The Mallorca Cup and a Positive Outlook

By: Jeremy | August 6th, 2008

With all the preseason action going on, a fan or pundit can look at the results with mixed emotions. Yes its the preseason and all the clubs are looking at new players and returning players are often trying to get back into soccer seriously after having a little vacation time. Either way, the results and performances of the players against similar competition do give a little indication of where the club sits as we head into the new season.

Manzano, who I feel is one of the clubs biggest assets, has done a great job bringing the new players and mixing them with the returning players to form what may be a better side then we thought. With all the losses and the question marks surrounding the new players, to see what we have seen in the preseason is a sign of good things to come.

Yes we went to Austria and knocked out around a couple of third division clubs, but then we moved up and took out strong Dutch side Feyonord to prepare for hosting the Mallorca Cup and some better competition with German Club Hannover and Premier Side Newcastle United. After pushing four goals past Hannover, we beat New Castle 1-0 to win the Cup. We showed we have some players who can score and also that we can get an early goal at home and make it stand up for a win. Yes it is preseason, but to beat these two clubs is good. Yes the German League is weak and Newcastle is a mid table EPL club, but I think we are showing that despite all the losses, maybe we wont be a relegation struggler and if we can add a couple of more pieces, we can make a run similar to last year. Watch new player Jurado and if Keita can be a scoring threat, captain Arango is going to lead an attack that might make this an exciting club even without Guiza.

In other important news, I think this new owner Paul Davidson is looking at the purchase of the club as kind of a hobby with his extra money, but as a Brit, he he has a passion for soccer and is a smart enough man to know that he needs input from soccer people to do this right. He evidently received much input from Keith Wyness, a British buddy who is former Chief Executive at Everton and made many decisions behind the scene to help improve revenue and that clubs position in the EPL table. Everton is similar to Mallorca in their relative leagues, so if he can be brought to Mallorca in some capacity, we might be that much closer to becoming a regular in Europe.

For all the good news, there is still that reminder that we are a small club and until we can make Europe a regular achievement, we are going to lose our good players. The latest deserter seems to be goalie Moya who wants to go to a big club, Valencia. While he is under contract, he has made it clear he deserves a big club for his loyalty to his local team. Whatever. For us to move up, we cant lose players like this, especially a young goalkeeper who is our version of Iker Casillas. But if he is that good, he wont stay here as the big clubs come calling unless we make Europe which makes the players stay, hopefully. Kind of a chicken/egg scenario. You need the players to get to Europe, but if you arent making Europe, you dont get the players. While losing him be can dealt with a little easier because we have Argentinian Lux, a good keeper in his own right to step in, the loss of Moya makes it that much harder to become a team that other players come to because we are in Europe consistently.

With the season just weeks away, there still has to be a player or two added. We need a veteran striker and hopefully we can get Morientes. I also thought we had a real shot at Juanfran from Zaragoza, but we missed out on him. Again most of what you read is rumor based on speculation, so who knows what will happen, but we have some money so lets spend it.

We have to continue to watch Manzano as his mindset and opinions are key. He is very aware of what parameters he has to operate with and is great at mixing his players in to produce the best results. Some of the new guys are going to make more of an impact then we thought, but dont doubt the toughness of LaLiga. Without another striker and a solidified goalkeeper, we are a mid table club at best. However, as we have shown in the pre season against a couple of decent clubs, dont write us off yet because of all the player losses.

The season cant get here fast enough.