What's gone wrong at Bilbao

What went wrong at Athletic Bilbao?

From the UEFA Europa League final and the Copa del Rey final in May to mid-table mediocrity in December. What has happened to Athletic Bilbao?

Last season, Bilbao were a fantastic team to watch with their fast paced attacking football that produced dominant displays against Manchester United over two legs on their way to the Europa League final.

Despite the great continental run, they seemed to be very much a cup team last season, having finished 10th in the league with inconsistent performances throughout.

The problems mount

The main problem this season has been the reluctance to play star striker Fernando Llorente, who has been Bilbao’s top scorer for the last five seasons.

Llorente (pictured), who had his best season last term for Bilbao with 29 goals in all competitions, has been linked with a host of top clubs during the summer and is expected to leave in the January transfer window.

The Bilbao legend has been the spearhead of the attack for a number of years and his goals have proven to be essential to the success of his local team.

If Llorente is to depart in the January transfer window, Bilbao will be left with a huge hole in their goals department, as the pressure will fall on current first choice striker Adrian Aduriz.

Aduriz started the season well with eight goals but is the only regular goalscorer in the Bilbao team, as the rest of the squad has struggled to score goals around him.

Oscar de Marcos and defender Mikel San Jose have mustered three goals between them, with wingers Markel Susaeta and Ibai Gomez close behind with two goals each.

Iker Muniain has just come back from injury, and without him the Spanish side have lacked a cutting edge and creativity in the final third.

The 19-year-old is Bilbao’s latest young bright star who has a huge future ahead of him.

His style of play is one similar to fellow Spaniard Juan Mata with his low centre of gravity, skill and work between the midfield and defensive lines.

In the summer, the club received a £31.1m bid from Bayern Munich for their man-mountain midfielder Javi Martinez which was duly accepted.

Unable to replace Martinez 

Martinez played an anchor role in midfield behind Ander Herrara and De Marcos last season, which enabled Bilbao to push players forward and create chances in the final third.

Unfortunately they have not been able to replace Martinez with the right player, as they have now pushed centre back San Jose into the position in the hope that he can perform the same job.

The philosophy that has been adopted this season is of some contrast to the style they have played in the last five years.

The old formation consisted of Martinez’s deep role, which enabled De Marcos and Herrara to push on and feed wingers Susaeta and Munian or feed the ball into Llorente.

With the six foot five striker in attack, the Bilbao wingers had a genuine target to find with a cross.

This season, Bilbao has been playing with two holding midfielders and a different sort of striker that will play on the last defender in Aduriz.

It is a big year for the boy from Bilbao, as the footballing world has their eyes firmly on the talent that is on show at San Mames.

With the club already out of Europe and struggling in La Liga to meet their season’s expectations, they may have to sell their key players to top teams around the world, a trend started by the departure of Martinez to the Bundesliga.

Marcelo Bielsa enjoyed great success with Chile at the 2010 World Cup, but this is his toughest time in management since he failed to get Argentina out of the group stages at the World Cup finals a decade ago. 

With Llorente keen to leave and a lack of form domestically, these are tough times to be an Athletic Bilbao supporter. 

By Kuvan Sidhu - Follow me on Twitter @Kuvinho08