When the board of Espanyol contacted Fran Garagarza, today the sporting director of the white-and-blue team, in the summer, he exposed a serious problem of organization and discipline in the lower categories of the club. Excess tokens in the subsidiary (up to 15 more); lack of communication between the teams, which affected the training of players; constant and senseless recruitments that marginalized the existing talent, and a worrying absence of demand: the diagnosis of Garagarza himself when he arrived corroborated what has been exposed. Since then, the club has experienced a transformation in its bowels that aims to counteract the worrying economic situation. The debt amounts to 57 million euros, more than half due to last season’s operations, and the solution goes through the players of the house. Garagarza’s 360 method already works normally at La 21 and the bet on Manolo González is another step in this strategy.
The Galician coach, Garagarza’s bet for the subsidiary, is sitting on the bench of the first team, among other things because of his willingness to follow the club’s guidelines when it comes to promoting the profiles that stand out in the subsidiary. With Ramis this did not happen, since he did not help as expected to project the new talents of the club, one of the reasons for the termination.
Upon his arrival, Garagarza tried to replicate the model he forged at Eibar, albeit with the greater presence, history and resources as a club of Espanyol, and created a horizontal structure to meet and connect all base players. In addition, he increased the staff in the area of ??psychology; developed new recruitment methods (in which it is as important how a player warms up, his family atmosphere or what he says in press conferences); he socialized the club in Catalonia with agreements with teams from the area, such as Badalona, ??which has led to more people knocking on the club’s door; renewed (almost 30) and continues to renew (nine more are planned) players with great potential, and tried to recapture the style that has characterized the club’s footballers throughout its history: physically strong, intelligent players tactically and emotionally committed to the entity.
To help the footballer, the individual development area was also created, a plan in which the first team players actively participate with the younger players.
Omar, Pol Lozano, Jofre and Braithwaite are in charge of this technical work, which aims to improve performance and identify the younger players with the club’s figures.
Whether the method works or not will be determined by time, although the Copa del Rey final achieved by the youth team is a good sign.
Beyond that, whether promoted or not, the club will be condemned to sell, possibly, talents from the house, and also to strengthen itself. Despite the fact that the precedent of the winter market is not positive, because after the sports management had tied Manu Trigueros, the property decided not to bet on his signing to replace the injured Edu Expósito.
