Competing with the Spanish giants: The secret to Alaves’ rise

Competing with the Spanish giants: The secret to Alaves’ rise

by Jacob Tanswell

In Spain, a little known Basque team has took La Liga by storm. Sitting second in the table, with one of the smallest budgets and playing squads in the league, Alaves are starting to make shock waves through Europe. So what is the secret to Alaves’ meteoric surge to prominence?

The Manager:

Having already had three managers in the first four months of the season, Alaves appointed Aberlardo Fernandez with the club rooted miserably to the foot of the table, six points adrift in December 2017.

At the time, many Spanish pundits and supporters alike saw the job as a poisoned chalice. Constant upheaval with the no sustainable plan meant that Alaves were staring down the barrel of relegation.

However, overtime Fernandez started laying down the foundations for this season’s success. Seen as a coach who maximizes the potential of each player, through detailed coaching and extremely good man management, Fernandez has created a cohesive, structured philosophy.

Undoubtedly, their success has been laid upon a compact, defensive shape.

With goals still not easy to come by, with their top scorers in Ibai Gomez and Jonathan Calleri with just three apiece, teams in La Liga are struggling to break down the Alaves resistance. Sitting in a tight 4-4-2 formation, with hardly any space between the lines for the opposition to penetrate, Alaves are comfortable out of possession.

A key man to all of this is goalkeeper Fernando Pacheco.

Performances this season has argued that he is one of the best keepers in the division and many Alaves supporters find it incomprehensible to understand why he has not been called up to the Spanish National Team.