Football Season Guide

For the second season in a row, Cadiz avoided relegation on the final day of the season. And, for the second season in a row, coach Sergio Gonzalez was the hero. The man brought in in January of 2022 has made Cadiz a well-organised side, extracting the most from one of the lowest budgets in the league. Sergio Gonzalez actually made a very important change midway through 2022/23, switching to a more attacking style after the winter transfer market, and making central midfielder Gonzalo Escalante the main man. In the summer, Cadiz managed to keep Escalante by making his loan permanent, which they achieved similar deals to keep Sergi Guardiola and Jorge Mere at the club. While they have lost some starters, like Theo Bongonda and Alfonso Espino, they’ve gone out and signed replacements in Darwin Machis and Lucas Pires. So, the level of this year’s Cadiz squad should be very similar to last year’s, which means the outlook is for them to once again be in the relegation battle. They’ll need to improve in defence this term, as their goals against record of 53 was 16 goals less than their xG against would have predicted, the largest difference in the division. That says a lot about how important goalkeeper Jeremias Ledesma was. So, Cadiz will look to ease the burden on their shot-stopper, while they’ll also hope to build on the improved attacking play they showed in the second half of last season, once again hoping to get Escalante involved as much as possible.