Tikteknu: clip summarizing today's events in sports, 20.1 (Sport1)
Real Valladolid experienced a deep crisis in attack, did not score in the three losses registered to its duty since the return of the Spanish league from the World Cup break, and in total scored only 13 goals in 17 rounds this season.
The sad situation degraded it to the struggles of the bottom, and in the meantime the club was mainly forced to embrace the memories of the past.
So yesterday the purple-white Twitter account celebrated the fastest goal in league history, scored by Joseba Llorente exactly 15 years ago.
7 seconds and 22 hundredths of a second passed between the opening whistle and the moment when the Basque striker's ball hit the Espanyol net from Victor's pass, en route to a 1:2 victory - and this is the efficiency the team would have preferred to see even in the present.
"The first to respond will win a shirt signed by all the players of the squad," Valladolid promised on Twitter.
One of the fans responded a few minutes later: "I can't win because I was late, so I'll tell you just one thing - don't let Shawn Weissman go."
And this is exactly the statement that accurately reflects the public opinion in the stands of Jose Suriya Stadium.
The local media is full of reports about the upcoming departure of the Israeli striker, but the fans are strongly against it.
There is an almost complete consensus that Weisman must stay and get more playing minutes, and the management's actions against him are met with disappointment, frustration, and even hostility.
Sean is one of the most beloved players in the city, and if the club does decide to part ways with him, it won't go quietly - especially if it doesn't improve the front end.
The large crowd behind Weissman has no doubt that he is not to blame for the drought, or at least not the main one.
The fans are on his side.
Weisman celebrates (Photo: GettyImages, Angel Martinez)
The Israeli's output this season is really not alarming to say the least.
After bombing 20 times in the second division last season, and being one of the great heroes of the promotion campaign, Weisman found the net only once this season, and it was quite a while ago - in a 0:1 victory over Almeria in early September.
However, there is another critical difference between the two seasons in question.
Last year, Weissman was the ultimate bunker player in coach Pachetta's lineup, starting 37 league games, and the absolute backup allowed him to develop high self-confidence.
This season, instead of continuing to coach him, Pachetta chose to push the Israeli aside early in the season, giving priority to Sergio Guardiola and Sergio Leon, and the situation worsened when the personal tragedy was added to Weissman's professional problem.
The death of the striker's beloved grandfather was a very dramatic blow for him, and the club did grant him the holidays to return to Israel and be with his family, but did not exactly consider his delicate mental state when he returned to activity.
In principle, it was possible to show more patience, especially in light of the fact that Guardiola also did not score even once this season.
When Weissman found the back of the net in a match against an inferior opponent in the cup right after the World Cup break, it was possible to try to get him back on the right track, but the coach chose to leave him out of the lineup - except for the meeting against Alaves in the next round of the cup, in which the team lost 1:0 and did not score again.
In the last round, Weissman was included as a substitute already in the first half following Kennedy's injury, but Valladolid recorded one 1:0 loss, and after that the reports of an impending separation multiplied.
The purple-whites are now trying to leave Guardiola as well, and according to local sources are looking for a new striker in the hope that he will save them from relegation, but as of now there is nothing real on the horizon.
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takes precedence over him.
Sergio Leon (Photo: GettyImages)
"It's unfortunate, because Weissman should have received much more credit. 95 percent of the fans think so, and most of the journalists too. The management wants to look for another scorer, but they don't understand that the problem is much deeper. The team simply doesn't function offensively and doesn't create chances. The fans love Sean, and Sean loves the fans. He doesn't want to leave, but is frustrated by the situation, and may have to do so. From the club's point of view, this will be a big gamble, because he is the hero for the stands, and the tension will increase if they hurt him," says journalist Ignacio Bailador.
Julio, one of the fans who support the striker, claims: "The idol Weissman who helped us get promoted and scored 20 goals. Now he has been pushed to be the third priority and is prevented from proving himself. What can he do? The management's memory is very short, and it's just not right, what Also, there is no one worthy to replace him."
Either way, Granada is very interested in returning Weissman to the second division, where he has a proven scoring record.
The Andalusians, who fired Aitor Karanka in November, are finding it difficult to conquer, and would be happy to absorb the Israeli here and now, but Valladolid are reportedly demanding 4 million euros.
Granada does not have this type of means, so the parties are now discussing a loan with an option to buy assuming that the team will be promoted to the top league.
This scenario is not at all certain due to the poor away record that leaves Granada in seventh place at this stage.
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Weissman (Photo: Reuters)
Alaves, who were also relegated last season, are ahead of her at the moment - and they are also mentioned as a possible target for Weissmann.
Another representative from the Basque country, who came down already in 2021 and is also apparently a candidate to take in Weissman, is Ivar.
Various options are open, then, but the striker would prefer to stay in his place in Valladolid, where he feels comfortable in the city and enjoys great love.
This could probably only happen if his condition changes in the coming days.
Could it be that the long-awaited turnaround will take place tonight precisely in the challenging meeting against Atlético Madrid?
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Sean Weissman
Real Valladolid