Iago Aspas: The Hometown Hero

To many in England, Iago Aspas is something of a joke. His name is used synonymously with poor corners after the infamous incident against Chelsea, and his failure to make the grade at Liverpool has led to a presumption that he is simply not very good. Talk to someone in Galicia, however, and you will get a very different impression. His first spell at Celta de Vigo saw him contribute heavily to promotion and then almost single-handedly keep them in the top flight. Since 2015 he has picked up where he left off, now spearheading a successful European campaign.

Iago Aspas was born in Moaña, a small municipality with a population of just under 20,000. It was there that he embarked upon his footballing career, briefly playing for local youth side CD Moaña and then for Santa Mariña. He quickly outgrew the clubs, but did not stray far from his hometown: at the age of eight he made the half-hour journey to Vigo to join up with Celta’s youth ranks. Such was his drive, he lied about his age to be admitted to the side: at the time Celta were only willing to recruit players who were at least nine years old. Wracked with guilt by his deceit, he immediately got his parents to call the club and confess what he had done: the coaches, having seen Aspas more than hold his own against the older boys, were happy to waive their rule. Aspas made sure they did not regret their decision. He made steady progress; at the age of sixteen he was considered good enough for a loan move to another local side, Rápido Bouzas.

The then-director of the club was Javier Maté, who enjoyed a short stint at Real Madrid in his playing career. He spoke highly of his loan star, but also questioned his attitude and temperament at times. He said that “I had to accept him with virtues and defects” – as a raw, talented youth, Aspas may have had some issues with discipline and temperament. That side of his game still exists, but it is safe to say he has worked hard to control it: now it is easier to see the little boy who didn’t want to lie than it is to see the fiery youth who caused a stir at Rápido.

That is not to say that Aspas has ever lacked drive. Certainly he had the motivation to make the grade at Celta – on his return from his loan spell he quickly made his way into Celta B. There, he continued to impress and develop: two years later, in 2008, he was handed his senior debut. He was made to wait for his next appearance, but on 6^th June 2009 he cemented himself firmly in the senior squad. Brought on as a substitute against Alavés, he scored in the 81^st and 94^th minutes to secure a vital 2-1 win for his team. Indeed, the three points proved crucial to Celta’s survival in the second tier of Spanish football. After this he featured with some regularity, but it was not until the 2011/12 season when Aspas truly became the figurehead of his boyhood club. This was the campaign where Celta returned to the top flight, following a five-year absence: Aspas scored 23 league goals along the way. He was outscored only by Leonardo Ulloa, who at the time was playing for Almeria. Aspas was voted the best forward in the league, and on this personal high he entered La Liga.

His progression did not stop there. Any fears that the talismanic forward would struggle with the step up were quickly allayed: in fact, he thrived. The same could not be said of the rest of the team, with the result that Celta had a massive struggle on their hands to avoid relegation. They managed to do it, however, confirming safety on the last day of the season with the help of an Iago Aspas assist. Staggeringly, Aspas had a goal contribution for 50% of the goals scored by Celta across the campaign – he had dragged his team to safety. This was in spite of a four-game ban he picked up for a headbutt in the Galician derby against Deportivo; it looked for a while as though Aspas’ old ill-discipline literally rearing its head might cost Celta their La Liga status, but all was forgiven in the jubilant scenes following the confirmation of the team’s safety. Far from the villain, Aspas was the hero of his hometown club.

As it happened, he was to be a departing hero. His performances had not gone unnoticed by the footballing community, and then-Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers swooped to sign the Celta man. The deal was rumoured to be worth around £9 million. Based on his pre-season, it looked as though that was going to represent a bargain for the English giants – Sturridge had picked up an injury on international duty, and Aspas stepped up to the plate with a succession of good performances. On his debut against Preston North End he notched up a goal and an assist: by the end of pre-season there were plenty of fans clamouring for him to be accommodated into the first team. Initially, he was: he got the assist for Sturridge’s goal in the 1-0 win over Stoke on the opening day. Sadly, things went dramatically downhill from here. In many ways, Aspas was a victim of circumstances. He had the misfortune to come to Liverpool at a time when Suarez, Sturridge, Coutinho and Sterling were all at the club: the four of them rapidly secured a lockdown on the attacking positions, meaning Aspas was presented with limited opportunities. He was never really given a chance to adapt to the Premier League. This was only exacerbated by his limited knowledge of English – the man who still ate daily in his parents’ house during his time at Celta found himself thrust into an entirely new world, and was never truly given help to acclimatise.

