The Pride of Vallekas

A few months ago, Rayo fans woke up to this: CONVOCATORIA| 📋 Lista de 1️⃣9️⃣ jugadores para el debut mañana en la #CopaDelRey 🏆 #NumanciaMálaga ⚽️ #VamosMálaga 💙 👉 https://t.co/hlScwtJkhY pic.twitter.com/qFGrdvOnrQ — Málaga CF (@MalagaCF) October 23, 2017 That was a bittersweet moment - pride for a Rayista who was going to succeed at Málaga, but bitterness at the club for letting him go for free and not tying him down early enough. Midfielder Pablo Clavería slipped through the cracks. He wasn't renewed, and got tired of waiting - a depressingly normal situation for a smaller, cash-strapped club. This is the story of another player who slipped through. Like Pablo, he has a powerful shot on him. Unlike Pablo, it's key to his job. The striker made his name in his hometown of Madrid in the Tercera, after rising through the ranks of Galáctico Pegaso. He would play for the reserves in 2007, before playing for the senior team during the 2008-09 campaign. During the ...

Rayo Vallecano vs Real Valladolid. Starting lineups. Both managers went with similar lineups as the week before. Míchel made no changes from the side that lost 2-1 at Huesca. And Luis César Sampedro made a solitary change, bringing in Toni Villa for Pablo Hervías on the right wing. This was a comprehensive victory for Rayo, who ended the game with just 36% possession (40% in the first half and 32% in the second). More importantly, it was characterized by both managers making multiple changes, both tactical and personnel-wise, throughout the game. First half set up Real Valladolid went with a very Rayo-esque 4-2-3-1 formation - and they played very much like Rayo too. Borja Fernández sat in the "Trashorras" role, dropping deep into the defense and (trying to) dictating play. Luismi sat further forward trying to break up play. Óscar Plano sat on the left wing, occasionally trying to dictate Valladolid's attacking game but very much ended up hugging the touc...

Sevilla Atlético vs Rayo Vallecano. Starting lineups. Míchel made two changes, both in defense, from the previous league game - a 3-0 loss to Osasuna - with Ernesto Galán and Antonio Amaya being replaced by Baiano and Emiliano Velázquez respectively. Luis Tevenet also made two changes from their goalless draw at Huesca - Álex Pozo coming on for Miguel Olavide in attacking midfield. Surprisingly, there was a change between the sticks, with Juan Soriano taking the place of José Antonio Caro. This was a game where Sevilla Atlético was clearly the better team, but didn't take their chances. Other than that, this was a game that both sides probably would want to forget - Rayo had zero shots on target and Sevilla Atlético had just 3. Team structures Sevilla Atlético may not have made many changes in personnel, but they did make a crucial player position change. Álex Pozo took the place of central attacking midfielder Miguel Olavide, meaning that Curro, a right winger, was pl...

As the rest of the supporters do, I appreciate his effort and how he tries to fight every single ball, but he is really really bad. - Daniel Kobe, on Manucho The club has not announced it ( edit: the club announced it at 9:23 am today ), but Manucho certainly has - on his Instagram. The Angolan striker is almost certainly back at Rayo, for a fourth season. Manucho: The lion "comes back home" This is not necessarily a bad "signing" - Javi Guerra's start to the season hasn't been great, and Raúl de Tomás, for all his qualities, doesn't seem to last 90 minutes week in week out. It's easy to be harsh on him, but he actually played quite well last season. He scored goals to kill off games, he kept defenders busy, and he gave Rayo an option in the air. And all that as a "super-sub". For me, there was something quite symbolic about Manucho "leaving" Rayo this summer. He left everything behind for a trail in Manchester, ...

More than three weeks ago, I did a piece on my thoughts on Rayo's current squad , and I spoke about the dire need for reinforcements. Well, now that the transfer window has concluded, here is what I said then, compared to my thoughts now... Goalkeepers Then : Alberto García (loan), Toño Adequate? Not sure, given Toño's injury problems, but Lucho from Rayo B seems like optimal backup if truly necessary. Now: Alberto García (loan), Toño, Mario Fernández Seems like Toño is still not ready for action - which means perhaps a signing was probably necessary. Mario Fernández from Osasuna will be a decent backup. Center-backs Then: Antonio Amaya, Zé Castro, José Antonio Dorado Definitely understaffed here - one more center-back might be needed, even if Kike from the B team did well in preseason. Now: Antonio Amaya, José Antonio Dorado, Emiliano Velázquez (loan), Abdoulaye Ba, Nacho Monsalve (loaned to Recreativo) So apparently Zé Castro wasn't even p...

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 ...