Yuri DOVNAR
In the first part of the announcement of the Spanish season 2006/07, SPORT Today noted teams that could be higher than last season's positions. Now - about those 9 clubs who spent the summer in latent preparation for a retreat, as well as about Barcelona, which simply has nowhere to climb higher.
| BARCELONA |
Significant acquisitions: Eidur Gudjonsson (Chelsea, England), Gianluca Zambrotta, Lilian Thuram (both Juventus, Italy).
Tangible Losses: Henrik Larsson (Helsingborg, Sweden).
Place last season: 1st.
Ambition: Championship.
Offseason Impression: Demonstrating Own Excellence.
Summary: The main talent required of the Barcelona coaches of recent years is the ability not to interfere. When Rikard discovered this simple axiom for himself, his affairs improved, and the team began to play. The role of the coach during the match was reduced to the orderly filing of the buttons of his suit, as well as to capture the moment when it is worth releasing the first spare Iniesta on the field. Oleger often turned out to be a foreign body in this self-sufficient, self-igniting “Barcelona” football, but now he is ready to be replaced by the “old Signora” Zambrotta and Thuram. Plus Gudjonsson, thanks to which the departure of Henrik Larsson to his homeland promises to go unnoticed. On the first Sunday of September, the club will hold the next presidential election of the club, and, perhaps, this event could promise major inter-season changes. But there will be no changes, because Barcelona, the reigning champion of Spain and Europe, is doing well. And only one candidate was proposed for voting - Laporta.
| OSASUNA |
Significant acquisitions: Roberto Soldado (Real Madrid), Hector Font (Villarreal), Javad Nekunam (Al Sharyah, United Arab Emirates).
Tangible Losses: Mokha (Espanyol)
Place last season: 4th.
Ambition: Lost.
Off -season impression: Driving hostility towards the team.
Summary: For six consecutive years, four teams represented Spain in the Champions League group stage. During this time, “Betis”, “Celta”, “Villarreal”, “Real Sociedad” were noted in the main European club tournament. “Osasuna” could not consolidate this tradition: the Pamploners were out of work in the qualification forerunner because of the “extra” guest goal of “Hamburg”. This fact surprised few. Even at the finish of the last championship, public sympathy shifted towards Seville, which was catching up with Osasuna. The opponent stamped idyllic victories, seized the strategic initiative, speculating in the missed match with Barcelona, and nevertheless lost. The Pamplona squad repeated the championship record 15 years ago, and its commander in chief Aguirre sensed the beginning of the end. The coach went on to increase (no matter how illogical this statement looked when looking at the standings) in the Atletico, which remained without European cups. The local trainer Siganda entered the kingdom. By the 40th anniversary, instead of the Champions League, he seems to have acquired a tie ahead of time ... If it had been otherwise and if Osasuna got into the group stage, one could safely predict her relegation to the second division. None of the Champions League debutants mentioned above escaped a recession in domestic tournaments. Only the Villarreal got off relatively well; “Betis” and “Real Sociedad” fell to a dozen lines, and “Celta” and did not resist the “example”.
| SEVILLA |
Significant acquisitions: Christian Poulsen (Schalke 04, Germany), Andreas Hinkel (Stuttgart, Germany), Ernesto Chevanton (Monaco, France).
Tangible losses: Javier Saviola (Barcelona, end of lease).
Place last season: 5th.
Ambition: Top 4.
Off-season impression: Miracles happen only to those who believe in them.
Summary: Juande Ramos once coached Rayo Vallecano, reaching the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup with the Madrid (and unbearably provincial) club. In those days, Spain, based on impressions from midfielder Gerhard Poschner, created the image of a German football player. A sort of steroos thug fighting for victory exclusively in the "violation" category. Since then, the Bundesfootball players in the Pyrenees were not. And Ramos brought Hinkel. At the same time, he wrote out from Germany another football player of a similar type - the Danish Poulsen. For Andalusia, considered the most walking region of the country, these decisions seem rather bold. And intriguing.
| SELTA |
Significant acquisitions: Antonio Guire (“Villarreal”), Nene (“Alaves”).
Tangible losses: David Silva (Valencia, end of lease), Sergio Fernandez (Zaragoza), Everton Giovanella (ended his career).
