Skip to main content

Rayo Vallecano and 2014 - a wave of new arrivals (14th September, 2017)

"Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free"

At the end of the 2014-15 season, Rayo survived comfortably, and surviving felt normal. It wasn't. It never was, and never again will be taken for granted.

It's surprising that I took it for granted then. We were on the division’s smallest budget. We lost our best center-back - and sometimes our free-kick taker ahead of Trashorras - in Alejandro Gálvez. We lost out best striker in Joaquín Larrivey. We lost our best goalkeeper in Rubén Martínez. We lost midfielder Adrián González. We even lost Anaitz Arbilla - a player who went from being a Segunda player with Hércules to becoming a La Liga quality defender and earning a move to Espanyol. In 18 months.

With so much quality leaving the squad, Rayo were backed into a corner. And in that situation, apart from Antonio Amaya returning to Rayo from Real Betis, Rayo had to compensate by bringing in quantity.

Rayo's 2013-14 squad

Rayo took huge risks on many players - some youngsters, others experienced, but all who had never dreamed of La Liga experience before. Jorge Morcillo was a defender at Segunda club Recreativo. Àlex Moreno was a talent at Segunda club Mallorca. Jozabed Sánchez was a talent at Real Jaén, relegated to the Segunda B that summer. Diego Aguirre was a talent at Segunda B outfit Toledo. Quini was a talent at Real Madrid Castilla.

Many players who were tired of waiting for game time flocked to Vallekas. Toño, a Zamora winner at Recreativo in the second tier and a Racing de Santander starter for almost seven years in the first, was a backup at Elche. Alejandro Pozuelo came in from Swansea, after Michael Laudrup, the coach that signed him from Real Betis for a bargain £425,000, had been sacked. Derek Boateng was a quality defensive midfielder warming the benches at Fulham. Manucho had played just 901 minutes as a striker at Real Valladolid. And many were loaned in too - Abdoulaye Ba and Licá came in from Porto. Javier Aquino and Jonathan Pereira came in from Villarreal. Leo Baptistão and Emiliano Insúa came in from Atlético Madrid. Oh, and Mohammed Fatau from Granada, Cristian Álvarez from San Lorenzo and Gaël Kakuta from Chelsea.

All of them were players who were tired - of waiting on the sidelines, of no one giving them a chance, of being looked upon as just super-subs. They wanted to breathe free - to express their quality on the pitch.

Who said it would be easy? Jorge Morcillo didn't work out - he dropped back down to the Segunda. Alejandro Pozuelo didn't work out - but rebuilt his career at Genk instead. Derek Boateng, incredibly, was signing in June 2014 and deemed surplus to requirements - and released - after just two months, and went on to play for Eibar, Rayo OKC and OFI Crete. Abdoulaye Ba went on to have three more loan spells at three more clubs (taking his tally to five), before signing for Rayo this summer. Licá had a mixed season, and ended up shining at Vitória Guimarães. Jonathan Pereira's loan move was terminated after six months - Miku was signed from Al-Gharafa in Qatar to cover.

Heck, even signing Léo Baptistão was a struggle - Roberto Trashorras had to convince the frightened Rayista, who left for Atlético in the first place in controversial circumstances and risked the wrath of certain fans. And the players above don't even include Johan Mojica, who cost 500,000 euros to sign from Deportivo Cali, and was immediate loaned to Real Valladolid.

But while the players who didn't work out were huge gambles, there were others for whom this was a career-changing move.

Just look at Kakuta. Chelsea signed the promising winger from Lens, but after loan spells at Fulham, Bolton, Dijon, Vitesse and Lazio it seemed all was lost - and then he came to Rayo. Five goals and seven assists was enough to earn him a move to Sevilla, who were ready to pay six million euros for him despite being out of contract (he wasn't 23 yet). Or Quini - who became a starter and signed for Granada this summer. Or Léo, who is now a starter at Espanyol. Or Jozabed, who earned a 4 million euro to Fulham and now plays for Celta Vigo. Or Insúa, who is now shining at Stuttgart.

For here was a manager that loved to see players express themselves - to play out from the back even under the most intense pressure. For the first time in their careers, mistakes didn't matter - just as long as each player bought into the Jémez philosophy.

And for them, it meant more emotionally than just getting a chance at a club.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Ismael Urzaiz and Salamanca. A 22 team La Liga. Trust and Víctor Casadesús (9th June, 2017)

Salamanca traveled to Albacete to compete for promotion to La Liga with an impossible task on their hands. They had to overturn a 2-0 deficit away from home, against a side that entered La Liga's relegation playoff spots on the final day, and who had scored 44 goals in the league - just four less than Salamanca themselves. As the clock ticked towards the 90th minute, Salamanca were winning 1-0 yet in danger of losing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Born in Tudela, Navarre, Urzaiz began his professional career at Real Madrid's B-side, making his debut in Segunda División in 1989. Despite being a successful youth international, he did not make any La Liga appearances for the first team (however, he did play one game against Odense BK, in the 1990–91 European Cup). Urzaiz spent the 1991–92 season on loan at Albacete Balompié, making his top flight debut when he came on as a substitute against Athletic Bilbao in October 1991. In early 1993, he was loaned to Celta de Vigo

Non-league Incider: St Helens Town 3-0 Atherton Laburnum Rovers

Last game: 8th August: Dulwich Hamlet 2-1 East Thurrock United The previous day, I was blown away by my first ever football match experience. Dulwich Hamlet impressed me, but what impressed me more was the journey. The travel to the stadium was just as enjoyable as the football itself. I had caught the groundhopping bug. There were no games scheduled for the 9th of August. There was one, near Wigan, and all I had booked earlier was a refundable bus ticket from Manchester Airport leaving at quarter past midnight. I should have refunded it. This was a mistake. This whole day was a mistake. I was only slightly hungover from the previous night, but that was nothing compared to this feeling of loss - I couldn't handle the fact that there was a game happening. And I wasn't too far away. Just three hours and a bit. They'll fly by , I thought. I was in autopilot. Something within me made me get up, grab a bag, and get out the door. This wasn't me. I wasn't trave

Non-league Incider: Cray Valley Paper Mills 4-4 Punjab United Gravesend

Last game: 9th August: St Helens Town 3-0 Atherton Laburnum Rovers After ripping up my groundhopping calendar, mostly because I was determined to avoid overnight travel, and partly due to other commitments, there was a period of time where non-league football took a backseat. But that period did not last long. Because of course it didn't. Secretly, I'd loved travelling over ten hours back-and-forth to watch some 10th division football. And this was 9th division football in London. When I had gone to East Dulwich exactly a week back , I had commented on how the amount of graffiti struck me as I watched from on board a southeastern train. I was going the exact same way, but much further this time - then I had stopped at Denmark Hill, now I would have to go six stations further. The graffiti I had thought was so emblematic of south London quickly disappeared, as did the tall buildings desperately cluttered together. We, and by we I mean me, were going to the suburb