Adrián González played his 100th match as a Málaga player last Wednesday against Deportivo. A round figure in a particularly difficult moment that the club is experiencing due to the poor management of the horrible president / tweeter, Abdullah Al Thani, and his idle children. And in general terms, we can affirm that Adrián's work has been one of the few positive things that have passed through La Rosaleda in these times of suffering.
When Eibar faced Málaga Adrián on 25-2-2017, he already knew that he would go to the Costa del Sol. The striking thing about that day was that Eibar won 3-0, that Adrián scored two goals and that the Malaga players were getting into qualifying problems. The circumstances caused the resignation of the coach, Marcelo ‘Gato’ Romero and the arrival of Michel. Father and son were going to coincide. Míchel's Málaga sidestepped the relegation with a sensational end to the season that included a 2-0 win over Barcelona. Michel and Adrián faced the beginning of the next season, 2017-18, with all the enthusiasm in the world.
But things started to go wrong from the second one. The interference of the insufferable Al Thani dynamited the entity and twitched Míchel. The preseason, with 10 losses and a single win, marked that the worst was yet to come.
Adrián made his league debut against Eibar. Defeat 0-1 with a goal by Charles, an ex. As the team did not win, the stand began to take it with some players and especially with Adrián. For being Michel's son? No. The coach started out as the idol who encouraged 24,000 fans to subscribe. But over time the reeds became lances.
As the disaster consolidated, the fans began to be more sympathetic to Adrián because he appreciated that his soul was left in each game. But he crucified others like Rosales or Miguel Torres. Malaga fell. Adrián, of the little salvageable, played 27 games and scored three goals.
The first season in Segunda was expected to be a smooth transit back to the elite. Juan Ramón Muñoz changed captains. He dismissed Recio, Rosales and Miguel Torres to name Fede Ricca and Adrián. The man from Madrid was already a leader on the field and now he was adding his first stripes. There was no promotion after the painful elimination in the promotion against Deportivo. Adrián played 37 games and scored 10 goals. What came was even worse.
While Al Thani was dedicated to tweet shocked and despair with his absurd management, Adrian served as captain 24 hours a day. The delicate situation of the club raised fears until he could be relegated to Second B. The surplus in the salary cap complicated the registration of players. Adrián did not stop liaising between the AFE (Association of Spanish Soccer Players), very concerned about the situation) and the squad. He also had to act as an umbrella for his companions to withstand all the downpours caused by the inept sheik, that capricious American CEO, Richard Shaheen, famous for his dog and his taste for ham or the unpleasant situation created after the intimate video of Victor that was advertised.
Adrián is the third best scorer of Malaga in this decade of Al Thani. He has 19 goals, one less than Roque Santa Cruz with 20 and six less than the 25 scored by Salomón Rondón. It has a contract in force until June 30, 2021.
Against all odds, Malaga is resisting and demonstrating that life without Al Thani can be wonderful.
