The manager of the year award perhaps does not have the shine of the Ballon d’Or, but it does certainly attract strong opinions. This year in La Liga there will no doubt be a number of contenders for the position, in a season which has seen no shortage of sides challenge those historically above them, but Jose Bordalas has earned his place on the podium.
The likes of Ernesto Valverde and Hansi Flick will no doubt be in the running if their sides go on to meet their objectives, while Carlos Corberan and Manuel Pellegrini have made runs in the second half of the season that certainly qualify as revelations. Bordalas may not be the most flashy or aesthetic manager in terms of how his sides play, and people are more than used to his presence in La Liga, but his side currently are on course to avoid the drop, and are just a few points off a European spot. If Bordalas is a gambling man, he’d no doubt have a go at £1 deposit casinos, given his ability to beat the hand he has been dealt.
Los Azulones started the season with one of the lowest three salary limits in La Liga, excepting the cases of Sevilla and Espanyol, whose excesses in previous seasons put them deep in the red compared to the cost of their squads. Getafe were financially in a better position, but started the season with just 16 players in their opening day 1-1 draw with Athletic.
The goalscorer that day, Chrisantus Uche, was a defensive midfielder signed from the third tier, has spent most of the year up front, while Coba da Costa, one of their more exciting players, had only ever featured in the fourth tier for Getafe’s B side before this year. Without last year’s top scorer Borja Mayoral through injury for much of the year, Bordalas has been relying on Uche and loanees Bertug Yildirim and Alvaro Rodriguez up front, but has just nine goals between them. Their top scorer is midfielder Mauro Arambarri with nine, mostly made up of penalties, and their squad includes a limit of five loan players.
Despite that, Getafe are the only team outside of the top six with a positive goal difference. With his industrial style, grinding opponents down, Bordalas has somehow constructed the third-best defence in La Liga. Bordalas has always been skilled at making his sides solid, but this feat this year goes far beyond any expectation.
By rights, Getafe should be very much amongst the relegation battle, based on what they spend. At the time of writing, Espanyol, Valencia and Sevilla all lie below Getafe, three giants who even in ailing seasons usually have enough to be ahead of them. Girona, with the manager of the year from last season, Michel Sanchez, started this year in the Champions League too, but have struggled to find an identity like Getafe. All because Los Azulones have an asset nobody else in the bottom half can count on: Bordalas.