Desengaño

By: Cesar | December 16th, 2007

The Spanish word for ‘disappointed’ is ‘desengaño’ or something to that affect.

I’d say that’s a good word to sum up my feelings and most Valencia CF fans’ feelings this morning, the day after the Catalan hurricane touched down at the Mestalla, handing us our 6th straight shutout, 3-0.

It wasn’t so much that Barcelona were better than us. It’s that we didn’t even show up. We weren’t there in body, mind or spirit. Sure, the fans came. They held up a super-sized Valencian flag before the match, showing our Barca brethren they’re not the only prideful region in Spain.

I don’t want to sound too negative. But what can I say that’s positive?
The players were there. I saw some guys wearing Valencia shirts running around the pitch.
Too often, they were standing on the field, watching Barcelona players walk towards the Valencia box and fire shots at Canizares. Did Barca even break a sweat in this match?

The defensive effort was crap.
The midfield provided no spark.
The offense was dead from the beginning of the game.

After the third goal, fans started leaving the Mestalla in droves. The few that remained waved white hankies, praying for a new director, a new staff … anything that could change the negative vibe around the team.

In all the time I’ve been watching this club, I’ve never seen them play this bad, this uninspired. Maybe it wasn’t all QQ’s fault. Maybe it’s the players. Maybe they’re as bad as they look.

Because really, I have no explanations for why Valencia CF looks this bad.
You’d think they’d be better.
You’d think they would be embarrassed by their recent efforts.
You’d think they’d respond in a different way.

I don’t know. I don’t know how to answer the question of why they’re playing like this. It’s much too complicated to answer quickly or easily.

So what did Ronny Koeman think? Apparently he did not enjoy anything about Valencia’s defeat against Barcelona on Saturday, but is not willing to change his plans.
“There was a lot of difference in the sureness of the teams’ passing, in the spark, the work and we have suffered,” Koeman said.

“We are going to come back and there is nothing more I can say now. The results are not going to make me put the brakes on my ideas. When we went a goal down, that gave them a lot of confidence and they were able to play their game and we could not react. I do not think that the system is bad. I think playing with one striker, a player behind and two wingers would have been worse.”

Well, at least he’s trying.

I’m going to end this now, before I get too negative.

I just hope the club can make their way out of this mess. It’s excruciating to watch.
Valencia is a MUCH better squad than they’ve shown. I hope they have the will and perseverance to see their way out of this.

Or else, be prepared for more dour blog posts …