Derbi? What Derbi?

By: Cesar | January 7th, 2008

My heart aches at the sight of my beloved Valencia CF these days.
What was once a formidable defensive machine, a club capable of fighting deep into Europe season after season has fallen off the rails with no end to the misery in sight.

This weekend, it was city rivals Levante. A club who came to the Mestalla losers of 8 consecutive away games, a team in virtual disarray with players wanting to leave or not even showing up. Almost assured of relegation, Levante came in with their heads even lower than ours. And you know what? They walked away with their first away point of the campaign virtue of a drab 0-0 draw.

Uggh.

Valencia looked inept from the start, lacking creativity and imagination. New signing Ever Banega watched from the stands. He must be wondering, ‘What did I get myself into?’ He’s 19 and being asked to fix this mess.

Our club simply lack the confidence and creativity to match up against most clubs.
We’re so predictable, it hurts. Ball in the middle, ball down the flanks to Vicente or Joaquin. Defenders rush to ball handler. Ball handler loses ball.

It’s almost formulaic. And why is this so? Because our club lack the creative point guard in the middle who can maneuver with the ball, create space for himself and team mates with ball skills. I only pray Banega’s the man to fill those shoes.

Zigic was sent off in the dying embers of the match, but does it really matter? There was little in the way of clear cut chances for the big man and even if there were, he couldn’t catch up to them. Just more of the same, really. He looked great against the likes of Real Union, but it looks like he’s pressing too much. Then again, so is the entire team.

One of the highlights was the play of Javier Arizmendi at right back. Maybe we’ve found the defender of our dreams? Who knows? They were playing Levante, bottom club in Spain’s La Liga. Still, the striker looked effective.

Afterwards, coach Ronald Koeman attempted to remain upbeat. What else can he do?

“It is obvious the result is not what we expected,” he said. “(But) we have to continue playing like we did in this match.

“The attitude has been good, above all in the first half. In the second, with the changes and the dismissal of Zigic, it affected us.

“But we need to keep the positive aspects. The attitude has been good and we only lacked a goal. Now what we have to do is improve the situation we find ourselves in.”

Uggh …

On the subject of the fickle Mestalla fans, he said, “I can’t complain about the fans’ attitude because they encouraged the team until the end, and any boos and jeers at the end were to be expected.”

“What we are going through now is affecting the squad a lot but there comes a time when you have to focus on the team and forget what is happening off the pitch,” new captain Ruben Baraja added.

“We are the ones who have to turn this situation around and we need to think only about the playing aspect, such as the Copa del Rey game (against Real Betis) on Wednesday.”

So forget about Manuel Fernandes’s time in a jail cell? Or Ever Banega’s video? More on that in a sec …

Valencia goalkeeper Timo Hildebrand was in agreement, adding: “We should beat Levante because they are the bottom team in La Liga, but it has not been all bad, we have created chances. In the last few months there have been many changes and it is not easy for either the coach or for us.”

True that.

As pertains to Fernandes, it looks like his time here is done.
It’s a shame and although the thought of him spending time in jail is funny, I assure you it’s not.

Here’s a young lad, a wealthy football player out for a night of birthday celebrations accused of stealing a watch by a fellow club patron. Why would Fernandes be stealing someone’s watch? He could afford 10 expensive watches on his salary.

I dunno. Something smells weird there.

As for Mr. Banega, he practiced for the first time today. This on the heels of his star performance in a video making the internet rounds of the midfielder indulging in cyber-sex via webcam.

The controversy never ends.

Anyways, if your stomach can handle it, we play Real Betis in the Copa Del Rey this Wednesday. Be prepared with antacids.

**Small note: For all of you planning to watch the upcoming African Cup of Nations, be sure to check out my other blog about African football at Road to 2010 Final. I’ll be updating the blog with news of the action taking place in Ghana and be providing other insight. Make sure to check it out!!!!