Football: After listening to the persuasion, I became the strongest free man!

Chapter 375 The Basque Country rises and Alavés upgrades!

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 him.

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.

主要战术以4-2-3-1和4-3-3为主的塞尔塔，进攻非常倚重边锋的发挥，而上个赛季主要出现在左边路的诺利托的离开，促成了纳兰霍和西斯托的加盟。

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

Last season, the two strikers Aspas and Guidetti performed well enough in the domestic arena. Not only did they score 30 goals together, they also provided 6 direct assists.

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.

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

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 sufficient strategic reserves for the third-line battles in the European War, King's Cup, and League in the new season.

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

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.

It should be noted that Celta is not a traditional winger tactic in which both wings fly together. Nolito and Aspas at the center position support each other, and the intelligence international Orellana on the other side also plays a supporting role. But the main job is to "feed bread" to Aspas and Nolito.

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 with a heavy emphasis on offense and light defense.

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, Celta Xia also bought Alvado Lemos, who played for Lugo in Segunda División last season, on the right. 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.

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

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

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.

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 defender's bench.

As for Joseph Sene, who came from Real Madrid's youth training, he may still be relatively marginalized in the team. Even in the case of multi-line combat, he will not get much playing time.

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.

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.

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.

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. .

In this way, Sisto or Bangada, two right-footers with better explosive power and physical fitness, will inevitably appear in Nolito's position.

With such an efficient starting and bench configuration, if there is no need to compete in the Europa League, I am afraid that Celta will not still be looking to poach a forward to enrich its lineup in the summer window.

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

In fact, as early as the early days of La Liga (the 30s), the Basque Country, as the earliest region in Spain to be exposed to modern football, once had 10 teams in La Liga with only 4 teams (Real Sociedad-Gipuzcoa) , Real United - Guipuzcoa, Athletic Bilbao - Biscay, Getgio Arenas - Vizcaya), and in the 1930/31 season with Alaves (Alava) The upgrade once reached five teams.

However, time flies, and Getjo Arenas and Real United later sank into the lower leagues and never returned to La Liga.

Until the miraculous promotion of Eibar (Bizcay, which, like Getgio Arenas, is near Bilbao), for a long time the Basque Country was just Real Sociedad and Bilbao, and a few blips. of Araves.

Alaves means Arava people. This club is located in Victoria, the capital of the Basque Country.

Although Victoria is the second largest city in the autonomous region, the population of the province of Álava where it is located is much lower than that of Biscay and Guipuzcoa. This is not surprising. Basque clubs like to recruit talents nearby. , it is basically difficult for Alaves’ youth training to send any talents to the first team.

30年代和50年代两次跻身西甲后，阿拉维斯都没待太久就一路下跌到第3级别联赛，甚至一度在1987年降入了第4级别联赛，触底反弹用了10年的时间。

They returned to La Liga in the 1998-1999 season and began an impressive journey.

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

In the UEFA Cup in the 2000-2001 season, although Liverpool became the champion in the finals and won five crowns that season, the experience of reaching the finals was also magical (defeating Inter Milan 5-2, knocking out Rayo Vallecano 4-1, Sweeping Kaiserslautern 9-1), not to mention losing with a golden goal after a 4-4 score with Liverpool. The experience of reaching the UEFA Cup again in the 2002-2003 season dragged down the team. The league has been hovering in the middle and lower reaches from the beginning. Finally, the weak lineup was overwhelmed by multi-front operations, and it was difficult to return to the European competition. The status was relegated to the second division (similar to Betis three years ago).

However, Alaves, whose personnel retention was relatively neat, reached the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey the year they were relegated to the second division (they were eliminated by Real Zaragoza, who eventually won the championship, on fewer away goals), and returned to the semi-finals in the 2004-2005 season. Return to La Liga.

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

However, the professionalism of the boss was worrying. The team not only bought and sold heavily, but also changed 4 head coaches during the season. The result was a 1-point disadvantage and was relegated to the second division after Racing Santander and Huelva.

In the following two years, under the rule of the Ukrainians, Alaves went from bad to worse, relegating themselves to Segunda División every year. Finally, in the 2008-2009 season when Dittman left, they were relegated to Segunda B Group B (the third level).

After four years of dormancy in Group B of Segunda División, Alaves returned to Segunda División.

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

After the upgrade, the team has upgraded its coach and lineup.

