Relief

By: Cesar | May 12th, 2008

Ahh, sweet glorious relief … how wonderful it is!

The weight of the world has been lifted off our shoulders.
The birds are chirping. The sun is shining. The flowers smell wonderful and the effervescent coffee in the next room beckons us to enjoy the day …

Ok, it’s really cold, windy and rainy here in New York City this morning. But you know what? Who cares!

Valencia will be in La Liga next season!!!

Coming off our 5-1 destruction of city neighbors Levante, Valencia have assured themselves a place in next season’s competition.

Finally, that deep unsettling pain in my chest can dissipate.

So for all the QQ’s, for all the Ronald Koeman’s, for all the Juan Soler’s … we have survived …

It’s a strange feeling. I’m certainly happy we’re still in the league. I’m estatic we won the Copa Del Rey.

But is this a successful season? I don’t really think so.

Anyways, that debate can wait a week.

For now, our eyes turn to Atletico Madrid and our final game of the season.

But even more importantly, we turn inward and think about who will be playing their final games with us next weekend.

It could be that hat trick hero David Villa will be saying good bye. Wanna hear something ironic? Yesterday’s hat trick saw El Guaje tie Real Madrid sporting director and ex-valencianista Pedja Mijatovic on the list of all-time Valencia scorers with 56 … and where’s he going now?
His pace, finishing and vision for goal could be headed to England or the comfy confines of the Santiago Bernabeu and Real Madrid. Funny how these things work.

David Silva could be running through the San Siro midfield for Inter Milan in a few months.

Joaquin could be falling over and losing balls for Everton and Miguel could be full of prawn for Manchester United.

Change is in the air.

Vicente, Albelda (who, with this yellow card yesterday, probably played his last game with the club. He’s suspended for next week), Canizares and Angulo could join that list as could Maduro, Banega, Timo Hildebrand and Baraja.

That’s a lot of goodbyes. Not to mention the coming of a new coach. Emery? Marcelino? Who knows … and if you’ve been listening to the rumor mills, Juan Soler could be selling his shares any day now …

So many things could be different with our club in a matter of weeks.

Well, we have time to assess what’s happened this season and what will happen in the summer. For now, let’s enjoy the victory. Let’s enjoy the fact we’ll be playing top-flight Spanish football AND UEFA Cup football next season.

As reader Javier de Roque said, it’s like we finished 5th! I know, not really. But think about it. We’re in Europe and we’re still in La Liga. I shrug my shoulders and say, ‘Hey! Not that bad … right? Right??’

Not that good … but I’ll take it for now.

Voro? Any thoughts?

“It was a good result but the important thing is to try to resolve the situation as soon as possible. (Very very true …)

“The players have shown their qualities recently and we have managed to get ourselves out of trouble thanks to their efforts so the merit is theirs. Our previous games for example against Osasuna and Zaragoza were a little lucky but we have to try and carry that luck with us.

“It was not an easy game tonight as Levante did dominate for long spells, we scored with our first shot and perhaps this was the turning point.

“Football goes both ways, in Barcelona we played well but we were thrashed, to day it was in our favor.”

In closing, I’ll say this … and think about this some …

Who is in worse shape? Us or Barcelona?

Did you watch that game against Mallorca yesterday? For those that don’t know, Barca were up 2-0 and then let in 3 at home to lose, 3-2.

At least we had something to play for: survival.

Barca walked into a cauldron of fan dissent, people waving white hankies and calling for the president’s head. (We’ve seen that before, no?)

The negative energy fed the team and they lost their lead.

Now, they’re in for a thorough house cleaning. Players are bound to leave and different players are expected to come.

They have the money to weather the storm. But the expectations for the club are much greater than ours.

I don’t mean this in a negative way. But let’s face facts. Barcelona are one of the richest clubs in the world. They’re expected to be in the Champions League every season. They’re expected to be in at least the top 2 in Spain every season.

Anything less is a disappointment. Talk about pressure.

Sure, we flirted with relegation this season. We fired two coaches, saw players come and go and also witnessed utter fan frustration at the happenings at the Mestalla.

But when it all comes down to it, we won a Cup. We beat Madrid at home. We managed to shake off the negative effects of Koeman and are in next season’s La Liga.

There’s an air of possibility in our club.

Imagine the pressure Barcelona face. If they finish 4th next season, Pep Guardiola’s head will be on a plate for the Nou Camp faithful.

Sometimes, finishing 14th in the league is better than finishing 4th.

In that respect, we did ok.