Football: After listening to the advice, I became the strongest free man! - Chapter 376

c376 Newly promoted Sporting Gijon

Sporting Gijon’s previous La Liga story had a sad ending. Although Preciado, the meritorious coach who coached the team for six years, was fired in early 2012 due to poor performance, when he became the head coach of Villarreal in the summer of 2012, most Gijon fans still missed this old man.

Unexpectedly, before the new season started, Preciado died of a heart attack at the age of 54. After that, Sporting Gijon specially erected a bronze statue of Preciado outside the home stadium to commemorate this coach.

When Preciado took office in 2006, Sporting Gijon had been in the second division for almost 9 seasons. People had forgotten this team that had played in La Liga for 21 consecutive seasons and once won the league runner-up (78-79 season).

After Preciado took office, the way to change the team’s decline was to let go and attack with all his strength. This point has been maintained even in the three La Liga seasons after the promotion in the 2007-08 season.

Although they often lose by a large margin against Real Madrid and Barcelona, ​​Sporting Gijon’s daring offensive game strategy is still unique among the mid- and lower-level teams.

They successfully avoided relegation for three consecutive seasons. When Preciado left the team, he had coached 218 games, which is unique in the history of Gijon.

Preciado’s experience was also written into a biography by local journalists in Gijon, and a Preciado memorial match is held every summer.

However, the Sporting Gijon that returned to us last season rarely saw the style of the Preciado period.

The team could not afford to spend money in the transfer market, so it could only play a steady defense and counterattack tactic. Fortunately, several young players who were loaned from big clubs performed well, and they barely avoided relegation at the end of the season.

In the new season, Sporting Gijon failed to keep Halilovic and Sanabria, and continued the transfer strategy of spending little money to do big things, buying players to control costs, and almost all those who left the team had expired contracts.

It is not easy for coach Abelardo to complete the task of relegation.

Head coach Abelardo was a member of the 1992 Barcelona Olympic gold medal team and participated in two World Cups and one European Cup.

Abelardo made his debut in Sporting Gijon and moved to Barcelona in the mid-1990s. He had a brilliant career as a player and won seven championships with the team at Camp Nou.

After retiring in 2008, he first started coaching the B team of his parent team Sporting Gijon. After a short period of training in the lower-level league, he returned to Gijon in 2012 and led the team in 2014. In the last round of his first season, he led the team to a miraculous reversal of Girona and promotion to La Liga.

Last season, although Gijon had an upset result of a home draw with Real Madrid and a win over Atletico Madrid, it was only after defeating Villarreal in the last round that they escaped the relegation zone.

This season, the team lost almost all of its attackers: the loaned youngsters Halilovic (loaned back to Barcelona and then transferred to the Bundesliga), Sanabria (loaned back to Roma and then loaned to Real Betis) failed to stay, and the main defender Hernandez (transferred to Premier League champion Leicester City) and the midfielder Jonny (transferred to Malaga) were also poached.

Although the team transferred in personnel as a supplement in the summer window, the situation was not ideal from the pre-season performance.

Although the debt problem was solved last season and the transfer ban was lifted in the summer window, the team’s goalkeeper position was still not supplemented in time. Team B youngster Denis Diaz served as the third goalkeeper for one season.

In the new season, after the contract of substitute goalkeeper Albert Garcia expired and he went to Getafe, which was relegated last season, on a free transfer, Sporting Gijon immediately signed their main goalkeeper Diego Marino from relegated Levante as a substitute, and then signed young goalkeeper Oscar Valli, who played for Uesca in the Spanish Second Division on loan last season, from Real Zaragoza.

However, the main position of veteran goalkeeper Cuellar should be stable. Cuellar, who came to the team in 2008, came from Atletico Madrid’s youth training. He is currently the third longest-serving player in the team and has completed 72 clean sheets in 255 games in his career.

