Was I expecting a 5 nil thrashing? Perhaps. Athletic had the majority of possession, especially in the first half. Caparros rested a lot of the A team and played 4-5-1 (Extebe, Yeste, Ocio, and Susa watched from the stadium. Javi Mar, Llorente, Casas, and Iraola came in as subs).

Team line up: Iraizoz; Murillo, Ustaritz, Amorebieta (46′ Casas), Koikili;
Iturraspe, Gurpegi, Del Olmo (92′ Iraola), David Lopez (90′ Javi Martínez), Gabilondo;
Aduriz (76′ Llorente);

El Zorro, Aritz Aduritz scored early after a nice combination between Gabilondo and young Iturraspe. This kid has been getting considerable time this pre-season and his distribution and passing has been quite impressive. But Athletic was taking the game in stride, and playing on the counter. Sort of taking it a little too easy.

Kudos to Colchester for taking it up a notch and taking the game to us. Ustaritz blocked a half volley by Yeates with his hand in the penalty area. Whoops! Talk about giving your opponent a gift. Vernon slotted in the penalty nicely. He faked out Gorka who went the wrong way. Even Stevens. Embarrassing.

In the second half, Colchester brought in new blood with five changes. Athletic only made one change Casas (at center back!!!) for Amorebieta who came off with a knock. Colchester on pure adrenalin looked sharper, more dangerous, and quite frankly ready for a rumble. I don’t know what their manager said in his half time talk but they boys came out to rattle and crunch Athletic. Colchester started kicking, bruising and clashing with our boys. The ref just turned the other eye, IMO. Murillo clashed with Coyne and then Izzet. Izzet only saw yellow, but it should have been red. Well Athletic are no boy scouts, Murillo lost his cool in the next clash and received a red in the 61st minute.

Athletic, now down to 10 men, had to watch their backs while doing whatever it takes to get another goal and not go home with their tail between their legs. New signing Joseba Del Olmo, who was having a great game, was fouled in the penalty area. Thank you ref, justice at last! David Lopez stepped up and sent the keeper the wrong way. Another preseason victory for Zurrigori!!

Was this the best of wins? Of course not. Am I concerned as red cards seem to be a trend in our preseason games? Not really, that’s how we play. I’m proud of our boys. They don’t back down and will do whatever it takes to win. We do need more goal production, but that will come.

Check out the match report from the Colchester point of view.

Up next… The Colombino Trophy in Huelva as Los Leones face Malaga and then Recreativo on August 6th and 7th.

LATEST NEWS

Pablo Orbaiz and Ion Velez have recuperated and will rejoin the team in Huelva for the Colombino tourney.

Several Peñas have decided to come out against the new sponsorship on Athletic shirts. Peña Leones Italianos are boycotting the shirt. Peña Catedral de Leon will offer kits without the sponsorship. Peña Corredor de Hernanes is also boycotting the sponsored shirt.

Athletic Bilbao Google Calendar : The dates, times and events will be updated as they are confirmed. This is a great resource, so be sure to set it as a favorite on your PC. Check it out.

Nevertheless, below is a recap of some of the ongoings at Athletic.

* Natxo Monreal from Osasuna is too expensive for Athletic. President Macua is not interested in paying highway robbery for any player. We need a left back, but we are not desperate. 12 M Euros, his buyout clause is too much. Tottenham’s Berchiche, Man City’s Garrido, or well there’s always Del Horno are our options. (I hope we don’t go there again.) Maybe one of the youngsters..

* The largest, most costly signing ever by Athletic – courtesy of the current court ruling vs the team.
La Real Sociedad sued Athletic over the transfer of Defender Zubiaurre. The court awarded La Real 5 Million big ones! Ouch! $3.5M to be paid by the club and 1.5M to be paid by the player. And no surprise, but Athletic is in the wrong. Well it’s good to no know that the constant battle and ill will between the two neighboring clubs, is still ever present. And Zubi, well frankly, he is on the outs with Athletic, as he is not performed. This settlement is really going to hurt Athletic financially. This is not the first time and it won’t be the last, as Athletic continues to scour La Real’s territory for players. Let’s just hope we can use some common sense and go by our business within the law.

*Some good news – Gorka Iraizoz (our number 1 or 2 goalie) is recuperating and progressing nicely. Also Real Betis has finally dropped their demand to replay the game where Armando (our number 1 or 2 goalie) got bottled. They finally accept the loss, 3 points to Athletic and will move on. Good idea!

*In the race for promotion in the 2nd division in Spain, La Real looks like they have a chance to come back up their first year. They need to win both remaining games vs Alaves and Cordoba. I kinda miss them, the rivalries, the hate, the derbies, the hate. Poor Alaves, looks like they are going down to Segunda B. This may kill them, that damn crazy Ukranian – American owner, Piterman left them win a ton of debt! And how ironic, La Real can seal the deal for Alaves’ demotion. Sigh.

Until next time…

-Armando renewed for another year with the club. Armando stepped in from Cadiz and did an admirable job as interim goalkeeper back in January. He got bottled at Betis and lives to tell the tale. I am frankly estatic that he will continue at Athletic. It will be interesting to see if Gorka or Armando is Caparros’ first choice next year.

-Fernando Amorebieta has rejected playing with the Venezuelan national team and states that he wants to play for Spain. He will wait for Aragones’ call up, and if need be to the Euros. (And based on the Marchena blunder and the backline performance vs Peru, some of us wish that Fernan was playing with Spain, if you get my drift.)

-Rumor time: per Marca Joseba Del Olmo will be the next signing for Athletic. Del Olmo is a right footed, left winger. Good utilitarian player and strong dribbler, currently playing with Eibar in the second division. Nothing official yet.

- The youngsters want to come back to Athletic? Both Yuri Berchiche and Mikel San Jose have not ruled out returning to Athletic one day. 18 year old leftback, Yuri, who is currently playing in Tottenham Hotspurs’ reserves was interviewed recently and says he wants to come home. Mikel San Jose, young defender, who currently plays in the reserves at Liverpool has said that he is happy at Anfield, but would not rule out a move back to Athletic.

President Macua states that the Berchiche interest is real and that they are considering a 2 year loan or 500K offer for the youngster. Juande has promised the youngster that he could crack the first team in December. Reports out of London now state that Yuri needs to keep quiet and cease talks with Athletic. Curious.

Until next time…