The club from Vitoria occupies the penultimate position in the table and has only added one of the last fifteen points
A dead king, put king. Deportivo Alavés and José Luis Mendilibar have reached an agreement whereby the Basque coach will take charge of the Albiazul team until the end of this season. It was announced by the Vitoria team minutes after officializing the departure of the one who until now had occupied Mendizorroza’s bench, Javi Calleja.
José Luis Mendilibar is a coach with a lot of experience on the benches, where he has managed different teams for more than 20 years. Since he made his debut as head of CDArratia, where he was from 1994-96, mendilibar has trained the lower categories of Athletic de Bilbao (1996-01) and Aurrera de Vitoria (2001-02), at UD Lanzarote (2002-04 ).
ℹ️ José Luis Mendilibar, new coach of Deportivo Alavés.
➕ The Zaldibar coach will lead the team for the first time in the 11: 00h session.
Ongi etorri, Mendi!#GoazenGlorioso 🦊
Deportivo Alaves (@Alaves) December 28, 2021
But where Mendilíbar has proven his worth as a coach has been in recent years, since he first arrived at Eibar, with which he was about to go up to First. From there he made the leap to Athletic Bilbao, to go through Valladolid, Osasuna and return to Eibar, where with a hiatus at Levante, he proved his worth as a coach.
The exit of Calleja, an open secret
The departure of Javi Calleja from the Vitoria team was an open secret after the bad results in the last games. Alavés explains in a statement that “the team led by the Madrid coach has not been able to find the desired consistency and is currently in 18th place in LaLiga, in the relegation zone, and having added a single point in the last five games in addition to an early elimination from the Copa del Rey ».
In addition, he adds that “the obligation of the club is to do everything on its part to guarantee the fulfillment of its objectives. And in recent weeks the results do not accompany, as the classification testifies, that desire to extend Deportivo Alavés’ longest streak in the First Division ». Alavés justifies its decision by noting that “you have to make bold decisions to give everyone – club, coach, squad and fans – what the Alavés shield and shirt deserve and maintain the category.”
Javier Calleja arrived at Alavés on April 5 of this year and achieved the goal of remaining in the First Division. However, this season the team is in 18th place in LaLiga, in the relegation zone, and having added a single point in the last five games. In addition, it has suffered an early elimination from the Copa del Rey.
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