Athletic Club Preseason Super Summary

By: Paul | August 30th, 2009

The preseason is now over, and right now Athletic are opening the 2009/2010 campaign at home against Espanyol. This is a game that I have been ready for- after a few seasons barely missing relegation I’m hoping that for my first season as an Offside blogger Athletic can (live up to the potential I believe they DO have, and) comfortably finish in the top half of the table. However, I will base my expectations on what happened this preseason. Given what we’ve seen so far, I am gearing up for another roller coaster season. Let’s take a look back on the 2009 preseason, starting with the transfers.

TRANSFERS

Transfers In: Iñigo Díaz De Cerio (Real Sociedad), Oscar De Marcos (Alaves), Xabi Castillo (Real Sociedad), Mikel San José (Loan, Liverpool)

Transfers Out: Casas (Cartagena), Del Olmo (Hercules), Balenziaga (Loan, Numancia), Garmendia (Numancia), Iñigo Vélez (Numancia), Iñaki Lafuente (Numancia), Ander Murillo (Loan, Salamanca)

Best Signing: I’m going to choose De Marcos for this one. He has looked sharp in preseason games from a playmaking role behind the strikers, and he can get up front to score himself. Castillo is a pretty close second, and I think De Cerio has a chance to be a very good signing if he can prove himself coming off of his injury.

I Think I’m Going To Miss: Ander Murillo. He didn’t get much of a chance with the Athletic first team, but I think he could have been a solid squad player. I am hoping he does well on loan and is able to return to Athletic and make his way into the team more often- even if only as a sub.

THE GAMES

July 16 (FR): Benfica 2-Athletic 1
July 18 (FR): Athletic 2-Anderlecht 2 (Anderlecht win on pens)
July 22 (FR): Athletic 1-San Roque 0
July 30 (UEFA): Athletic 0-Young Boys 1
August 1 (FR): Arenas 0-Athletic 3
August 2 (FR): Athletic 0- Sporting 1
August 2 (FR): Portugalete 0-Athletic 1
August 6 (UEFA): Young Boys 1-Athletic 2
August 12 (FR): Sporting 2-Athletic 0
August 16 (SC): Athletic 1-Barcelona 2
August 20 (UEFA): Athletic 3-Tromso 2
August 23 (SC): Barcelona 3-Athletic 0
August 27 (UEFA: Tromso 1-Athletic 1

Overall impression: These were some very bad looking games for the team. Many of the wins the team earned were still undeserved and they looked relatively poor even when they were ahead. The defense seems to have gotten weaker, and this is worrying because this has been the strong point of the team for so long. Throughout the preseason, the strikers did not show up to games. It’s clear that the boys will have to improve their form this season, otherwise, relegation is almost an inevitability.

Players to Watch

Munian: Athletic’s youngest first-teamer, and the team’s youngest goalscorer. A young striker with a lot of pace, don’t expect him to start too often, but expect him to score more goals than Toquero.
Yeste: The pressure is on Yeste. He hasn’t had good seasons recently, and judging from his preseason form this may continue this year. With the exit of Etxeberria imminent, Athletic needs a veteran like Yeste to step up.
Amorebieta: He’s always been a good young talent, and he apparently attracted interest from Liverpool during the summer transfer window. The key man in the center of the defense.
Iraizoz: One of the few Athletic players who looked good this preseason, there were games where he WAS the defense.
Etxeberria: This is El Gallo’s last season- hopefully it’s a special one.