A Little Bit of Everything

Unlike rich teams such as Real or Barcelona, we do not have lucrative pre-seasons. The lads work mainly on Mareo training grounds, and only leave Asturias to play some summer friendlies. Last week we played four matches against Valladolid, Salamanca, Paços (Portugal) and Celta of Vigo in which the results and the impressions were very different.

The results were as follows:
Sporting 3 Valladolid 2 (Carmelo, Mendy and Sangoy)
Cuéllar; Lora (Pedro Orfila), Botía (Gregory), Iván Hernández (Jorge), Canella (Damián); Rivera (Álex Barrera), Eguren (Sergio Alvarez); Carmelo (Nacho Novo), Trejo (Sangoy), Ayoze (Mendy); Bilic (Barral).
Salamanca 0 Sporting 4 (Barral, Ayoze, Luis Morán, Sangoy)
Raúl (Juan Pablo); Pedro Orfila (Lora), Gregory (Iván Hernández), Jorge (Botía), Damián (Canella); Juan Muñiz (Rivera), Álex Barrera (Sergio Alvarez); Luis Morán (Trejo), Nacho Novo (Carmelo), Mendy (Ayoze); Barral (Sangoy).

Paços 3 Sporting 0
Cuéllar (Raúl); Lora (Pedro Orfila), Botía (Gregory), Iván Hernández (Jorge), Canella (Damián); Rivera (Juan Muñiz), Sergio Alvarez (Alex Menéndez); Carmelo (Ayoze), De las Cuevas (Nacho Novo), Trejo (Luis Morán); Bilic (Barral).
Celta Vigo 0 Sporting 1 (De las Cuevas)
Juan Pablo; Pedro Orfila (Canella), Gregory (Botía), Jorge, Damián Suárez; Álex Barrera (Juan Muñiz), Sergio Alvarez (Rivera); Luis Morán (Trejo), Nacho Novo (De las Cuevas), Carmelo (Barral); Sangoy (Bilic).

There were weak defensive matches against Valladolid and against Paços, but there were also clean sheets against Salamanca and Celta. Sporting were able to turn the game around twice against Valladolid with 3 goals from Carmelo, Mendy and Sangoy, all of them in the second half. A terrific performance at Salamanca was quickly followed by a disastrous one in Portugal and a victory by 0-1 at Vigo in a evently matched game closed the four-day tour.

It is not easy to form a judgment of this week's performances. The line-ups, rivals and conditions were different for each match. Nevertheless, as recent seasons, Sporting played great and poor matches within a short period of time.

The start of the new season is nearly upon us. Tests must finish and only the players who deserve play should be allowed to step onto the grass at Villarreal.

Sporting Draw Twice

The pre-season advances towards 21st August, when Sporting will travel to Villarreal to play the first match of La Liga. This week, the lads have paid a visit to Ponferradina on Wednesday and another to Marino on Saturday. Both teams compete in semi-professional leagues in the third and fourth tier of Spanish football, but Sporting only could save two draws to 1-1.
The games were quite similar to each other. Preciado fielded two different line-ups for each half but players could not perform as desired because of fatigue. Sporting faced these two matches having trained hard on the morning of the matches so the result cannot be consider as relevant.

At Ponferrada (against Ponferradina) the two line-ups were:
First half: Cuéllar, Botía, Jorge, Lora; Rivera, Ayoze, Luis Morán, Sangoy, De las Cuevas, Alex Menéndez, Alex Barrera.
Second half: Juan Pablo, Damián, Gregory, Iván Hernández, Canella, Sergio, Carmelo, Nacho Cases, Bilic, Barral, Trejo.

Whilst at Luanco (against Marino of Luanco) the line-ups were:
First half: Raúl; Pedro Orfila, Alain, Jorge, Alex Menéndez; Nacho Cases, Álex Barrera; Ayoze, Carmelo, Mendy; Sangoy.
Second half: Juan Pablo; Damián, Gregory, Iván Hernández, Canella; Sergio Alvarez, Eguren; Nacho Novo, De las Cuevas, Trejo; Barral.

De las Cuevas scored in the first match and Nacho Novo in the second. This week Sporting will play four matches, so it is predictable that the coach will change the system of two different line-ups per game. With only three weeks left to the start of the season, pre-season matches will start to show the (real) squad's strength.
News has come from the transfer market. Former Sporting coach Marcelino, now Sevilla's manager, has closed the door to Armenteros and the Argentinian will not be able to play at Gijón this season. Sporting had a verbal agreement with the player, but the Andalusian team have decided to include him in the squad for this season. In addition, André Castro has been discarded by Porto coach Vítor Pereira and Sporting have intensified negotiations to sign the player either on loan or as a transfer. The club expects to complete the return of the Portuguese next week.