Place last season: 6th.
Ambition: Misty.
Off-season impression: Now the team has an “extreme” one.
Summary: Before Vasquez had never stayed in one coaching place for more than a year, and at the same time he was always in demand. In “Celta” he harnesses the third season in a row. Apparently, the mentor was not going to work in Vigo for so long. Otherwise, it is unlikely that he would have dragged leased footballers so thoroughly last season. David Silva was completely brought to the people, and the Dutchman De Ridder, a pupil of the Ajax school, surprised not only with the game, but also with the speed of learning the Spanish language. And most importantly - “Celta” ahead of the neighbors from A Coruña, who two seasons ago, in fact, pushed her into the second division. Watching the opponent’s abrupt transfer movements, the club’s bosses again proposed that Vasquez be called up under temporary banners. He chose not to distort, and now any retreat of the Galician from their current positions will have a specific “switchman”.
| DEPORTIVO |
Significant acquisitions: Joan Verdu, Rodry Garcia, Christian Hidalgo (all - Barcelona), Alvaro Arbeloa (Real Madrid), Fabian Estoynoff (Cadiz), Juan Rodriguez (Malaga), Rodolfo Bodipo (Alaves) , Ivan Ricky (Getafe), Alberto Lopo (Espanyol), Dudu Avat (Racing).
Significant losses: Enrique Romero (Betis), César Martin (Levante), Hector Berengel (Mallorca), Victor Sanchez (Panathinaikos, Greece), Pedro Munitis (Racing), Francisco Molina (completed his career )
Place last season: 8th.
Ambition: Serious.
Offseason Impression: The Age of Reformation.
Summary: To come to the place of such a mentor as Iruureta is not an activity for the soul. Too great a chance to go with the flow. The team’s game is set, the composition is balanced, some players (Donato, Mauro Silva) seemed to be able to play forever. In extreme cases, up to forty years. Kaparros a year ago was seduced by an idyll, without becoming anything to change. And only now he decided to arrange a revolution. Almost all of the guards left La Coruña at once. Including goalkeeper Molina, who was able to do the almost impossible before - to return to football after cancer). Instead of the field commanders, the Depor recruited a company of unfired soldiers, at once dropping the team from middle age for several years. Galicians scratched in granary bins, where there are traditionally many undervalued geeks. We went through each of the three teams that flew into the second division, where there are always players whose contract should be considered invalid in case of a fiasco. Finally, they threw a bit into the troubled waters of unstable clubs, where there are enough strikebreakers. As a result, an inexpensive but effective campaign completely went to zero and forced to wait for the start of the season with redoubled enthusiasm.
| KHETAFE |
Significant acquisitions: Francisco Souza (Valladolid), David Cortes (Mallorca), Roberto Abbondansieri (Boca Juniors, Argentina).
Tangible losses: Gavilan Martinez (Valencia, end of lease), Ivan Ricky (Deportivo), Mariano Pernia (Atlético), Diego Rivas (Real Sociedad), Anibal Matelian (Himnastic).
Place last season: 9th.
Ambition: Remain in the same position.
Off-season impression: Appendage of the Madrid court.
Summary: Obviously, there are still many teams for Madrid (Getafe is a metropolitan suburb). Previously, to remove the mantle of a poor relative tried “Rayo Vallecano”, famous for its stormy starts. Getafe is acting in the same vein. A year ago, the team lost a successful mentor Kike Flores and a dozen rented football players. In exchange, they recruited new "temporary workers" and the master of overclocking Schuster. Until a certain point, the team even led, and then sailed on the old stock reserve. Such a detailed description of the past is appropriate here because Getafe has no other way out now. Especially Madrid “Real” again did not want to help their students. However, in Spain there are enough sad examples of teams counting only on rented power. The most recent: Valladolid and Albacete, which are no longer in the elite. Schuster and Co. have now chosen the half-hearted option, fork out for several full transfers. And even having got into the composition of the authoritative goalkeeper of the Argentina national team, Abbondansieri, who, despite his 33-year-old age, will have to make his debut in the Old World.
| ATLETIC |
Significant acquisitions: Josu Sarriehi (Alaves), Igor Gabilondo (Real Sociedad).
