RCD Espanyol de Barcelona » Espanyol

Back in the saddle again?

Armando — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 05:54:56 +0000

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

Espanyol 1-1 Recreativo Huelva

Armando — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 06:55:13 +0000

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.

Espanyol in transition

Armando — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 20:30:53 +0000

If it seems that life at the Montjuic is about to get more interesting, then it isn’t just appearances. It is about to get very interesting at the Montjuic and it isn’t just about the latest announcement that club president Dani Sanchez-LLibre revealed that the club would be moving to the new stadium in March of next year. No, last week signaled a seismic shift at the club with the appointment of Joan Collet as Vice-President in charge of expansion and marketing under Sanchez-Llibre and the return of former club official Germán De la Cruz who, after 4 years away from club, has taken over all sporting side operations. What does this mean for the club?

Clearly, Collet who has long been rumored as the successor for Club President, will have a say as to the future economic direction of the club and may yet take over for Sanchez-Llibre, who has said in the past that he may not finish his 5 year term in 2011. De la Cruz’s direction is even more interesting. He is returning to the club after being forced out during the last elections in 2006 and will help Sanchez-Llibre with the day to day running of the club in La Liga. His first action in charge was to have a meal with close friend Tintin Marquez at a local restaurant and not to meet with sporting director Paco Herrera who would join the club oddly at Racing Santander whereas he is usually scouting other matches away from the club. While the newspapers are already mounting Tintin’s head on a virtual pike, I would say that Paco has more to lose with the club changing it’s leadership.

Rightly or wrongly, the club are in for a very interesting winter break.

Two Weeks of Misery

Armando — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 19:32:43 +0000

I’ve been incommunicado for a few weeks, the day job is pinching my time as such, but if you’d like I’d say that there wasn’t much to write about actually then you’d be wrong. It’s been a disappointing few weeks at the Montjuic, with a 3-4 away loss to lowly Numancia that we should have put away but for two goals in the last 6 minutes or so, the deciding goal a howler let in by Kameni (again: it seems when the contract talks come in so do opponents’ goals), and the recent 3-0 drubbing by Racing Santander in which we leaked goals, a site I had grown accustomed not seeing this year. My god, Munitis scored a goal against us!

There’s something afoot, something that leaves me thinking about the collapse of last year and not so much because of the lack of on-field leadership or skill that De La Pena usually handles, but the fissures in the back-room weren’t closed with the hiring of Tintin Marquez off the previous manager’s staff. There is a dearth of talent in the wings, the club’s leadership are a step slower and the club’s lack of form are pushing us dangerously close to the relegation zone. Tintin is on his last legs, as the Barcelona papers are intimating, so who is the right person to turn this around? One of the many relegation fighters like Caparros, a Michael Laudrup who is clearly marking time in Russia yearning for a return to Spain, an out-of-work Juande Ramos who was out of his element in London, or someone younger? Whoever it is, it ought to be someone like Unai Emery or across town at FC Barcelona, where both have taken fractured clubhouses and formed if not a united front then an opportunity of unity, an atmosphere conducive to winning. That Moises Hurtado comes out this week and backs his manager and blames his fellow players is nothing more than what half the squad did last year, pointing fingers outward and not inward.

Espanyol v Mallorca

Armando — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 14:20:37 +0000

I’d love to say that I expected anything different to what we got yesterday, a pummeling from a supposedly weakened Mallorca squad, but I was not-so cautiously optimistic. We had been on a poor run of form early but all anyone could say, our opponents and journalists alike, was how hard we were playing for Tintin and how unlucky we had been against the buzzsaw of clubs we had played to this point. Even on the last Forza Futbol podcast, I mentioned that Espanyol were just finishing up that incredible run and we would soon be turning our season around. Mallorca? Not so much whether we would score but how much.

