“Lo-lo-lo, lo-lo-lo, being First Class is our obsession” It was one of the songs that was most pronounced by the several thousand Almería fans who formed the rojiblanca tide that started from the Plaza Mayor in Leganés. Heading to Butarque, he turned the journey to the pitch into a place that should be from now on a pilgrimage for all Almeria fans; not in vain, that path will go down in history for all the symbolic component that it entailed. The traveler was mature hobby compared to decades ago, but in turn rejuvenated, heading for his third promotion to the highest category of Spanish football. Butarque is another of the places that the rojiblanco pilgrim must visit, who saw how his team rose thanks to Zarfino’s goal, the same one that was vilified eight days before, in the Alcorcón-Eibar extra time. Those minutes that passed between the first follower shouting the Uruguayan goal and Dámaso Arcediano Monescillo signaling the end in Butarque will be saved until the end of time in the retina of everyone who was in the Leganés field.
“Lo-lo-lo, lo-lo-lo, being First is our obsession” continues to echo in the head of the undersigned while at the time of writing these lines, in the early hours of Monday to Tuesday, the spotlights of the Estadio de los Juegos Mediterráneos illuminate the Vega de Acá area as if it were daytime. If Zarfino’s shot had not gone between the three posts, those lights would now be off and the result would be very different, even though the process would have been exactly the same. But the auction was successful and Hitchcock’s film, as Rubi described the season in the press conference after the Butarque appointment, ended with the rojiblancos as winners.
“Lo-lo-lo, lo-lo-lo, being First Class is our obsession.” Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is an anxiety disorder in which the same thoughts appear over and over again (obsessions), leading the person to perform behaviors (compulsions), and sometimes to repeat them many times, with the intention of reducing anxiety. that provoke those intrusive and repetitive thoughts. This disorder makes life extremely difficult for those who suffer from it, and it is key not to fall into compulsions so that a vicious circle does not appear that grows and is difficult to get out of. Patience to put up with these obsessions is essential so as not to fall into compulsions.
The same patience that Almería has had during this season so that the third time was the charm. It is the third ascent to the elite for that fan who started from the Plaza Mayor in Leganés and who hope uploading is not your obsession anymore, at least for the next few years, as a result of the fact that the rojiblanco club has settled in the First Division. Rubi’s team achieved it on the third occasion after failing to certify it the weekend they performed in San Sebastián for the victory of Valladolid; neither in the penultimate day when falling unexpectedly against an Alcorcón that ended up being decisive in this promotion, obtained in the third campaign of the sheikh.
Turki Al-Sheikh was set to rise within three years, although from the first moment he was obsessed with the category jump. During his initial months, reducing that anxiety about reaching the finish line was his main objective, even more than the promotion itself. This is how the first lurches are understood, striking down a coach, in the case of Pedro Emanuel, who took the right path at the beginning that was not supposed to be easy, or a José Gomes who started breaking records to not even finish the season. Everything turned with the hiring of Rubi. The coach born in Barcelona and raised in Vilasar de Mar landed in April of last year with the intention of starting a path that would take him to the Leganés goal, without obsessing over shortcuts that would momentarily reduce your anxiety. Because the moment was May 29, 2022. Not on the 14th or 21st of that same month, nor in 2021when Almería, already with Rubi at the helm, qualified for the promotion for the second consecutive year, then understanding the new coaching staff that the ideal was to step on the safe side and build the foundations of a champion Almería, a title unknown until the arrival of Rubi and achieved thirteen months after his arrival.
Patience has been essential for the current squad to end up becoming immortal. No one doubted Rubi during black Januarywhen Sadiq’s withdrawal from the African Cup and the coronavirus led to a crisis of results: three consecutive defeats, five straight games without winning (six counting the Copa del Rey) and just one victory in eight league games for a team that was used to winning (just before he linked seven victories) and that he had to pull psychology and patience to become mentally strong, solve the crisis and reach the final stretch of the season in good dynamics, something that had never happened before with the sheikh.
Precisely that of Turki Al-Sheikh will be one of the proper names in the First Division. The sheikh likes the limelight and his reaction will be fundamental when they come badly given. It will depend on him whether the obsessions remain simply in bad moments along the way or in something else. As a good success, it seems key that you have in the ‘acceptance’ one of his greatest virtues, since the natural/historical place of the entity he presides over is not the elite, and although ambition is an excellent quality (it was missed in the last years of Alfonso García), It is not convenient to become obsessed with avoiding the stumbling blocks inherent in a path that seems more exciting than ever. Better to climb three small steps safely than to risk doing it two at a time. Better to take examples from clubs like Villarreal than from others that sought glory too soon and ended up becoming a wasteland. Because the Almería project looks like this is just the beginning.