What a Week!

By: Cesar | March 24th, 2008

Here, a quote from a Real Madrid fan prior to the game in reference to how Madrid would do against us in yesterday’s game.

GOAL: What do you think the score of this match will be, and how will it affect your week?

FF: I think it’ll be 2-0 or 3-0 to Real Madrid. I think it’ll be one of those matches where the scoreline won’t do justice to how closely fought the game will be. But honestly, I’ll be happy with any sort of win, even if it’s an ugly 1-0.

Some of Fernando’s other gems included, ‘it’s starting to feel like Real Madrid, being the big brothers, are always handing down discarded belongings to Valencia, the little brothers’ and ‘At this point in their (Valencia’s) club’s history, I doubt anyone would envy anything about them. I think every other club and every other fan are just happy that they are not Valencia.’

Nice, eh?

So even sweeter that we b*tch-slapped Madrid last night in their home, 3-2, to blow the Spanish title race open.

I can’t believe the week we had.

3-2 Barca
3-2 Madrid

Who’d have thunk it?

I’m of the belief this squad is FINALLY starting to turn the corner, too little too late some may say. But it’s really about time, especially if we talk about the abundance of talent on this team.

So … should we keep Ronnie ‘TinTin’ Koeman? Should he be given a chance to start fresh next season?

I dunno … it’s still too early to tell. I obviously like what the club’s done the last week.
I like President Agustin Morera’s Era so far …

But it’s too early to tell. Let’s see what the next few weeks give us.

I didn’t see the game. Woe is me.

Yesterday was Easter and I had to go to my sister’s house to eat her sweet delicacies.

Of course, I was the rude guest, sitting at the computer with my red wine, reading the game on MARCA, cheering our lads on to the bemusement of my family.
I texted reader Daniel ad nauseum, loving what I was reading …

When Arizmendi scored at the end of the game (Arizmendi?!? ARIZMENDI? And what a goal it was! Check out the highlights below …), I went wild, hi-fiving my 8-year-old cousin who had no idea what was going on …

A sweet victory. A very deserved victory from the highlight package I saw …

A thought: Does anyone want to win this league? Time after time, Madrid and Barcelona blow their chance to sew up the championship. Makes you think that if we had our act together in the least bit, we’d be up there challenging the big boys.

Alas, all we can do is be spoilers. And spoilers we were last night, much to the chagrin of the Madrid fan base.

Sid Lowe of the Guardian Unlimited decided to write an article about us this week, titled, ‘The future’s bright, the future’s Valencia’s‘ … not too shabby!! Click the link to read his funny musings on Arizmendi and the state of Madrid and Valencia …

Here, a small quote from the article …

… it’s all thanks to four perfect days. On Thursday night, Valencia beat Barça to reach the Copa del Rey final, guaranteeing a Uefa place and the chance to salvage their season. On Good Friday, he (Koeman) celebrated his birthday. On Saturday, he pondered why’s it called Good Friday when the day Christ was crucified should surely be Pretty Bloody Awful Friday. And on Easter Sunday, his side defeated Madrid. Better still, the odd decision to drop Joaquín, who invariably performs brilliantly at the Bernabéu, and replace him with Arizmendi, who invariably doesn’t, didn’t just not come back and bite him, it brought him the paper and his slippers.

“When you feel the knife up against you, you have to react,” admitted Koeman, and Valencia have at last reacted. Sure, they were aided by Barça’s self-destructive streak. Sure, they should’ve been beaten last night, owing much to Cannavaro’s clumsiness, Gonzalo Higuaín’s inability to finish a one-piece jigsaw, and some fantastic saves by Timo Hildebrand. But in four days, Valencia reached a final, pulled away from the relegation zone hovering only four points below them, and defeated the top two. With ‘tache-ridden flabby fool president Juan Soler at last gone, suddenly there is hope at Mestalla. Suddenly the future’s a little more bright, a little more orange.

It’s been a fun week … let’s enjoy it! Let’s hold our heads up high … for once!

David Villa played out of his mind, Arizmendi scored for us, we beat the top two teams in our league, we celebrated Las Fallas and made the Cup final …

For this week at least, all’s good in Valencia … Let the Madrids and Barcas of the world take us lightly … this week was OURS!

What a fun week it’s been!!!

PS: Anyone up for guest blogging this week?
And … Ali?? Did you run naked??? Ha!