The Valencia Experience

By: Cesar | July 23rd, 2009

Hey folks, long time no talk.

I’m still on VCF sabbatical. The blog still goes on. Reader Javier de Roque is doing a great job filling in. Kyle of Loco 4 Los Che pinch-hit one out of the park last week. Today, our friend Abdulrahman Al Zuebi, other wise known as 7amanito makes his long-awaited blog debut.

He’s here today to talk tactics. Forget all the Dalport/Soriano/Soler debacle. Today, it’s all about the product on the pitch. I didn’t edit 7amanito’s thoughts, so think of this as 7amanito: Unplugged.

If you want to write a blog post, let me know. You know where to reach me.

Amunt! I’ll see you guys soon.

And now, 7amanito …

The Valencia Experience

Now it’s time for Tactics and game play!

Yes, away from all the so called “The Wizard of Dalport” Mr. Soriano and his drug dealers, let’s talk about the other side of the club that everything is happening for. Let’s talk about why this club is running and having all this trouble, The Team of Valencia CF.

It all started with good signs and good movements and good decisions made by Fernando Gomez who brought back Pako Ayestaran, The physical fitness coach of our golden years. He once said: “Training is very important, I think that no matter how fit players think they are, the same eleven can’t play every game. For me, training is the most important thing. It is our job to make the players understand how important the training is and sometimes players come to me and say that they have trained too much and need to play. When they say this, you know they truly do not understand.” This is all it takes to know that he is a good choice. After all, we all saw that our team in the last season used to play for at most 75 minutes, and the time left is completed by watching the ball. And most importantly, our center of midfield did all the watching which brought the counter attack and the goals against us, plus Albiol. Now, Pako the team is having 2 training sessions a day, and in some days they’ll have 3 as what Superdeporte said. Which is good, bringing back the fitness of the team that is one important aspect of the game. And definitely, he’ll give us some light from the Benitez tactics.

Now, talking on another aspect of the game, the coach we all know that is a good coach if given 2 more years, I guess we all believe that Emery is a good coach and that he is “most of the times” doing well with us, he took a ruins of a team and made a whole unit again that was doing so well most of the time but was affected on what was going outside the field in the managerial positions and some injuries. Last season, he didn’t make any new signings and did reasonably well. This year, he requested some players and got what he wanted (maybe another one coming in the way) and this year it’s gonna be definitely a better year than last year. We all hope.

What do you think is the best formation of our team and our players?

Me: I think it’s the 4-5-1 style of play with counter attack and zone press. Why? Because we have players who can do that easily AND it’s the best way with our team.

The 4-5-1 is one unique style of play, it can be changed to 4-4-2, AND 4-3-3 at the same game with the same players we have, so if we need open play, we will have it. If we need to control the tempo of the game, we can do it. And if we want to blast the game with fast wingers and speed, it’s possible too. How come? We have 2 amazing key players. Silva and Mata. The thing is that with 4-4-2 we can play with Silva as a second striker. Or play Mata upfront with Villa and move Silva to the wing. After all, it was there that he started playing. And if we want 4-5-1 we can him as an attacking midfield or a play maker. And we tested him on 4-3-3 last season and got the approval of all. But the important part is not our offensive part; it’s the center of the game and our defensive style when we lose the ball. The team always tries to go back in the defensive positions in our half of the field and let the opponents try, and with our shaky defense last season, this made us lose so some games, or if we were facing a counter attack, our midfield was always left behind or stepped over easily. That’s why I think Emery should focus on the zone press defense style, even in the other team’s half because sometimes the counter attack is countered by a goal. And this brings us back in the physical shape of the team. This style of play requires a high physical state and a lot of stamina in the game. I think Albelda/Fernandes, or Marhcena/Fernandes is the best combination in this case where Albelda or Marchena play as the defensive midfielder and Fernandes is the one who runs in front of him.

And with the defensive side improved with Mathieu and Daelbart (which I personally like without even watching him play) and Bruno, we’ll be able to have a better defense. That is said if we try to keep a more of a block movement of the lines, or keep the connection between the defensive midfield and the defense line strong. This tactic will make the space between those 2 lines disappear if mastered, just like the glory days. And this is why a leader in defense is a must!

We will expect much improvement in the midfield and the defense hopefully in the coming season, and hopefully in the tactics of Emery because he is kinda sticking to one formation and never changing it throughout the whole game. Except for Barca’s game at Mestalla where we played a perfect game.

So that’s what I expect: Moya, Bruno, Daelbart, Alexis, Mathieu, Albelda (Marchena), Fernandes, Silva, Pablo (I think Joaquin will do better than last season and will be good), Mata, Villa.

As for Banega and Co.; No one can deny his talent, but anyone can question his attitude in the game, he gets booked so many times and he is a bit of a slow player, I know he is good and all and I would love to see him start in the game, but he needs time. He can turn to be our next Baraja or Albelda if Emery does it well. I seriously hope that he plays. He got good touches on the ball and all.

We’ll see if what I see in the game will come true and we make it to CL next season. I hope I didn’t bore you with my fanatics of the game. I just love Valencia that I keep thinking of the game play of next season and how it goes. ;D

Category: Team News

Tags: Team News

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