Tamudo
By: Armando |
2 Comments
When you’re club captain for so long and a talismanic figure to the only club you have ever played for in the first division, I realize he was on loan at Alaves and LLeida early on in his career, it is surprising to hear that the club is not only refusing to renegotiate the contract that would end your career at Cornella el Prat but also entertaining offers from Italy, Greece and England to take his services off the Espanyol books.
I know he’s 31 years old and well past his prime, he’s been injured much of his last 2 years at the club, and he’s looking for one last mega-contract. Espanyol have brought in some fitting replacements, and there is also some interest at his cut-rate evaluation of 2.5 million pounds. New Wigan manager, and fellow countryman, Roberto Martinez is a fan and they already have ex-Espanyol midfielder Jordi Gomez who played under Martinez at Swansea City, so that looks like the most appropriate destination, but in the long run it looks doomed to failure.
The club clearly want to sell no matter what people are saying in the foreground. The leadership in the locker-room has been a problem for years and Tamudo has been a focal point of player unrest. Instead of helping to take control of the squad, he has been part of the problem. Miguel Angel Lotina, Juande Ramos, Luis Fernandez, Ernesto Valverde, Tintin Marquez, and Mane have all been let go under Raul Tamudo’s tenure at Espanyol. Many of them have noted the fractured backroom, the haves and have nots amongst the players, those with inluence and those with none and ultimately the lack of support by management for Espanyol’s managers.
Relegation though is the great equalizer. Players who have coasted to date through inflated contracts have been humbled by the possibility of sending the club to a financial meltdown in the second division. It’s not just Tamudo, De la Pena, or Luis Garcia, but in fact most of the core leadership is feeling the wrath of a club that has sided with former captain and newest coach Mauricio Pochettino.
After the last whistle was blown, and the club saved from relegation, Pochettino layed out his groundwork for the new season. He would not re-sign with the club if new signings weren’t brought in, competition for places raised to the maximum. He gave his ultimatum, and the club put Tamudo and Lil Buddha on the market. In fact, more than half the squad of 28 is up for sale or for loan; some to be released outright. The player leaders have stalled in signing their contracts, hoping that the club would blink again in another round of chicken. Instead, Espanyol have signed promising young Chelsea striker Ben Saha and convinced midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura to make a short detour from Celtic before returning to Japan. Odd that they would be replacements if the two captains left? Not really. De la Pena blinked, then signed knowing that there were few clubs in the market for a slow, bald, passer with little to no finishing skills. Now Tamudo is set to leave, maybe to Wigan or Blackburn or Bolton or Hull, but the damage to his credibility is done. He’s no longer a first choice Spanish International.
Espanyol. Today. This is Pochettino’s team; and we are the better for it. I love Raul Tamudo. He is the best player in the history of RCD Espanyol, but football is a team game. He is the team, but the team is not him. Espanyol will exist long after he leaves and then some. I wish him well if he does leave, but the club endures.
Visca l’Espanyol
Category: Espanyol Team News
Estadio de Cornellá - El Prat
By: Armando | Add Comments
The new stadium is ready, we’ve got the keys to the Ferrari, and all we’re waiting for is Liverpool to inaugurate it in August. In the mean-time, let me get out some facts about the new place as like all pericos, I am very proud of our “new birdhouse” and glad that the bad taste of relegation that lingered around Montjuic is long gone.
It’s been a long 4 years since construction started, almost 2 years since I saw the barren site that would be our Nou Stadi to replace the Olympic Stadium on the hill, and frankly 8 months since the field was being finalized and the grass was being laid. No problem. 40,000 seats just outside the city in Cornellá - El Prat, close enough to take the train but far enough to discourage the cules.
