How much of the blame belongs to Setién, how much to the front office for not replacing Rulli (and Danjuma) in the winter market—and letting Morlanes go on loan— how much to the players themselves? (and somewhere in here our medical staff has to take responsibility too).

Whether the stadium rebuild went over budget, the front office is concerned about the economic situation in Spain, or being able to compete financially with EPL clubs, hard to say, but it does seem like there is a lot of penny-pinching going on at Villarreal these days. Which means that if Quique Setién is axed (and we discuss how long a leash he’s on and what sort of results he needs to keep his job), don’t look for any big name to take his place.

A pity that we’re not having a happier centenary season, but here we are. The home match against Getafe at the weekend is huge, and for that matter, the Conference League title might be our best chance—or only chance—to get into Europe this next year. Let’s go win a trophy!

Endavant Villarreal!!