Making the Grade: Five new La Liga coaches evaluated

By Liam Bambridge
Updated: 6 April, 2012

4. Miguel Angel Lotina (Villareal)

With their team leaking goals and plummeting towards the relegation zone, it was no great surprise when the powers that be at Villareal decided to end their short-lived experiment with former Atletico ‘keeper Jose Angel Molina, and turned instead to Lotina. His Deportivo side earned a reputation for being extremely stingy in the goals against department during his four seasons in charge, but the flip side of this was there for all to see when they were relegated last summer having scored just nine away goals all season.

It is perhaps a bit early to evaluate Lotina’s impact, as he has only been in charge for three games, but certainly the early signs are very positive. Just one goal has been conceded (and that was scored by Cristiano Ronaldo), with a win and two draws a highly respectable return which has moreover managed to keep them above the danger zone. However Zaragoza’s superior record against them in the head to head this season means that they effectively only have a three point advantage over the Aragonese side, and with their last two fixtures being against Valencia and Atletico, Lotina will be fervently hoping to avoid a repeat of last May’s climax, when a win for Zaragoza at Levante sent his Depor side down and him to the dole queue.

El Centrocampista rating: B

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