It was only two weeks ago that Gerard Moreno made the switch from Villarreal to Espanyol, but with the two sides facing-off in week two of La Liga action, Outside90’s Dave Blackmore ponders whether he made the correct decision.
Moreno moved from El Madrigal for a reported fee of €1.5 million, for 50% of his contract rights. Born in Catalonia, the move back to a team from Barcelona came as little surprise. Moreno had developed his game at Villarreal, spending five-years between the first and third teams, but he craved more playing time.
In his place at the front of the Villarreal attack now sit Leo Baptistao, on loan from Atletico Madrid, Roberto Soldado, purchased from Tottenham, and Cedric Bakambu, bought from Bursaspor in the Turkish Super Lig.
Moreno now shares his time up front for Espanyol with Ecuadorian international Felipe Caicedo, and 21-year-old Senegalese striker Mamadou Sylla, who is likely to see less time than the others. The question no is whether Moreno is in a better position to play every week than he was at Villarreal?
That answer lies in three categories – the system utilised by the managers, the stability of those around him, and of course the player’s own form.
Compare first the systems played by Marcelino of Villarreal and Sergio Gonzalez of Espanyol. Marcelino swears by a 4-4-2, one that Gerard featured for in sporadic bursts last season, and that he started working in during the preseason. Gonzalez, during the 2014-15 season also employed a 4-4-2, but sent his team out on matchday one of this season in a 4-2-3-1, with his new signing warming the bench.
Immediately one can see that Gerard’s opportunities to play every game have been halved with the switch in club, if in fact Gonzalez utilises this approach throughout this La Liga campaign. The decision to join a side that only employs one striker from the beginning means he will be judged against fellow forward colleagues even harder than at a club that likes to play with two up front.
In the first game of the season, which Espanyol won 1-0 against an unlucky Getafe, Gerard came off the bench in the 57th minute, briefly partnering Caicedo upfront, before the Ecuadorian was removed 10 minutes later. During 33 minutes on the pitch Gerard had one shot, one dribble and a pass success rate of 75%. In contrast, Caicedo had no shots in his hour on the field, but had two completed dribbles and a pass success rate of 82%. From those stats one could argue that the fresh face deserves to start the next game. This is likely not to happen though, as Caicedo has been at the club since the beginning of 2014-15 and has thus built a bigger repour with the coach.
It is in last season’s stats that one will see where Gerard is more than capable of challenging Caicedo for his place in the starting XI. During the 2014-15 campaign the Spaniard scored seven goals, to Caicedo’s nine. He achieved this feat in nine fewer appearances, turning out 26 times for Villarreal compared to Caicedo’s 35 starts for Espanyol. In his time he also created more chances, 22 to 21, and won a higher percentage of duels, 42% to 36%.
The stats seem to suggest he and Caicedo to be more-or-less even in the value that they bring to the team. As noted before, Caicedo holds the advantage for being at the club longer, and will likely have this advantage until the new strike partner has his first break out performance.
This advantage leads one to debate whether or not it was worth Gerard staying at Villarreal to fight for his position. Having been with the team since Marcelino became head coach in 2013, the onus would not be on the 23-year-old to prove himself, but on the new rivals for his position to quickly adapt to their new surroundings.
Gerard played a part in most of Villarreal’s preseason fixtures, scoring once in seven outings, but the highlight was watching the beginning of a formidable partnership with loan signing Baptistao. The Brazilian registered three goals during the same time and it was looking as though this would be the front pairing the coach would use going into the new La Liga season.
Following Gerard’s switch to Espanyol, Soldado and Bakambu were brought in to fill the void. All three forwards played a part in Villarreal’s opening weekend draw with Real Betis, with Soldado scoring the only goal for the Yellow Submarine.
Soldado and Baptistao started from the beginning, both strikers lasting for an hour (or just over in Soldado’s case), with Bakambu coming on for Baptistao on 60 minutes. The Tottenham outcast stole the limelight from his fellow forwards with a performance of old, recording three shots on target, one goal, 65% pass accuracy as well as 55% of his duels won.
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Going on stats alone would earn him a place in Marcelino’s starting line-up against Espanyol, but who would partner him? Baptistao struggled on matchday one, only taking one shot, while losing all his duels and being disposed of the ball four times throughout. Bakambu had a mixed bag for his first 30 minutes in Spanish football, taking one shot on goal, but only completing one of his three dribbles and having a passing success rate of just 25%.
Taking into account all figures from matchday one it would seem that Gerard would be fighting for a spot in each team, but equally not assured of one in either. If all five players continued at the same rate, an obviously massive if, he would soon to be leading the line for Espanyol, or would be partnering Soldado for Villarreal.
To simply answer the question, with his talents either decision was the right decision for Gerard Moreno.
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