Fran Escriba was never Villarreal’s man. The 52-year-old coach was appointed after former boss Marcelino walked out on the eve of the 2016/2017 La Liga season, making him an improvised hire. Time was of the essence, meaning that compromise and sacrifices had to be made, with supporters' main qualm quickly becoming his style of play. His sacking, the second of the campaign, is therefore not a surprising one.
On the surface, not much changed initially. Escriba retained the 4-4-2 system employed with great success by Marcelino. It was an intelligent decision given that Villarreal's ex-coach resigned on the dawn of a new campaign, after an intense pre-season campaign designed to put in all the ground work required to succeed with his plans. Escriba inherited a team with a one-dimensional view of football pressed upon them by Marcelino, but with personnel that were in excellent physical condition because of his predecessors’ regime.
Villarreal finished the 2016/2017 season with the second-best defensive record in the division, conceding just 33 times across 38 matchdays; only Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid boasted better figures. The Yellow Submarine were also sixth-highest scorers in La Liga, finding the back of the net on 56 occasions. There was no doubt: Escriba’s decision to retain the Marcelino blueprint was effective. It was, however, his own touches of personality - or a lack of it - both on the team and in-game that struck an ill chord with fans.
Over time, this unease turned into open and voiced displeasure. Any negative result quickly added pressure to Escriba’s shoulders, with the bubbling discontent building up to a crescendo after Villarreal’s 4-0 defeat by Getafe on Sunday. A newly-promoted side, who have had problems in front of goal, ran away with three points and an emphatic margin of victory.
Set pieces were the Yellow Submarine’s downfall, with three of Getafe’s four goals arriving from dead-ball situations, while the fourth came courtesy of another dreadful error from summer signing Ruben Semedo at centre-back. And so, the question was posed: if Escriba cannot even offer defensive stability, what does he provide?
If Villarreal’s quick decision to sack the 52-year-old coach points to anything, it's that the board's answer to that question is "not much". Escriba took the momentum of the Marcelino era and squeezed every last drop out of it, as well as using his own risk-averse tendencies to further shore the side up at the back. For a season, it was a means to an end - a rather profitable end, given that a fifth-place finish was achieved by a short-notice appointment, and Escriba can only be praised for his resourcefulness.
Yet his departure was implied in the summer, before a ball was kicked. Having penned a one-year deal in the summer of 2016, the 52-year-old signed on the dotted line for another year in May. Two consecutive one-year deals screamed just one thing: uncertainty.
Escriba was not their first choice, but instead a stop gap who would act as Villarreal’s steward until the right long-term appointment became available. A dearth of available at the tail end of last campaign, coupled with a fifth-placed finish, made another short-term contract an easy decision. Retaining Escriba’s services appeared risk-free, unambitious and uninspiring from the outside looking in. If there was a coach starting La Liga with an uphill slope ahead of him and hearts and minds to win, it was him.
An early-season injury crisis was not used as a shield to defend against criticism, but instead provided an extra stick to beat Escriba with. Summer signings Ruben Semedo, Enes Unal and Pablo Fornals have offered very little, despite shining elsewhere last season, begging the question of whether Escriba is the man to mould a new Villarreal as effectively as he was at prolonging the old.
In-game, Escriba’s negative changes drew ire from supporters, with the more expansive and laissez-faire days of Manuel Pellegrini and Marcelino longed for. Despite investing huge sums during the summer in strikers Carlos Bacca and Enes Unal, Villarreal appear to have no set patterns of play, movement or chemistry going forward. Samu Castillejo was given a free role, which he has thrived in of late, but one note of creativity and freedom in an otherwise rigid system leaves a team open to being nullified easily by proactive coaches. Rough treatment from Getafe was enough to knock Castillejo off his stride, and in turn Escriba off his managerial perch.
The 52-year-old should be commended for keeping the Yellow Submarine on an even keel for a season, but he was realistically never going to reinvent himself into the figure both the board and fans desired.
Escriba’s sacking after six games points to a lack of long-term planning from Villarreal, with the club staring down the barrel of making another time-sensitive appointment just over a year on from their last. It would appear they have not yet learned their lesson, with either an inexperienced or a theoretically imperfect candidate set to be handed a substantial challenge in La Liga.
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