Hard work and not much news

Sporting's pre-season is usually synonymous with no news, specially if Manolo Preciado is in charge of the team.
In the transfer market, the club keeps waiting for another player to complete the squad. There are some rumours in the media, but the time when the fans would read endless reports of future signings, many of which were without foundation, are a thing of the past. The manager and his team are very careful not to talk with the media, and some of the most representative transfers in the recent years have been completed without the knowledge of the press.
Regarding the pre-season, Preciado's guideline is always the same. Playing at Sporting means running and battling in every match and in every training session. This Wednesday we played our first pre-season match drawing 1-1 against Langreo, an amateur team of the Spanish third division.
The game was not a proper match. There were two different line-ups for each half and players only played for 45 minutes.

First half: Juan Pablo; Pedro Orfila, Gregory, Jorge, Canella; Luis Morán, Rivera, Sergio Álvarez, Ayoze; Barral, Bilic.
Second half: Raúl Domínguez; Lora, Alain, Botía, Alex Menéndez, Nacho Cases, Alex Barrera; Ayoze, Trejo, Nacho Novo; Sangoy.

The goals were scored towards  end of the match. Langreo took the lead in the 78th minute and Sangoy salvaged the draw two minutes from time with a shoot from 45 yards.
And finally, the most controversial topic has been the new home shirt. The club has been oblied to rectify it in order to stop a public demonstration on Saturday against the strip described by the fans as "The Pijama". Personally, I think the shirt is rubbish and disrespectful to Sporting's history. Kappa has announced that they are developing a replacement shirt for this season, but it is difficult the shirt will be ready for the first match against Villarreal. Meanwhile, Sporting will play all pre-season matches in the away shirt.

The new strip presented at El Molinón

Sporting presented their new strip made by Kappa. The Italian multinational will provide sporting equipment for the following three years. The new sporting equipment has generated much expectation among fans and about a thousand people went to El Molinón to be the first to see the shirts. The players wore the different shirts as well as the oficial tracksuits and casual clothes that the Italian brand has designed for this season.

However, deception has been the feeling of a large number of fans after seeing with their own eyes the red-and-white jersey (Robert Canella - centre). Sporting will wear a very innovative home strip absolutely different to the last years' design. The away jersey will be red (David Barral - left),  the same as last years, but Kappa has added a new golden stripe absolutely new in the club's history. There is a third white jersey (Nacho Cases - right) similar to the jerseys worn some years ago. The new strip has been on sale since last Friday in all official stores and online.

Jose Ángel completes Roma move

Roma have broken the Sporting Gijón transfer record by paying €4.5 million (£4m) to seal the capture of Under-21 international Jose Ángel. The Italian squad have sped up the transfer after Fulham have brought the former Liverpool defender Riise back to the Premier League. The 21-year-old flew to Italy this week to undergo a medical at the Calcio club before putting pen to paper on a contract. Jose Ángel attracted the attention of European champions Barcelona, Málaga, and the Italian squad of Fiorentina before Roma took the initiative making the best offer for the player.

The replacement for Jose Ángel is Damián Suárez from Defensor, who was presented on Thursday and will join the team immediately. In addition to Damian, Canella and Lora have suficient experience and skill to keep the defense safe.

The club is still waiting to complete the squad, and the two preferred options by the manager are Armenteros from Seville and André Castro from Porto. Preciado told on Monday's press conference “Someone can leave and someone can come, but we are 90% there”, so we should not expect much more news during the transfer window.

Sporting go back to work

After achieving the best result since we came back to the Primera División finishing 10th, Sporting go back to work to prepare for the fourth season in a row in La Liga and the fortieth in the history of the most successful team in Asturias.

Manolo Preciado (above), the manager, the leader of the team, and a hero for the fans, starts his sixth season on the bench of El Molinon. With him at Gijón most of last season's squad remain for a new challenge. Only two players have left the team: Rafa Sastre is playing in the second division whilst Diego Castro has joined Getafe after being the top scorer and the most important player in recent seasons. In addition, in a few days, left wing-back Jose Ángel will join Roma where he will play the next four seasons alongside former Barcelona striker Bojan.

In compensation, three new players have joined Sporting. The Argentinian striker Oscar Trejo (right) from Mallorca, the midfielder Ricardo from Tenerife and the back winger Damián Suárez from Defensor (Uruguay). The team is still waiting to reach an agreement with Porto for Andre Castro. The young midfielder played for five incredible months in Gijón and the coach wants him back again. Apart from these players, the club is looking for another striker to complete the squad.

At the back, the team remains strong with former Barcelona centre-back Botía as commandant in the centre of the defence. Both Botía and Jose Ángel (left) were in the Spanish Under-21 team that recently won the European Championship in Denmark. The middle of the pitch looks strong with former Real Madrid player Rivera and the Uruguayan international Eguren currently playing in the Copa Americas Cup in Argentina. With De Las Cuevas as the new leader of the Sporting attack, players such as Nacho Novo, Ayoze and Carmelo must show they are worthy of the supporters respect after a poor campaign last season. Barral as the new captain and Sangoy have a great chance to remain at Gijón. However, if another striker arrives at Asturias, it is likely that the Croatian International Bilic will leave.

Preseason starts on Monday with a well known squad. Sporting will play again against the best Spanish teams of the moment, and again the goal is the same, to avoid being relegated and keep developing after many years of huge economic, social and sporting problems.