Football: After listening to the advice, I became the strongest free man! - Chapter 374

c374 The Basque region rises, Alaves is promoted!

However, Celta Vigo relied too much on signings back then. It can be said that they were the first La Liga club to be able to field a lineup without a Spaniard. After participating in the Champions League in the 2003-2004 season, they were suddenly relegated from the league, which was unprecedented in Spain. It must be something that will never come after.

Although they returned to La Liga with great success in the following seasons and entered the European competition in the 2005-2006 season, they were relegated in the same year as they participated in the UEFA Cup, which finally exhausted the team’s confidence.

The current president, Mourinho, took over Celta Vigo during the relegation season. It was also from that time that Celta began to really pay attention to its own talent development.

In addition to Aspas, goalkeeper Alvarez, and captain Hugo Mario who are currently playing in the team, there are also people like Rodrigo (currently playing for Valencia, who played for Celta Vigo before joining Real Madrid’s youth team at the age of 18). Four years), Denis Suarez (now playing for Barcelona), Mina (now playing for Valencia), Jota (now playing for Eibar), these outstanding young players are all the results of Celta Vigo’s youth training.

His own talent training, coupled with the current Barcelona coach Enrique who stayed briefly three years ago, has also opened up the domestic talent introduction channel from Barcelona to Vigo for the team.

Although today’s Celta Vigo is still dominated by foreigners in the midfield, the overall structure of the team is far healthier than it was ten years ago.

This is particularly important for a team that has been relegated twice in the European competition season.

After one of the main forwards Nolito left Manchester City, Celta, as one of the teams with the least turnover in La Liga this season, still maintains a competitive lineup. In the same place, they will not fall for the third time. .

Argentinian coach Berizzo was once a witness and participant in Celta Vigo’s glory days. He joined the team at the end of his career in 2001 and reached the Copa del Rey final with the team, participated in the Champions League and returned to La Liga the following year after being relegated. , and then he chose to hang up his boots in Cadiz, the “Bay of the Moon” in Andalusia.

His coaching career began as a deputy to the famous coach “Crazy” Bielsa (while coaching the Chilean national team). It can be said that Berizzo’s coaching style was deeply influenced by Bielsa.

After achieving success at Chilean club Ochis, he took over the Celta Vigo team left by current coach Luis Enrique and left a deep mark on them that focused on offense and neglected defense.

Although Celta Vigo suffered repeated defeats last season, the team was always able to create gaps in the opponent’s defense. In the end, it was only one step away from entering the Champions League.

Celta Vigo has been looking for experienced goalkeepers to join in this summer’s transfer market. Although two of the three goalkeepers in the team are familiar with their own family, they are still somewhat unable to cope with the Europa League and domestic competitions.

The main player Alvarez is the oldest, but he only kept clean sheets 22 times in 93 La Liga games. Last season, he only kept a clean sheet in 8 games out of 31 appearances.

The second goalkeeper Ruben Blanco is the youngest among the three. Although he experienced a 1-7 away defeat to Real Madrid last season, his performance in the remaining 7 games played was far more stable than Alvarez.

The injury of former Barcelona player Fontas last season led to the appointment of Sergi Gomez, who also came from Barcelona’s youth training. Gomez and Cabral’s central defender are the team’s first choice. .

However, compared to the offense, Celta’s defensive ability as well as their goalkeeper is not very reassuring, and after Fontas was exempted from the game, Celta even promoted the 17-year-old from the echelon last year. Diego Arend and 20-year-old David Godard supplement the central defenders’ bench.

In the new season, the team introduced their main central defender Roncaglia from Serie A Fiorentina, and retained David Costas, who returned from Mallorca on loan, hoping to create a more stable central defender combination that has been tested in actual combat. , and also to make strategic reserves for the new season’s European war, Copa del Rey, and league third-line operations.

Celta Vigo’s full-backs are all produced by their own youth training.

