This is the final article in a six-part series looking at some of European football’s most innovative up-and-coming managers.
Across a six-year managerial career, Michel has taken charge of three second-tier sides, sealed three promotions, and been sacked twice.
Not even 17 seasons as a Rayo Vallecano player could save him from dismissal after collecting 23 points from 28 La Liga games back in 2019, while two years later, with his Huesca side rock bottom, a 2-0 defeat to Real Betis brought a second top-tier campaign as a coach to another premature end.
So when Vinicius Junior slid home at the back post to make it seven games without a win for Michel’s newly promoted Girona in October 2022, even just 12 games into the season, the 48-year-old must have felt a sense of deja vu.
Girona, however, were the first club to stick with him through the rough patch and with European football now on the horizon, they have never looked back.
Girona’s season has included a first-ever triumph over Barcelona and a dramatic last-gasp winner against Atletico Madrid, all helping to fuel an unprecedented title challenge; 2023-24 has been as historic as it has been scarcely believable.
With setbacks and sackings behind him, Michel is a manager who has taken his chance.
Girona’s extraordinary season owes a lot to the animated figure of Michel, bouncing up and down the touchline and barking instructions with the intensity of Pep Guardiola himself.
His approach is all about manipulating the opposition structure and sustaining pressure with passes, constantly tweaking the team shape and adapting build-up structures mid-game to pull opposition players out of their defensive zones.
Since they were promoted two seasons ago, only Barcelona and Real Madrid have completed more passes in their own half than Girona, while an average possession time of 28.1 seconds this season also only trails the top two.
Put simply, it means Girona operate with the confidence and creativity of a big team; dominating the ball, moving possession from side to side, before finding their technically gifted players in pockets of space behind the midfield line and looking to create overloads in dangerous areas of the pitch.
As the graph below illustrates — Michel’s side have the lowest direct speed in the division — they are not in a hurry to move the ball forward, and will persist with patient play until the gaps open up.
A clear example of their principled play came when Michel made an emotional return to Vallecas back in November, his side needing to win to restore their five-point lead at the top of the table.
The game started poorly for Girona, conceding after five minutes following a sequence of ricochets and clearly struggling against an all-out press from the home side.
Just two minutes after that opener, they almost gift Rayo a second after Eric Garcia is dispossessed, while both Daley Blind and Miguel Gutierrez — left-side centre-back and wing-back respectively — have pushed on into midfield.
But despite those wobbly moments, Girona continue to take risks with their build-up shape, still looking to flood players forward while tempting the pressure onto themselves. Their perseverance pays off and within 14 minutes they create a first big chance of their own.
Circulating the ball around the defence, Girona form a 3-2-5 shape, as flexible full-back Gutierrez scampers forward alongside Artem Dovbyk and Savio (out of shot) to leave five players across Rayo’s defensive line.
Ivan Martin offers himself for the pass, dragging his marker with him and creating a box of space for Viktor Tsygankov to drop into.
The Ukrainian — like most in this side — is fleet-footed and thoughtful in tight spaces and has no problem in receiving the pass, absorbing pressure from three opposition players before laying the ball back to Martin.
In the process, left-back Alfonso Espino has been dragged inside and Girona’s Yangel Herrera finds himself in space on the right flank.
With time to measure up a cross, Herrera picks out Savio on the opposite side, with Gutierrez’s awkward positioning drawing attention towards him and away from the tricky Brazilian winger.
He cushions the ball into the area, Gutierrez helps it on, before striker Dovbyk has a back-heeled effort cleared off the line — swirling shapes and ambitious positioning pulling the defensive structure apart pass by pass.
Personality plays a huge part, with Michel demanding that his players trust their ability on the ball in the face of aggressive opposition defending. An impassioned team talk against Sevilla, picked up by the La Liga TV cameras in August, outlined that philosophy for all to see.
“You have to keep the ball at your feet for longer,” he said. “It might be difficult under high pressure, but you have to keep hold of it and show character. You have to hold onto it, boys.
“Two touches, minimum. Feint to go one way, then the other. Hide the ball, play like you’re playing on the streets.”
More often than not, that combination of relentless movement and bravery on the ball pays off; it did against Rayo, as Michel’s side racked up 4.5 expected goals (xG) in a thrilling comeback win.
Girona’s ability to slice through teams hinges on incisive passing out from the back; it is why Michel places such emphasis on the advanced positioning of his wide centre-backs.
The 3-2-5 shape is a staple of his build-up plans, a system in which he demands Garcia and Blind to step up and fire passes into the midfield. It is no coincidence that per The Athletic’s definition of a progressive pass — one that moves the ball more than 25 per cent closer to the centre of the opposition goal — both rank in the top three in La Liga this season.
GO DEEPER
Inside Girona’s unlikely rise: Pep Guardiola’s brother, Manchester City and table football
Particularly in games where they dominate the possession, the setup becomes even more adventurous, as against Mallorca below. With David Lopez the dependable defensive anchor, Blind is able to push up into midfield to link with Savio out wide, while Garcia continues to keep the team connected with a wide range of passing connections from the back.
The attacking shape almost becomes a 2-3-5, with eight players in midfield areas looking to overload a stubborn defensive block.
It is not always smooth going, but Michel’s shape-shifting squad invariably causes problems for opposing teams. Even recent defeats, showing Girona’s title charge was perhaps too good to be true, continue to provide razor-sharp combination play and innovative twists on his own tactical plans.
With European football all but guaranteed for next season, La Liga awaits Michel’s latest evolution with bated breath.
(Top photo: David S.Bustamante/Soccrates/Getty Images)
