Edging Closer
The past few weeks have been inconsistent ones for Mallorca – as always – filled with both victory and defeat, with solid performances and disappointing displays. You’re never sure who’s going to turn up when the team take to the field, making them tough to predict and tricky to follow. As the season enters its final leg the priority is to ensure safety, and after an extremely deserved and hard-fought point against Sevilla this evening, it seems as though Mallorca are edging closer and closer to security. With just seven games remaining, and with a sizeable gap between Los Bermellones and the relegation spots, it looks all but certain that the team have managed to emerge unscathed from a season that had the potential to be extremely tough.
On the back of so much off-season turmoil, Mallorca anticipated scrapping their way through a relegation battle if they were to ensure their continued presence in La Liga next season. Instead, their safety looks assured with plenty of time to spare.
In fact – and there were moments this season where it seemed a real possibility, if a little optimistic – if the team can continue to fight for all three points in their remaining fixtures, then a late push for one of the final Europa League spots would not be entirely out of the question. But at this stage, it’s probably a step too far.
As it stands, Los Bermellones look firmly like a mid-table team. They’re far away from relegation, but Europe may be pushing it; as a result, the team may see out the season by going through the motions instead of working hard to claw their way as far up the table as possible. It’s a natural reaction when the hard work seems done.
But there was no shortage of industry and effort at the Iberostar Estadi this evening. On the back of a disappointing performance and result against Deportivo last week, the players looked eager to make amends, and they did just that against a side who were certain favourites to win the match.
In truth, the aims of avoiding relegation or climbing into Europe may have only been side-thoughts for the players, with the focus heading into this encounter instead surrounding ex-Mallorca boss Gregorio Manzano’s return to the island. Mallorca seized the upper hand against their old coach after a dramatic victory back in November sullied the beginnings of his spell in charge of Sevilla, and he came back to the island looking for revenge – but the home side had other ideas.
Certainly, the back-story surrounding Manzano in the build-up to this evening’s game caused unrest amongst the Mallorca faithful. Manzano himself declared Mallorca to be “my club, my team”, but comments from Mallorca president Jaume Cladera indicated that he had gone as far as to ask for the club to be dissolved after becoming embroiled in a lawsuit regarding his unpaid wages. It’s hard to gauge the truth of either stance, and it’s a situation that divides opinion. At the end of the day, it’s hard to disagree that Manzano took the club to a brilliant sporting position; the debate surrounds his influence in off-field actions and the club’s resulting economic difficulties.
But when it came down to it both he and current Mallorca boss Michael Laudrup were content to let their teams do the talking on the pitch, where it belongs, and in truth they were extremely evenly matched. Sevilla’s two equalising goals – a light penalty and an uncharacteristic error from Dudu Aouate (or characteristic, if you consider that the veteran stopper is still recovering from a bit of a barren spell of form) – could have been easily avoided, and Mallorca can feel hard done by in that respect, but Sevilla probably deserved a point when all was said and done.
Mallorca were full of aggression throughout the game, and, perhaps the most encouraging sign, were full of positivity right until the end, where they continued to throw men forward in an attempt to grab all three points. It’s telling, then, that they took the lead twice in a game against extremely tough opposition; indeed, the opening goal was a brilliant team effort, capped with the first goal for Akihiro Ienaga, whose impact on the team in the second half of the season has been phenomenal. There were times tonight when he simply danced through the opposition’s defence, and it’s likely that his acquisition will pay further dividends for the club in the future.
Los Bermellones’ second effort, however, was a venomous strike hit along the floor by Jonathan de Guzman; an individual effort that, whilst welcomed, cannot be relied upon – and this underlines one of the problems that has plagued the team all year, and is high on the list of issues to be addressed for the forthcoming season.
Simply put, Mallorca are devoid of a goalscorer who will threaten the opposition and make them pay for even the slightest lapse in concentration. Most of Mallorca’s goals this season have come from moments of individual brilliance or those occasions where the team play finally clicks; there is nobody with that predatory instinct lurking up front to punish the opposition for a living. If there were, then Los Bermellones would likely be on the right side of that fight for a European spot.
It perhaps makes this evening’s result even more impressive, then, to consider that Pierre Webó, the team’s only fit and recognised out-and-out striker, was absent due to suspension. But even he is a self-proclaimed “team player” who can’t be counted on to grab a hat-full of goals. The returning Víctor Casadesús can be tarred with the same brush, though his presence will add depth and quality to the youthful squad. Indeed, his cameo appearance in the final few minutes this evening almost resulted in a winning goal after his brilliant through-ball set up de Guzman for an excellent one-on-one opportunity – but that predatory instinct simply wasn’t there.
Up next, Mallorca head to Malaga, looking to consolidate their position of safety and perhaps even capitalise to progress up the table. But this is where it’s all about motivation and determination: Malaga are where Los Bermellones expected to be, in the midst of a relegation battle, and they will be desperate to claim a good result on home soil. Mallorca, meanwhile, may take their foot off the gas knowing that Europe may be out of reach and that they should be safe for another season.
But maybe that’s too obvious. After all, given Mallorca’s unpredictability, another victory wouldn’t be out of the question.
by Phil Montgomery