Athletic Club de Bilbao has not performed as expected so far this season. Just some months after European football (soccer) fans fell in love with this team and its performance, its philosophy, its unique culture, its courage… things are not working this season. They are about to be knocked out of the Europe League, they are ranked 12th in the BBVA League, one of their best players is now playing for Bayern München, their franchise player is spending too much time on the bench and the coach that led the team during the last season and the club’s management are not on the same page.
BVS wants to show some data referring to Athletic Club, coming from the 2011/12 BBVA League report we are preparing. On the one hand, Marcelo Bielsa was last year’s coach with more importance on its club’s image among all BBVA League coaches. He was present in 10.73% of the club’s media presence thanks to last season’s excellent performance. This year, instead, news refers to him because of issues like arguments with the club’s management, the controversial works in Lezama or the players’ leaks.
On the other hand, Fernando Llorente was, as we posted some days ago, the fifth franchise player with more importance in its club’s media presence during the BBVA League. He was present in 11.54% of the club’s image thanks to the goals he scored. On the contrary, Aritz Aduriz is playing and scoring more than him this year. Llorente is nearly always sitting on the bench, indeed.

There were a number of reasons for Athletic’s excellent season, but as our data shows, Bielsa and Llorente were essential for the team’s success. However, during this season, their two media references are crying more than laughing. Moreover, Javi Martínez left the club and Ander Herrera is having some physical problems. Bearing all this in mind, all the trouble the team is having seems easier to understand.