The Miracle in Miranda
A small club in Castile and Leon are fighting for an unlikely promotion to La Liga. But not everyone is happy with this "miracle"
Miranda de Ebro is a City of just under 40,000 inhabitants. It's mainly known as a key transportation link between Madrid and the North primarily the Basque Country.
With so much passing through the City it's no surprise the football team CD Mirandes have taken a similar path. As the brilliant Estadios de Espana site points out their first stadium was next to the train station after all.
The club which only got promoted to the second tier for the first time in their history in 2012 set themselves up as a transportation link themselves, loanees would come in, get exposure to first team football then move on to bigger and better things. With a small budget and an average attendance around 3000 it made sense for the club to use the temporary loan market, it's low risk financially and if the worst happened and a return to the lower tiers they wouldn't be saddled down with long contracts and aging players.
Players such as Nicolas Jackson, Rodrigo Riquelme and Beñat Prados are among the alumni who started their journey with loans at Los Rojillos. While they always secured good loans Los Rojillos were particularly good at finding strikers.
Mirandes was a good place to play, they played progressive and entertaining football with very little pressure compared to Segunda clubs such as Real Oviedo or Real Zargoza. Anduva is an intimate ground with a family atmosphere. Players wouldn’t suffer under the pressure like they can at La Romareda or the Carlos Tartiere with expectant fanbases.
(photo of Anduva from the brilliant Estadios de Espana website)
It's not just players who have taken this path, Andoni Iraola now of Bournemouth and Premier League fame had a season at Mirandes where he took them to the verge of the Copa del Rey final knocking out four La Liga sides on the way before moving to Rayo. Borja Jimenez who Iraola replaced took them to Segunda before leaving and now finds himself in La Liga with Leganes.
Jose Alberto Lopez and Joseba Exteberria also used Mirandes as a springboard to bigger jobs after spells coaching at the club. With the club pushing talent on season after season and bar the Copa del Rey run generally being around lower mid-table and not threatening the top end of Segunda the murmurings about the amount of loanees was generally minimal.
Last season Alessio Lisci, an Italian coach who had previously been at Levante took over. His side started the season well but after January dipped alarmingly winning just three of thirteen to see them plummet down the table. Basque side Amorebieta who had spent most of the season in the bottom four won seven matches in that period to turn the heat up on Mirandes and leave it to a final day showdown between the two sides.
Mirandes had the comfort blanket of knowing a win or draw would keep them up but Amorebieta knew they had to win to stay up. Los Rojillos eventually got themselves ahead and secured safety in what had been their closest call yet to falling out of Segunda.
You might think the potential relegation would make people at the club stand up and get things in order but as pre-season progressed it appeared that the club wasn’t signing players in any great rush at all.
Having seen over 20 players depart, the club had 4 centre backs, a goalkeeper and a couple of full backs and central midfielders at the start of pre-season. Pre-season is generally about building up the fitness of the squad but with no squad to speak of Mirandes called off their friendly against Mallorca due to a lack of players and those they did have having to play so many minutes in pre-season.
With the season on the verge of starting they had bolstered their squad to 13. It felt like things were only heading one way and many Segunda watchers (yes myself included) tipped them up to finally go down. They started the season at home to Cordoba a newly promoted side and immediately you could see Lisci had worked with what he had.
Given most of the pre-season was made up of a squad full of defenders, the entertainers of Segunda had become a robust and defensive outfit. It took many by surprise but it also made sense and they ground out a 1-0 victory with just 31% possession.
Gradually as August went on the club took in more signings and the squad started to be fleshed out and have some depth. On the pitch the tight unit they’d created started strongly going unbeaten until the 22nd September. Every time they were defeated it felt like this is the moment they revert to the norm but they have been nothing if not defiant. A defeat would see them roar back and win the next game and they’ve yet to taste defeat back to back all season.
A moment that really caught the eye was when they defeated at the time runaway Segunda leaders Racing Santander at the cauldron that is El Sardinero. They sat in against a side who can suck the life out of you with their pressing and let the Cantabrian side have the ball, they also went down to 10 men in the 76th minute but in typical Mirandes fashion this season found a late winner to claim a shock victory.
They’ve typically set up with a back five and not just because they have an abundant stack of defenders but they have two real hot prospects up front. Urko Izeta is on loan from Athletic Club and is everything you would imagine in a Basque striker, big, strong and powerful and full of running. The star though is Alaves loanee and Argentine striker Joaquin Panichelli. The Argentine hitman has 13 goals and has scored all different types of goals this season which showcase his talents. He has looked a cut above the league and feels destined for big things.
While they started the season defensively as they’ve added to the squad they’ve become a lot more flexible tactically. For instance against Castellon a side who like to dominate the ball Mirandes pressed high and struck three quick goals thanks to their high press as they continuously won the ball in their opponents half. When sides have tried to sit back against them they’ve also had an answer for that with Lisci showing his tactical acumen.
It’s not just El Sardinero where they’ve been and claimed a big result, the side also went to Riazor and demolished Depor 0-4 with Basque striker Izeta bagging a hat-trick.
While most clubs would see a big spike in attendance given their success, this hasn’t really translated at Anduva with the average gate up around 100 from last season when they almost went down. If the miracle was to come and La Liga football to arrive it’s questionable whether the facilities at Anduva would be up to standard.
As they’ve continued to win and in recent weeks have started to win in style critics are pointing out the amount of loans propping the team up and how it’s given them an unfair advantage. The criticism is understandable but Mirandes have tapped into the loan market like few other sides have, they’ve built trust with bigger clubs who know they will get game time and exposure at first team level and as they’ve produced more and more success stories more clubs have been willing to send their younger players to Mirandes. It’s not a coincidence these players often come from the same clubs such as Atleti, Alaves, Athletic Club, Real Sociedad and Villarreal. While the three Basque sides make sense given their proximity to Miranda all five of the sides have trust in Los Rojillos and their use of loanees.
While Mirandes destroyed relegation threatened Racing Ferrol in Segunda this weekend to go top in February as they continue to defy the doubters. In La Liga ex-loanee Juanlu scored a brace for Sevilla. Athletic Club meanwhile fielded Dani Vivian and Beñat Prados two more alumni of the Mirandes loan club. Alaves had Jon Guridi who got to the Copa del Rey semis in his time at Mirandes lining up for them against Leganes and unused sub Carlos Martin had played a leading role in keeping Mirandes up last season.
Antonio Sanchez came off the bench for Mallorca in their victory over Las Palmas and almost everywhere you look the influence of the Mirandes conveyor belt is there.
There are plenty of questions around the future of the loan system and how Mirandes who have used it to their advantage would be able to adapt to life in the top tier and whether rivals such as Alaves, Athletic Club and Real Sociedad would be as keen to loan so many players to a side in the same division. There are also questions around Anduva and whether more temporary stands would be needed to increase the capacity.
For a side though who many thought were on their way down and continue to show miracles can happen they’re just enjoying the moment. Real Madrid and Barcelona meanwhile might have to start preparing themselves for the experience of playing in Anduva.