After a week when I was told the difference between a Kangaroo and a Kangaroot – one of them is an Australian mammal, the other is a Geordie stuck in a lift! – Real Mallorca suffered an embarrassing 0-4 defeat against top French side Olympique Lyonnais in Austria in a pre-season friendly on Wednesday night. Mallorca were 0-4 down in the first half, which was plagued by defensive errors from two rookie centre halves, David Lopez and a Cuban youngster Leo Lucas.
What is clear is that with the departure of Van der Heyden and Copete it’s now essential to bring in another top quality centre back to cover for Raillo and Valjent. Mallorca looked “leggy” for long periods and failed to have a single effort on target – it’s time to reflect on the reason why. We didn’t lay a glove on the French side. The second half saw a slight improvement but it’s clear that coach Arrasate has a lot of work to do on the training ground. After this debacle and the collapse at the end of last season, the jury’s already out on whether Arrasate has the necessary capabilities.
FC Barcelona talent pool
Real Mallorca have turned their attention to another gem from the talent pool of FC Barcelona just weeks after finalising a 5 million euro deal for Pablo Torre. According to a sports watching website, Mallorca are now showing interest in 19-year-old Tarragona-born Jan Virgili. As you’d expect, there is intense competition for places in the Barcelona attack and transfer opportunities are developing.
Virgili is a right-footed winger who tends to operate off the left but he’s more than capable on the right flank too. He played on the right side for Barça’s B team in the final few months of last season.
A loan deal at the Son Moix could work if he wants to secure minutes in top flight Spanish football. Mallorca need a dynamic profile on the wings, a position where at the moment we only have Asano and Llabres. Virgili remains one of Barcelona’s most prominent young talents and they would only be interested in a loan deal. Regular starts in the top flight could be the key to unlock Virgili’s undoubted talent. On the subject of Barcelona, we play them in our opening game of the season in Son Moix on Saturday, August 16 at 7.30pm.
With Marcus Rashford expected be registered soon for Barcelona, he’s likely to get some minutes in Palma. The Son Moix should be a sell-out. Somebody asked me recently “How come Barcelona always manage to ‘pull another lever’ to stay in business?” I replied “Barcelona are a protected club in Spanish football – totally insolvent but who cannot be allowed to fail.”
Mallorca completed the deal of selling centre back Copete to Valencia. He’s signed a four-year contract after the clubs finalised the deal for just over 3.5 million euros plus a percentage of any future sale.
Goalkeeper Dominik Greif
Another player being closely monitored, this time by French side Olympique Lyonnais, is goalkeeper Dominik Greif. His price tag is expected to be around 4 million Euros. Now we come to the conundrum that is Cyle Larin. He arrived in Austria on Monday after his vacation but because he’s “on the market” he hasn’t been played in any friendlies. He was seen sitting near the bench when we beat Dubai side Al Ahabab Al Alhi 2-1. TV pictures showed that he really didn’t want to be there. Shifting him out of Real Mallorca is a major headache for the club as somehow they have to try and get some recompense. However, there are not many clubs who will pay his high wages, especially as he doesn’t hit the net often enough.
SPAIN’S WOEFUL PENALTIES – La Roja’s dominance in the recent women’s Euros in Switzerland is reflected in their stats published on Monday. They dominated all the other competitors for goals scored, ball possession, passing accuracy, total shots on goal, clean sheets and for me were the most entertaining side to watch. Unfortunately, when it mattered most, England won the penalty shoot-out whereas Spain showed some clear signs of weakness from 11 metres. La Roja needed to be much more clinical in putting away the many chances that came their way. They should have had the final all wrapped up well before the game reached the lottery of spot kicks. Spain’s women’s football team were the best in everything – except penalties!
AND FINALLY, Bacon Roll. A priest and a rabbi are sitting next to each other on a long haul flight. After a while the priest turns to the rabbi saying “Is it still a requirement of your faith that you’re not allowed to eat pork?” The rabbi tells the priest that is still the case. The priest continues “So have you ever eaten bacon?” The rabbi replies “Yes, on one occasion I yielded to temptation and tasted a bacon roll with HP sauce.” A while later the rabbi speaks up saying “Father, is it true that it’s still a requirement of your faith that you remain celibate?” The priest confirms “Yes, very much so.” The rabbi goes on “So, Father, you’re telling me you’ve never fallen to the temptation of the flesh?” The priest says “I’m not going to lie, Rabbi, on one occasion I gave in and enjoyed the pleasures of the opposite sex.” The rabbi nods understandingly, then five minutes later he says “Beats the hell out of a bacon roll with HP sauce, eh?!”