The Pride of Vallekas

Continuing from part 1 yesterday... However, after just two first team opportunities [at Barcelona], and a Jorge Valdano-influenced move to Real Madrid resulted in two dull seasons at Real Madrid Castilla left Roberto in serious doubts. Racing Vilalbés, his boyhood club, would take him back in a heartbeat. But it was Numancia, in the Segunda, who saved what could have become a forgotten career. It was in Soria where he showed his ability to dictate games. Even though he played just 12 league games, his quality was clear. From 2006-08 he played with Las Palmas. That summer he had offers from different foreign teams, but his desire to stay in Spanish soccer led him to the Canary Island club. His passing and service to strikers was well remembered, especially his connection with Marcos Márquez. Las Palmas never tabled a renewal offer, and out of the many offers he received the chance to return to his native Galicia enticed him the most, and Balaídos was graced with the pass-master...

Interestingly, Rayo's ultras, the Bukaneros chooses to side with Depor's Riazor Blues, rather than with Celta's Celtarras. And yet Celta is perhaps where we should look for inspiration, because of two signings that happened in the summer of 2011 - Michu and Roberto Trashorras. Since I've already written about Michu before, I'm just going to put a link to the post - you can click here to read it . Nevertheless, without further ado.... Tic. Tic. Tic. The beat of the metronome. Its sound is drowned by the cheering fans yet everyone sees it. And the man controlling the frequency feels it. Knows it. Understands it. As the ball approaches him his eyes see the previous beat and his mind sees the next. The ball arrives at his feet. For a split second - a second that is easily missed to the naked eye, every single player slows down. Time slows down. His eyes don't need to look around - the snapshots are firmly ingrained in his mind. He knows what to do. ...

7th October, 1995. Johan Cruyff must deal with the absence of Kodro, Hagi, Prosinečki, Popescu Bakero. Barcelona are travelling to Betis, and it is the only La Liga game of the day - all eyes are on it. Those eyes then quickly turn - Diego Maradona rejoins the Boca Juniors squad after having been suspended for fifteen months. And even in Spain many focus on Jorge Valdano's Real Madrid who are struggling - and Atlético Madrid's Radomir Antić who calls club president Jesús Gil's dreams distant from reality. But the eyes that remain go wild - Johan Cruyff has produced a revolutionary lineup. Eight new young players make their debut. Eight. And they tear Betis apart, in a performance that is still vivid in the memory of some Barcelona fans. That season - the 1995-96 season - saw a record 20 youth academy players trained with the first team. Ten of them made their first team debuts - La quinta del mini , they called it. There are some who go further, who call the B team of...

Trashorras took his first steps in Barcelona back in 1996, when he was only 14 years old. He recalls living in a flat of four in La Masia because it was only at the age of 18 that players were allowed to look for a flat of their own. His eight years there coincided with Guardiola, De la Peña, Puyol, Reina, Valdés and Iniesta. On August 8, 2001 he made his first team debut with Rexach in a Champions League qualifying match against Wisła Kraków. It was 86 minutes when he entered the field for Luis Enrique, the current coach of Barcelona. A few days after that European experience, on October 7, 2001, Trashorras made his league debut against Deportivo, this time entering the field in the 68th minute for Alfonso Pérez. His time at Real Madrid coincided with Arbeloa and Beckham, but he didn't get any first team opportunities for two years there - despite helping Real Madrid B to a promotion to the Segunda. After eight years at Barcelona and two at Real Madrid, Roberto Trashorras w...

Going from having one manager for four seasons to having three just this season, I thought, to feel good amidst the institutional chaos to detail the times Rayo have had more than three managers at the helm. The first was in the 1995-96 season, when Rayo Vallecano were promoted to the top flight in 1995. This was the season they were jokingly called "Rayo gaditano", as four of Rayo's players (and starters) were from Cádiz: Jose González, Calderón, Barla and Cortijo. Additionally, the interim coach between Zabalza and Marcos Alonso on matchday 8, Francisco Baena, was from there too. Zabalza had taken over at the start of the season, but was sacked after just seven games - having picked up just one win (3-2 at home against Valencia), and with Rayo at the foot of the table. Baena's game in charge was a 2-2 draw at Tenerife. But it was Marcos Alonso (aka Marcos), the father of current Chelsea left-back Marcos Alonso, who steered the ship. In his first ever manageri...

I wanted to write about something common between Rayo and Numancia. Then I thought about players who had played for both, inspired by yesterday's blog post. So I thought I'd write a little about former passing legends such as Roberto Trashorras, whose story deserves to be heard.  After eight years at Barcelona and two at Real Madrid, Roberto Trashorras was at a crossroads. He was 24, unemployed and forgotten. Barcelona had picked him up from boyhood club Racing Vilalbés at the age of 14, and his resemblance to Juan Sebastián Verón earned him the nickname  la brujita del mini . He had started out as a striker but was converted to a playmaker by Barcelona B coach Quique Costas due to his knack of assisting goals. However, after just two first team opportunities, and a Jorge Valdano-influenced move to Real Madrid resulted in two dull seasons at Real Madrid Castilla left Roberto in serious doubts. Racing Vilalbés, his boyhood club, would take him back in a heartbeat. B...