7 Things I Think I Think Pre-preseason Valencia 2008/9

By: Cesar | July 9th, 2008

It’s not quite the pre-season, but more like the season before the pre-season. We affectionately call it the ‘Pre-preseason’, that dead zone when transfers take place, rumors abound and general silliness prevails.

There’s no football on the telly, no basketball, American football or ice hockey to keep us entertained. The Olympics are coming in a month … But I’m more interested in watching the upcoming Supercopa against Real Madrid than the Beijing games. So …

Here’s 7 Things I Think I Think during the Pre-Preseason of our beloved club Valencia.

1 – I think I like Juan Villalonga. Who is he? He’s the former chairman of Telefonica, Spain’s major telecom operator and one of the most influential businessmen in Spain. (he’s also pictured above … although I am sure you figured that out already …)

He’s also the new CEO of Valencia CF and has been brought in by Juan Soler to fix the mess he created.

What’s to be made of this? For one, the guy’s a shrewd businessman. He’s reportedly bringing in the ex-marketing manager of Madrid (thanks to reader Almendras for that bit) to help alleviate the economic mess and plans to bring in his own people to oversee the club. He wants to raise the profile of the club overseas. He wants to make sure the new Mestalla project doesn’t go deeper into debt.

There’s even a chance he could buy Soler’s shares in the future.

I’m not sure what to think of this. He sounds like a major economic player in Spain, but how will that translate to Valencia CF? One thing we do know (or can garner from media reports) is that he wants to keep David Silva and David Villa. Should an unspeakable offer come for either player, he’d probably be sold. But for now, he wants to keep them. More importantly, he has the say on whether these players stay or go.

He’s the man in charge of Valencia for now. Soler’s still in the shadows, overseeing everything. But Villalonga’s the man whose been brought in to fix the mess. What do you all think?

2 – This brings me to this. I think the soccer media needs to shut up about David Villa and David Silva. Take a look at these two articles about Silva and Villa.
This one says Silva needs to be sold due to our dire economic situation and that ‘Silva would jump at the chance to team up again with his fellow Euro 2008 midfield partners, Xavi and Andrés Iniesta, at Camp Nou’ … oh really? Did Silva tell them that?

And this one about Villa , where supposed journalist Graham Hunter gives the scoops of scoops and says, ‘Valencia are not sustainable in their current position and as such, if there’s a deal in the offing – whether it’s Silva or Villa I don’t know – there needs to be a sale.’

Wow! Headline news from this guy!

Look, these guys know about as much as I do. Which is nothing. I write a blog. These guys get paid to regurgitate things they find on the internet about a club they could care less about. At least I care about the team …

People like Hunter are ok seeing our stars leave and play for the circle jerk of European Super clubs.
I’m not. And with Villalonga in place, what’s to say we need to sell?

As one commentator put it, ‘Villalonga has guaranteed that neither Villa nor Silva will be sold unless the club can come strengthened out of the deal in the football department. The minimum offer said to be interesting is 35 million euros for Silva and 50 million euros for Villa.’

So where’s that great scoop, Hunter?

3 – I think we need to get rid of some players. And fast.

What’s to become of this squad? We still have 32 players under contract for 25 spots and the pre-season starts in a few weeks. Coach Unai Emery and sporting director Juan Sanchez need to figure this out soon.

5 players have left the squad so far: Cañizares, Mora, Caneira (who is off to Sporting Lisbon), Sunny (loan to Osasuna) and Montoro (loaned to Murcia).

Here’s the 32 left: Hildebrand, Butelle, Curro Torres (yes, he’s still here), Miguel, Albiol, Alexis, Marchena, Helguera, David Navarro, Moretti, Del Horno, Albelda, Manuel Fernandes, Banega, Hugo Viana, Edu, Maduro, Pablo Hernández, Baraja, Silva, Joaquín, Vicente, Angulo, Mata, Estoyanoff, Sisi, Arizmendi, Villa, Zigic, Morientes, Regueiro and Gavilán (although reports say he’s being loaned out to Getafe again).

What do we do with some of these guys? Estoyanoff, Viana, Butelle, Zigic, Manuel Fernandes. Is there a place for them? What about Banega? Why do they want to sell him? Immaturity problems? Albelda? Will he ever be off the books? And Curro Torres? He’s still around? Where? He work in concessions or something?

Bottom line: We need to get rid of some players, bring some money in and buy some adequate replacements.

4 – I think we need to buy some players, too.
You’re not going to tell me we’re going into the season with Ivan Helguera in the central defense again, are you? Or that Asier Del Horno is the answer at the back? Or that the streaky Hildebrand is the only keeper on the books? (Butelle doesn’t want to be here.)

Look at clubs like Atletico Madrid and Barcelona. They’re getting stronger, acquiring needed players and making their summers a success. What are we doing? I dunno, I’m asking …

We need to sell, we need to figure out what Villalonga has in store and we need to strengthen this squad. Now.

5 – I think I’m buying this year’s away kit.
I’m loving this new shirt. Wicked, eh? But why are the pictures so dark?

6 – I think Santi Cañizares is one lucky man. Have you seen his new wife? Take a look at these pics.

7 – I think it’s a good time to be a Spain fan.

Euro 2008. Rafael Nadal. Alejandro Valverde in the Tour de France. The upcoming F1 race in Valencia. It’s been a good summer. Now if we can keep Silva and Villa and buy some reinforcements?

I guess that’s it for now. I ran out of stuff to say …