Rayo Vallecano responded to their 4-0 defeat to bottom side Elche with a 2-1 home victory over Real Valladolid in Vallecas on Thursday, with an added bonus. Raul de Tomas finally broke his goal drought, scoring for the first time since his return to Rayo from Espanyol.
De Tomas had been 12 games without a goal, totalling 469 minutes, in which he had struggled to adapt to Andoni Iraola’s system. However just after half-time against Valladolid, Alvaro Garcia picked him out and de Tomas planted his header in the corner.
Speaking to Radioestadio, de Tomas referred to it as as learning experience (via Marca).
“I’ve been through hard times but these are the times when I have to learn; my life changed for the worse, everything went wrong… but I’ll come out of this stronger.”
But not without hinting at some conflict too.
“There are people who have behaved badly with me… everyone will get what they deserve.”
He also had words of appreciation for controversial Rayo President Raul Martin Presa.
“The situation when I left Espanyol was very bad; I have a lot to thank Martin Presa for trusting me, it is difficult to bet on a player who will not play for so many months.”
Such was the fall out at Espanyol, de Tomas only moved in September after the transfer deadline, for a fee of €8m, ruling him out of action for 7 months in total.
“I consider the Rayo fans my family since I was a member as a child; Rayo is my home and I am very grateful to the club and my teammates because they have been supporting me.”
🔥 ＧＯ ＬＡ ＺＯ 🔥
🅰️ Álvaro García
⚽️ @RaulDeTomas9 #LaLigaHighlights #RayoRealValladolid pic.twitter.com/8OZNLmxgdN— Rayo Vallecano (@RayoVallecano) May 5, 2023
More specifically on his drought, RDT put it down to his peculiar season.
“I’ve tried in every way but ultimately all the time I’ve was stopped has hurt me. I’m running on a later schedule than the rest of my teammates and oppoonents, and thus it’s difficult to catch up with the competition.”
Los Franjirrojos will be hoping that the 28-year-old can recover his form for next season, given the level of investment. De Tomas was being called up to Spain squads around this time last year, but has looked disjointed in a Rayo shirt.
