Juande Ramos’ resignation leaves Malaga at a mid-season crossroads

A run of five games without a win was enough to see La Liga’s managerial merry-go-round spin once more, with Juande Ramos leaving Malaga under his own steam after merely seven months in charge.

While Bob Bradley’s 81-day reign at Swansea City pales in significance, another recently appointed coach in Spain has parted company with their club before the turn of the new year. European football has become the sole aim of well-supported clubs, with managers appointed on the proviso of attaining such targets in the short-term and viewed with disdain if they stutter en route to that aim.

“In the face of adverse situations, it tends to be the coaches who are the most disadvantaged,” the ex-Spurs boss explained in a farewell message on Tuesday. “In this particular case, I have decided to remove myself from a situation where I felt uncomfortable and unsatisfied.”

Back-to-back defeats this month against local rivals Sevilla and Cordoba were enough to see the fans’ calls for Ramos’ head taken on board - albeit by the man himself, rather than his superiors within the club. Four goals within the first 35 minutes at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan resigned Malaga to a 4-1 loss on December 17th. Just three days later a 4-3 home loss against Cordoba in the Copa del Rey, with their strongest available 11 deployed, saw them crash out of the competition owing to a 6-3 aggregate scoreline.

“When we started out our hopes were high,” Ramos went on. “It was a challenge to compete to reach European positions. We kicked off the season in an irregular manner, but we know how to recover as a team; convert La Rosaleda into a fortress; overcome the injury problems of very important players for us.”

Save for a 2-0 loss at home to Villarreal on September 10th, Malaga have managed to go unbeaten in the Spanish top-flight at La Rosaleda. Since then, Los Boquerones defeated Eibar and Athletic Club, two teams who reside above them in the table, as well as dispatching the likes of Deportivo, Sporting Gijon and Leganes with relative ease.

Only Espanyol have racked up more draws than Juande Ramos’ men, with the most notable being a 0-0 draw at Camp Nou against reigning champions Barcelona - despite ending the night with nine men. High-flying Real Sociedad have lost on an equal five occasions, suggesting that with a few tweaks, it isn’t inconceivable to see Malaga challenging for a European place, rather than battling the momentum that is forcing their slide down the table. Those tweaks may come organically when new boss Marcelo Romero has a full squad complement to choose from.

Experienced centre-back Weligton has been a huge miss, after irritating his meniscus in mid-September, with summer signing Keko also on the sideline since September 21st. Striking option Charles has struggled for fitness, with loan signing Zdravko Kuzmanovic missing nine matches before Christmas due to injury.

Sandro Ramirez has scored seven goals in 15 appearances since signing from Barcelona in the summer, while talented central midfielders Ignacio Camacho and Pablo Fornals make up two of their top-three players in terms of average ratings across the season. If Romero is fortunate enough to keep the aforementioned trio fit, and add to Malaga’s attacking potency with the re-introduction of wide men Jony and Keko into the regular first-team picture, La Rosaleda could see some football to get excited about during the new year.

Key man Juanpi and 19-year-old Javi Ontiveros have already been able to offer some creativity and skill in the wide areas, with Federico Ricca and Roberto Rosales capable at full-back. Centre-back is Malaga’s problem area, with both Mikel Villanueva and Bakary Kone not proving dependable partners for loanee Diego Llorente, who still has a lot to learn himself.

The foundation that Romero helped build is there to support a strong season, and with only two points separating themselves in 13th-place from eighth-placed Eibar as we head into 2017, the next appointment is key. The fans will be behind the ex-player thrown into the hot seat, but a trip to face Celta Vigo on January 8 is a tough proposition indeed.

If promoting from within can oxymoronically inspire a reaction from perceived consistency, a strong Malaga squad should kick on in 2017, but the precarious nature of their current league standing could also be conducive to languishing in bottom-half obscurity if things don’t get off the ground within the difficult first few weeks.

Juande Ramos’ resignation may not have allowed for much pro-active planning on the part of the club, forcing them to think in-house for their replacement, but Romero needs to build up the momentum required to lead a charge towards Europe during the embryonic stages of the new year - or face the cho.