Not so much. Did we bother to show up after crossing the bay to Mallorca? 3 goals conceded amongst which was a brace to Aritz Aduriz and both from set pieces? And then a third by Varela 15 minutes from time? We dominated the first half, possession was ours and we created chances but we lacked the instinct and I’ve got to say heart to come back. Next up we’ve got Celta Vigo in the Copa del Rey on Wednesday which should be easy depending on which side we start, then Osasuna next week so this should be where we turn it around. We are a fast starting team with blistering first halves that slowly fade in the final third. God I hope we stay up.

Espanyol v Villareal

Armando — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 14:30:47 +0000

Alright, this is getting annoying, not as annoying as losing all those games last season but almost I’d say. At least we’re playing well. Sure, this makes 5 games without full points since we defeat Huelva on matchday 1, but the most annoying bit is that other than a blowout loss to Sevilla we’ve been a really tough team to play against and had chances to win in all the other games. We were up a goal late in the Barcelona derby before conceding. We were up twice to Real Madrid before Raul single-footedly drew them even. And Getafe? When you can’t bother getting full points against a squad you should be better than, well you’d better shut up shop.

This leads me to the game at hand. Espanyol v Villareal. I won’t get too bogged down with the matchday report, there are plenty of those sights around and anyways I’m pretty bad at it so I won’t even try. Plus you come here to the offside for analysis not data regurgitation, right? Ok, this result will haunt for awhile. End of analysis. If Raul Tamudo slots that penalty, it’s full points for the good. Diego Lopez guessed right and slapped it away and yes, the penalty was rather dubious but having not gotten two calls in the first half there was a bit of cumulative refereeing going on.

Other than that Villareal had most of the possession and had clearer chances sure, but while it gives the impression that we were dominated by a top three team, it speaks to the manner in which Tintin has us playing. Our counter-attack is working. Luis Garcia is tracking back and getting other players involved, our centerbacks are strong and well-positioned, our fitness is up and I don’t see the lack of energy late like I did last year. New starters like Roman, Sergio Sanchez and Nene have done well. Lil’ Buddha runs the show and shows every week why he’s still one of the great players in the league. Tamudo on the other hand, looks well past his sell date. I’m not trying to stir up craziness, he’s the captain and the greatest Espanyol player arguably in history, but since the broken arm last year he is clearly not the same. He had some great runs and his energy level was up against Villareal but he’s usually a deadly finisher and a master penalty taker and I’ll say this. His approach on that penalty was weak, lacked pace and aggression, and his body language throughout said it all.

We’re better than I thought, certainly better than 9th in the League where we stand, but we’ve done extremely well when you consider the stretch of games we’ve been on playing 5 of the 8 teams that are directly in front of us. I think it’s time to start tacking on the points against the minnows and getting healthy again.

Upcoming Friendlies

Armando — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 15:08:45 +0000

25th July:
RCD Espanyol vs Swansea City (WAL)
(International “Gamba de Palamós” Trophy)

2nd August:
Manchester United (ENG) vs RCD Espanyol
(Ole Gunnar Solksjaer Testimonial Match)

7th August:
Académica de Coimbra (POR) vs RCD Espanyol

9th August:
Os Belenenses (POR) vs RCD Espanyol

13th August:
FC Volendam (NED) vs RCD Espanyol

15th August:
Willem II Tilburg (NED) vs RCD Espanyol

17th August:
De Graafschap (NED) vs RCD Espanyol

19th August:
NEC Nijmegen (NED) vs RCD Espanyol

24th August:
RCD Espanyol vs Udinese Calcio (ITA)
“Ciutat de Barcelona” trophy (Annual summer tournament organized by Espanyol)

10th September:
FC Santboià (ESP) vs RCD Espanyol

Some great warmup matches before the season starts. Thanks to Nik from Pericoz, the RCD Espanyol Supporters Club in Sydney, Australia for the schedule. Big shout out to him, check out his website here.

Take me out of my misery

Armando — Thu, 22 May 2008 02:58:07 +0000

The miserable second half is over ladies and gentlemen, our promising season that looked headed for European glory, was sucked in and spit out by the twin menaces of complacency and greed. Good riddance to the over-hyped imbeciles who looked at the Monopoly money in Europe, away from the Montjuic and decided that being an overpaid backup at White Hart Lane or Anfield is better than playing everyday for Espanyol.

