Football Season Guide

Deportivo la Coruna fans were invited to believe in a return to European football by their club’s form in the first half of the 2015-16 campaign. A second half to forget saw the Blanquiazules finish just four points above the relegation zone in 15th place. Their primary objective of staying in the Primera Division was met, however. Victor Sanchez did not survive a summer cull as a result of that poor form, though, and he has been replaced in the Depor dugout by former Eibar boss Gaizka Garitano, who will lead a new look Galician entity in 2016-17. The mission this season will be to go one better and allay any fears of relegation early on. However, the club has shown ambition in the transfer market and there are signs they could push on if they start the new campaign as well as they did the last and then show the consistency over the course of the year to maintain their rhythm for longer. A European finish is certainly not out of the question, but it remains elusive for clubs like Depor, who are operating on much more modest budgets than the teams competing for the top six or seven. The key piece of summer business was in retention not recruitment and in making sure Lucas Perez starts the season in blue and white colours, Deportivo have guaranteed themselves quality and goals up front. Who will partner him regularly is up for debate. The Galicians spent four million euros on Cordoba striker Florin Andone but they have more recently added Marlos Moreno on loan from Manchester City and if he meets expectations then we can expect some fireworks from the 19-year-old Columbian. There have been significant additions elsewhere, among them Bruno Gama, Raul Albentosa and Carles Gil, the latter of whom will be hoping to finally make the step up from player of great potential to player of great influence this season under Garitano. Plenty of players have left, largely after running down their contracts, but the squad looks smarter and more streamlined this term compared to last. Garitano was hugely successful in the first half of Eibar’s debut campaign in 2014-15. If he can overachieve with this Deportivo side, they could be looking at a top half finish. Defensive stability was rocked by the loss of Raul Albentosa in that fateful January. We can expect Garitano to be fairly regular with his preferred starting eleven if that season is anything to go by. A daring, bullish approach also marked his previous tenure in top flight management. The Depor fans should have plenty to be excited about. Their team is unbeaten so far in pre-season, but they haven’t played any truly competitive sides at top flight level and games in their final week against Sporting Gijon and Villarreal will provide a clearer indication of their condition, before they begin the season against Gaizka Garitano’s old boys Eibar at Riazor.