RCD: 2-0 v Valencia

Alright I can say it now. Whew! the jinx is over. No not really, because Little Buddha De La Pena is out again from a leg injury and won’t be fit against Madrid, but there are encouraging signs that capitan Tamudo might be able to return from his broken arm in time, and there is the very impressive win over a Valencia squad that is still dealing with the after-effects of the Koeman Reolution. Luis Garcia scored both goals, the first off a pretty bad goalkeeping error by Timo Hildebrand, and the second off a deserved penalty, and for the first time in weeks we fairly dominated.

The other important news of the week is that constant speculation over keeper Carlos Kameni’s future at the club are weighing on Ernesto Valverde. Sure Jarque, Riera and Torrejon have all been linked recently to moves away from the club, but Kameni has been putting out feelers through his agent since going off to play in the Africa Nation’s Cup. It looks like his move to Tottenham has almost been finalized, but Dinamo Tiblisi keeper Didier Ovono has been lined up as a replacement. I wish agents and players would start drumming up interest after the season is over. This constant harping to AS or Marca is just ridiculous.

Beyond that, I’d say it’s a slow newsweek as the attention is riding high on the European Championships. More next week.

Nou Sarria

News: I won’t say much today. Two weeks in a row, beaten by cellar dwellers, but this week by less-than-Super Depor? Granted the goal by midfielder Angel Lafita was understandable, but defender Fabrizio Coloccini? 2 goals in the last 5 years in Spain, ex-Argentine international Coloccini, whose hair is more “fabulous” than his play? On a side that very well could be relegated to the Segunda? What is going on. How many times can Valverde come out with the, “we must turn this around”, speech?

We were missing Little Buddha and Zabalayeta, both were suspended, and Raul Tamudo continued on the shelf from his broken arm. Torrejon, Marc Garcia and Riera should be back and we’ll be back on one of our patented little mini-streaks soon enough. At lest I hope.

Now, let me get to the real news. The groundbreaking has begun! The new Sarria’ has been in the works for yers now, and until today it has been just a dream since. We have had the Montjuic but every supporter I’ve talked to has little to say about it. It isn’t our home, and now we’ll have one.

As you can see by the picture above it will be state of the art, it’ll seat 40,000 plus and it’ll have a sports and entertainment complex nearby like all the brand new stadias are having nowadays. Most importantly it’ll be green. It’ll collect rainwater and it’ll have huge solar panels for sunlight, but most importantly it’ll be financed privately, and it’ll give us the wherewithal to compete in the transfer market, not with the Real Madrid’s r the Barcelona’s of the world, but certainly for tht next tier in the Spanish League that clubs like Sevilla, Betis, ad Villareal have all vied for with Valencia and Atletico Madrid fr the last few years.

RCD: 2-4 v Sevilla

Every time I watch Espanyol play Sevilla, in whatever format since it’s rare that we get to see other than the usual big 4 games here in the States, I’m reminded of that magical night in Scotland where Espanyol almost, and should have won, the UEFA Cup final. Sevilla did well that night don’t get me wrong, but Espanyol looked hungrier more direct and even when down to 10 men with the loss of Moises Hurtado, they battled and sent the game to penalties.

This game, was nothing like that one. Sevilla were playing without key players like Chevanton who was hurt, and Dani Alves and Keita who were suspended, but for the fourth game in five Espanyol failed to step up to the challenge, especially when their nearest rivals Villareal and Atletico Madrid both lost. With this run of form they’re only 5 points and 4 clubs away from 9th, with both Sevilla and “lowly” Almeria just 3 points shy. I know they have injuries, all clubs do at this point of the season, and I grant you that not many would have withstood the shock to the system that is losing Raul Tamudo, but give me a break already. The problem isn’t about scoring goals. It’s the back line.

Espanyol came out flat again, lost their concentration, let in a couple of easy goals one by Kanoute and the other by his strike partner and hopeful pichichi winner Luis Fabiano, with Clemente being especially useless, but Riera and Garcia both showed some much needed determination, the latter getting us within a goal before halftime. We came out sharp, but a second bout with stupidity saw Zabaleta sent off for bringing Capel down, a professional foul but he was already carrying a yellow which makes it a semi-pro foul.

That’s when Sevilla went for the kill. Capel and yellow-card magnet Poulsen both scored to put the game away even if a pretty goal on a half-volley by Coro really impressed even. It was too little too late.

What this sets up is a pressurized last few months, filled with some key matches. Next week, it’s at the Riazor against Depor which looks winnable and it’s away finally so that we can get out of Barcelona for a change, but then it’s Valencia followed by Real Madrid, and a succession of tough midtable sides like Racing and Mallorca sandwiched around relegation contenders Murcia.

It’s going to be tough, but some bright lights are appearing. The contract talks for Valverde and keeper Carlos Kameni are being fastracked and even better news, Raul Tamudo who had his sights on returning for the Real Madrid game in March, is now cautiously optimistic that he’ll be there for the match at home against Valencia.

Cue the Leonard Cohen: “Hallelujah”

RCD: 1-2 v Recreativo Huelva

The talk of the week was that the win going to spark us out of the doldrums. Espanyol’s recent form has been piss-poor, losing away to Valladolid and Almeria, losing at home to Real Betis, and drawing at the Montjuic to Bilbao in the Copa Del Rey. They brought in Ewerthon from Vfc Stuttgart who was languishing on the bench in Germany (they said he lacked fittness), but he played so well last year at Real Zaragoza that I was optimistic that we could get through the loss of Raul Tamudo without too much of a blip. They didn’t really need Ewerthon all that much against Getafe, because Jonathan Soriano, straight from the cantera after loan spells at Poli Ejido and Almeria, scored the winning goal.

