The debate over the sale of Espanyol, currently in the hands of Rastar Group, is once once more hovering over the environment of the white-and-blue entity following the publication of La Grada on the interest of an American investment group, which manages NBA, MLS and NFL clubs, to acquire the entity. According to the media, a letter of intent has been sent to the club’s offices to access the entity’s property, and the corporate area, with the permission of Chen Yansheng, has provided them with information regarding the economic situation of the club. An interest that, according to the aforementioned media, Chen Yansheng would be seriously valuing.
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The release of Darder, the player who suffered playing football
written by Alexandra Hartman Editor-in-Chief
BarcelonaBefore every game, Sergi Darder has a habit of calling his father to talk regarding football. The brain of Espanyol always listens carefully to the advice of Quique Darder, the current coach of the Artà Sports Center, a team of the Regional Preferred of Mallorca (the sixth category of state football). “A lot of people who see him play say that his way of running, driving and kicking reminds me of him,” admitted the father of the Spanish midfielder in an interview a few years ago.
Sergi is closely following the professional trajectories of both his father and his younger brother, Xavi, who is the star striker of Artà, where he has scored around 130 goals in the last three seasons. The two relatives are still at the Ses Pesqueres Municipal Camp, where Sergi started playing football. “He always knows what Artà is doing and whether I scored or not,” said his brother, who is known as Piti. Sergi is the only one of the three who has met an elite footballer who is not easy to savor. “His representative always tells us: ‘Sergi will retire and he won’t have a good time.’ It is a pity. From an early age, he suffered from everything, whether he was promoted, whether he changed teams, whether he played, whether he did well or the results. And now as a professional the same thing happens to him “, says the player’s father.
At the age of 13, Darder alternated between front and midfield positions when he packed his bags to change the town to go alone to Barcelona. “It was very difficult for me to adapt,” the midfielder admitted in an interview with ARA a year ago. “It cost him a lot, he suffered, but he was fine,” admits Piti. “The difference between the two is that he was clear that his dream was to get there, yes and no, and he worked hard, worked hard and sacrificed himself. I didn’t have the mental strength to leave everything behind and move on, “said his brother.
In the summer of 2012, Darder hoped to make the leap to the first team of Espanyol, but Ramon Planes and Mauricio Pochettino did not bet on him. A frustrating situation that he managed to redirect thanks to who he had been scout of the Spanish youth team, Josep Manel Casanova, who took him to Málaga. There he managed to reach Primera. Five years later, Espanyol repaid him by paying 8 million to Lyon to make him one of the flagship players of the Chen Yansheng era. The Mallorcan, who came from a Champions club, soon made it clear that he was a footballer who raised the performance of the midfielder considerably. However, Quique Sánchez Flores made a disastrous appearance. Quite often, he played too attached to one side or simply had a role where he went more unnoticed. “Before, in difficult situations, it was difficult to see me. I didn’t show up in a bad game, I hid a little behind everything, “said Darder a few days ago.
More daring and vertical
His situation began to change with Rubi, who knew how to understand the need to place him in the middle, give him freedom of movement and, not least, join him with good players like Marc Roca, Melendo and Granero. With them, Darder started having fun playing. But Rubi barely lasted a season. The philosophy of the relegation coaches made him an irrelevant player. Now, at the age of 28, he is living his full football. He is a more mature midfielder who leads a midfield in which the physique has been imposed on technique. Three squires, Keidi Bare, Yangel Herrera and Vilhena, protect him and allow him to develop more daring individual records. “It simply came to our notice then. He played more comfortably and more slowly, not advancing or crossing lines. I have tried to evolve and be more vertical, look ahead and, above all, have more personality “, adds Artà.
The data confirms his words: almost all of the attacking football manufactured by Espanyol currently passes through Darder’s boots. The Mallorcan is now a leading player, who appears both at the beginning of the play and near the rival area. This season he has already signed six assists, double the three he had handed out in the 2020-21, 2019-20 and 2018-19 seasons. He has also scored three goals.
The audacity he is showing this year is also helping him to break his best records in three key facets of the game: this is the season in which he has had the most waterings (1.6 per game, almost three times the 0.6 of the course of the descent); passes (44, three more than the 41 of his first year); and completed long balls (3.7, above the 3.2 of 2017-18). The current Darder, therefore, dribbles, associates and seeks more play at length than before. He is also the player who has completed more drives of five meters or more in this League (371). Symptoms that show the increase in confidence you have experienced. “By age and situation, it’s up to me, but I still have to improve,” he admits.
Football change responds to a handful of factors, some of which are off the field. “It simply came to our notice then. It can usually be associated with a more technical subject, but on a physical and tactical level it is also a spectacle “, praised Vicente Moreno. The coach sees him as a level to reach the Spanish national team, a possibility that, as ARA has learned, has not yet been transferred to the player. The good physical work done has allowed him to avoid injuries (he has only lost one game due to muscle problems in five seasons) and also to be often the first player to start the pressures. The other big change came as a result of the mental work he did with a psychologist and one coach sports. “I knew he had a mental problem for many years. It affected me a lot, at the very least I missed a pass, it sank me and I lost my confidence “, he admitted to this medium. Darder has freed himself from the fears of the past and is now finally starting to enjoy football, rather than suffer.