Dani Sanchez-LLibre, our much maligned President spoke for us best when he said, “This has not been a walk through the Desert our time at Montjuic” and while I wouldn’t go as far I would say that it wasn’t painless, we are a better team for the struggles we have gone through. We challenged for the UEFA Cup against Seville, won two Copa del Reys in 2000 and 2006, and we sternly fought off relegation through sheer determination and guile. We were the best team, on form over the last 2 weeks of the season. Was it a miracle? I don’t know, Pochettino said recently that his hike up Montserrat to ask the Virgin to save the club from La Segunda and financial ruin had already been in the works; a promise he kept from years before when he was still a player at the club.
The real promise is the stadium though. During the unveiling, the Secretary General for Sport of the Generalitat, Anna Pruna describe it, (and I paraphrase) as an “impressive and incredible structure” , and that “the club’s symbol, the parakeet is, like a ‘perico-fénix’, a phoenix like parakeet because when things are at their worst it fell and took flight again. You can’t describe it any other way for the incredible history of this centenary club.”
I never had a club to follow, really follow, until I went to Barcelona. I’ve been through highs, beating Barca at the Nou Camp last year is one, and the lows of threatened relegation and while my life as a perico has just started, I realize there are many others who have struggled their whole lives with the ups and downs. I won’t make my little time with the club compare to that. I can’t. I’m just one more voice, a new voice to a historic club, my club RCD Espanyol and I’m proud of my club today.
Category: Espanyol Team NewsEspanyol 3-0 Valencia
By: Armando | 3 Comments
Let me just stop and say that again. Espanyol 3 and Valencia 0. This is the same club last week that should have beaten Barcelona soundly at the Mestalla, a club with the likes of Villa, Silva and my favorite new player Mata, of course he’d be a lot better if he came out in blue and white stripes but that would a little much. Going in I thought that if we held them to a draw, took the point and quickly got on a train out of town before the refs realized anything had happened I’d be happy with the result.
I knew what we’d do too. We’d shorten the game, get them out of their rhythm, hold the ball on clearances and play more direct bypassing their midfield. We’d try to hold our shape and take a 0-0 draw to halftime and then open up in the last third of the game. There were chances all around, Luis Garcia was off and so was Alonso, but we were frustrating Los Che; it was obvious with Fernandes especially complaining about the fouls and the free kicks awarded to my pericos.
The first goal came minutes after injured Ivan Alonso was taken off for our Argentine midfielder Roman. The ball ping-ponged in the area, it fell to his feet and he blasted it from just outside the box past a diving Cesar. We extended the lead from a free kick to Pareja ( you know things are going well for us if even the dead balls are going in) and Rufete’s penalty (taken by Nene) was the topper in the match but it really showed how far we’ve come.
One month ago we looked like a second division team. We weren’t scoring goals and the club was listless. We were making mental mistakes, goal keeping errors, and we were playing selfishly. Since then we have been tactically canny, opportunistic in attack, and a monster on defense. 2 goals in the last 7 games and 5 straight shutouts. After being 20th for much of the last 2 months, we are now 14th on the table with a critical game coming up against Atletico Madrid next week. 4 more weeks to safety. It looks likely now: 6 clubs are below us. Oh, is that Real Betis right below us?
Category: Espanyol Team NewsDipinto di bianconeri?
By: Armando | Add Comments
No you are not reading the wrong blog. I just wanted to give you a taste of what might have been coming out of the new stadium next year. According to some websites, primarily Italian calcio sites with nothing better to write about this time of year, there are talks ongoing between Sanchez-Llibre and the owners of Udinese Calcio in Italy (the Pozzo family) to buy Espanyol. Gino Pozzo is that guy right there on the left.
Are we changing our kit colors to black and white to match Udinese like my title suggests? Not likely. The Italians have denied any interest, Tuttomercatoweb: “Well, the family is not interested in buying Espanyol which, incidentally, is also not affordable as it is a public company, with operations divided between 20,000 members. We are already engaged in Italy and there is nothing concrete.”
