JANUARY
Lineup - Simon, Capa, Yeray, Martinez, Yuri, Dani Garcia, Benat (Sancet), Gomez (Villalibre), Raul Garcia, Muniain (Cordoba), Williams
If I was seriously thinking about winning the league I would have been ****** off with this result but I am not so I am pleased with this result. We fell behind but Ibai Gomez levelled for us and it is a good point.
--
Copa del Rey 2nd Round
Lineup - Simon, Lekue, Yeray, Nunez, Balenziaga,
Dani Garcia*, Sancet (Vencedor), Larrazabal, Unai Lopez (Guruzeta), Cordoba, Fati (Villalibre)
Through we go but I am disappointed not to have scored more having scored 3 goals in the first 17 minutes.
--
Lineup - Simon, Nunez, Yeray, Martinez, Balenziaga, Dani Garcia (Sancet), Moriba, Gomez (Villalibre), Raul Garcia, Fati (Cordoba),
Williams*
A fine victory - especially considering I was missing several players through injury and suspension. Inaki Williams got a double and Asier Villalibre came off the bench to score his first league goal of the season.
--
Lineup - Simon, Nunez (Lekue), Yeray, Martinez, Yuri, Dani Garcia (Sancet), Moriba, Gomez, Raul Garcia, Fati (Villalibre), WIlliams
What a thrilling encounter this was!!! We edged out Real Madrid in a crazy match. We took the lead twice and got pegged back twice however Ilaix Moriba bundled home the winner with 8min to go and we held on. Real Madrid had all the possession but we were far more dominant in attack and gained revenge for the 4-0 thumping they handed us earlier in the season.
--
Copa del Rey 3rd Round
Lineup - Simon, Nunez, Yeray, Martinez, Yuri, Dani Garcia (Sancet),
Moriba*, Gomez, Raul Garcia, Fati (Cordoba), Williams (Villalibre)
Not our best performance but we won and progress through to the next round and thats the main thing.
--
Lineup - Simon, Capa (Lekue), Yeray, Martinez, Yuri, Moriba,
Benat*, Gomez (Villalibre), Raul Garcia (Unai Lopez), Fati, Williams
A game of two halves. We were excellent in the first half and raced into a 3 goal lead and although they managed to pull a goal back before half-time I was still confident that we would win however they quickly levelled things up and I was fuming but fortunately we were awarded a penalty and Benat struck it home to win us the match.
--
Copa del Rey 4th Round
Lineup - Simon, Capa, Yeray, Martinez, Yuri, Moriba, Dani Garcia (Sancet),
Gomez*, Raul Garcia (Unai Lopez), Cordoba, Williams (Villalibre)
This wasnt as comfortable as the scoreline suggests. We were 2-0 up and even missed a penalty through Raul Garcia but they pulled a goal back and missed a few chances to equalise before Gomez settled things from the penalty spot.
--
SUMMARY
As ever January was a manic month with 7 games squeezed into it and the fact that we emerged unbeaten despite coming up against Barcelona and Real Madrid speaks volumes to how well we are playing. In the league we drew with Barcelona and therefor becoming one of only 2 teams that have taken something off them this season and followed that up with wins over Mallorca, Real Madrid and Granada with the victory over Real Madrid being the highlight of the month as we edged them out 3-2. All of this means we are still in 2nd place - 7pts behind Barcelona but 8pts clear of Levante in 3rd.
In the Copa del Rey we knocked out Ferrol, Leganes and Real Valladolid to set up a quarter-final tie against Real Madrid at the San Mames. I should also mention that my B side are 5pts clear at the top of their league and I hope they get promoted as it is vital that they get promoted to the Segunda Division so my younger players have a higher level of football to play to help their development.
Regarding transfers I loaned in 2 16y/o players to give them Basque nationality, one from Sevilla and one from Barcelona but they wont feature in the first team. Outgoing is Mikel San Jose who joined Wolves for an initial £4.5m which could rise to £6.75m. He wasnt getting a game for me and at 30y/o I was happy to let him go.
--
PLAYER OF THE MONTH
IBAI GOMEZ
--
LIGA SANTANDER