The Asturian head coach has given seven B team players their debuts this season
Marcelino García Toral is taking advantage of the academy. And his gamble is paying off. Against Girona, Villarreal B striker Etta Eyong scored the winning goal in the dying seconds, giving the Submarine a vital victory for their European aspirations.
In his two spells as Yellows manager, Marcelino has given opportunities to dozens of young talents from the prolific Yellows’ academy. This season, seven youngsters have made their first-team debuts: Pau Navarro (26/09/2024), Pau Cabanes (30/09/2024), Jean Yves Valou (29/10/2024), Alassane Diatta (04/12/25), Thiago Ojeda (18/12/2024), Arnau Solà (13/04/2024) and Etta Eyong (20/04/2024). This many B-team players have not made their debut for the Yellows since the 2017/18 season.
Marcelino’s pearls
Of these promising youngsters, Pau Navarro, fully established in Villarreal’s dynamic, Pau Cabanes, on loan at Alavés, and, in recent matches, Etta Eyong have become more prominent players in the first team. All of them are players who greatly excite the Yellows fans.
The defender from Vilavella has managed to convince Marcelino thanks to his great defensive ability and quick adaptation to the team, qualities that have helped him establish himself in the first team and deliver performances that have earned him a contract renewal until 2030.
On the other hand, recent debutant Etta Eyong was already demonstrating an incredible level and a unique goalscoring instinct during his time with the Yellows’ B team, scoring 17 goals and providing six assists in the 29 matches he has played in the Primera Federación.
The Cameroonian striker has also made the most of his first-team opportunities splendidly, scoring a goal against Real Sociedad that was ruled out in the final moments of the match due to a controversial and non-existent foul by Nicolas Pepe, and the most important goal against Girona at Montilivi in the 89th minute after a fantastic header, which gave the Submarine three vital points in their fight to qualify for the Champions League. In his previous spell, Marcelino García Toral gave debuts to Edu Ramos (14.12.2013) and Nahuel Leiva (13.01.2014) in the 2013/2014 season, to Adrián Marín (28.08.2014), José Naranjo (04.12.2014), Israel Puerto (04.12.2014), Sergio Marcos (15.02.2015), Alfonso Pedraza (05.04.2015), Fran Sol (25.04.2015), and Aleix García (23.05.2015), and finally in 2015/16, to Miguelón Llambrich (03.12.2015) and the current Ballon d’Or winner Rodrigo Hernández (17.12.2015).
