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| Party Time! Rayo Vallecano, La Liga's Crazy Gang |
21
September, 2013, is a date that may go down in history; well, La Liga history
anyway.
What
was so special about it?
Well,
it was the day Barcelona had less possession in a match than their opponents –
the first time in over five years, a run of over 300 competitive games, this
had happened.
The
achievers of this noteworthy feat were Rayo Vallecano, a small club from the
Vallecas barrio in Madrid
On
that night, however, Barcelona
It
was typical of Rayo’s swashbuckling nature. Few teams play a more bullish game
and fewer still keep the ball better than Rayo; this season they are behind
only Barcelona
The
only problem for Rayo?
They
lost to Barça. 4-0.
And,
this has been the worrying story of Rayo Vallecano’s Primera campaign so far.
After
a fairytale 2012/13 campaign in which they finished eighth, Rayo are in the
midst of the worst run of form of any team in Europe over the last six league
games, worse than Neftochimic 1962, Braunschweig, Syrianska and worse than FC Oss.
La Liga Top 8 – 2012/13
P
|
W
|
D
|
L
|
GF
|
GA
|
GD
|
Pts
|
||
1
|
Barcelona (C)
|
38
|
32
|
4
|
2
|
115
|
40
|
+75
|
100
|
2
|
Real
|
38
|
26
|
7
|
5
|
103
|
42
|
+61
|
85
|
3
|
Atletico
|
38
|
23
|
7
|
8
|
65
|
31
|
+34
|
76
|
4
|
Real Sociedad
|
38
|
18
|
12
|
8
|
70
|
49
|
+21
|
66
|
5
|
38
|
19
|
8
|
11
|
67
|
54
|
+13
|
65
|
|
6
|
38
|
16
|
9
|
13
|
53
|
50
|
+3
|
57
|
|
7
|
Betis
|
38
|
16
|
8
|
14
|
57
|
56
|
+1
|
56
|
8
|
Rayo Vallecano
|
38
|
16
|
5
|
17
|
50
|
66
|
−16
|
53
|
In
those six games Rayo has conceded 20 goals and scored just two. Their
discipline has deserted them also; three red cards and 20 yellow cards have
been collected, and, ultimately, after a 3-0 win over newly-promoted Elche
With
La Liga heading for a two-week international break after this weekend’s games,
Rayo has a myriad of problems to resolve, quickly. If not, it could be curtains
for La Liga’s fairytale team.
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| Vallekas Pride... Rayo Vallecano's loud and proud supporters |
Where is the defence?
Rayo
Vallecano has now conceded more goals than any other side in Europe ’s
top five leagues this season, and that alone says it all.
The
disorganisation in their defence has been obvious over the past month and four
times already this season Rayo have conceded at least four goals in a match –
against Atletico Madrid (5-0), Malaga (5-0), Barcelona
Of
the 21 goals they have conceded this season, 20 have been scored from inside
the area, again illustrating how easy it has been to get to their goals.
Much
of this comes down to their philosophy.
Rayo
are a daring and cavalier side. Their ringmaster Paco Jémez sets his team out
for offence, pushing them high up the pitch and often encouraging his
full-backs to almost become wingers. The football is treasured at Rayo and they
always look to pass out from the back.
Last
season, in reference to Celtic’s defensive display in a narrow 2-1 Uefa
Champions League loss to Barcelona at the Camp Nou, Jémez said: “I could play
like Celtic did, but I would drop my head in shame when I looked in the eyes of
our fans.”
Rayo
attacked Barcelona
Jémez’s
retort: “If you’re going to lose by two, what difference does it make if you
lose by four?”
It
is a strategy that has seen Rayo produce some of the most audacious football in
La Liga since their promotion in 2011. Last season, they enjoyed the third
highest average possession in Europe’s major leagues, bettered only by Barcelona
However,
this philosophy, coupled with Rayo’s incessant bleeding of players due to their
financial problems (16 in all have left over the past two seasons) has its
drawbacks. In defence, especially, problems are always amplified. Jose Manuel
Cassado, Jordi Amat and Jordi Figueras are all departed and the result is a
defensive core substantially different from last season and a coach struggling
to find a first-choice combination.
Over
the last six games, six different defensive combinations have been used with no
same centre-back pairing starting for consecutive games.