[L’Echo des Parquets] Minnesota, finally a victorious era?
written by Alexandra Hartman Editor-in-Chief
New episode of the Écho des Parquets, dedicated to the Wolves. After the very eventful passage of Tom Thibodeau, the Twin Cities franchise finally seems to have turned the page and is one of the good surprises of this season. But for what ambitions is the question we tackled with Rapha (@Rapha_Lutz), who is also the head of @TWolvesFR . The controls Guillaume (@GuillaumeBInfos) and Antoine (@Tartrou).
You can download the episode here
Feel free to follow us on Twitter (@LchoDes) to have access to all the information, or to Find the show on iTunes
Barça grow wings and take the lead by beating Athletic (4-0)
written by Alexandra Hartman Editor-in-Chief
BarcelonaA pleasant feeling spreads across the Camp Nou. As if it were an old and familiar smell, like that electricity that goes down your back when you see the person you like. Barça are excited once more, becoming an easy team to recognize. Led by the races of Adama, the magic of Pedri and an anthological goal of the rebellious boy, Dembélé, is a team that has grown wings. After Valencia and Napoli, it was his turn to host Athletic (4-0). Xavi’s seeds are already bearing fruit. And the Camp Nou is grateful for that, with a joy that is entrusted to it.
It is the return of a Barça that wants the ball. That he achieves small much-needed victories. After regaining self-esteem in Europe, he had to chain three victories. The last time it was hit was in April. Many things have happened since then. One of them, the arrival of a methodical coach, who instructs a batch of young players led by a Pedri who was born to dazzle the Camp Nou. A few months in which Dembélé made them the height of a bell tower and provoked the debate of a fan who received him with whistles but ended up at his feet when he invented the 2-0. And he still had time to give two gifts to Luuk de Jong and Memphis, supporting actors in a brilliant triumph.
The truth is that Athletic did not hide that the game was a little annoying. This week he plays the return leg of the Cup semifinals and came out with a lot of substitutes. And Barça took advantage of this to turn the game into a show with a single goal. Barça also needed a game without conceding a goal. Marcelino’s bet helped to boost the self-esteem of Ter Stegen, who had scored 9 of the last 10 goals. He had little work, the German.
Optimism, however, is often dangerous. Like a good wine, it makes you drunk. And following the Naples festival, you mightn’t play at the Camp Nou. With the exception of Betis, all the rivals in the fight to be in the Champions League had done their job. Barça might not fail. And he never felt like he would, even though the goal took a while to arrive. Barça’s total dominance did not translate into an avalanche of opportunities. And it took a corner to start making his way. Piqué, always lethal, finished off the crossbar and Auba, mischievous, took advantage to beat Simon. Once the former Arsenal player has joined the team, he has returned the goal. The long-awaited effectiveness, key to lifting the goal. If the goal was scored by the Gabonese, the man of the moment is Adama Traoré. So strong and fast, at times it seems like Gulliver is getting rid of the inhabitants of Liliput. Every time he started, Athletic suffered bravely. One of Xavi’s merits is that he has created an ecosystem where a vertical footballer like Adama and a horizontal footballer like Pedri can play, who makes football an art form whenever he wants. The union of strength and delicacy, poetry and rock’n’roll. Barça open the field, create spaces and it doesn’t take long to get the ball back. A work full of details, of double readings.
Dembélé’s show
With Gavi giving up on every play to give Frenkie de Jong a break, Barça is a growing project. All he needs to do is join Ferran Torres in the cause. The Valencian knows perfectly well what he has to do on the pitch, but he still looks nervous, like students who arrive at a school in the middle of the year and still don’t know what to do to win the sympathy of others. In the second half he forgave the 2-0 alone once morest Unai Simón. It seemed like an easy task for Aubameyang, who seemed unable to keep up with the other players.
Marcelino’s double change at the break, which strengthened the defense with Iñigo and added danger with the talented Sancet, equalized things a bit. What does not change, however, is the debate over Dembélé, who was able to divide the Camp Nou between whistles and applause, once he entered through a lost-eyed Ferran. Able to survive with substitutes, Athletic brought in some headlines to put fear into Barça’s body, but it was Dembélé who was in charge of continuing the party, prolonging a moment as sweet as the first kiss. First he scored a beautiful goal, and then he centered on the goals that closed the party, the work of Luuk de Jong and Memphis. Two players that Xavi also needs to join the cause.
Xavi’s Barça take care of the ball, but they have wings on their wings. Be it Adama Traoré or the Frenchman, who ended up applauded by a stadium ready to forgive sins, now that things are finally going well once more. Football has these things. It can be 90 minutes of happiness in times of darkness.