Let me give you my take on this. With Espanyol facing the drop, the powers that be at the club have more than likely been looking to either sell or at least minimize their losses after relegation bringing in new investment. They looked for domestic relief but likely couldn’t find any and attracted some interest in Italy but the price tag was either too high for the Italians or they are negotiating for a better deal in the event that the worst scenario happens. Reading inbetween the press-release above that is the more likely scenario.
Also, Dani Sanchez-LLibre has been opening his mouth again recently about liquidating his interests in the club, he’s tired and doesn’t know how long he can continue being chairman (blah-blah-bla), so you never know about this story, but I don’t expect anything concrete to be established before the end of the season. Even if this is newsworthy, it just sounds like the club is looking for new partners, not to sell outright, which is essentially good for a club that is going to need outside investment and fast; most of our capital is going to be tied to that new stadium for the foreseeable future.
-Armando
Forza Futbol
La Liga Weekly
Category: Espanyol Team NewsBack in the saddle again?
By: Armando | 3 Comments
Sorry I’ve been away, but I’ve been busy with my primary site forzafutbol.com, redesigning it and I’ve had to scale back on my posting here, although I will tell you that I am never far away from RCD Espanyol. I may cover a broader spectrum of La Liga now as the Spanish correspondent for Forza Futbol it is always with the knowledge that I am representing the blanc-i-blau in the process.
Well, since I’ve been gone some very important changes have occurred in the months of March and April. A drop into the depths of relegation has sparked an unbelievable comeback. Pochettino went on a pilgrimage to Montserrat to beg for the safety of the club and it seems like it has helped. No longer one of the lowest scoring teams in La Liga, our goal differential is reaching a respectable single digit deficit rather than the -20 or more that Numancia and the like are sporting.
Are we out of the woods yet? No. Valencia are coming up as are Atletico Madrid. But then we have some more manageable games against Bilbao, Almeria and Malaga and from then on, who knows? Maybe some well-deserving sides like Betis or Racing can slip up some more and get us away from the danger zone.
And yes, I’ll try to blog more here. We’re already inundated with Barca chat with all this Champions League nonsense going around. And if you’d like to read more of what I’ve been doing: try forzafutbol.com
Category: EspanyolFC Barcelona 1-2 RCD Espanyol
By: Armando | 4 Comments
Sometimes in football, like in this match, the most incomprehensible things occur; the littlest player on the field (Ivan de la Pena) comes through with an unlikely header, unmarked and unchallenged, and then he adds to the tally with a monumental gift by Victor Valdez chipping it over the keeper after receving a wayward clearance from the same character. Bottom beats top, left is right, and suddenly we’re back into the mix, an escape from relegation a certainty?
Now, people on the other side of town (mostly cules) are going to downplay the loss, blame the ref or a subpar performance before a Champions League match midweek against Lyon looming. Xavi himself said that the ref took over the game, listened to the protestations of the Espanyol players, pulling out the red card, and awarded the “pessimism” of Espanyol to get in the way of the beautiful football that they were “dominating” with. What a load of rubbish.
They have no inherant right to beat all comers just because they can play neat pretty triangles on the pitch. Sometimes they need to fight. It was a chippy game from the get-go, a true derby match (emotional and heated) and Barca were giving just as much as they were getting. The cards were even throughout on the field (6 apiece) with one weird yellow going to the Barcelona bench for dissent. The red card didn’t look all that bad at first glance, but in slow motion you could see studs up in the lead foot for Keita and the trailing foot hitting the Espanyol player. There’ll be complaints, but it was a fair call, especially considering we lost a similar call in the corresponding fixture at the beginning of the year at the Montjuic; a game that threw us into a death spiral and humiliated us in front of the league. Karma. ‘Nuff Said.
I said we’d be lucky to get 3 points out of the matches against Sevilla, Barca, Real Madrid and Villareal, anything else in the next two is gravy I think.
