After a week when, in time for the festive season, Tesco’s announced they will be adding a new beer to their value “craft” range – alongside the affordable Simply Golden Ale and the inexpensive Simply Dark, they’re adding Simply Red for when money’s too tight to mention!! – Real Mallorca (who by and large have been impressive so far this season, taking points off Sevilla, Valencia, Villareal and Betis) players and staff have been given the weekend off as it’s international break time again.
Our next game will be a week on Monday, November 22, when we go to Madrid to play sixth placed Rayo Valecano who are unbeaten in Estadio Vallecas – 5 wins, 1 draw.
After last Sunday’s 2-2 draw against Elche, coach Luis Garcia Plaza has been calling for “more evil” when it comes to being decisive in the opposition penalty area.
LGP watched the game from high up in the stand serving the first of a two-game ban, saying he went from a state of resignation to euphoria. He reckoned we have the talent in the squad to get a lot more out of the opportunities created but, he went on, what we DON’T have is a regular goalscorer.
Players like Amath, Fer Niño and Kang-In Lee play tremendously but they must be more aggressive when they step into the penalty area.
He spoke about the South Korean who is brilliant with the ball at his feet but he needs to shoot more often because he has one of the strongest shots in the squad.
In an interview for Sport TV (which owns the rights to La Liga in South Korea), the player said he was having a great time after his move from Valencia, calling Palma a beautiful city to live in and he was very comfortable on the island where he gets on very well with his teammates.
Talking about our other Asian player, Take Kubo, the South Korean said “He is a great player, very skilled in one-on-one situations and when he comes back from injury, I know we can help each other.” On that subject, the great news for RCD Mallorca fans is that Kubo is now out of the gym and is training on the pitch again. Although he’s only doing light work his comeback is only a few weeks away.
A N article on social media this week announced that it looks like the green light has been given for director of football Pablo Ortells to incorporate a new centre forward in the January transfer window.
A stipulation made is that the striker is already playing in Spain so not needing any adaptation time or he knows the Spanish playing system.
In other words, no more experiments when it comes to a number nine.
Ortells hasn’t been fortunate following disastrous signings last season with Alvaro Jimenez and Marc Cardona.
Now we have Fer Niño and Matthew Hoppe (who’s hardly been seen and is now injured), neither of whom have pulled up any trees so far. Last season in the second division Abdon Prats scored 10 goals (he’s still to get off the mark in La Liga) and Amath (nine goals) assumed the offensive duties more than adequately; unfortunately this season both have been disappointing.
Since the departure of Ante Budimir to Osasuna, just over a year ago, the club has not been able to fully replace the hole left by the Croatian in the position of a specific striker. Budimir acted as our main source of goals. He scored 13 when he played here in season 2019/20.
The 20-year-old American Matthew Hoppe has become a bit of an “hombre invisible” at Real Mallorca.
Since the Palma side splashed nearly 4 million euros during the Summer, he’s so far failed to adapt to life in Spain since coming from German side Schalke.
LGP described Hoppe as being in the process of adaptation and is learning Spanish. The coach said “With him I speak in English but he misses out on a lot of things, not just football but integration. You see your teammates laughing and you don’t know what they are laughing about. His physical data is very good in terms of his passing, intensity and work rate, he’s a very dynamic lad.”
When we decide on a new striker in January, we have to let a player go out on loan to make way for whoever the new player will be.
Hoppe could go on loan to give him more playing opportunities and he has a contract here until 2015.
So who have Mallorca got in mind for January?
One player being mentioned is Real Madrid striker Mariano Diaz.
However, any move would be very complicated, not just because of his high wage demands, but the player’s insistence on staying at Real Madrid, where he’s played second fiddle to Benzema for the past three years. Other clubs more financially capable of paying his wages, Sevilla and Valencia, are also eyeing up a move for the striker of Dominican descent.
Ortells has been given the authority to make a significant monetary outlay but it could well be a loan-deal too costly.
AND FINALLY, a man walks into a rural pub in the Cotswolds carrying a rabbit.
He puts the rabbit on the bar as he drinks his pint.
The rabbit starts running up and down the bar counter, doing its business all over the place.
After the man and the rabbit leave, a really obnoxious customer comes in, spots the rabbit droppings on the bar and asks what they are.
The landlord tells him “They’re smart pills,” so the obnoxious customer pops a few into his mouth and starts chewing them.
He spits them out saying “They taste like s**t.”
The landlord smiles and says “See, you’re getting smarter already!”
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