Paco Pavón, a former player developed in Real Madrid’s youth academy who also played for Real Zaragoza under Marcelino García Toral, reflected on his career in an interview with the Offsiders podcast and did not hesitate to point to the Asturian coach as one of the managers who had the greatest impact on his long professional career.
The centre-back worked with the current Villarreal coach at Real Zaragoza, where they achieved a historic promotion. The former player highlighted the manager’s professionalism, meticulous preparation, and ability to bring out the best in his players. Speaking about Marcelino, Pavón recalled: “He’s an ideal coach for teams that are coming off a bad spell. He knows how to get the best version out of his players. We saw it at Valencia, where he took the team to the very top, and also at Athletic Club and Villarreal, where he repeated that success. I think the only club where he didn’t have that luck was Sevilla.”
Reflecting on that epic promotion with Zaragoza, Pavón also remembered how both the coaching staff and the squad “had everything at stake because promotion was a must”, adding: “I’ve never seen a coach so professional. He prepared matches down to the smallest detail, and the training sessions were very different from the usual ones, with a distinct and highly developed methodology. Everything was perfectly organised and run to the highest professional standards.”