This lack of patience was epitomised by the deal Liverpool made at the beginning of the 2014/15 campaign. Suarez had moved on to Barcelona, so on paper it was the perfect time for Aspas to show what he could do – instead, the club shipped him off to Sevilla on a loan with an obligatory purchase clause. Perhaps the damage done by the fateful corner against Chelsea was irreversible; whatever the reason, Aspas’ time in England was prematurely over. In Sevilla, he showed glimpses of his quality once more. He scored hat-tricks in both legs of the Copa Del Rey tie against CE Sabadell FC, the second of which was completed in just four minutes. Indeed, he ended the competition as joint top-scorer alongside Neymar. However, his league minutes were once again limited. By a stroke of misfortune he once again found himself at a club with an unusual array of attacking talent: he struggled to regularly displace Carlos Bacca and Kevin Gameiro. In consequence, having bought Aspas at the end of the season as per their agreement with Liverpool, Sevilla sold him back to Celta de Vigo on the very same day.

In many ways, it was as though Aspas had never been away. He immediately settled back in at his boyhood club, and in September bagged a brace in a shock 4-1 victory over Barcelona at the club’s Balaidos home. Five more goals followed in October, leading to Aspas winning the Player of the Month award. He ended the season with 14 league goals, even more than in his last season in La Liga three years previously: it was enough to secure Europa League qualification for the team that had been languishing in the second division when Aspas burst onto the scene. The team have impressed, managing to reach the semi-final stages of the competition this year: they will face Manchester United. Even if they fail to upset the odds it will still be their best ever finish in a European competition – unsurprisingly, Aspas has been instrumental. He scored in a group stage draw against Standard Liege and netted a crucial goal in the late victory over Shakhtar in the round of 32. He also got on the scoresheet to put the tie against Krasnodar to bed, and found the target in the eventual 4-3 aggregate win over Genk. This means he is yet to fail to score in a knockout tie: he will be looking to continue that streak in the semi-final.

He will not need to draw on any remaining vestiges of loyalty to Liverpool to find motivation for that tie: he is a Celta man through and through, and will be determined to earn his side a historic victory. It was unfortunate that things did not work out for him during his time in England, but his eventual return to Celta has enabled him to cement his place as a hometown hero. Ultimately, Aspas has always been comfortable closer to home – when he can focus purely on his football, he is truly a force to be reckoned with.
-James Martin
Follow me on Twitter @JamesMartin013

Iago Aspas- Early Impressions

Iago Aspas was brought to Liverpool early this summer, along with Simon Mignolet, Kolo Toure and Luis Alberto. He was arguably the most exciting of this new crop of players, as he was a creative forward who, from Brendan Rodgers’ comments, seemed to be destined for regular first team action. As such, there was a lot of hype about him, and his excellent pre-season only served to increase that. Unfortunately, in the first three games this season, he has been unable to make much of an impression. Will he be able to overcome this blip in form, and if so what sort of impact will he be able to have on our season?

There is no real question that Iago Aspas is a good footballer. He proved that at Celta Vigo, where he scored or assisted more than half of the team’s goals throughout the course of the season. In our pre-season matches he also showed some quality, and was able to continue his good run of goals and assists. The fact that he has been unable to replicate this form (which has, up to now, been so consistent) in the Premier League is slightly concerning. In pre-season we faced opposition of a much lower calibre than that which we are up against in the Premier League, and in La Liga Aspas was in a much less physical environment. If it is the physicality that Aspas is having a problem with, then in time he will be able to adapt to it, and there is no need to be too worried about his relatively poor Premier League performances so far. If, on the other hand, it is the step-up in opposition quality that Aspas is struggling with, then there is a real problem.

But which is it? It seems most likely that Aspas’ lacklustre performances so far have been caused by the vast difference between La Liga and the Premier League. After all, it is not as if there is no quality in the top flight of Spanish football. Indeed, Aspas was able to get an assist against arguably the best team in the world last season, Barcelona. If the issue was that the Premier League was simply too good for Aspas to cope with, we would surely have seen the same ineffectiveness that he has shown thus far in the Premier League at Celta, when he came up against the likes of Real Madrid and Barcelona. As this was not the case, the logical conclusion is that he has simply been a little overwhelmed by the new league he has found himself in. One aspect he appears to be struggling with is the physicality- he has been dispossessed on a regular basis. Also, there is the sheer pace of the games. Aspas has looked a little lost at times, unable to keep up with the game and get himself in sensible positions. Against United in particular, there were many times where he stayed rooted to the spot, when he should have been making a run.

