The Pride of Vallekas

Rayo Vallecano vs Sporting Gijón. Starting lineups. Míchel made several changes to the rotated side that won 2-0 at Reus Deportiu, reverting to the lineup that won 1-0 against Almería the jornada before - the only change compared to that game was Sergio Akieme being replaced by regular left-back Álex Moreno. Paco Herrera made one change to the side that drew 1-1 against Huesca, with Michael Santos came on as the lone striker for Carlos Castro. This was a frantic, hectic, evenly matched game - a 1-1 draw was a fair result - but it was also characterized by another Míchel experiment. First half setups Míchel's tactic was clear here - overload the left wing. Unai López, Adrián Embarba, Óscar Trejo, and Raúl de Tomás all played on the left side of the pitch, with Santi Comesaña asked to cover the entire right side. This was puzzling for two reasons - firstly, because Sporting Gijón are an incredibly balanced side and putting out an imbalanced team was defensively comprom...

Follow Roberto on Twitter here . If you're interested in finding out more about Valladolid, Roberto recommends: @pucelafichajes -  The main blog with all info, rumors. @RValladolid_Eng  - for updates in English. Desmarque Valladolid ( @desmarquePucela ) is in his opinion the best journal out there. Valladolid-based journalists - @chusrodriguez and @jesus_pucela . A bit about yourself and your background My name is Roberto, I’m 41 years old, and I’m from Valladolid, where I was born. I’m a teacher of English but I also work for a telecommunications company. How long have you been a fan of Valladolid and what made you support them in the first place? I think that the first memory should be like when I was 12. My father had a friend who knew Mariano Minguela, a legend in Real Valladolid. He gave me a signed little pennant with his picture in one side and the Real Valladolid badge in the other. I still keep it, and it’s one of my personal treasures. That made me ...