Originally this started out as an answer to a comment on my previous post and I knew it was going to grow into a bigger deal so instead I tacked it here.

Well, I mentioned earlier that Espanyol is suffering not from a lack of quality but from a lack of effort; they stopped competing. My friend Hoser noticed this trend in other squads, namely at the Mestalla. I think this “Valencia disease” is nothing new. You can also see it at Zaragoza, Barcelona is a classic example this year with the Ronaldinho drama, but you’ve seen it at Villareal last year with Riquelme, Depor in the recent past, and Atletico has a reputation on the all-time list of being under-achievers.

Los Che have been suffering it to a certain degree since right before Rafa left I guess. This disease attacks the starting 11, their immediate backups, the practice squad, the reserves, and pretty much the entire management team. The supporters even become involved as a response; witness the “Quique-must-go chants” or the more recent against the “Koeman Revolution” in Valencia. It is a slippery slope to full infection for the modern club. The cause?

I think it comes from having success come too fast too quickly. You start attracting the attentions of a larger club and your delusions get the better of you. I know that Valencia are a big club, and should be able to keep their players happy, but when the crazy money in England is being waved around all clubs are vulnerable (even clubs like Madrid and FC Barcelona). When a player like Riera, an integral part of our surge at Espanyol at the beginning of the year, starts believing the little comments like these from his reps:

“The Montjuic is too small potatoes for you, we can’t wait for the new stadium, we can get you bonuses for appearing in Champions League games, you’ll get noticed and get caps for Spain, etc.”

Now, that may or may not be what’s happening in full or in part, I don’t know since I’m not a fly on the wall, but it doesn’t take much imagination to think that a player’s focus is not always 100% on his place and on his club. Every club is different too, and the weaknesses are caused by many different factors where I’m sure that Barcelona are dysfunctional in a much different way than Espanyol are down the street, but no club nowadays is immune to this blase attitude, the epidemic of the modern footballer.