Tangible losses: Aitor Karanka (Colorado, USA), Jose Maria Lacrus (Espanyol), Felipe Gurendez (Numansiya), Julen Guerrero (ended his career).
Place last season: 12th.
Ambition: UEFA Zone.
Off-season impression: The appearance of a “foreigner”.
Summary: Of particular surprise is the presence in the championship application of the Mexican team Javier Iturriaga. As you know, “Athletic”, which, along with “Barcelona” and “Real” has never left an elite company, historically relies purely on players of the Basque blood. Iturriaga, as it turned out, is no exception. He was only born on the other side of the ocean, while football education began to comprehend in the Basque “Getcho” of the fourth division. From Euskadi Iturriaga never left. Its acquisition can be considered an off-season PR move. After all, everything else at Athletics is commonplace.
| MALORCA |
Significant acquisitions: Maxi Lopez (Barcelona), Hector Berengel (Deportivo), Fernando Varela (Betis).
Significant losses: David Cortes (Getafe), Borja Fernandez (Real Madrid, end of lease), Alessandro Potenza (Fiorentina, Italy, end of lease), Eduardo Tuzzio (River Plate, Argentina, end of lease), Francisco Masiel ("Murcia", the end of the lease), Alejandro Campano ("Gimnastic").
Place last season: 13th.
Ambition: To get into the top ten.
Offseason Impression: Cooper's Legacy.
Summary: The mission of Hector Cooper was impossible. Mansano, his successor - a non-sedentary coach - cannot be envied. The entire Cooper resource was thrown onto the altar of preserving space in the “example”. He invited almost all the players under his own popular name. Eight of them left the Balearic Islands in the summer, not thinking of continuing cooperation. Most painfully this affected the defensive line. Of the last-season roster, only three defenders remained (and only Fernando Navarro was the main). “Mallorca” is not the poorest team, but for some reason they are not in a hurry to patch the gaps in Palma. If they are late, then the “example” may lose the last representative of non-mainland Spain.
| RASING |
Significant acquisitions: Rafael Sobis (Internacional, Porto Alegre, Brazil), Ruben Rocha (Real Madrid), Pedro Munitis (Deportivo), Gonzalo Colsa (Atlético), Luis Fernandez (Betis).
Significant losses: Damia Abella (Barcelona, end of lease), Dudu Avat, Antonio Thomas (both Deportivo), Francisco Cascero (Getafe), Antonito Perez (Sevilla, end of lease), Pablo Casar (" Alaves ").
Place last season: 17th.
Ambition: Save a place in the sun.
Off-season impression: Hope for the help of the powerful.
Summary: Coaching President Dmitry Peterman, who had been at one time at Racing, after leaving, prophesied the team a quick departure. And she is still in the "example", and even gets a certain pleasure from the struggle for survival. The Santanderites have no other tasks now. The tactics are simple - Racing relied on the help of the strong. Together with coach Miguel ngel Portugal, they discharged two players from the subsidiary team of Real Madrid. He lent the same amount to Deportivo. In addition, the Galician returned to the team a local pupil of Munitis. But the greatest hopes are, of course, associated with the striker of the Brazilian national team and the hero of the last Cup of Libertadores Rafael Sobis, who has been courted for a long time by Inter and Hamburg.
| "RECREATIVE" |
Significant acquisitions: Pedro Mario (Barcelona), Cesar Arso, Santi Cazorla (both Villarreal), Pauli Serrano (Alaves).
Tangible losses: Luis Antonio Valencia (Wigan, England), Gaston Casas (Elche), Jose Mateo (Alaves).
Place last season: 1st (D2).
Ambition: Set a club record.
Off-season impression: Waiting for Columbus.
Summary: According to legend, it was from Huelva that Christopher Columbus went to discover America. The oldest club in Spain is discovering the first division for the third time. Both previous attempts ended in 18th place and an immediate departure from the “examples”. At the same time, the team of Alcaras three years ago, composed exclusively of Spaniards, was pleasantly remembered. Of the composition in the current, only four. Legionnaires also appeared - the Romanian Roche and the Nigerian Uche. It is unlikely, however, that Recreativo is capable of more than leaving a solid impression.
+ Announcement of the championship of Spain. Part 1