The Pride of Vallekas

Rayo Vallecano vs Almería. Starting lineups. Míchel went with a largely unchanged lineup from the one that won 4-1 against Valladolid, with Sergio Akieme getting a run in ahead of Álex Moreno. Luis Miguel Ramis made several changes from their 3-0 loss against Huesca - Joaquín Moreno was replaced by Jorge Morcillo at centre-back, Rubén Alcaraz was replaced by Pervis Estupiñán, Fidel was replaced by Nauzet Alemán and Juan Muñoz was replaced by Pablo Caballero. Interestingly, the first three players that were replaced were also the three substitutions Almería made in this game. Rayo had the edge in the first half but couldn't find their finishing boots - Morcillo's red card before half-time meant that, even though it was 0-0, the game was over. Rayo and Almería set ups Rayo stuck to their typical lopsided 4-3-3, with Unai López on the left and Óscar Trejo playing his diagonal role. What was interesting was Almería changing from their usual, traditional 4-3-3 to a l...

Rumors here, rumors there, rumors everyw...CAN WE PLEASE HAVE LESS RUMORS! As you can guess,  I hate silly season. It's just rumors and rumors - all talk and no action. So welcome to my new series, called the Silly Season Accumulator. Where I list all the rumors that have ever been mentioned on the internet about Rayo.  Yes - all of them. Just to show you how ridiculous this machine is - a machine that creates meaningless content masquerading as journalism. If that's harsh, that's because the irony is that more rumors gives me more material. And that material gets in the way of the stories that matter. Here's all the rumors so far: Marco Sangalli from Mirandés is interested in joining Rayo, who is also linked to Valladolid, Numancia and Reus.  Embarba is being courted by Granada, Sporting and Pumas in Mexico.  Alberto Martín from Leganés has his contract expiring this summer, and has been linked too. Córdoba are also interested. Rayo...

One of my first ever posts was about Raúl Baena and his important to Rayo. (You can read it here ). This week, Baena, who is out of contract this summer, was linked to Alcorcón. The team is short of midfielders, since  Víctor Pérez and Bakic will be returning to Valladolid and Sporting Braga respectively. Pep Guardiola was revered by Barcelona fans because he achieved something believed to be impossible - winning trophies consistently whilst playing beautiful, attacking football. But beauty is subjective - and it isn't just of one type. It's hard to justify how a tough-tackling, yellow-card accumulating player who barely ever scores or assists goals can be described as beautiful. It's hard to see the importance of a player like that in a system that rewards passing and movement. But there is something beautiful, something heroic, something almost poetic, about a La Masia youth graduate, his hair flying in the air, his eyes determined, his brow tensed, his speed, ...