Two Points Left on the Table
By: Cesar | October 26th, 2008First off, great comments by everyone in the comments section of the blog … keep up the great analysis and witty rapport. I love reading what everyone else thinks and we’re building a nice community of people interested in Valencia CF.
Now, on to the game.
We’re still leaders in Spain. David Villa scored again. We’re off to the best start in Valencia history.
Yet, I feel like we left two points on the table against a poor Recreativo side.
We fell behind in the second half thanks to a goal from Javier Camunas but managed to earn the draw with a nice effort from Villa in the 62nd minute.
We came close to scoring in the first half, Manuel Fernandes and Joaquin both going close to breaking the 0-0 deadlock.
On 19 minutes, Juan Mata pinged a corner towards the edge of the box that the Portuguese midfielder met with an exquisite volley but Recre keeper Asier Riesgo was equal to it, pushing the ball round the post.
Then on the half-hour mark, Joaquin was played through by Villa and lifted a delightful little chip over Riesgo but the ball dropped just wide of the far post, although Angulo had been well-placed to fire into an empty net had the former Betis winger taken the time to look up and pick him out.
Either side of those opportunities, Recre did go close with a couple of half-chances, although Marco Ruben and Javi Guerrero were unable to test Renan Brito in the visitors’ goal having got on the end of set-pieces.
The half then finished with Villa and Recre defender Cesar Arzo yellow-carded as they left the field for an ongoing feud that had developed just before the whistle following an untidy challenge by Villa in the corner of the pitch.
After Recre scored, coach Unai Emery brought on Vicente for the ineffective Angulo (how do you feel about Angulo these days??), which allowed him to move Mata inside to partner Villa in attack and the move paid off almost immediately as Valencia upped the tempo and equalized.
Joaquin swung in a cross from the right, Mata tested Riesgo with a header and Villa was on hand to scramble the loose ball home from two yards.
Mata then had a good chance to give Valencia the lead when he burst through a crowd of players but his right-foot shot from 20 yards was too high and Miguel should have done better when blazing another effort wide when arriving unmarked 12 yards out.
I detest these long range shots … why why why take them? They hardly ever score from these zingers!!
Recre will be disappointed not to have stolen the points themselves but they were unable to convert a couple of dangerous crosses late on.
And that was that.
We’re still leaders, one point above Barcelona.
Villa is still Pichichi with 8 goals on the year.
I feel like we could have done more. I think we could have attacked with more efficiency and fire. But it is what it is.
The draw confirms our comeback … this is the best start in Valencia history.
We’ve led La Liga since defeating Osasuna on matchday three, and no Valencia side has ever amassed 20 points after eight matches.
The closest we have come before was in the 2003/04 season, when we garnered nineteen points before going down 2-1 to Deportivo La Coruna the next weekend.
It’s a great run … let’s hope it continues.
Coach Emery was happy with the result but agrees that we could have done more.
“We couldn’t manage more than a single point, but based on how the game developed we deserved something more. We managed to control the ball, we had more chances and more breaks forward, yet we didn’t control the game. (Recreativo) used their weapons, and we weren’t successful.”
He went on to praise his opponents further, adding, “Knowing how (Lucas) Alcaraz’s teams play, they played a counter-attacking formation.
“We wanted to use patience to reach their goal, but it wasn’t easy, and for the first half we only had one good chance from Manuel (Fernandes),” he said.
“I do think we offered more looking for the win, and that’s why I’m generally satisfied with the way the team played.”
We were probably the better side for most of the match and had plenty of chances to score but were slightly wasteful in front of goal. Speaking about the chances Emery was not too frustrated but focused on the plus points of the performance.
“It is necessary to create chances and we have done that today and stopped the counter-attacks of Recreativo that caused the goal. We were closer to the win but also we could have lost it at 1-0,” he concluded.
Goalscorer David Villa agreed with his manager and said after wards, “A draw was not really a bad result for us. They are a good team who caused us lots of problems.”
So there you go …
Valencia are doing very well these days, thank you very much.
But can this run continue?
Barcelona and Real Madrid are nipping at our heels, with Villarreal and Sevilla not far behind.
We’re going to have to be at the top of our game to maintain the leadership … do we have the mettle, the experience and the right team to handle the pressure from below us?
We’ll find out in the next few weeks …
Category: Team News
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Comments
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Another great post Cesar!
Is it just me, or does Emery give the same comments after every match? I just hope he doesn’t say that to his players as well.
As for Angulo, personally I think he plays better as a right winger than a striker. He isn’t better than Joaquin but im not too convinced if Pablo is my 2nd choice as right winger.
One thing that really concerns me is im still convinced our squad doesn’t have enough depth to play on 3 fronts (i.e. la liga, Spanish Cup, and UEFA Cup). We lack greatly up front in terms of striking options and like ive said in another post without Villa we might be in trouble. I think we should only focus on La Liga and forget the UEFA. Fianncially the UEFA cup is not really worth all the trouble and its matches are played too close to the matches on Sat and Sun. I am sure we would pick up several injuries if we focus on both. If we were in the Champions League id definitely suggest we focus on that due to the fianncial and commerical incentives, but UEFA cup is just not worth it.
