Experience will be key

Espanyol have become accustomed to being the underdogs. Two seasons ago the club were promoted back to division 1 despite being favourites to be relegated from division 2 to 3. Last season was the same story, predicted to go down but retained their division 1 status despite an alarming end of season slump in form.

The Espanyol manager will embark on his 6th season out of 8 in the top flight, making him the clubs most successful manager, With the club previously having only spent two seasons in the top flight. The manager is also the clubs longest serving Manager.

Glen Mullan has wasted no time in getting his close season business underway with the focus on adding experience.

“We have our own model which we have noted others have tried to adopt which has proven successful in our time here. We look each season for 3 or 4 players who can bring experience and ratings to the first team, whilst protecting our main assets coming through the ranks. Obviously we’ve had to transition as we didn’t have the assets when i arrived with me inheriting one of the oldest squads in the league and on the road to deep decline. Fast forward to our 8th season and we’ve some extremely talented young players chomping at the but to be the next wave to step up from the academy. This season we have secured Benzema, Firmino and Partey to help the first team out given we are once again tipped to go down. Scoring goals last season was never really an issue, it was defensively were we were caught short with our gk 87 and our defence 87.5. Nothing has changed on that front as we head into the new season, though we are hoping updates in these areas will be forthcoming to improve on the stats. We haven’t set any targets bar achieve better than predicted. Division 1 will be extremely tough this season. With older players comes the risk of drops in ratings, with younger players comes the risk of upgrades which create concerns and ultimately puts you in a position of play them or lose them. We’ve seen with Aston Villa this past season that relegation can cost you your job even if its what was expected, so playing the younger players on concerns could have an adverse affect on you remaining in charge. It’s all a big rubix cube, a puzzle with dilemmas and a transfer market which brings ridiculous expectations demands. Just this week the quotes on players well into their 30s are off the scale, when the market shows historically that at best if you get a top young player you’ve done well. Whilst young players people are wanting 3 or 4 big risers which carry a rating already. At some point these players will drop or retire and the opportunity of getting a future asset are gone. We’ve seen with Kroos in recent weeks how a retirement can rip a big hole in your team with no swap now available. MLS and Saudi clubs continue to track big name players with Van Dyke the latest big name emerging as a target amongst others. Their quest to attract the best don’t just fall on older players, as young players are also the subject of interest. You can go to bed with a big asset and wake up owning a player who has lost 80% of sell on value. We feel quite fortunate that buying and selling is not a necesity given our academy set up is thriving and its offset well by older experienced players holding Fort in the first team. The upcoming updates are going to bring delight for some , but anger and distress to others, which will have a baring on each division and each clubs future outlook. Top100 remains ultra competitive and keeping the finger on the pulse this season, perhaps more than other seasons will be key for many teams”