The Pride of Vallekas

Alcorcón is one of Rayo's most underrated shop windows - and the players who've signed for Rayo aren't highly heralded but quietly significant. So here it is - a run down of players who've signed for Rayo from Alcorcón. Carlos de la Vega is one of them. After emerging through Rayo Vallecano's youth system, the right-back went on to play with amateur sides Alcalá and Alcorcón, also from his hometown of Madrid, until well into his 20's. He did not have his first taste of full professional football until the 2008-09 season (he had only played one match with Rayo's first team in 2002-03's La Liga, two minutes) when, after returning to Rayo in the previous year, he was fairly used as the club easily retained its Segunda status. In late December 2009, de la Vega was loaned to another side in the second level, Huesca, until the end of the season. In July 2012, after more than one year out of football, the 32-year-old signed for two seasons with Leganés ...

Yesterday, I talked about Granada taking Rayo players away, but I actually didn't mention one of Granada's biggest signings from the club - Paco Jémez. So here it is. Paco refused to hear the scores when Rayo were 1-0 down. Nor when Rayo were 2-0 down. Nor when Rayo were 2-1 down. He turned to his bench, to the coaches who had supported him all season when criticism was at its zenith, to the coaches who had seen their players pull out for the season one by one, to the coaches who couldn’t hide their emotions as they responded. Granada? Safe. Getafe-Sporting? Draw. His head hung low, his eyes lost - searching for reason in a season that has been unreasonable to Rayo - his mind made up: "We are dead". We were dead. There was no hope - Sporting were playing Villarreal, who were coached by a Sporting fan, and Getafe were playing Betis, a team whose fan base has been friendly to Sporting for years. Out of Getafe, Rayo and Sporting, only Sporting were goi...

Given that now Baena has also signed for Granada - that's three Rayo players to the club in two years - you can excuse the frustration that I feel. And it may not even be the end - Manucho, Ebert, Nacho, Dorado, Dovale and Miku, among others I'm surely forgetting, are all free to sign for other clubs.  Granada have taken legends from Rayo - Juan José Collantes, Piti, Tito, and now Baena too. And what makes it even more painful is that it's so simple. Money talks. TL;DR: I hate Granada. He was just one of three players to stay with the club from 2004 all the way till 2008, when Rayo jumped out of the well and into the Segunda. The name? Juan José Collantes, who joined Rayo midway through the 2004-05 season also at the age of 21 after roaming around in Villareal (Juvenil), CD Onda, Palamos CF, and Racing de Santander B. A right winger, he would score 12 goals in the 2007-08 Segunda B, and along with Sergio Pachón (16 goals), Míchel (10 goals) and Piti (7 goals) g...

Ernesto Galán's praises have been sung many times. But they're not enough - he gives Rayo the solidity they need and is silently becoming an essential part of the team. By being a defensive right-back, a complete opposite to his predecessor Tito, Ernesto becomes the third center-back while Rayo have possession, thus freeing up Trashorras who would usually drop deeper as the third center-back to move further upfield. A subtle change - but it means that Trashorras is able to make his impact felt further up the field. In a frantic game like the one against Lugo, this wasn't just crucial - it was necessary. 35 seconds in and Patrick Ebert misses a one on one header with the goalkeeper. So much energy in this Rayo side too!!!! #RayoLugo — Sarthak Kumar (@Vallecanos1924) April 22, 2017 This new 4-3-3/3-4-3 suits another unsung hero - Álex Moreno. The left winger turned left back covers the wing perfectly, which suits Patrick Ebert who likes to cut inside with hi...