The Pride of Vallekas

His story is not unique. It is a story of a family fleeing violence, settling in a foreign land and making a name for themselves through hard work. It's the story of a striker named Tariq Spezie. It's a story that interested me because his brothers (Omar and Nura) were born in Dubai, a city I've lived in. And he was born in Sharjah, merely an hour away from Dubai. His Italian father from Verona (who worked in a tire company) and Spanish mother from La Mancha - which explains his last name Sevilla - saw the political situation in the region worsen. It eventually led to the Iran-Iraq War, and the family relocated to Italy with their one-year infant, and later to Spain. Tariq played youth football in modest clubs in Catalonia, such as Racing Blanenc and Vilobí, and supplemented his fluent Italian with Castilian and Catalan. However, he moved to Valladolid due to a family relocation, and made his senior debut with Real Valladolid B at the age of 19. He would compete the 1...

Linares coach Pedro Pablo Braojos once told him that he didn't have what it took to succeed in the Segunda B. He would turn out to be right. Mohamed Diamé was born in the Paris suburb of Créteil and he was selected to attend the Clairefontaine academy between 2000 and 2003. He would then move to Lens, beginning his professional career in 2005 with the club's reserves, but left two years later after facing health problems. He was told playing again would be risky. But he took that risk - as well as the risk of playing in another country - by recovering and immediately signing for Segunda B side Linares in July 2007. He played 31 games for the club - starting just 14 of them - and clocked 1292 minutes. Linares coach Pedro Pablo Braojos once told him that he didn't have what it took to succeed in the division. He would turn out to be right - Rayo Vallecano, a team not in the Segunda B but in the Segunda, saw a player with raw potential. A dynamic midfielder with ...

Welcome to a new mini-series - yes, the mini-series I love to start but always struggle to finish. This time, I'll try not to. This one focuses on the technical players at Córdoba, hence the name The brains of the Blanquiverdes . (I think that is why I do these mini-series - I like coming up with names like that.) Nevertheless, I hope you enjoy it! In a market where clubs can rarely offer more than a season-long contract, where teams desperately fill their squads with loaned players and youth hopefuls, where players can risk being unemployed for long periods of time if they don't sign whatever is on the table, a player's loyalty depends more on the club than the player themselves. Loyalty is rare. But Carlos Caballero Pérez is a rare kind of player. Not technically - just like many midfielders in Spain, he is a brilliant passer of the ball, creates chances out of nothing and is adept at free-kicks. And many teams noticed him from an early age. One of them, unfo...

Welcome to a brand new tactical analysis series, called The Rayo Report! For the first time on this blog I will (attempt) to tactically analyse each and every Rayo league game. I emphasize on the word 'attempt'. Real Oviedo vs Rayo Vallecano. Starting Lineups. Míchel and Juan Antonio Anquela both went with unusual, yet predictable, lineups. Rayo were essentially playing Trashorras and two attacking midfielders in midfield which struggled to defend but was technically astounding going forward. Óscar Trejo played something between a true 9 and a false 9 - sometimes distracting and pressing defenders, other times making late runs into the box or even dropping deep into midfield. In contrast, Oviedo went for a front four that was both fluid and tactically near perfect. It became the centerpiece of Oviedo's attack as well as its defending from the front. But it also meant that their midfield was exposed throughout the game. This was an end-to-end game - partly due...

You can follow Adrián Fernández on Twitter here . How long have you been a fan of Córdoba and what made you support them in the first place? I've been a fan of Cordoba since I started to get interested in football, when I was a kid. The reason I follow the team is because it is from my city, and since I started to follow them, I felt very represented. Describe your first experience of watching Córdoba play? I do not remember the first time very well, because I was small, but I remember the relegation to the Segunda B (third division) in 2005. It hurt a lot, and it was at that moment when I felt that I loved Córdoba CF. To an outsider - how would you describe Córdoba's playing style, what it means to be a fan of the club, and what it means to be a player of the club? Córdoba has a very changing style of play. It depends on each rival. To be a player of Córdoba means not to surrender and fight until the end (we ascended to La Liga in the 93rd minute), and to be fan, ...

Three months ago, the 31st of March to be exact, right here on this blog , I said: "I've been compiling some stats for a long time - so watch out in the coming days for them." Oops. Welcome to part 2 of this Statistics series. In part 1, I compiled of teams that never won away in the top three divisions since 1990. This is a list of teams that were relegated for non-sporting reasons from the Segunda B. In o ne word: Madness. 1985-86: In group one, Deportivo Alavés (5th) and Palencia CF (7th) were relegated for economic reasons - their places were bought by San Sebastián CF (8th) and Pontevedra CF (9th) respectively. 1986-87: Mallorca Atlético (21st) gave up their seat and were relegated. 1988-89: In group two, CD Cala Millor (15th) were relegated for economic reasons and replaced by SD Ibiza. Also, FC Barcelona Aficionados (11th) were relegated to the Tercera because Barcelona Atlético were relegated to the Segunda B, and they were replaced by AEC Manlleu...

John Mothershaw of oviedofans.blogspot.com  and I collaborated on a preview of the upcoming fixture. It was published on his blog here  and also on OviedistaNorthWest  here . And it's right here on this blog too. But before you read it, send John some love on Twitter here . And while you're at it, to me here  too. Thanks. I love you. Sarthak Given the summer window and the squad that was assembled at the start of the season, is Rayo where you want it to be? Not even close. Rayo managed to keep all their La Liga starters, save right-back Tito and midfielder Jozabed - and even then Rayo brought in adequate replacements. Maybe Rayo fans underestimated their losses, but even then being joint-bottom is quite unexpected. Currently, Rayo are joint-bottom in 21st - do you think they have what it takes to survive in the Segunda? Given that even if you don't count Real Oviedo they still have to play six of the top ten, my money is not on them staying up. The l...