The 3-2 defeat in Elda, the image and dynamics of the team and the words of Luis Miguel Ramis in the press room have opened a new crisis for Espanyol, whose season in the Second Division is struggling a lot. The situation has become unsustainable after the Tarragona coach angered the players with his harsh criticism. “We are not willing to open an eyebrow to defend an advantage. And sometimes this is defended with blood,” he pointed out the players' lack of commitment.
Something has broken between the squad and the coach. It remains to be seen if it can be sewn or, at the very least, made into a temporary tourniquet. Perhaps there is no other remedy, since the option of a reliable substitute for the bench is not clear either. Some of those who like and know the house, such as Vicente Moreno or Pacheta, are not available, according to RFEF regulations, for having already trained this course in First Division.
The parakeet team has a rest day today in which events can be precipitated after the continuous meetings that took place yesterday at the Dani Jarque sports city. The words must be followed by conclusions and, if any, decisions, that President Chen Yansheng will make from China after listening to the report from his trusted person on the ground, CEO Mao Ye.
Mao, accompanied by the sports director, Fran Garagarza, met the squad, including the coach, Ramis, in Sant Adrià. At the exit it was the sports leadership that locked themselves in to debate and contemplate possible solutions. And when most of the players had already left the facilities, those who were still there were the four captains. Puado, Sergi Gómez, Melamed and Cabrera were chatting about the discomfort caused by the coach's explanations blaming them. “I leave ashamed. We have not seen an Espanyol with the hope of being promoted,” was another of his pearls in the press room.
Behind closed doors, the captains' version is that they downplay the coach's words, which they consider to be the result of a frustration that everyone shared. But the truth is that they are hurt by those comments from Ramis who has not improved Luis García's numbers. In the 12 games that he has coached Espanyol he has only been able to achieve four wins, one of them in the Copa del Rey. The drama intensifies every time the team goes out to play away from home, where it has barely managed to get three of the possible 15 points.
There is no harmony between the players and the coach, which is a danger if the category wants to be recovered a year after relegation, as has happened in the previous five in which the club fell to the Second Division. After 24 rounds, Espanyol has 38 points, is in promotion positions and seven behind the leader, but only three from second place, which also gives direct access.
Garagarza is not going through his best moments at the club either. The sports director has been at the entity for just over seven months but is questioned precisely for taking the lead in the hasty replacement of Luis García. That dispute has caused his reputation to fall in front of the property, which will no longer be as faithful to his diagnosis. If Espanyol chooses to wait, not be drastic and give Ramis an ultimatum, anything other than a victory on Sunday at the Stage Front Stadium against Levante would be the trigger for his dismissal.
