The Pride of Vallekas

After I posted yesterday's piece on Twitter, an interesting conversation with Rayo Herald's Twitter account ensued.... From the Bernabeu to unemployent....My piece on José Carlos and his injury-filled career https://t.co/aWDO4eSIzD pic.twitter.com/cop61HXLCb — Sarthak Kumar (@Vallecanos1924) September 16, 2017 When things were going good he never spent a single second to talk to us (media). Indeed, he does not deserve a single word of support now.. — Rayo Herald (@rayoherald) September 16, 2017 It's true he's quite eccentric. I remember his press conferences especially at AEK were absolutely stunning. — Sarthak Kumar (@Vallecanos1924) September 16, 2017 Recurrently declined to talk here in Vks, regardless of the situation (after training, after scoring twice,..). Why should we care? — Rayo Herald (@rayoherald) September 16, 2017 I understand. But I will always care about every player that comes to Rayo, even if they perform badly or brea...

Last week, the striker who promised Valladolid he'd score 40 goals and actually scored five, the striker who became friends with fellow lusophone Diego Costa, the striker who has played in Turkey and England, Greece and Spain, and who took four seasons to reach 97 league appearances at Valladolid reached 100 league appearances at Rayo in three. It's interesting to think that Manucho started out as a left-winger - and a pretty good one at that - in his native Angola. Nowadays, he revels in the super sub role, coming on in the last 10 or 20 minutes as Rayo's plan B. He isn't quick by any means, but he brings direct play, a powerful header and a central focal point to the attack. And hard work - lots of it. Out of the 100 league games, Manucho has started in just 31 (of which he has completed the full 90 minutes in 27). That's right - Manucho has had 69 substitute appearances. And while 14 goals in that time sounds measly, those 100 league games total a mere ...