| |
Club Focus - Espanyol - Kameni injury threatens season opener.
Key player Carlos Kameni has been injured and is a doubt for the first game of the season against Getafe. The injury occurred during the ’blue and whites’ disappointing 1-1 draw with Club Gimnastic de Tarragona. It was, however, the injury to Cameroonian keeper Kameni that will be of greatest concern to the Catalonian’s. To steal a well known adage it was a game of two halves, with the La Liga outfit getting the best of the first half, but no goals were scored and the nervousness surrounding the inability of Espanyol’s strike-force to score was heightened at half-time, when they failed to find the net with Spanish international’s Luis Garcia and Jose Maria Callejon.
After half-time, Mauricio Pochettino made plenty of changes to the team and it seemed to ruin the team's rhythm and added to this came Kameni’s injury. Then a shock, Gimnastic scored! Ruben Navarro, the Nastic striker, scored past reserve keeper Francesc Casilla. It then looked for all certainty that the Parakeets would lose their second pre-season friendly. However, in injury time at the end of the game, a poor challenge in the penalty area by Nastic defender Pedro Mairata, gave away a penalty and a sending off for the 31 year old centre half, Osvaldo scored and Espanyol split the spoils again, although another poor performance will leave Pochettino with many worries.
Getafe come into this game after qualifying for the Europa League play-offs, after a 6th place finish. However, Mallorca’s expulsion from European competitions meant that the Madrid side became Spain’s first seed for the draw, giving them a tie against Cypriots side APOEL.The capital team took the lead, but a narrow 1-0 lead, will mean that the second leg will be a tense nervous affair away from home. This can only be a good sign for their opening day opponents Espanyol, who should start with reserve keeper Christian Alvarez likely to replace Carlos Kameni in goal, although Espanyol’s number 1 could make a recovery from his knee injury.
In defence, David Garcia and Francisco Javier Chica should start at wing back and joining them from last season's squad should be Juan Forlin, but the loss of key centre-half Nicolas Pareja and the six month injury lay-off to new signing Felipe Mattioni ,will hit the team hard. In midfield, new signing Jesus Datolo should thrive in Spain, however, the lack of depth is apparent, with the club website naming just 6 first-team midfielders, including the aging Ivan De La Pena. Finally, the problem area from last-season, the forward line, has been weakened by the departure of club legend Raul Tamudo, with no activity in the transfer market a lot of weight will be placed on the shoulders of Luis Garcia and unfashionable Uruguayan Ivan Alonso.
One player missing from the squad is Moises Hurtado, who has left the club to sign for Greek side Olympiakos, the transfer ends Hurtado’s 18-year affiliation with the Catalan side. Hurtado made his senior debut for Espanyol in the 2001-2002 season and continued to be an important player in their run to the Spanish Cup victory in 2006, and run to the final of the UEFA Cup in 2007. Moises, was born just 20km from Barcelona, and aged just 15 signed a youth contract with the ’blue and whites’, three years later he signed his professional contract and started playing for the B team. A spell out on loan at Eibar in 2004-2005, seemed to impress the management at Espanyol and he became a lynchpin for the team from then on, his aggressive edge adding a perfect match for Ivan De La Pena’s elegance on the ball.
In other news, Felipe Mattioni has undergone surgery on his knee problem, with doctors' predicting that the versatile right sided player will be out for about six or seven months, meaning that an appearance in March or April looks possible. With a possible relegation dog-fight or place in Europe up for grabs, the pace and invention of Mattioni could help the club later in the season.
See the full list of OLBG's free Football Tips here.
Related Articles
| |