‘No magic, no Ted Lasso’- How Villarreal are changing Spanish football | OneFootball

Villarreal are having a fantastic season, currently fifth in La Liga and they will be aiming to finish the season in the top four to secure Champions League football, but how is a club with a local population of just 50,000 making huge inroads in Spain?

The Yellow Submarine aren’t just succeeding on the pitch, as off it they are making groundbreaking strides in Spanish and European football. Villarreal is the town in Europe with the most football pitches per number of people. It’s known as the ‘town of football’.

The province only has around 50,000 inhabitants, but has a total of 17 football pitches; 9 in the José Manuel Llaneza training ground, four in the Pamesa training ground, two in the CEM Pau Francisco Torres, one in Fundación Flors, and the Estadio de la Cerámica.

Villarreal place a huge importance on their academy, the ‘Yellows Academy’ and it is clearly working, as this season their squad contains six first-team players who came through the youth system.

Fernando Roig, the CEO of Villarreal, spoke on the importance of youth for the club at a spotlight event: “Our model is to be a sustainable club with a clear model of wanting to play with our academy.

“There is no magic thing at the club, it’s a clear idea and hard work. No one is a magician here, we haven’t hired Ted Lasso yet! We just have a clear idea what our aims are.”

One of the greatest success stories from Villarreal is Rodri.

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The Ballon d’Or winner was at the club for six years between 2012 and 2018, and speaking on his pride at seeing the Spaniard lift the most prestigious individual award in football, Roig said: “He grew with us and was one of the best players on our team.

“Unfortunately, he moved when he was young but I’m very happy with the Ballon d’Or he won and we feel very proud that he was with us for six years.”

Villarreal also have a great squad currently, with some very impressive youngsters coming through. Perhaps none more impressive than Alex Baena. The midfielder has 19 assists in La Liga since the start of last season, the most of any player in the league.

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The 23-year-old had an incredible summer, winning the Euros and the Olympics. “It was a beautiful but also hard summer. Winning the Euros and the Olympics is really special. Seeing people going out on the streets and cheering is amazing. To see so many Spanish people so happy makes us really proud.”

Baena is also a symbol of the great work that Villarreal do with their youth. “I was 10 when I came to Villarreal. I feel very proud to represent the club now. It’s the club of my life. Every time I put on the Villarreal shirt I smile.”

Whilst they don’t have Ted Lasso at the helm, Marcelino Garcia is certainly proving to be box office.

He has been in charge of the Yellow Submarine for just over a year and fans will be hoping the best is yet to come.