The Pride of Vallekas

"Thanks for having this interest for lower teams in Spain. That is something that even in my country we lack as everyone cares about Real Madrid and Barcelona but don't see the local and amateur football dying year after year. " -Juan Manuel Serrano "Thanks for contacting me...[projects like these] make the world of football grow!" -Xavi Pérez Ureña For the last 19 days, I published 45 interviews by fans, writers, players and coaches. I wasn't expecting to have so many wonderful people respond to me, and I thank them for their time and cooperation, as well as for answering so many questions! I'm going to be honest here - I certainly wasn't expecting to interview an ex-Barcelona player - let alone two of them. I wasn't expecting to interview a footballer with three consecutive league titles. Or the assistant technical director of Rayo Vallecano. Or an Ipswich legend. Or the nephew of Juan Sabas. Or Mikel Alonso - again. I also...

When did you make the decision to pursue football coaching and what motivated you to do so? Well, I’ve been interested in it since always. I was a football player when I was a kid, and my football coaches used to be my target. It’s why I’ve been working in football for so many years and  I hope to do so for many more years to come. What was your background before Liverpool came calling? I used to be in my local town, which is Reus - they’re now in the second division. I was also at Gimnàstic de Tarragona, before which I worked for UE Rapitenca. I used to be involved in organisation and football coaching while at the same time obtaining my coaching license (while at Rapitenca) and studying sports science at the Universitat de Lleida for four years. What were the first thoughts in your mind when Liverpool offered you a position and was Rafael Benítez connected to the deal? I was the first Spanish coach there but was never appointed by Rafael Benítez - I was appointed...

The Zozulya case is messy and complicated and divisive. The residents of Vallekas have clearly not warmed themselves to him. There's another resident who hasn't, and he's pretty important. Pablo Iglesias. Yes, the leader of the Podemos party, the third largest in Spain, weighed in on the situation. "It is very healthy for the fans of the team in my neighborhood to say that Zozulya is not part of Rayo's values. Rayo is a team that does not get along with intolerance and racism." Also, Pablo Iñiguez is out for three to four weeks. As if Baena out and Quini (suspension) not being available due to suspension was going to make the game against Oviedo any easier. Oh, and I can't believe no one is saying this, but Presa gave an interview that went something like this. Have you had any real offer to sell the club? Yes, many. Would you consider selling it? No, not right now because the situation is complex. We have not come here for an econo...

Raúl Martín Presa just confirmed that the 17 fans, who Tebas had filed criminal complaints against (yes, this is the Zozulya case), will be expelled if found in the stadium. Nice work. Also, Marca, being typically and idiosyncratically Marca, released a dossier entitled Tracing Míchel's Rayo with "predictions" and interviews. The gist? Míchel worked under Paco, so Míchel's Rayo will play like Paco's Rayo. Finally, we must applaud courage when it is displayed. And today it was displayed by a Casanova - Gerard Nus Casanova. The assistant technical director for Rayo is also the assistant manager of the Ghana national football team, and because none of the technical staff (bar manager Avram Grant) have been paid even though AFCON finished weeks ago, he is refusing to leave Accra until everyone gets paid. "Like any human being, when you do work you want to get paid - I don't think there's anything strange in that. I'm just going to wait here un...