This should soon be ironed out of him. If he gets a reasonable amount of game time (and so far, Rodgers has looked set to give him that), he will almost certainly be able to re-find the form that made him such an asset to Celta Vigo. If and when this happens, his impact on Liverpool will be very positive. So far we’ve won all our games, and deservedly so, but we have only managed to score 1 goal in all of them. So long as our defence remains as solid as it has been thus far, this is not a problem, but it would be good to have some margin for error. Aspas will hopefully be able to provide us with this, by feeding balls in to Daniel Sturridge from a wide position. Aspas knows how to beat a man, cut inside and deliver a killer ball: he was renowned for it at Celta. This is bound to have a positive impact on Sturridge, as the more chances he is provided with, the more goals he’ll score!

There is, however, a risk that Aspas will not get the game time he so clearly requires to become a valuable asset to us. The signing of Victor Moses on a one-year loan deal suggests that Rodgers was not entirely happy with out options in the wide midfield areas. As well as this, Suarez is returning soon (his 10-match ban is nearing an end). With these two available, there is a possibility that Aspas will struggle to make the starting 11 on a regular basis, as both Moses and Suarez are perfectly capable of functioning in the wide forward role which Aspas naturally occupies. He is unlikely to be played out of position either, as Sturridge is in form and therefore unlikely to be replaced as the lone striker, and Coutinho, though he hasn’t been brilliant so far this season, is the natural choice in the central attacking midfield role. If this is the case, Aspas will struggle to even come close to regaining the form he had in La Liga, as he won’t be able to properly adapt to English football.

To sum up, if he is given a lot of game time, I am confident that Aspas will soon find the form that had fans so excited in pre-season. His unerring ability to beat a man on the wing then cut inside and deliver to a forward could be very valuable to our team, and as such we should be making every effort to ensure he settles in quickly.

-James Martin

Follow me on Twitter @JamesMartin013

Out with the old bunch- Is Rodgers Creating a new Core?

When we look back on the Rafa era, we automatically think of a core group of players who were integral to our success. Stalwarts and club legends such as Gerrard, Carragher and Alonso are inextricably linked with Rafa’s time at the helm, in which Liverpool Football Club enjoyed great success. With Carragher retiring at the end of last season and Pepe Reina, who was signed by Benitez in 2005, looking likely to leave, the core members of Rafa’s elite squad are exiting Liverpool in their droves. Were Reina to leave the club, Gerrard would be the only remaining member of the team who won the 2006 FA Cup Final in such dramatic fashion. The question is, can Rodgers create his own ‘golden group’ of players?

Since arriving at Liverpool, Brendan Rodgers has shown a clear preference towards signing young talent. He has brought in Fabio Borini (22), Philippe Coutinho (who recently turned 21), Daniel Sturridge (23), and most recently Iago Aspas (25) and Simon Mignolet (24). He has also nurtured the talents of younger players in the team, most notably England under 21’s captain Jordan Henderson, who this season became a regular in the starting 11. As well as this, he is rumoured to be after Tiago Ilori (20) and Kyriakos Papadopolous (21). Combined, these players cover a wide range of positions, and are good enough to either make the first team already, or else break into it in the near future. Along with academy players that are slowly being introduced to the starting 11, such as Jordan Ibe and Raheem Sterling, it is clear that Rodgers is building a team for the future.

Steven Gerrard is still going strong, and was arguably one of our best players last season. He is also a great role model to the younger players, fiercely loyal and committed to Liverpool. However, his illustrious career will at some point have to come to an end, and if Rodgers is to build an elite band of players that remains largely unchanged for long periods of time, he will need someone else to step up to the plate, and fill the role of leader. Seemingly the perfect candidate for this is Daniel Agger. At 28 years of age, he probably still has a lot of playing time left in him, and he has shown passion for the club since the moment he joined. Despite lots of interest from Champions League clubs, he has chosen to stay at the club he loves. He even has ‘YNWA’ tattooed on his knuckles. Agger has the potential to be the leader that all of Rodgers’ promising youngsters look to. If they rally around him in the same way the players of Rafa’s heyday rallied around Gerrard, the new generation of Liverpool starlets could well go on to achieve great things.

