Super Sunday
By: Cesar | January 31st, 2009
Much has been written of our 2-1 loss to Sevilla in the Copa del Rey quarterfinals on Thursday.
I’m not going to regurgitate news we’ve all read. What I will add are some of my views …
1 – Tough loss. I didn’t want to concentrate on this Cup over finishing Top 4 and advancing to next season’s Champions League. But whatever. The loss still stings. Especially when we were effectively eliminated by what has to be one of the worst non-offside calls in football history …
2 – What’s with Valencia giving up these late goals? A few weeks back it was Bilbao. This time, it’s Sevilla. We all know the defense stinks, but giving up goals after the 85th minute is kind of startling.
Is it lack of fitness? Conditioning? Or are they mentally breaking down? It’s more than disheartening.
3 – This club is simply not deep enough. We’ve talked about this before, but this fact was made glaringly obvious this past week. For example, the absence of David Villa spells immediate doom for us. There’s no one to step up and take over for El Guaje. Joaquin’s injured? Who takes his place? Do you trust Pablo Hernandez? Renan’s hurt and we have to get a new player rather than trust back-up Guaita. Alexis is hurt and we have to use Maduro in his place … the list goes on and on.
But really, what can we do? With our current economic situation, we’re going to live and die with who we have …
4 – Because of our lack of depth, the over-reliance on David Villa is even more obvious. With Villa in the lineup, we’re a very good team. Without him, we’re a defensively-weak, offensively-soft side.
I love Villa. But we can’t win like this … SOMEONE needs to step up when he’s gone and score some goals …
So … not a good week.
Luckily, Villa’s back in the knick of time, as we welcome coach Unai Emery’s former club Almeria to the Mestalla this weekend.
We haven’t won in three weeks and that’s something that needs to change quick. We simply can’t afford to fall farther back in our quest for a Top 4 position.
Some tidbits:
- First, Almerica coach and former Real Madrid ace striker Hugo Sanchez thinks his side need to take advantage of our poor form and knick the match tomorrow.
I’m a little more confident in our chances given that Villa’s back. But who knows these days?
- Captain Carlos Marchena thinks we need focus. I think he needs to start playing defense better and stop getting so many red cards.
- Unai Emery’s as disappointed as we are about Thursday’s loss. “I have to congratulate Sevilla. As for us, we are hurt, but it is necessary to get over this as soon as possible and start thinking about La Liga, which is very important,” stressed Emery.
Oh, now you think so …
- Thiago Carleto may play tomorrow … or next week … or next month. But he will play …
- And the Soler Family Ultimatum is up today … no news as of yet … is Vicente Soriano still Valencia president?
The team really needs the three points tomorrow. Let’s hope the Almeria game is the tonic this Valencia squad so badly needs these days …
Stay tuned … you won’t be bored.
p.s. My Super Bowl pick? Cardinals 31, Steelers 24 … for all of you that care about these sorts of things …
Category: Team News
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Comments
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yep,get ayala back,stick a shiney red nose and curly yellow wig on machena and fuck him off to real mierda.
itll take more than a cigerettePosted from
Spain
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un trago de JB y un cigarro? ¡temo que nada me pueda arreglar las penas!
Posted from
Spain -
Maduro was completely useless for most of that game… every Almeria goal was his fault crosses were coming in from the right (maduro’s side) as if there was no one there. i don’t think he headed a single ball out of the box that whole game and to add to that he did other random stupidness like giving away the ball and not passing off the ball quick enough leading to Alemeria getting the ball. i guess midfielders cant be center backs. Marchena did a pretty good job considering he was had no help from Maduro and that second goal i don’t blame him for trying to get to the ball instead of staying with Almeria’s striker because Maduro should have headed out that ball which passed half foot above his head and he made no attempt to head the ball out of the box, Marchena acted in desperation but after foolishness like what Maduro did it would make any player act in desperation to get the ball out of the box. Marchena might not be a fan favorite but he is hands down one of the best defenders in Spain but one defender do it all alone and whats all this fuss about about Marchena getting cards, when Ayala was at Valencia both of them collected more yellows than any other center backs in Spain and that was the same time where Valencia had the best defense in Spain and probably in Europe. fouling is an important part of football as Big Phil one said during Brazil’s run to the 2002 world cup “the team that commits the most fouls usually wins the game.”
It is Very clear that in order for Valencia to not to concede two goals or more a game then Maduro must not be playing as a center back until Alboil recovers there is no hope for any defensive consistency.Posted from
United States -
puede k seas un poco mariconado,….por lo menus absynth y hierba con la comida de los dioses blanco y negro y rojo despues nada o nadia me importa
Posted from
Spain -
I don’t mind cards either (well the cards of the yellow variety). If a defender is playing as hard as he should be playing (really mids/defenders) he should be getting a card every couple games at least. I just hate those STUPID yellow cards that some of them get.
