The Pride of Vallekas

Today's post is a short one. Apologies in advance... It's amazing to think that as of this moment, four of Eibar's starters - and almost half their defense, is made up of players who came to Rayo when their careers were in disarray. Rejuvenated, they are now going on to bigger and better things... On the left wing, you have Bebé . After a botched transfer to Manchester United, three loan spells with various degrees of success, a sale to Benfica, and a wretched six months and a relegation with Córdoba, Rayo took him in 2015 where he became a deadly left winger, with three goals and nine assists. After Rayo were relegated, he was sold to Eibar, where he has been a regular. Almost half the defense is comprised of players who fit this category. On the right side of defense there is Anaitz Arbilla . Paco took right-back Arbilla from Segunda outfit Hércules in January 2013, and in 18 months made him a solid La Liga defender, which earned him a move to Espanyol, and then to ...

I didn't write anything for today. Unfortunately, that's what happens when life gets in the way. I'm linking a Twitter TL that I wrote yesterday, talking about supporting a smaller club. You can read the original thread by clicking on the tweet below - it's more pertinent to fans of big clubs. 1/ I get confusing messages at times about why I support a small team. And I've seen others get this as well. And I thought I'd address — Sarthak Kumar (@Vallecanos1924) July 26, 2017 Otherwise, I've edited it below to remove the "come at me" style of writing - Twitter, essentially :D... Supporting a smaller team helps you appreciate every player who stays for more than a year, every signing made, every youth player who aspires to be in the first team, every contract renewal, every goal, every point, every new manager - everything. Even one season players are revered years after they have left. And the players feel that - for example one-season...

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, ...

The title really should be "The history of ESPN screwing over Rayo and good journalism in general" but, you know, what the hell. So here's a list - and bear in mind, this is just Rayo, a club few news outlets even bother reporting about. Count the first! Rayo win against Getafe 2-0. The headline? "Rayo Vallecano hang on with 10 men to defeat Getafe". Guess what? The player who was sent off was Yoel, the substitute goalkeeper who was ON THE BENCH.  Yeah, RAYO NEVER PLAYED WITH TEN MEN. Talk about shoddy reporting. The link to it still exists - it's here . Count the second! When Rayo lost 10-2 against Real Madrid, Craig Burley went off on a rant about how it's shameful for the league that Rayo lost by a heavy scoreline. That's his opinion. I disagree, and that's OK. What's not OK is that it's a misinformed opinion. Rayo attack not to win but to play, in a country where the aesthetic is valued, where playing de...