Ruiz Hernandez, the absolute main force last season, moved to the Premier League champion Leicester City in the new season. Bernardo Espinosa, a stable Colombian international, also transferred to the Premier League promoted Middlesbrough on a free transfer. In addition, the young Chilean central defender Rich Nowitzki, who had few opportunities, returned to Porto in the Portuguese Super League on loan. Sporting Gijon’s central defenders left three at once in the summer window, which has become the most critical position for them when recruiting players.

Sporting Gijon can afford to spend 2 million to sign the main player of Granada, the relegation rival last season, and 3 million to bring back the former Athletic Bilbao player and Venezuelan international Amorebieta from the Premier League.

Among the players who stayed in the team, 19-year-old Spanish national youth player Jerhao Meire has gradually become a main player. Although he came from the youth training of Real Oviedo, the arch-rival of the same region, Gijon still signed a contract with a penalty of 25 million euros.

Bosnian international Villachs, who joined in the winter window, played as a right back for most of the last season, but he may return to the familiar central defender position in the new season.

Last season, the full-back combination of Isma Lopez and captain Albert Lola had a stable playing time. After the former came to Gijon in 2013, he quickly established a main position. In the first round of the new season, the player who came from Osasuna’s youth training will face his old club Athletic Bilbao again.

Although Lola is a Madrid native who came from Real Madrid’s youth training, he came to Sporting Gijon in 2006 and was promoted to the first team by Preciado the following year. He contributed 4 assists last season.

As for substitutes, the left back is Roberto Canea, a Gijon youth player who entered the first team in 2006; and as the only signing in the summer window at the full-back position, Liyo Castellano from Eibar, although he lost his main position in the team last season, he is a versatile player on the defensive line, and can play both sides and as a central defender.

Sporting Gijon’s midfielders are all from Gijon B team.

Of course, not all of them are made by Gijon youth training. For example, Rachid Atartman, who represented the Algerian Olympic team in the Rio Olympics, came from the French Lens club. He joined Gijon B team in 2013 and got the opportunity to enter the first team last season.

And the 16-year-old Cameroonian teenager Danny Naty, who signed with Gijon B team with his outstanding performance in Cameroon U17, officially entered the first team in the 2014 season.

Sergio Alvarez, Nacho Cases, and Pablo Perez are all local children in Asturias.

Last season, Sergio Alvarez and Nacho Cases were the absolute main force in the defensive midfielder position, but the Croatian teenager Halinovic in front of them has transferred to the Bundesliga in the new season, which is a big blow to Sporting Gijon’s offensive organization.

It should be said that Gijon’s midfield this season is all about its own people, but before the league started, Sergio Alvarez was injured in the pre-season game, and Ate Atman was also replaced in advance due to injury in the second round of the Olympic group match against Argentina. These two reductions are a double blow to Sporting Gijon, whose lineup is not strong.

Of course, not all of them are from Gijon’s youth training. For example, Rachid Etateman, who represented the Algerian Olympic team in the Rio Olympics, came from the French Lens Club. He joined Gijon’s B team in 2013 and got the chance to enter the first team last season.

Among the new players in the summer window, only Victor Rodriguez can play in the middle, which can temporarily alleviate the personnel imbalance caused by injuries, and Rodriguez’s best position is on the left.

Jonny, who contributed 5 goals and 7 assists last season, transferred to Malaga on a free transfer, which is the biggest loss of Sporting Gijon in the summer window, because after all, Halinovic and Sanabria are still on loan, and Jonny’s contract expired and failed to reach an agreement on renewal.

There are also two players who left the team, namely Alex Menendez (free transfer to Girona in the Western Second Division) and Bustos (loaned to Mirandas in the Western Second Division), both of whom were trained by Gijon’s youth training.

The left side where Jonny is located is the position where Sporting Gijon has invested the most in the transfer window, except for the central defender. Whether it is Burgi, who was loaned from Real Madrid and played for Espanyol last season, or the main players Victor Rodriguez and Moise Gomez who returned from Getafe, they are all players who are good at playing on the left side.

