GOALSCORING Marcelino Tactic
Marcelino Garcia Toral…a seemingly unknown manager 20 years ago, is currently leading Villarreal to a charge for the UEFA Champions League places in La Liga.
And in my Football Manager 2024 save, his tactic did wonders for a relegation battling team…
Born in the picturesque town of Villaviciosa, Asturias, Marcelino Garcia Toral's journey in football began with promise. Initially, his professional career saw sporadic appearances at Sporting de Gijón. However, the 1986-87 campaign was a breakthrough season, as Marcelino played a pivotal role in 33 matches, helping the club achieve an impressive fourth-place finish in La Liga.
This meteoric rise included his top-flight debut on December 22, 1985, in a hard-fought 1–1 draw against Celta.
But as all great stories have their twists, Marcelino's career took unexpected turns. After battling through challenging Segunda División spells with Racing Santander and Levante, both ending in relegation, he found himself navigating the lower leagues with Elche.
Ultimately, fate dealt a cruel blow, forcing Marcelino into early retirement in 1994, at the tender age of 28, due to injury.
Yet, from these trials emerged a resilient and tactical mastermind.
In the humble beginnings of his coaching career, Marcelino found himself at the helm of Lealtad at the age of 32. Picture this: a fresh new coach with a head full of dreams navigating the difficult ways of Segunda División B. His real adventure began with Sporting Gijon’s reserves team in the early 2000s.
Fast forward to 2003 and Marcelino took charge of the first team, steering them to commendable fifth and tenth places in the second division.
He then signed with Recreativo de Huelva, where he worked his magic, promoting the team in his first season and securing a mid-table spot in the top tier the next. His extraordinary feat earned him his first Miguel Muñoz Trophy – sort of the Oscars for Spanish football coaching.
But Marcelino's story was far from over. He left Recreativo and joined Racing Santander, leading them to a record-breaking sixth-place finish and a ticket to the UEFA Cup. Not one to stay put, he soon packed his bags and headed to Real Zaragoza in 2008, rejecting a tempting offer from Valencia.
However, after a string of poor results, Marcelino was shown the door by Zaragoza in December 2009. But he remained undeterred. In February 2011, he returned to Racing Santander, ready for another round.
In the 2011-2012 season, though, he took over Sevilla, but his tenure was cut short after a rocky patch. In January 2013, he found a new home at Villarreal, guiding them back to the top flight and achieving three top-six finishes.
His crowning moment came with a fourth place and a semi-final run in the UEFA Europa League in 2015-16.
Just when it seemed things were finally going smoothly for Marcelino, he was sacked by Villarreal in August 2016 over differences with the board.
But he bounced back, signing with Valencia in May 2017. Under his guidance, Valencia won the Copa del Rey, defeating Barcelona 2-1 in the final. Yet, in September 2019, Marcelino faced another dismissal.
Marcelino's resilience shone through once more when he was appointed head coach of Athletic Bilbao in January 2021. His early days saw a mix of losses and victories, including winning the Supercopa de España by defeating both Real Madrid and Barcelona.
In May 2022, Marcelino announced he would step down (for a change), but he wasn't done yet. In June 2023, he embraced a new adventure outside Spain, with Ligue 1 club Marseille, only to resign in September citing personal reasons.
Just when you thought that was all, Marcelino made a spectacular return to Villarreal in November 2023 on a three-year contract, becoming their third manager of the season.
That proved to be a smart choice for both parties, as Villarreal currently sit 5th in the La Liga table, 13 games to go. A 4 points gap to the 4th place gives them a realistic chance of qualifying for Champions League football next season.
Marcelino fancies a 4-4-2 formation, with an attacking mentality. He relies on set-pieces often and does not shy away from using the counterattack style when needed.
A sweeper keeper on support duty was chosen. But the goalkeeper can be one on defend. The important thing is for him to become a passing option when his teammates need him to.
The back four is made of two ball playing defenders on defend duty, a full back on support on the right side and a wing back on support on the left side.
I chose this wing backs pairing as Sergi Cardona seems to go up the pitch often when his team is in possession.
Take more risks and dribble more as player instructions for the full back and tackle harder for the left back.
As the central defenders are ball playing ones, they will step out of their positions at times to aid the passing game. So, they will break the formation.
If that is not helping your team, central defenders on defend duty would also work here.
The midfield is made of two wingers – one on support on the right side and one on attack on the left side, a box-to-box midfielder and a central midfielder on support duty.
In a 4-4-2 formation, the midfield is the most important area on the pitch. At least in the game. If you get this part right, your team will be balanced in terms o gameplay and the opposition will not overrun you.
Thus, there are many roles that can be used in the midfield in this formation. However, I settled on these ones.
Immediately it can be noticed that the right flank is the balanced one. As the roles and duties are not as prone of venturing forward as on the left side.
Tackle harder as player instruction for both wingers.
No special instructions for the box-to-box and the central midfielder. But beware, that the central midfielder role on support duty does not come with any special instructions. This means that you will heavily rely on the traits of the player chosen in this role.
And to complete the formation we have a deep lying forward on support duty and an advanced forward.
Here, the same way as in the midfield, other role combinations can be done. Maybe a complete forward and a poacher? Or a deep lying forward and a pressing forward?
Whatever combination you choose, make sure to preserve the balance of the formation.
The advanced forward is asked to take more risks, dribble more and shoot more often.
As mentality, I used positive.
In possession, fairly wide attacking width and pass into space. You need to pay attention in games and turn pass into space off if the opposition is playing with a low block. As otherwise, you might lose time or the ball entirely trying to pass into space.
Play out of defence, standard or slightly shorter passing directness, as it is shown with a positive mentality. And a slightly higher tempo.
Work the ball into the box and play for set pieces.
In transition, counter-press, counter and distribute the ball to the defence through short kicks.
And out of possession a high press and a standard defensive line. Be careful that this setup creates a big-ish gap between your defense and attack.
If this gap is noticeable in game, either move the defensive line higher if you are dominating or lower the attack to a mid block if you are not dominating the match.
Trigger press more often and prevent the goalkeeper short distribution.
In my save, I left Valletta FC after 8 seasons, as I needed a change. And on the 1st of November I took over Jagiellonia Białystok in the Polish First Division.
They were 15th in the league at that time, one spot above the relegation zone.
It took some time, but after the players got accustomed to the tactic, we got going and by the end of the season we finished the season in 8th place.
Not much, maybe, but for a team such as ours is better than what threatened the club for a while.
And we were knocked out of the Polish Cup.
I am happy of how the formation is playing in games and of course, it can always be improved.
Marcelino is a great manager and that is shown time and time again through his resilience to make the most of his time at each club he manages.
I hope his side is going to qualify for European football in general and that good results will continue to come.