Now Alaves has changed more than half of the team compared to last season. If the team cannot quickly get into shape in the new season, I am afraid that a flash in the pan will happen to Alaves again.

If a new goalkeeper is not introduced, Alaves may raise the 20-year-old Cosada from the B team to partner the team's third goalkeeper.

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

Ortola was the main goalkeeper of Barcelona's B team last season, conceding 34 goals in 32 appearances and keeping no opponents in 16 games. However, he still lacks first-team experience.

Pacheco, Alaves' main goalkeeper and the hero of last season's promotion, came from Real Madrid's B team. After serving as a starter for Real Madrid's B team in the 2013-2014 season, he entered the first team but only played once in the Copa del Rey. .

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

Alaves sent 36-year-old center back Pellegrin to Elche in the summer window, while backup center back Borda moved to Western Sydney Wanderers in the Australian League.

Another main center back, LaGuardia, stayed on the team. He only played 20 La Liga games when he was 3 years old.

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

Last season, he played as a substitute for Beşiktaş in the Turkish Super League; both Fedal and Pantic were recruited from La Liga teams. The 191CM Moroccan international Fedal played the main role in the relegated Getafe last season. Pantic was loaned to Eibar by Villarreal and became a rotation player at center back.

Judging from the performance in the preseason, Fedal may form a double high defender combination with Alexis, while Pantic may rotate on the wing.

Last season's two main full-backs, Raul Garcia and Femonia, stayed with the team. The substitute left-back Estrada was released by the team, and the substitute right-back veteran Carpiro transferred to Cadiz in the second division.

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

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

However, with the arrival of new coach Pellegrino, the team's tactics may change. It is not easy to say who of the four young people can compete for the chance to start in La Liga.

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

In addition to the captain Manu Garcia, a native of Victoria, and the teenager Yamas from Alaves' youth training, the remaining main player Sergio Mora (free transfer to the Catholic University of Murcia in the second division) and substitute David -Torres (free transfer to Alcoyano, Group B of Spanish Second Division), substitute Hernan Bernardello (free transfer to MLS Montreal Impact), substitute Gagobo Beobide (cancellation of contract) four People leave the team.

Alaves has loaned two young players in their early 20s from Real Madrid and Levante respectively: Camarasa and Marcos Llorente. Compared with the other two new players, their experience in top leagues is obviously insufficient.

The Serbian Kristic (transferred from Sampdoria) and the defensive midfielder Daniel Torres introduced from the Colombian Medellin Independiente team (costing Alaves 320 million euros), these two foreign players are likely to serve as Pellet in the new season. Greenough's tactical go-to.

Alaves sent away a number of wide players in the summer window, including Ijac Saenz (left winger, free transfer to West Second Division Tenerife), Facundo (left winger, free transfer) Four players including the Catholic University of Murcia (Second Division), Dani Aballo (cancelled his contract) and Dani Pacheco (returned to Betis on loan) left the team.

The two new signings are on loan, Edgar Mendes from Granada and Ibay Gomez from Athletic Bilbao. In the past two seasons, due to injuries and condition, , He didn’t get many game opportunities, but he still has rich experience in La Liga.

Last season, Alaves' forward line was led by Tojilo, a veteran who transferred from Athletic Bilbao, as a single arrow. High center David Barreiro served as a substitute. The other substitute forward was Yuri (already retired). Free transfer to Segundo Cordoba).

Pellegrino may tend to use two forwards in the new season, so Alaves introduced three centers in the summer window, plus Daniel Igueres, who returned from Guadalajara's loan in Group B of La Liga Yas, the team's forward competition will be very fierce.

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

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

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

As the second club to accept the royal title (the first being Deportivo La Coruña), this team from San Sebastian has not been alienated from the central government due to ethnic issues from the beginning.

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

In the 80s, Real Sociedad won consecutive La Liga championships with its local team. However, their short-term rise at the beginning of this century was 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 win Real Sociedad at home, but also hit the wall 2-4 as a guest at San Sebastian. In the final game, they defeated Athletic Bilbao and beat Real Sociedad with a two-point advantage. Win the championship.

At that time, Real Sociedad also had local talents like Xavi Alonso, but it is undeniable that a more open recruitment strategy than Bilbao promoted the improvement of the team. After all, from Gipuzcoa (where Real Sociedad is located) Province, which belongs to the Basque Autonomous Region), the proportion of talents coming out is much lower than that of Biscay (the province where Bilbao is located, which belongs to the Basque Autonomous Region).

(End of this chapter)