Category: Espanyol Team NewsThe Lunatics have taken over the asylum
By: Armando | 10 Comments
- The responsibility is on the players, because it does not seem to interest them that there is a trainer. Miguel Angel Lotina or Ernesto Valverde blanquiazul had conflicts with the players. It can’t be that Mane lasted six matches, Márquez eight and now the players come out saying that the present trainer is the best one. It is necessary to be more serious than that and to mark a line. I am an españolista and I do not want to see the day that Espanyol gets relegated to the Segunda, but hope that this is the last season in which the players rule.”
Category: Espanyol Team NewsPaco Herrera resigns
By: Armando | 2 Comments
So, Paco Herrera can’t continue living off the glory of helping Rafa Benitez win the Champions League trophy anymore. Instead he leaves the club he joined from Liverpool with a bunch of failed negotiations and an inability to close the deal when any deal would have helped the cause.
Sure he was faced with an unbalanced lineup, the result of selling key players in the Summer, and yes with the arrival of a new coach in Pochettino he was faced with changing his transfer policy on the fly, from bringing in a defensive midfielder to shore up the defense under former coach Mane to bringing in help for their puny strike force, but in the end many of the deals he proposed vanished as quickly as they became known. Mateja Kezman was looking for another club in Europe and he would have been a decent short term replacement for Tamudo. Never materialized. Hernan Crespo who we spent considerable time and energy trying to convince to come to Barcelona was never going to leave his beloved adopted country to come to Spain.
In the end, for the failure of the squad, and the failed experiment with hiring not only Mane but also Tintin Marquez at the beginning of the year after the squad imploded under Ernesto Valverde, someone up top had to pay and unfortunately it was Paco Herrera who had to pay.
A nice man with great principles is what his immediate supervisor described him as, in one of the Barcelona dailies, but if you read between the lines like I did, all that means is that he was never ruthless enough or forceful enough to close the deal.
I hope his successor does.
Category: Espanyol Team NewsEspanyol 1-1 Recreativo Huelva
By: Armando | Add Comments
You have got to be kidding me. I have tired of writing negative reviews of the club’s performance, and after the flatter-to-deceive manner in which they’ve been playing, in two hard fought Copa del Rey battle against the enemy down the road and in close but no cigar matches against Valladolid and Recreativo Huelva. Through that patch that has brought us down from our usual midtable form to this an utter freefall and there’s nothing keeping us from bottom anymore. We’re at the bottom; in a three way tie with Mallorca and Osasuna, the only other club in Spain with as few wins as us and today we draw against the only squad with as few goals overall as we do. I’m not at all confident in staying up anymore. This was supposed to be our easy patch before the buzzsaw hits; we have Getafe next week away, and then Sevilla, Barcelona again, Real Madrid and ending with Villareal. We end the year with winnable games but we will need reinforcements and soon.
Copa del Rey: RCD Espanyol 0-0 FC Barcelona
By: Armando | Add Comments
Now that’s more like it. Alright, I understand it was against an under-strength Barca side that was starting Bojan all by his widdle-self up front, grey haired Silvinho and Alex Hleb’s pale ineffectual ghost on the wing, but my god we were impressive. I mean, come on, 12 seconds in we’ve already gotten stuck-in at midfield, we’ve counter-attacked with pace on the left wing by Nene, and but for a clumsy first touch by Moises, Espanyol might have scored. They almost did on the subsequent corner as well but Pinto punched it just as it was swerving in towards goal. Luis Garcia was caught offside 3 minutes in which is a good sign as he’s our one dominant forward left and he needs to be on the defender’s shoulder trying to beat the offside trap. We harried them on the wings, Sanchez had a great game as did Jarque in the back, and wonder of wonders, miracle of miracles we showed heart and determination against a much better opponent?
More on Pochettino next time, but the appointment of a young coach with club credentials and a fiery disposition was just what the anti-relegation doctors ordered. If we can catch that energy and bottle it for the league this weekend, we might just celebrate an escape from Montjuic and La Segunda at the same time at the Nou Sarria.
Category: Espanyol Team News
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