Defensive combinations for Rayo in the past six
games
Opponent
|
Right-back
|
Centre-back
|
Centre-back
|
Left-back
|
Atletico
(0-5)
|
Tito
|
Galvez
|
Galeano
|
Nacho
|
Levante
(1-2)
|
Tito
|
Galvez
|
Arbilla
|
Nacho
|
Tito
|
Galvez
|
Galeano
|
Nacho
|
|
Tito
|
Galvez
|
Arbilla
|
Mojica
|
|
Sevilla
(1-4)
|
Arbilla
|
Galvez
|
Niguez
|
Mojica
|
Arbilla
|
Castro
|
Niguez
|
Mojica
|
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| Paco Jemez, Rayo's eccentric ringmaster |
Clearly,
then, there will be problems in cohesion and unsurprisingly Rayo has made
several costly errors this season. The latest came last Sunday against Valencia , the happy recipient Jonas pouncing on
Saúl Niguez’s mistake to seal a 1-0 win for Valencia
Rayo
Vallecano defensive errors
Errors
leading to goals
|
2
|
Total
errors
|
3
|
Shot zones - Against
Areas
|
Percentage
|
Rank in La Liga
|
6
yards box
|
11%
|
3rd
|
18
yards box
|
59%
|
2nd
|
Outside
of the box
|
30%
|
19th
|
The
defence has not been helped by the midfield either. Built mostly for
possession, it has often offered little without the ball. Its central mainstay,
Roberto Trashorras, started his career as a central striker, for example.
Rayo
has also been unlucky at times.
Trashorras
had a penalty saved with the score still at 1-0 against Barça. Against Levante
they had Lassana Bangoura sent off, but in a show of their manic philosophy,
Rayo absolutely peppered Levante’s goal, registering 23 shots in total, only
for Andreas Ivanschitz to break their hearts with a last second winner.
Their
defending, nevertheless, is a serious weak link and a major reason for their
troubles so far.
The loss of Piti and the toothless offence
The
loss of Piti to Granada
Piti
was not only the team’s captain last season but its offensive leader, scoring
18 goals – the sixth highest total in the league.
Rayo
has also lost young Brazilian striker Leo Baptistao, a nippy, clever forward
with an eye for goal, to Atletico. The two were their top attacking avenues.
Without them Rayo has lost cutting edge upfront and in Piti, in particular,
they have lost a classy presence in the final third. So far new striker Joaquin
Larrivey has struggled and, as a team, Rayo have largely been toothless.
So
while they dominate possession – Rayo have completed 2839 passes already this
season – much is often recycled harmlessly. And because they insist on a short
passing game, when the ball is lost Rayo are quickly opened up because of their
lack of defensive structure.
 |
| Kings of Possession? Barcelona? No! Rayo Vallecano! |
Whereas
last season Rayo had some end-product to their passing, often masking their
defensive frailties (Rayo conceded 66 goals last season), this season a lack of
firepower has put other shortcomings under the microscope.
Perhaps
their last Primera game against Valencia
Rayo Vallecano passing stats
Possession
|
Successful passes
|
Pass accuracy
|
Average length of
pass (Metres)
|
|
61%
|
3955
|
89%
|
16
|
|
Rayo
|
57%
|
2839
|
83%
|
19
|
56%
|
3071
|
86%
|
18
|
|
Celta
Vigo
|
52%
|
2264
|
79%
|
20
|
Osasuna
|
52%
|
2234
|
77%
|
20
|
Via
Squawka
Pass Types
Type of pass
|
Number of passes per
game
|
Percentage of total
passes
|
Short
pass
|
436
|
81%
|
Long
ball
|
77
|
14%
|
Cross
|
22
|
4%
|
Through
ball
|
2
|
1%
|
Via
Squawka
Stats: Valencia
Metric
|
Rayo
|
|
38.7%
|
Possession
|
61.3%
|
193
|
Passes
Completed
|
356
|
3
|
Corners
|
5
|
80
|
Attacking
3rd Passes
|
126
|
5
|
Shots
|
13
|
Via
StatsZone
Sunday crunch-time vs. Real Sociedad
Still,
for Rayo to be amongst La Liga’s big boys is a minor miracle.
The
Vallecas club has the lowest budget in La Liga and a stadium that only holds
14,708. Furthermore, Rayo are currently in administration and because of their
heavy debts were barred from taking their place in Europe
this season.
In
order to survive the club has to continuously sell its best players. Michu and
Diego Costa are among those who have been sold in recent years and this
revolving door means Jémez has to work with a new squad every season.
 |
| Diego Costa and Michu, just two of the gems Rayo Vallecano has lost |
Considering
this, Jémez has worked wonders especially as he has to continually implement a
rather wild philosophy on a different group of players every season.
Rayo
have to turn the corner quickly, though, and Sunday offers the Vallecanos an
opportunity to do when they host a Real Sociedad side that has also started
slowly after a fine 2012/13 campaign. Sociedad, one of Spain
It
is a crucial game for Rayo as they seek, more than anything, the psychological
boost of moving off the bottom of the table before the international break.
Yes,
Rayo did start slowly last season recovering from 15th place after nine matches
to finish eighth.
However,
with a defence constantly leaking and an offence constantly missing, Rayo have
to turn the corner sooner rather than later. Possession has to turn into goals.
Originally written on 3 October, 2013 for
BSports StatsInsights
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