OK, Now What?

By: Cesar | October 1st, 2007

We won again this weekend.

1-0 away to Recreativo Huelva, a 5th minute tally from El Guaje David Villa sealing the victory before Recre had a chance to breathe.
That makes it five in a row in the league, seven in a row in all competitions, moving us up the Spanish league table to joint 2nd (with Villarreal), one point behind Real Madrid with 15 points.

But we didn’t play well. The game looked slow, we looked ragged and while we rested players for the Chelsea match this Wednesday, we looked out of sorts.

The popular fan site Foroche.com asks the question: ‘Five in a row is great. But does the poor play justify the results?’

I know, I know. Here I go again.

I’ll keep it to a minimum, as I don’t want my rant-filled posts to scare off faithful readers. We all love Valencia. I think we can agree on that. They just make it difficult these days to have much faith in them, five wins in a row or not.

Villa scored again. That’s always nice. He latched onto a sweet pass from Carlos Marchena, broke free of the defense and sent the finish past Recre keeper Sorrentino. What an absolute talent this kid is. Pound-for-pound the best Spanish striker out there, better than Liverpool striker Fernando Torres.

Our boys continued to dominate the first half, Silva forcing a wonderful save and Angulo hitting the post. But they looked out of it.

The second half saw fortunes change, with Recre taking the game to us. Luckily, our heroes still controlled the game, playing at our slow pace and managed to squeak out the win, despite Recre’s bevy of chances.

Controversey at the end, as Recre had a penalty claim denied when a ball brushed defender Moretti’s hand in the penalty area. The crowd howled at the referee as he denied the penalty and sent off Recre player Carlos Martins for his protests. Whatever …

We won and that’s all that counts.

So Quique, what do you think about the game?

“We played in a serious manner at a difficult venue against a strong team,” he explained.

“Fortunately, we scored early on and that boosted our confidence for the match on Wednesday when we play in Europe against Chelsea.

“We controlled the game and out goalkeeper hardly had anything to do and apart from the last ten minutes was never really in any danger.

“I thought we played well and worked hard against a side that battles for everything.

“It was an tough game with plenty of tackles and challenges and I think the referee should be commended as it was difficult for him.”

Fair enough.

Now it’s on to Europe. Champions League. The always-tough Chelsea. Regardless of what anyone says, this side is loaded with talent, Special One or not.

One good note is the probable absence of Chelsea captain John Terry, who broke his cheekbone this weekend.

On our side, Canizares is still injured and Manuel Fernandes may not feature.

On we go. I’m excited for the game this week and look forward to actually WATCHING the game (can it be?? I’m going to watch the game??).