Posted from
Spain -
@bob:
es k tengo k trabajar mañana
el fin de jejejePosted from
Spain -
Maduro wasnt playing on the right, Miguel was. Would have been insane for Maduro to keep coming onto the flank to try and close down crosses – it would leave 2 strikers in the box for Marchena to deal with. He’s had trouble with a single striker all season. Maduro wasnt any worse than Marchena for the majority of the match. And that says something when your 2.5 million utility midfielder is about as good as your most experienced defender and captain. Alexis has been the best defender this season, making the least individual mistakes at least. Albiol has the potential to be a much better defender than Marchena. Give them a season together and let them build and understanding and Albiol and Alexis could be a good partnership. But Alexis’ injury record and playing Marchena instead, will get in the way of that.
Posted from
United Kingdom -
my boys from pamplona will give us problems, no doubt, especially at the reyno de navarra, but they simply can’t score goals – not even against our porous defense. if we can crack the dam early, i think we can lock it up. on a transfer side note, we need to sign negredo from almeria and azpilicueta from osasuna – asap!
Posted from
United States -
Joder locos, quien esta bebiendo JB aqui? Por lo menos toma JW Roja, por dios, no han aprendido nada en este blog!!! Vale esta vez lo permito pero la proxima vez será sanciónes para todo, entendido?? Amunt JW!!!
Posted from
Netherlands -
todosssss (checks his new JW classes received after todays 8 hour JW / Beer marathon…)
Posted from
Netherlands -
Timothy – Good call on Negredo. He’s been very effective this season and would be a good replacement for either Morienties or Zigic at the end of the season – provided he doesnt cost the earth of course.
Azpilicueta on the other hand I only know from football manager
He’s a great prospect in that, but I’ll reserve my right to judge him until I actually see him play. How is he really?How about Carlos Garcia at Almeria? Emery already knows him so this one is actually a possibility. Good defender, 24 years old – a good age. He’s just an out and out central defender who rarely lets you down. At the very least he’d be fantastic to play when Alexis is injured.
Posted from
United Kingdom -
To be honest I think the Osasuna game would be easier than the Almeria/Mallorca games. The thing about Osasuna is that they have such an amazing defence but a terrible attack. If we attack them and play the usual attacking football we use I dont think we would have a problem with conceding…but scoring against them would require a lot of work from Villa and co.
@ Lillo: Azpilicueta is a really good right back…young and promising. Would be a great backup for Miguel. I just think he lacks a bit when he is going up front, and is more of a traditional right back than the modern ones that add a bit of flare.
Posted from
Kuwait -
Well to be honest, a more traditional right back is what you need right now. I’ve no doubt Miguel would be a good option for teams with world class defences who can cover for him when he gets caught out of position, but when he goes forward he leaves Marchena, Moretti and Maduro to defend on their own… Thats a glaring oversight. I cant imagine why Miguel doesnt just just stay back while the defensive situation is sorted out. Its not like he creates too many assists or goals anyway, we arent talking about Dani Alves here.
Posted from
United Kingdom -
@ Lillo. You are so fucking right about Miguel. I don’t need to add anymore than that.
Posted from
United States -
Lillo center backs have sides that’s how a defenses work. lets take the first goal for example, when a right back is beaten the right center back covers the space, the left center back covers the nearest striker and the defensive midfielder drops into the defense and covers the other striker. instead of covering for Miguel which is what the right center back is supposed to do he drifted out of position and was marking the nearest striker allowing plenty of space for the cross and the goal. Defenses are about everybody being in the right place at the right time, Maduro being out of position all the time allowed space for crosses to come in throughout the whole game. There were no successful left to right crosses in that game because Moretti and Marchena were good in their positioning. Miguel creates space behind him when he goes forward that requires a lot of covering, Maduro struggled to keep himself in position and to add to that he gave away the ball too much. After the first half hour Almeria either exploited the space that Maduro did not cover or they attacked Maduro directly. this was Maduro’s worst game as a center back the only reason he was not taken out was because there was no one to replace him with. Marchena is Valencia’s best central defender, Alexis is not even as good as Albiol who is more aggressive, better in the air. Marchena & Alboil are better than Alexis & Alboil simply because Alexis and Alboil both are the same kind of defender both are “positioning” type defender and they are not that good one one one and neither is really aggressive. Marchena and Alboil togeather gives the defense a good “man marker” and a good positioning defender which creates less vulnerability to a specific style of attack.
Posted from
United States -
Its Miguel being out of position. You do not, ever, want your centreback drifting onto the right flank covering his right back when you have Marchena as the other CB.
