Football Season Guide

Real Valladolid managed to stay up last season, which was impressive given that they’d been promoted through the play-offs, which gave them just a few weeks to prepare for life in the first division. They didn’t sign much talent last summer, but then Brazilian legend Ronaldo Nazario took over the club last autumn. So it was expected that they’d make a splash in this transfer market, his first summer window, but that hasn’t really been the case. The transfer business this summer has been underwhelming. They’ve been able to bring in a couple of promising talents from Real Madrid using Ronaldo’s contacts, with Javi Sanchez and Jorge De Frutos arriving. But, in general, there haven’t been many notable or experienced names. They’ve lost some important players too, like centre-back Fernando Calero and veteran midfielder and leader Borja Fernandez. So it could be argued that this squad is even weaker than last year’s. There’s still time for Ronaldo to use his contacts and bring in some talent, but time is running out. There are some reasons for optimism, as Real Valladolid were consistently tough to beat and coach Sergio Gonzalez has proven that he knows how to lead this team. However, there are far more reasons for pessimism. They scored the fewest goals in the division last year and haven’t added much firepower up front. They also had the second-worst home record last season, so can’t even fall back on a strong home record to pick up a few extra points. It’ll be a tough year for Real Valladolid.