OXFORD City are making big waves this season, and it’s down in no small part to a Spanish invasion, writes MATTHEW BRUCE.

Vanarama Conference North is perhaps the last place one might expect to see an Hispanic-style passing football – least of all at Marsh Lane.

But after signing five Spanish players during the summer, City have been transformed.

Defenders Alejandro-Adrian Hernandez Santiago and Jose Lapoujade, as well as midfielders Javier Rodriguez, Ander del Alamo and Xapi Arnau Casaña (on loan at Wantage Town) have been brought in to add a touch of Spanish flair to a side which only narrowly avoided relegation to the Southern League last season.

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The scheme was the brainchild of Spanish head coach Enrique Guillen who, along with general manager Justin Merritt, has been looking to improve City’s performances without breaking the bank.

“I’ve been doing that with the futsal team (Oxford City Lions) and it’s worked really well for the last three years,” said Guillen.

“I’ve always thought that good footballers in Spain can come here and show their quality.

“The main thing was that we wanted to change the style of football and these players are comfortable on the ball and always give you that extra quality and it’s a good balance with the English players.”

And after struggling last term,City’s reversal of fortunes during this campaign has been impressive.

Now third in the Conference North table after Tuesday night’s 2-1 win over Stockport County, City’s 13 league games this season have brought 51 goals, comfortably the highest in the division.

The flying start has brought hope of a potential promotion challenge, and Guillen believes the Spanish imports have made the difference.

He added: “You can see during our games that we dominate possession of the ball and when we need to go hard and battle for the ball we can still do these things.

“At the moment it is perfect, I think they all mix together well with our English players.

“We have been very lucky not only to find good players, but also quality persons.”

And Guillen believes their Spanish recruitment strategy can reap rewards for years to come.

“The idea is that these players will show how we want to play with how comfortable they are on the ball and we will start working on this with the youngsters,” he said.

“But in the future if we need to find the kind of players that we cannot find in England then obviously we can go and get it in Spain.”

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