Orlandi's lowdown on Getafe

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Former Albion midfielder and La Liga TV pundit with his verdict on tonight's Amex opponents

BHAFC

2021-08-07T07:00:00Z

Getafe players discuss their options during a recent friendly against Rennes, which they won 2-1

At the start of 2020 Getafe were absolutely flying. They knocked Ajax out of the Europa League, they were challenging for a Champions League place in La Liga and were in great form under their former coach Jose Bordalas, who has since joined Valencia.

They played a very rigid 4-4-2, with two full-backs in Damian Suarez and ex-West Brom player Allan Nyom doubling up down the right and left-backs Marc Cucurella and Mathias Olivera doing the same on the other side. They didn’t really worry about keeping possession and would make it very difficult for the opposition.

They were fourth when football stopped because of Covid-19, but when the season restarted they just couldn’t win; they’d lost all momentum and mentally it became tough for them.

They had a very bad run of 11 games and while they were comfortable in the division, they finished outside of the Europa League places. That bad form carried into last season. The new signings didn’t work and it was a difficult season. They stayed up but didn’t qualify for Europe and they never looked like they did in previous seasons when they were difficult to beat.

Getafe defender Damian Suarez

In May, Getafe appointed Michel as coach. He was a fantastic winger for Real Madrid and will implement a very different style of play to Bordalas. He has coached for a few clubs in La Liga, including an earlier spell at Getafe, and has also worked at Olympiakos and Marseille, so has plenty of experience.

Michel’s style will be more possession-based, more pleasing to watch. He is making a few signings, and may lose one or two, but they will keep the same aggression as most of the players are still there, but they will play out from the back and through midfield.

Getafe is a town on the outskirts of Madrid and the club was only formed 38 years ago, so they have done amazing to get to where they are, under president Angel Torres Sanchez. They only have a small fan base, playing in a stadium of 17,000, but they can now regard themselves as an established La Liga club. In a lot of ways they are similar to Albion.

They are prudent with their business and it’s clearly working well. Getafe’s also a family-orientated club, where the fans can go in and eat with the players before training. They are a club that do things the right way and are benefitting from it.

Former Albion midfielder Andrea Orlandi now works as a pundit on La Liga TV

Players to Watch

Jaime Mata got his call-up to the national team a couple of seasons ago and is a very good footballer. Mauro Arambarri is a fantastic player while on the right the team have two very strong physical players in Damian Suarez and Allan Nyom, who appeared in the Premier League. When they play together, it’s difficult for the opposition because they look after each other very well.

Suarez is an aggressive player but technically very good and good at set-pieces, a player I really like. Also keep an eye out for former Barcelona attacking midfielder Alena and Vitolo, a winger signed from Atletico Madrid.

This week they signed former Barcelona midfielder Sandro Ramirez from relegated Huesca, their fifth recruit of the transfer window so far.

Getafe kick off their La Liga campaign next Friday against Valencia.