On the right side, Carlos Carmona, the main player last season, is the first choice, and the central midfielder can be used as a guest when defense is needed.

Sporting Gijon mainly plays the single striker tactic. Sanabria, the young player loaned from Roma last season, made great contributions to the team’s relegation (scored 11 goals and assisted 1 goal). Although the team failed to continue to loan Sanabria in the new season, the idea of ​​recruiting players is still to loan young players.

Djokovic, who scored 7 goals and assisted 3 goals in Malaga last season, joined from Cagliari in Serie A at a loan price of 1.5 million euros and is very likely to enter the main lineup.

As for the seemingly mysterious Qatari first La Liga player Afif (who joined Villarreal and was loaned to Sporting Gijon), he was actually sent to Europe by Al Sadd as early as 2012 for training. After spending two and a half seasons in Sevilla Sporting (Sevilla B) and Villarreal’s third-tier team, he spent the past year and a half in the Belgian second-tier league team Eupen, making 26 appearances, scoring 8 goals and assisting 1 goal, and adapting to the European arena is not a problem.

In addition, last season’s main substitute, Carlos Castro, who scored 7 goals, will continue to play the role of bench killer, while another substitute striker Miguel Gredo (played 13 times and scored 2 goals last season) left the team to join Leganes, the newly promoted team in La Liga this season, which has little impact on the team.

As the founding team of the Spanish Second Division, Sporting Gijon has been promoted to La Liga 7 times, and has played in La Liga for a total of 42 seasons, ranking 15th in the historical overall list.

The 1978-1979 season was the closest they came to winning the championship. Under the leadership of the club’s legendary striker Gini, they were overtaken by Real Madrid in the last few rounds and lost the championship.

From the 1970s to the late 1990s, Sporting Gijon only had one season that did not stay in La Liga (1976-1977 season).

However, in the six UEFA Cups, they did not make it past the second round.

With the return to the Cornella Stadium in 2009 as the time node, the Spaniard gradually showed signs of recovery under the leadership of former meritorious player Pochettino. However, the current Tottenham coach was still a young coach at the time. His lack of experience led to the team’s performance plummeting in 2012, and he had no choice but to leave.

But the tradition of promoting young people has been preserved. In the current Espanyol team, 8 players come from their own youth training. Although this number may decrease when the final 25 players (the upper limit of La Liga registration, the extra players can only enter the reserve team or the B team) are registered, it is already among the top teams in La Liga.

As the first Chinese-funded team (Last year, Espanyol was owned by Xinghui Entertainment Interactive Company, with the owner Chen Yansheng holding 56%, and this year Granada was owned by Shuangbianjian Sports, with the owner Jiang Lizhang holding 98.1%. Both have achieved the dominant voice in the club. These are the first two Chinese-funded teams.

Wanda boss Wang Jianlin has acquired 20% of Atletico Madrid, Eibar crowdfunding shares “raising league registration fees” has Chinese fans joining, and Real Oviedo’s second crowdfunding shares “making a global name” has Chinese fans joining, which are not completely considered Chinese-funded teams.), Espanyol’s connection with Chinese football is also beginning to become closer.

Although the hostile relationship with Barcelona makes this connection somewhat complicated among Chinese fans, as one of the founding teams of La Liga (1929), Espanyol has the most La Liga appearances (81 seasons with Valencia) after Barcelona, ​​Real Madrid and Bilbao (85 seasons each), and I believe that both the fan base and player exchanges in China will be on an upward track.

It is worth mentioning here that the name of Espanyol may be an abbreviation or a full name in the impression of non-La Liga fans or non-Spanish fans, but in fact, this club was awarded the royal title by Alfonso XIII in 1912, so let’s get familiar with its full name “Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona, ​​S.A.D.” – Royal Spanish Sports Co., Ltd.