This week, Carlos Kameni was still in Ghana playing in the Africa Cup of Nations final against Egypt which saw the Indomitable Lions lose despite some remarkable saves by our much missed goalkeeper. He refuted reports that he wanted out at the end of the year, and was concentrating his efforts for club and country. Espanyol’s recent form is usually given to the injury crisis, but true fans know how important the Cameroonian is to the blanc-i-blau.

The opponents: Recreativo Huelva were coming into the match every bit the relegation victims. They had fired their coach Victor Munoz after losing to Sevilla, had lost 3 of 4 matches and were without some key starters for an away trip at the Montjuic.

Expectations: Well, I expected a better performance at least. Huelva got the expected new-coach-bump from Huelva native Manolo Zambrano and a two goal outpouring from ex-Liverpool cast-off Florent Sinama-Pongolle, helped on again by another dubious performance in goal by Real Madrid reject Kiko Casilla. Still, we should have played better. Again they came out flat against an inferior opponent, and at home I might add, Jonathan Soriano and Moises were lost after 20 minutes with head injuries after some rash challenges, and again Valverde was left to praise the opponent and also the League for being so competitive.

Ewerthon did score a late goal and the club did try their best for a late equalizer, but it wasn’t to be. Another loss like this leaves me wondering which club will show up on any given week. Hopefully this really does mark a turning point for Espanyol in the league.

RCD Espanyol

My name is Armando, and I’m a blogger and podcaster at Forzafutbol.com. I’ve been covering the Spanish League pretty intensely over the last year for our growing podcast and in that time I have become a pretty intense fanatic of RCD Espanyol.

Yes, in that time I have gone to visit family that live in Barcelona and while I took the tour of the Camp Nou as all good tourists should, I actually caught a match at the Estadi Olimpic de Montjuic, saw the Periquitos play Deportivo La Coruna, and made lots of friends, rode the supporters buses up the hill from Plaça d’Espanya, made some more friends at the game, learned some songs, and walked right back down the hill through the beautiful park along the hillside back to the train station later on, that it all felt right to throw myself headlong into supporting them as my club.

So, while I haven’t been a staunch supporter for half my life, not even half the year actually, I think it’s never too late to pick a club in Spain, one of my favorite leagues, and wear the colors, laugh at your rivals and cheer on your team.

So, from here on in, I’ll try my best to connect with my fellow blanc-i-blau fanatics, bring the latest news and gossip to this blog, and try my best to bring awareness of one of the Spanish League’s oldest clubs to English soccer fans.

RCD Espanyol

The little club that couldn’t, win the UEFA Cup Final last year against a dominant Sevilla squad that is, has been playing some of the best football in the Spanish league over the last month and have brought the spotlight on their often ignored Catalan club. After starting the season with losses to Valladolid and Huelva sandwiched around a close win against Getafe and a draw to Real Betis away, the Periquitos have strung together some rather impressive wins, beating some of the biggest clubs in La Liga: Sevilla, Valencia, Real Madrid and coming from behind just last week, settling for a draw in the local Barcelona derby.

Granted, beating Sevilla at the Sanchez Pizjuan is not as shocking as it may sound, the Andalusians have not looked the same side after the death of Antonio Puerta, and I think more importantly the unsettling nature of the Juande Ramos and Dani Alves sagas. Valencia have had to deal with their own fractured changing room, and the whirlwind that is the Real Madrid squad have also had to deal with a similar instability, and both have played well below expectations despite their elevated positions on the table.

Now, I’m not saying that Espanyol deserves to be ranked ahead of their powerful neighbors, even my dense faculties can see that being fifth in the table means there are 4 other teams more deserving of honors than they, but I’d like to take a moment to turn the spotlight on the Parakeets from the Stadio Olimpic de Montjuic, the other team from Barcelona.

They are one of the founding members of the Spanish League, the first club not to be started by homesick ex-pats but by the fanatical natives, they have a nifty regal title that seems ill conceived amongst the independent minded Catalunyans, and a squad made up of cast-offs, rejects, youngsters, keepers and a diamond in their crown.

It’s so easy to root for a big club. You see them all the time on television. They’re the first ones linked to the greatest players in the world. They have special deals with the big newspapers that allow for extra coverage, they have huge multinational followings, and they are always linked the best managers, coaches, chairmen, and trainers. There is an expectation almost, that the brand itself requires a native to attach him or herself to the big club in town, or a foreigner to select amongst a dwindling group of elite clubs.

Rather than that, I decided that I was going to support a smaller club, one that wasn’t burdened with that immense level of expectation, but not one so small as to have no ambition at all. They had to play well and they needed to be tough minded. Add to the fact they’re from one of the most beautiful cities I’ve ever been to, a place that I have family in and I’d say I picked the right team for me. I’m not slighting anyone else’s choice, Real Madrid or Barcelona have majestic histories and impressively detailed CV’s that many people admire, the sort that develop rabid followings.

Me, I’ll be off in the corner “celebrating” a 3-3 collapse against Real Zaragoza. I knew the job was dangerous when I took it.