The Pride of Vallekas

A 24-year-old Sevilla graduate from Mairena del Alcor, Jozabed joined second-tier Ponferradina in February 2013, leading his club to just a place off the promotion playoffs. They were behind Las Palmas in the league table, but were level on points, head-to-head points, head-to-head goal difference, head-to-head goals scored and even goal difference; only number of goals scored could separate them. He then joined Real Jaén, where four goals and 12 assists in 36 league matches couldn't prevent relegation to the theoretically amateur third-tier of Spanish football in 2014. He took the punt and joined Rayo in La Liga. It was a gamble, a huge one, and no one thought about the signing working out. Two years later and with 10 goals and 3 assists not enough to save Rayo Vallecano, Jozabed was on his way to Fulham. He has since gone to Celta Vigo on loan, and now plays with them permanently. But why do I bring this up? In 2014, not many fans could really say that Jozabed was...

"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 R...

Lorca vs Rayo Vallecano. Starting Lineups. Once again, Míchel went with the same lineup from the week before, when they drew with Numancia 2-2. Curro Torres made two changes from the squad that lost 2-0 at Huesca. Dani Ojeda was replaced on the wing by Nando, on loan from Alavés. And striker Manel Martínez was replaced by Miguel Merentiel, on loan from Peñarol. Míchel's tactics remained largely the same. The tweaks he tried to instill to fix the flaws that were apparent in the last two weeks were somewhat undone by poor individual performances. Curro Torres' team is getting a reputation for being able to absorb pressure effectively - and they were largely on top throughout the game - but looked extremely vulnerable while in possession and when heavily pressed. The game was interesting tactically for the midfield battle and how each team tried to outdo the other. The battle in midfield, and how each tea...you get it. As you could imagine seeing the picture a...

I was looking for ideas for today's post, and could find nothing. Every website, every Twitter feed, every draft saved in my folder was visited. I even looked back at previous blog posts, hoping to create a continuation, a spin-off, a new miniseries - anything. And then this popped up on my phone: 💻 Óscar Trejo, mago del balón: https://t.co/BWGTES8Qgb — Unión Rayo (@UnionRayo) August 13, 2017 Eureka. Mago del balón , they had called him. His performances as a false 9 have provided hope in the face of an injury to our only striker Javi Guerra. Look at Rayo's other signings, and you see another mago . "Chori" Domínguez was nicknamed El Mago  during his previous stint by the Vallekas faithful. And while mago del balón  is an honour, El Mago  is a sacred title. It is conferred only once by a club's fans - and only on the most dazzling of club legends. Examples in Spain include Cádiz's Mágico González, Valencia's David Silva, and Sevilla'...

On the 24th of June, 2014, three players were presented at the Estadio de Vallekas. A signing from Real Madrid in the first division, a signing from Mallorca in the second, and a signing from Real Jaén in the third. As Quini, the right-back from Real Madrid, was being benched by a left-back; as Álex Moreno, the winger from Mallorca, was on loan at second division Elche, Jozabed continued to inspire the biggest success story of the 2015-16 season. And now? Jozabed left for Fulham for four million euros, Moreno is benching the left-backs who were benching Quini, and Quini himself is back up to Ernesto Galán. It's funny how life works out. The missing piece in this story is that of Diego Aguirre - he, too, was signed in 2014 after having made waves at Toledo in the third division. The left-back/left-winger has been rarely used at Rayo this season, despite a successful loan stint at Leganés (2014-15). However, a dismal loan spell at Real Oviedo (2015-16), and the perform...