There has been a lot of worry in recent times that Liverpool are no longer able to attract ‘big names’ to the club. Although this is frustrating in some ways, it is also in some aspects a good thing for us. In a way, it allows us to start afresh, as Rodgers is forced to look to the young talent pool, rather than to those who have already established themselves as greats in the footballing world. Because of this, we aren’t simply replacing players if and when they leave or retire, we are building a whole new generation of players. This safeguards our clubs future, and allows us to build a squad that could potentially remain a tightly-knit unit for years to come. Obviously transfers sometimes have to be made, but as a general rule a team that remains largely unchanged will work better as a unit, and consequently play better football. Players such as Coutinho, Sturridge, Mignolet and Aspas, if all goes well, could remain at the club for years to come, and be the defining players of the Rodgers era.

-James Martin

Follow me on Twitter @JamesMartin013

BR’s Transfer Tactics- Are Foreign Signings the Right Approach?

This summer transfer window, Brendan Rodgers has got to work quickly.  Kolo Toure has already been signed (he officially joins the club on July 1^st), the deal between Iego Aspas and Liverpool looks to be effectively complete, and we also appear to be closing in on signing Tiago Ilori. Aspas is an exciting young Spanish talent who plays in the wide forward role for Celta Vigo, whilst Kolo Toure (Man City) and Tiago Ilori (Sporting) are both central defenders. They all look to be good acquisitions, but should Rodgers be searching closer to home for new players?

Kolo Toure is by no means an inspiring signing, but he is a sensible one. He came to Liverpool on a free, having run out of contract at Manchester City. It is unlikely he will get regular first team action, but he is a very experienced centre-back, and his presence in the squad should put pressure on the likes of Martin Skrtel (and potentially Tiago Ilori if he joins) to perform well in order to fight for their place in the team. The only issue with the deal is Toure’s relatively large wage demands, believed to be about 70k a week, which is a lot to be forking out to a player who isn’t even getting first team action. He will have a positive impact on the club, even if it is just giving the other centre-backs a metaphorical kick up the backside, but the money we’re spending on his wages could have been better invested elsewhere, possibly on a young, homegrown talent with lots of potential.

However, there is a problem with ‘buying British’ in the football world. English players that have really made a name for themselves tend to be hideously overpriced, and an equivalent overseas talent cam often be acquired for half the fee. Brendan Rodgers appears to have taken this into account, and we know he is good at spotting up-and-coming foreign talents based on Coutinho’s instant success at the club. This means that the only feasible way of signing English players is taking a gamble, and buying a player who has gone relatively un-noticed by pundits, potentially someone from the lower end of the football league. A prime example of this tactic paying off is Norwich’s signing of full-back Russell Martin. He started his career at Wycombe (where I watched him a lot, as I used to have a season ticket there), then moved to Peterborough. Norwich then took him on loan for a season, as a sort of trial run. He impressed them, and they then proceeded to buy him the following season. He is now a regular in the Norwich first team, and is one of their better players. It’s a risky tactic, but buying young players who have slipped under the pundits’ radar can prove very effective.

With Aspas and Ilori, the situation is slightly different. They are both young and upcoming talents, and Ilori in particular is not very renowned. Aspas has attracted a large amount of praise and attention from Spanish pundits, but until very recently was practically unknown in England. In these cases, it is pointless to try and buy an equivalent British player. Aspas is going to cost approximately 9 million, and for a player who has attracted so much attention in the top division of Spanish football that is very cheap. An English wide striker who had shown a lot of talent in the Premier League would most likely set you back at least double that. It’s the same story with Ilori. He is relatively unknown, but has still been capped 4 times this year for the Portugal under-20’s. The rumoured fee is around three-and-a-half million. Swansea signed Danny Graham for that sum in 2011, even though the forward had only scored 38 goals in almost 100 appearances for Watford in the Championship. This goes to show that unless you are looking to make a gamble on a really obscure talent, it’s not worth buying English players. As a general rule, those who have managed to make a name for themselves are massively overvalued by their club (looking at you, Tom Ince and Blackpool), forcing Premier League clubs to look to the foreign market. It’s sad in a way, as the top division of English football is now swamped with foreign talent, which isn’t how it should be. However, the Premier League clubs can’t be blamed for looking abroad in order to get better players for cheaper prices, and so far in this transfer window Liverpool appear to be doing so very effectively.

-James Martin

Follow me on Twitter @JamesMartin013