It took him four years to have Girona promoted to the first division and then he immediately stabilised them as a mid-table club. In fact, the Catalan club even challenged for a Europa League spot last season before eventually losing out to Quique Setien’s Real Betis and Sevilla.
However, Machin’s European dream was realised as he was handed the reigns at Sevilla ahead of the 2018/19 season. So, after establishing a sustainable system at Girona, Machin marched on to his next challenge in La Liga and ensured that he carried his tactical identity with him.
The Sevilla job came with a better set of players and higher expectations. It’s safe to say that the former Girona boss has lived up to the expectations so far.
Sevilla are through to the knockouts of the Europa and sit at third place in the league, level on points with Atletico Madrid and just three points behind leaders Barcelona.
Sevilla have made a superb start to the campaign.
At Girona, Machin fancied a three-man defence with Jonas Ramalho, Bernardo Espinosa and Juanpe at the back. Wing-backs Pablo Maffeo and Johan Mojica patrolled the wings and usually sat back against fierce attacks like Barcelona, Sevilla and Real Madrid.
Manchester City loanee Maffeo was, famously, tasked with man-marking Lionel Messi in the Catalan Derby at the Estadi Montilivi.
At Sevilla, Machin has not fixed the defensive cracks completely yet but the structure is surely more stable now than it was last season.
Sevilla than eliminated Manchester United from the Champions League, but they were not at their defensive best. However, the Machin-era has started out well for Los Hispalenses on all fronts.
Gabriel Mercado, Simon Kjaer and Sergi Gomez constitute the three-man defence at Sevilla, with Jesus Navas and Guilherme Arana patrolling on the wings. When out of possession, the wing-backs position themselves high up the pitch in an attempt to strangle their opposite numbers.
This is not dissimilar to how Maffeo and Mojica function at Girona.
Although Sevilla usually play in a 3-5-2, they have experimented with a 3-1-4-2 which resembles a square-shaped attack with Pablo Sarabia and Franco Vazquez playing behind Andre Silva and Wissam Ben Yedder.
Sarabia and Vazquez are tasked with pressing the opposition midfield to take the ball wide and ensure that the chances are created from the wings only. The backline is potent enough to ward off crosses and nullify any threats from the wing.
Ever Banega has been the midfield linchpin
Ever Banega has been their best player this season, providing stability to the midfield and adding some much-needed creativity. His passing from deep helps set off counter attacks, an aspect that Sevilla are getting better at this season.
In attack, Sevilla like to stretch the play wide and lead the though Navas and Arana. By stretching the play wide, the opposition full-backs are put in a dilemma of whether they need to stay compact or follow the wing-backs.
In case they opt for the former, Navas is left with all the time and space to pick out the perfect cross. If the full-backs follow the Spaniard, one of the attacking midfielders makes a vertical run in the half-space to receive the square pass.
In any case, the attacking transitions are so fast that the opponents have very less time to react.
There has also been an increase in central through-balls under Machin and the pair of Silva and Ben Yedder have done justice to the service they have received from the back.
At Girona, Machin brought the best out of Cristian Stuani and Portu. The Spaniard was the main reason behind the former peaking as a late bloomer.
Similarly, he shares credit for why Silva has been one of the best transfers in La Liga this season.
The 43-year-old has shown at both the clubs that he knows how to service his striker in the best possible way. The fact that only Barcelona have scored more goals than Sevilla in the league this season further evidences this claim.
Andre Silva has been a brilliant signing for Sevilla
The Seville-based club mean business this season. Their claim for the throne on which Barcelona currently rest seems to be more promising than Valenca’s half-hearted attempt last season.
One man deserves a huge chunk of the credit – Machin.
