Espanyol has become accustomed to living off Joselu’s goals. If the Blue and Whites do not occupy relegation places, it is thanks to the effectiveness of the former Alavés player –seven goals, 58% of the team’s total goals–, without a doubt a success in the dispatches, the perfect recipe to send Raúl de Tomás to the trunk of memories
The responsibility, however, cannot fall solely on the Galician striker. He needs his attacking colleagues to sharpen their aim, such as Martin Braithwaite and Javi Puado, the latter still without knowing what it means to score in the first ten league games.
The parakeet youth squad approaches the goal game after game but there is no way to find it. Up to three times he has run into the stick in this start, the last time last week against Valladolid with a Vaseline that, with the momentary 1-0, would have brought calm in Cornellà. He also had the last notable occasion in El Sadar when Diego Martínez’s men launched themselves, without success or much enthusiasm, in search of an equalizer.
The change of drawing to 4-4-2 has benefited Puado. As a second striker he steps on more area and generates danger, although at the moment it is not quantified in goals or assists. The data does not worry the coach too much, happy with the performance, attitude and competitiveness of the 24-year-old Barcelona attacker, whom he sees “with more and more confidence”. “When he puts the icing on the cake in the form of a goal or an assist, it will be the host, but his evolution is upward”, he pointed out in the previous one before remarking that “the fact of having chances means that he is there and that the ball reaches him” .
Puado was one of Espanyol’s big bets on his return to the First Division. After months of negotiations and with interesting proposals from outside, the club managed to get him to stay in the summer of 2021, improving his salary conditions. That is why the fans expect a footballer who has already exceeded one hundred games like a parakeet to take a step forward that will make him an idol. Until now, his best numbers were signed in the year in the Second Division (12 goals and 8 assists), one season after returning from a fruitful loan at Zaragoza. In the past, despite being a fixture for Vicente Moreno, he had five goals and one assist in 33 games.
Today he will have a new opportunity in front of his fans in a crucial duel against Elche. The condition of colista of the ilicitanos makes them more dangerous. Thirsty for victory with only three points –six more than Espanyol, just one from relegation–, the team has improved performance with Jorge Almirón. Without much time to recover from the defeat in Pamplona on Thursday, Diego Martínez entrusts himself to the “rebellious spirit of the parakeets” to fight against adversity: “We believe in our possibilities and we want to reconnect with our fans.”