Jonny Castello, who is not yet 25 years old, and captain Hugo Mallho are on the left and right sides. The two participated in a total of 12 goals last season and have excellent assist capabilities. With Planas, who has strong defensive ability, as a rotation on the left wing, Celta Xia also bought Alvado Lemos, who played for Lugo in Segunda División last season, on the right wing. Together with Roncaglia, who can also play on the right, these players will compete on multiple fronts for Celta Vigo in the new season at full-back.

Fellow midfielder Pablo Hernandez has renewed his contract until 2021, showing the team’s emphasis on the Chilean midfielder.

Last season, he broke out in the three-man midfield and organized attacks in series. He can be called the absolute core of Celta Vigo’s midfield. The competition for the midfielder position in the new season is still fierce. Augusto Fernandez was recruited by Atletico Madrid in the winter window last season due to his excellent performance. Danish international Voss’ partners are the defensive Serbian Ladoja and the offensive player. Chilean Díaz vacillates between.

In the new season, Celta also promoted Pape and Borja Fernandez from the second team. Both of them made appearances in the league last year. As reserves, they can allow the team to fight on multiple fronts or in case of sudden unexpected injuries. Ensure there is no staff shortage.

Celta Vigo’s main tactics are 4-2-3-1 and 4-3-3, and its offense relies heavily on the performance of wingers. The departure of Nolito, who mainly appeared on the left wing last season, contributed to Nalan’s success. Huo and Sisto joined.

It should be noted that Celta does not use the traditional wing tactics of flying on both wings. Nolito and Aspas in the center position are in a mutually coordinated relationship, and the Chilean international Aureliana on the other side also plays a supporting role, but his main job is to “feed the cake” to Aspas and Nolito.

The personnel changes in the new season will inevitably lead to changes in the offensive firepower configuration of the front line.

Last season, it was difficult for the substitutes, whether it was the young player Dragic or Bouu who was still on the injury list, to enter the starting lineup, and the recently signed Naranjo was more suitable for the center position and was not the first choice for the wing.

In this way, Sisto or Bangeda, two right-footed players with excellent explosiveness and physique, will inevitably appear in Nolito’s position.

As for Joseph Sene, who was born in Real Madrid’s youth training, he may still be marginalized in the team. Even in the case of multi-line operations, he will not get too much playing time.

Last season, the performance of the two forwards Aspas and Guidetti in the domestic arena was already good enough. Not only did they score 30 goals together, but they also had 6 direct assists.

With such an efficient starting and substitute configuration, if Celta does not need to compete in the Europa League, I am afraid that it will not still seek to dig a striker to enrich its lineup in the summer window.

Due to the promotion of Alaves, the Basque region will welcome four La Liga teams in the new season, tying the Andalusia region.

In fact, as early as the early days of La Liga (the 1930s), Basque, as the first region in Spain to come into contact with modern football, once had 4 teams in the La Liga with only 10 teams (Real Sociedad-Guipuzkoa Province, Real United-Guipuzkoa Province, Athletic Bilbao-Biscay Province, Gojo Arenas-Biscay Province), and in the 1930/31 season, with the promotion of Alaves (Alava Province), it once reached five teams.

However, time flies, Gojo Arenas and Real United later sank in the low-level league and never returned to La Liga.

Until the miraculous promotion of Eibar (Biscay Province, like Gojo Arenas, near Bilbao), for a long time, the Basque region only had Real Sociedad and Bilbao, as well as Alaves, which had a few short-lived successes.

Alaves means Alava people, and this club is located in Victoria, the capital of the Basque Autonomous Region.

Although Victoria is the second largest city in the autonomous region, the population of Alava Province where it is located is much lower than that of Biscay and Guipuzcoa. It is not surprising that among the Basque clubs that like to recruit talents nearby, Alaves’ youth training basically cannot deliver any talents to the first team.

After entering La Liga twice in the 1930s and 1950s, Alaves did not stay for too long and fell all the way to the third-level league, and even relegated to the fourth-level league in 1987. It took 10 years to rebound from the bottom.