I know in 2003/2004 we won both la liga and the UEFA, but we had more depth in our squad back then. Plus Barca and Real had their own internal problems. Villarreal and Sevilla werent that strong in that season. This year we have a very strong Barca and Real and Villarreal and Atletico might have better squads than we do on paper.To summarize, if we only focus on la liga we might just grasp the title. I think we have a high possiblity to finish in the top four. However, if we focus on both I see us reaching the quarter finals in the UEFA and finishing 5th or 6th in la liga.
We need to be in the CL next year, that alone would provide us with fianncial support for the next season.Posted from
United States
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Recre was very defensive and although we played some nice possession football, we failed to penetrate their defense much ( miss Silva >_< )
Why even start Angulo? Should just start with Vicente. We all know that eventually Angulo will come off for Vicente whether we’re winning or not. Having Angulo on the field is like playing with 10 men.
All in all, a little upset because I expected a victory but a point is better than none.
Posted from
Australia -
I thought David Villa has scored 9 goals in Liga BBVA this season (not 8), and above all he has scored 39 goals in all competitions for Valencia and Spain this year.
Posted from
United States -
i think we could only become contenderes if we reinforce our squad in the winter! other thn tht we wont stand a chance with the top four!
Posted from
United Arab Emirates -
That game showed up Valencia’s midfield weakness particularly Valencia’s defensive midfield weakness. Albelda played his worst game of the season yesterday and it totally offset Valencia’s defensive rhythm and lead indirectly to Recre’s goal, and then that lead to a host of compensatory substitutions that offset Valencia’s defensive rhythm further and the match ended up being more end to end than it should be. this match made it clear that Valencia need another defensive midfielder so that when Albelda plays poorly subing him wont result in destabilizing the defensive unit. Maybe it might be time to start including Maduro in match day squads.
Posted from
United States -
@ John : Albelda had a fairly OK game (but I agree the goal was somewhat his mistake). However, he was very good in the past 4 or 5 games prior to the Recre game.
Posted from
United States -
Wrong john
Albelda’s worst game was the Super Copa against Madrid.
By the way, I think the pride is beginning to creep in.
Baraja has a comment on goal.com…here it is
http://www.goal.com/en/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=934454
Meanwhile,its 2 points lost but I’m okay with the result.
Truth is,nobody believed Valencia would be where we are right now.Im loving every minute of it.
Unlike last season,once we went down,I knew we were losing.A lot has changed but realy I think we should still be a little wary and do get too excited yet.Posted from
United States -
cesar the article looks wierd without a picture hehe!
Posted from
United Arab Emirates -
anyone see albeldas interview on minut a minut,the most watched program in spain last week,and he left the field to a standing ovation from the whole ground,whether you like the bloke or not ,and some on here obviously dont,the bloke aint hiding from anyone,he wears his heart on his sleeve and his heart has a big black bat over it.we are going to drop points and we will lose at some stage but compared to what was hapening this time last year under that imbecile koeman and juan five guts soler we are in heaven,enjoy it people.
Posted from
Spain -
Hi Fayez, I liked very much your post on the 26th, I am in the same mind on all your comments.I would have been pleased to see Valencia not pass Maritimo (and they only just made it). Valencia has not got the manpower to fight on all 3 fronts and to try for each could mean you end up with nothing. Trying to progress in uefa this year could mean missing a Championship spot next year. The football calender has been filled to an unmanageable level by FIFA just to rake more money into their organisation. 2 games a week for 2/3 months is now normal
because you may get a 2 week break but then half the team are involved in Internationals. Valencia have so far not reinforced this year and in fact have got more money in from selling than they have had from buying.Except for a freak year Barca and Madrid are always in the 1st four that leaves 2 places left and we still have to meet those teams that are after them, Villareal, Atletico and Seville, I cant see us making it if we are involved in travelling to outer Mongolia etc for a match.
The results so far have been great but we must be realistic. Against Recre their forward made rings round our defence and scored and we equalised with one scrambled one. Recre have only won 1 match in 8 and in those matches Atletico put 4 goals past them and also Malaga made it 4-0. That is what we should have been capable of. The best shot of the match was from Fernandes
and he should have been left on to finish the match, he is always a danger………….Adios AlmendrasPosted from
Spain -
Silva will replace angulo
Posted from
India -
This just occurred to me and I don’t know if anyone has brought this up. No matter how we end up this year, this will be a valuable lesson for our youth. In this squad, only Baraja, Albelda, Vicente and Machena (Angulo excluded, that my feeling towards him.)have experienced something big (2004, 2002), count Villa and Silva for the Euro. The rest are young and inexperienced for big games. There is a good chance we’ll walk into the hard games on top (or 2, 3) of the table, those boys will learn how to cope with expectations and pressure. In 2 years’ time, with some strengthening of some positions, this team has the ability to grow into the most fearful team in Europe. For that, this season is the perfect start and learning period.
Posted from
United States
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