And with a holding midfielder like Albelda on the pitch, its his job to cover the holes.
Posted from
United Kingdom -
Oh and Marchena is not an aggressive CB. Marchena is exactly the sort of defender you described, one who takes up a good position and defends it. Thats why he worked next to Puyol, someone who runs round like a headless chicken but dives into lots of tackles. Marchena held his position and picked up the loose balls for Spain. Marchena is not an aggressive CB just because he fouls people a lot and is semi strong. He doesnt attack the ball – meaning the same problem Albiol and Alexis have, so does Marchena.
All this rubbish about wanting a good one on one defender – At no point is your CB supposed to be one on one with a striker. Thats bad organisation and risk taking and why you’re a mess defensively in the first place.
Its all about the balance and the balance of Marchena and Alexis is no better than a balance of Alexis and Albiol. But if there was a Vidic or Terry you could call on to play next to one of the other three, thats a much better balance.
Posted from
United Kingdom -
@ Joihn. It’s not just Maduro that struggles to cover for Miguel. I have seen Albiol have to do all of Miguel’s defensive work as well. Yes, the DM are supposed to help, but Baraja and Albelda have a combined age of 734. To put it mildly, they are less than quick. Yesterday, Miguel WAS in position, yet fucked up and allowed the first goal. Also, there was an offside on Crusat (that really wasn’t) and Miguel straight up got beat. Miguel was bad yesterday. He needs to play a little bit more conservatively. Besides, what is the point of him getting forward and delivering crosses. A) He can’t cross. B ) When was the last time Villa, Mata, Silva, or Joaquin headed in a goal from a Miguel cross?
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United States -
@Lillo, as has been said, Azpilicueta is an old school defense rb – in other words, a perfect backup for miguel. he’s really young, so he can grow and develop the offensive part of his game. but the defensive talent is immense. i hope it doesn’t shine through too much this weekend, but you’ll likely see what i’m talking about. not saying the kid’s sergio ramos, but he’s a good prospect, and we could prolly get him for cheap. regarding negredo, he singlehandedly – with some help from Crusat – keeps Almeria afloat. given that he’s a bigger, stronger, and more heading striker, he would be a great compliment to el guaje. can we please free up some transfer funds?????????????
Posted from
United States -
Miguel and Moretti both made the same mistakes when they made long runs down the flanks. They came up so far that went they crossed the ball in and we lost possession, Almeria was able to get quick counters because they could pass quicker than Miguel Moretti could get back!
When one of those players makes a run down the sides, players have to ROTATE to cover for them. This has not been happening this season, or at least hasn’t been happening frequently enough. It is a miracle we are even in the Top 4 right now.
Posted from
United States -
@Kyle, I agree that Miguel often goes up too far, but it’s often only a problem when he stupidly runs all the way up near the keeper to try to regain the ball. when he runs up and steal balls and or plays good through balls to joaquin on the flank, he is quite creative, and his efforts have to led to many goals. he needs to just temper his runs a little bit more, but he can’t just be a holding defensive right back. our attack would surely suffer.
Posted from
United States -
Thats the thing.
Your attack is SO good that even if you played a defensive midfielder and told your defenders not to go past the half way line you’d still have enough going forwards to score twice past each opponent. But right now the whole side is geared for attack and it leaves the defence exposed. The difference would be that with those adjustments, you’d conceed far less.Posted from
United Kingdom -
Some more transfer suggestions :
Lavezzi at Lazio. Argentine getting rave reviews. Two footed creative player – would make a decent replacement if Silva is (hopfeully not) sold. I say as a replacement for Silva because he would be quite expensive and Lavezzi is a creater more than a scorer so he couldnt replace Villa.
Quagliarella at Udinese. Always scoring spectacular goals, he leads the line. Another two footed player, good at all aspects of playing striker. Would make a good partner for Villa if Zigic and Morientes are gone in the summer.
David Pizarro. Some people have complained about the Valencia midfield this season. To me, only Fernandes and once or twice Edu, have put in the kind of overall performances I’d like to be seeing each week. David Pizarro is an excellent passer at Roma and would help control the midfield and create chances.
Posted from
United Kingdom -
Oh one more. Ryan Babel – out of favour at Liverpool, might be able to get him on loan at the very least. He’s dissappointed for them but he’s clearly talented and still only 23 and would be fine as a player rotated in to cover Mata, Silva and Joaquin.
Posted from
United Kingdom -
Once again, everything in this article was spot on. I’ve been getting really disappointed at the way Valencia gives away these last minute goals. We need points. Villa came back this weekend, and what a coincidence! We won! he scored 2 goals which definitely made my day. Lets just hope this can keep up. We still need Renan back, and of course, a better defense.
Posted from
United States
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