In the 1998-1999 season, they returned to La Liga and started an impressive journey.

The 5-3-2 tactics created by coach Mane helped the team win the sixth place in the league the following year, and Alaves entered the European war for the first time.

In the 2000-2001 UEFA Cup, although they became the background of the champion Liverpool’s five-time champion in the final, the experience of reaching the final was also magical enough (5-2 elimination of Inter Milan, 4-1 elimination of Rayo Vallecano, 9-1 sweep of Kaiserslautern), not to mention that they lost the Golden Goal after the score of 4-4 with Liverpool.

The experience of entering the UEFA Cup again in the 2002-2003 season dragged down the team. The league has been hovering in the middle and lower reaches since the beginning, and finally the weak lineup was overwhelmed by the multi-line battle. It was difficult to recover and was relegated to the second division as a European war team (similar to Betis three years ago).

However, Alaves, which still had a fairly complete personnel retention, reached the semi-finals of the King’s Cup in the year it was relegated to the second division (it was eliminated by Real Zaragoza, which eventually won the championship, due to fewer away goals), and returned to La Liga in the 2004-2005 season.

At that time, Alaves was acquired by Ukrainian businessman Ditman and became a foreign-funded team.

However, the professional quality of this boss was worrying. The team not only bought and sold a lot, but also changed 4 head coaches in the season. As a result, it was relegated to the second division again after Santander Racing and Recreativo with a 1-point disadvantage.

In the following two years under the rule of the Ukrainian, Alaves went from bad to worse, and stayed in the second division every year. Finally, in the 2008-2009 season when Ditman left, it was relegated to the second division B group (third level).

After four years of dormancy in the second division B group, Alaves returned to the second division.

The first two years were a bit difficult, but last season, under the leadership of Bordalas, the team won the championship and returned to La Liga.

After the promotion, the team upgraded both the coach and the lineup.

Alaves has changed most of the team compared to last season. If the team cannot quickly integrate and take shape in the new season, I am afraid that Alaves will be short-lived again.

If a new goalkeeper is not introduced, Alaves may promote the 20-year-old young player Cosada from the B team to partner with the team’s third goalkeeper.

Last season’s backup goalkeeper Pau Torres transferred to Real Valladolid in the Spanish Second Division on a free transfer. The team loaned Ortola from Barcelona B team to fill his vacancy.

Ortola was the main goalkeeper of Barcelona B team last season. He played 34 times and conceded 32 goals. He kept 16 zeroes against opponents, but he still lacks experience in the first team.

Alaves’ main goalkeeper, Pacheco, who contributed to the promotion last season, came from Real Madrid B team. After starting for Real Madrid B team for one season in the 2013-2014 season, he joined the first team but played only once in the King’s Cup.

But after transferring to Alaves, he quickly established his main position.

Alaves sent the 36-year-old central defender Pellegrin to Elche in the summer window, while the backup central defender Borda transferred to Western Sydney Wanderers in the Australian Super League.

Another main central defender La Guardia stayed in the team. He only played 3 La Liga games at the age of 20.

Alaves’ three new central defenders are to make up for the lack of experience in La Liga in this position: 31-year-old Alexis has played for Valencia, Sevilla and Getafe for many years.

Last season, he played as a substitute in Besiktas of the Turkish Super League; while Fedal and Pantic were both poached from La Liga teams. The 191cm Moroccan international Fedal played as a starter in the relegated Getafe last season, while Pantic was loaned to Eibar by Villarreal and became a rotation player at the center back.

Judging from the performance in the preseason, Fedal may form a double center back combination with Alexis, while Pantic may play as a rotation player on the wing.

Last season’s two main full-backs Raul Garcia and Femonia stayed in the team, the substitute left-back Estrada was terminated by the team, and the substitute right-back veteran Carpiro transferred to Cadiz in the Western Second Division.

