Joselu Mato, the most regular Albiazul footballer in the last year, has managed to reconcile number '9' with the goal for Alavés. This number, so significant in football, has not given its bearers luck in the eight seasons in which the babazorro club has played in the First Division in this 21st century.
However, the Stuttgart player has accepted the challenge of wearing the jersey that usually identifies a team's star striker. And he has more than fulfilled it since, with 11 goals, he has equaled his partner Lucas Perez as the team's top scorer. In addition, he has established the highest goal mark of a babazorro footballer in Primera since Javi moreno, with 22 in the 00-01 season, set the team's record in the top flight.
The ‘9’ albiazul, unless a very succulent offer prevents it, already has an owner for the next course. Sergio Fernandez last summer signed its two top scorers of the last campaign and both Lucas Perez how Joselu They have a contract until June 2022.
Both forwards have been a fundamental part in the achievement of salvation. With their 22 goals, between the two they have added 22 of the 37 of the team, which represents 59.46% of them; too high a dependency that will have to be tried to correct in the coming campaign. Also, Joselu led the way by scoring the first goal in the 1-2 against Betis, a triumph that sealed the mathematical permanence on the penultimate day.
Only three pichichis
In these last eight campaigns in the elite, the bearer of the '9' babazorro has been the team's top scorer three times. They have succeeded Javi moreno, with his league record in 00-01, Rubén Navarro, with 10 goals in 02-03, and now Joselu, with the 11 achieved in this last exercise.
In the other five seasons, the goalscoring records of the '9' Albiazules have been quite poor. On 02-01, Ruben Navarro He wore it by adding 5 points. In 05-06 the Levantine continued to carry it, who did not score any, since he only played 792 minutes.
In 16-17 and 17-18, it was Christian santos your owner. The “Venezuelan Beckham” failed to convince his coaches to start. In his first exercise he signed three goals and, in the second, only two. In the last season, 18-19, something unprecedented happened.
The bib number '9' was left deserted until January, when Diego Rolan picked it up. The forward, who barely played, ended his Albiazul stage without scoring in LaLiga.
Few goals
Being a humble club, Alavés has lacked in seven of these eight seasons a leading forward in front of the goal. Except in 00-01, with 22 goals from Javi moreno, in the rest the goals have been distributed among several players. Of course, the center forward has been the team's top scorer in five of the eight.
JoseluWith his 11 goals, he has established the best Albiazul brand in the league in the first division director section in this XXI century. They follow him with 10 points Ruben Navarro, on 02-03, John aloisi, on 05-06, and Munir, at 17-18. Jonathan Calleri is the sixth with 9 in the 18-19 and Deyverson the seventh with the 7 that he added in 16-17. On 02-01, three footballers, Llorens, Coloccini and Magno Mocelin, with 6, they shared the lead in the scorers table of Alava.
Of all of them, only Javi moreno, Ruben Navarro and Joselu They have been babazorros pichichis with the '9' on their back. Deyverson carried the 20, Munir 24th, John aloisi the 22, Jonathan Calleri The 12, Deyverson the 20, Great 11, Coloccini the 2 and Carlos Llorens the 20th. Such was the concept of a team for everything at Alavés de Mané that two of their three scorers in the 01-02 season –Llorens and Coloccini– were defenses.