In the new season, Espanyol fired the head coach and former meritorious player Romanian Garca and poached Flores from Watford in the Premier League.

Despite his success in his parent clubs Valencia and Atletico Madrid, his most recent experience in La Liga, the second time he led Getafe, was not pleasant (he resigned after only one month in office).

Last season, Flores led the team to successfully avoid relegation in the Premier League and eliminated the defending champion Arsenal in the FA Cup. This time, he returned to La Liga to face a young team that had lost its offensive core (Asensio, who was loaned to Real Madrid, returned to his parent team this season). How to get the team back to the European war zone in the shortest time while completing relegation will be the biggest challenge.

Because the main goalkeeper, 21-year-old young player Pau Lopez, is rumored to join the Premier League Tottenham Hotspur coached by former coach Pochettino.

The Spaniards introduced 30-year-old Roberto Jimenez early in the summer window. Roberto was the main goalkeeper of the Greek team Olympiacos last season. He left the Iberian Peninsula two years ago and has 90 La Liga games and 22 zero-blocking opponents.

If Pau leaves, he will become the main goalkeeper in the new season.

Last season’s main central defender, Chilean international Enzo Rico, did not stay with Espanyol after the loan period expired. He returned to Aoiz in his home country and was sold to the Blue Cross in Mexico; similarly, young central defender Railo, who returned to Espanyol on loan, did not stay with the team and was sold to Real Mallorca.

In the new season, Espanyol’s central defense will be handed over to Alvaro Gonzalez, who had the highest appearance rate on the defense line last year, as well as Costa Rican international Oscar Duarte who joined the team in the winter window and Argentine defensive hero Demichelis who just transferred to the team from Manchester City.

On the bench, there is French veteran Ziani who joined last summer, but he only got 2 appearances last season.

The 19-year-old young player Luis Lopez of the B team may also be promoted to the first team.

In the new season, young player Ruben Duarte and captain Xavi Lopez, two players from Espanyol’s youth training, will still be the first choice on the two sides.

Alex Fernandez, who returned from Reading on loan, will stay in the new season. He will serve as a backup option in the middle of the midfield with veteran Salva Sevilla.

Pape Diop of Senegal, who joined last year, is a tough and “black and hard” defensive midfielder who will definitely occupy a starting spot.

The other position of Flores’ shallow midfielder is mainly competed by the team’s second captain Victor Alvarez and the third captain Victor Sanchez. Coincidentally, both of them have some La Masia ancestry, and joining the Espanyol team means switching to the mortal enemy.

Alvarez transferred from Barcelona’s fifth echelon to Espanyol’s fourth echelon that year, and was in the same class as Bartra, Tello, Thiago and Pacheco.

Sanchez completely left Barcelona in 2011 to join the Swiss team Neuchâtel, and joined Espanyol the following year.

Due to the departure of Asensio (loaned back to Real Madrid, winger Burgi also loaned back to Real Madrid) and the arrival of Flores, the Spaniard may no longer have a front midfielder in the new season.

Last season, Hernan Perez and vice-captain Victor Alvarez often appeared on the two wings, but in the new season, with the joining of three experienced wing attackers Jurado (1.2 million euros from Watford), Reyes (free transfer from Sevilla), and Piatti (loaned from Valencia), Alvarez will return to the center.

Hernan Perez will face a strong challenge from Jurado on the left, because Jurado played for Watford under the new head coach Flores last season, and he must be better at understanding and executing tactics.

As for Piatti, who can play on both sides, and Reyes, who is getting older, they will compete for the starting position on the right.

Two black players who have few opportunities, Senegalese striker Mamadou Sylla (loaned to Eupen in the Belgian League) and Congolese striker Thievi Bifouma (free transfer to Bastia in the French League), left the team in the summer window, and the Spaniard spent 3.5 million euros to introduce Leo Baptistao from Atletico Madrid.