Alaves signed the versatile defender Bigare from the relegated Getafe, and loaned the 19-year-old French teenager Theo Hernandez from Atletico Madrid.

Raul Garcia and Femonia both scored five goals for the team last season, both of which are very offensive.

However, with the appointment of new coach Pellegrino, the team’s tactics may change. It is not clear which of the four young players will compete for the opportunity to start in La Liga.

The extent of the blood replacement in the midfield of Alaves is unique among the teams participating in La Liga this season.

In addition to the captain Manu Garcia, a native of Victoria, and the young player Yamas from Alaves youth training, the remaining main players Sergio Mora (free transfer to the Catholic University of Murcia in the Spanish Second Division), substitute David Torres (free transfer to Alcoyano in the Spanish Second Division B Group), substitute Hernan Bernardello (free transfer to Montreal Impact in the MLS), and substitute Gagobo Beobide (terminated the contract) left the team.

Alaves loaned two young players in their early 20s from Real Madrid and Levante respectively: Camarasa and Marcos Llorente. The two have obviously less top league experience than the other two new players.

Serbian Kristic (transferred from Sampdoria) and midfielder Daniel Torres (cost Alaves 3.2 million euros) from Medellin Independiente, Colombia, are likely to be Pellegrino’s first choice in the new season.

Alaves sent away several wingers in the summer window, including Ilhaque Saenz (a versatile left-wing player, free transfer to Tenerife in the Spanish Second Division), Facundo (left winger, free transfer to the Catholic University of Murcia in the Spanish Second Division), Danny Abalo (terminated the contract), and Danny Pacheco (loaned back to Betis).

Both new players joined on loan, Edgar Mendes from Granada and Ibai Gomez from Athletic Bilbao. Due to injuries and status in the past two seasons, they have not had many game opportunities, but they still have rich experience in La Liga.

Last season, Alaves’ forward line was led by veteran Togilo, who transferred from Athletic Bilbao, with center forward David Barreiro as a substitute and Yuri (who has transferred to Cordoba in the Spanish Second Division on a free transfer).

Pellegrino may prefer to use two forwards in the new season, so Alaves introduced three center forwards in the summer window. With Daniel Iglesias, who returned on loan from Guadalajara in the Spanish Second Division B, the team’s forward competition will be very fierce.

Among the three new players, Christian Santos, who started his career at Banfield, is a Venezuelan international. He scored 18 goals in Nijmegen in the Dutch Eredivisie last season.

Ruben Soberino belongs to Manchester City. He played for Girona in the promotion play-offs last season on loan, but only had a brief flash in the elimination of Cordoba.

Finally, there is Divison, the only new player with La Liga experience. He made his debut in Benfica in the Portuguese Super League and performed well in the relegated team Levante last season.

As the second club to receive the royal title (the first was Deportivo La Coruna), this team from San Sebastian has never been alienated from the central government due to ethnic issues.

So the difference between Real Sociedad and Bilbao is not in the treatment of non-Basque players. In fact, until 1998, both clubs adhered to the principle that only Basque players can play, and the Basque derby is actually quite harmonious.

In the 1980s, Real Sociedad won the La Liga championship with its local team, but their short rise at the beginning of this century was precisely due to the outstanding performance of foreign players – Serbian Kovacevic and Turkish Nihat. In the 2002-2003 season, Real Madrid’s Galacticos not only failed to beat Real Sociedad at home, but also ran aground 2-4 in San Sebastian. In the last game, they defeated Athletic Bilbao and won the championship with a two-point advantage over Real Sociedad.

Real Sociedad also had local talents like Xabi Alonso back then, but it is undeniable that the more open recruitment strategy than Bilbao promoted the team’s improvement. After all, the proportion of talents coming out of Guipuzcoa (the province where Real Sociedad is located, which belongs to the Basque Autonomous Region) is much lower than that of Biscay (the province where Bilbao is located, which belongs to the Basque Autonomous Region).