Kameni is (I guess) allowed I think to seek better pastures. A good keeper is a commodity that few great clubs let alone mediocre clubs have to offer, so even if we lose him to a bargain basement offer, then we should comply. There is little we can do to stop him from leaving as his valuation is very low for a decent keeper. Still, that’s not what bothers me.

Albert Riera is moaning about not being called up for Spain?!? Does he think that life will be any easier at Liverpool, or is he following the career of another former Barcelona midfielder that went to Anfield, not the Luis Garcia that he plays with, but the other one that’s a colchonero and hasn’t featured for La Furia Roja in years. Does he not see that the only quality midfielder in England that gets any publicity is Cesc Fabregas and he keeps hinting that he’s coming back to Spain, not that he really wants to, but that’s the only way that he can keep his name in the headlines for AS and Marca so that Old Man Aragones (Dr. Zaius) can realize he’s still alive?!? Does he know of the fate of Mikel Arteta, who disappeared off the map once he left for England. Let him go. Ingrate.

Quick Hits: After a promising start as Espanyol manager at the beginning of the season, it is likely that Valverde will quit before being pushed out the door. There is some interest for him at Olimpiakos. Marcelino from Racing is of course sought after as his replacement but is this a better fit than staying put for La Liga’s hottest coaching prospect? I don’t think so. I just hope we don’t implode further as even the youngsters are drawing interest from clubs like Blackburn, or is it that their reps are drumming up exit strategies from a sinking ship?

Two Easy

Armando — Thu, 15 May 2008 14:03:31 +0000

Where have we been since my last post? Twin scoreless defeats to two of the top teams in the Primera. We were again listless in both matches, comfortable and secure in our place at the table, yet weeks gone from the promise of a guaranteed European slot. The mistakes are killing us. I can think of La Fuente’s error in goal against the colchoneros midweek that served up Forlan’s goal to go along with El Kun’s early sitter. He had other howlers against Villareal, but it wasn’t like we were beaten by scrubs there either. Old man Pires showed that the Arsenal curse may still be active, but a stick-to-it-ive player can ultimately surpass the short-term negative aura around leaving the North London squad. Javi Venta added another first half goal, adding to the misery. What did we learn? We continue to lack a scoring directive, which is surprising as we were among the league leaders early on. The defense is anemic, that adjective is usually used to describe a weak and listless attack, but the back four is completely disorganized. We have an opportunity to close out the season on a high, but we must come prepared against a tough Almeria squad.

Espanyol, drilling for gold?

Armando — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 00:18:00 +0000

Are Espanyol drilling for gold right now? Not likely as he’s due at the Montjuic for the summer, but striker Dario Cvitanich, the Argentinian-Croatian who plays for Banfield, “El Taladro (or The Drill), is on the Espanyol radar. Some reports have Paco Herrera already having signed him for some help up front, I guess it means he’s ignoring the black hole we have in the back, and as usual the player and both clubs have denied any deal. Rather than do the legwork myself on this story I went with someone who has actually seen him play. I asked Tim Vickery of the BBC World Service about Cvitanich.

” (He’s) just coming up 24, with around 25 goals in 80ish league games. Interesting striker and worth a look. No Olympic sprinter, but quick enough, can combine outside the area and finish first time in it. Have to say, though, that the standard there in Argentina is not great. He’ll find it a step up. Argentine football has plenty of strikers who couldn’t quite make the grade in Europe.”

Big thanks to Tim for coming through. Let’s see who I can get to chime in next week. What do I think on Cvitanich though? I think if he were 17 and not 24, then maybe he’d be able to grow into the standard of play in Spain, but this is a guy that may be another in a long line of forwards that stayed a little long in South America before leaving for Europe. Depor are also in for him as are of course Boca Juniors who are set to lose Rodrigo Palacio to Chelsea if you believe the rumors. He says he’d rather go to Europe, Banfield would rather do that deal than let him sign for los xeneises. In the end, I think Espanyol would be better served to look to Eastern Europe or Africa for bargain-basement help in the summer.