Valencia CF Vete Ya!

By: Cesar | February 23rd, 2009

My opinion of yesterday’s 1-1 draw aka snorefest against Deportivo La Coruna is one word: Blah.

I’ve been using that word more than I’d like to lately, especially when it relates to Our Beloved.

We’re putrid. On defense (Marchena has no clue anymore), midfield (what the f*ck happened to Silva and Mata?) and even offense (unjust red card, but still … silly challenge).

It’s shaping up to be another one of those seasons. One where we skate through and make the UEFA Cup at the end, much to our dismay.

Do you see this club, the way it’s currently constituted, making next season’s Champions League?

And then what? It’s not like we have any money to sign anyone. So we go in with the same crop of players only to be embarrassed completely by the likes of Armenia’s FC Pyunik or England’s Aston Villa (with John Carew scoring the winning goals … just to rub the salt in a little more)?

C’mon … I’d rather not go than see this.

Honestly, I could see a situation where we mortgage the future a la Real Sociedad or Celta Vigo a few years back, lose out on a knock out stage spot and fall way behind in the league, all because we’re not deep enough – squad wise and finance wise.

As of now, we’re 5th in Spain, tied with Malaga on 39 points, 2 behind 4th-place Villarreal and 3 ahead of 7th-place Atletico.

We’re losing points at an alarming rate. Since beating Atletico Madrid at the Mestalla 3-1 what seems eons ago, we’ve played seven league matches (21 points).

Wanna guess how many we’ve points we’ve garnered? Give up?

Six. SIX!

We defeated Almeria (3), tied Depor (1), tied Malaga (1) and tied Villarreal (1).

In between, we’ve been annihilated by Spanish super powers such as Athletic Bilbao, Mallorca and Osasuna. And don’t forget the weeks prior to the Atletico win: we were crushed 4-0 by Barcelona and lost a not-so-close 1-0 thriller to Real Madrid.

Something’s wrong. Something’s not right with this squad.

I could say it’s coaching. And I have said that on previous occasions. But honestly, who could do better with this team, in this situation? Please name me that guy.

I could say it’s the financial situation. Might be. I wouldn’t be happy not being paid.

I could say it’s the players. They’re not very good. And I’d have to agree with you there, more or less.

How about this? Today, sporting director Fernando Gomez insinuated that we doesn’t know when the team’s going to pay the players.

To top that off, he more or less says that we’re to have a major clearout of top players come this summer, and lets the fans know that for the next few seasons at least Valencia will be a team “in transition.”

Here’s the sentence in Spanish for you Spanish readers:

No obstante, advirtió de que es posible que el Valencia tenga que vivir una época de cambios. “Tal como están las cosas, y si continuamos igual hasta verano, que probablemente sea así, a la espera de un ingreso extraordinario que a lo mejor no es suficiente, podríamos vivir temporadas difíciles y de apretarse el cinturón”, manifestó el vicepresidente deportivo del club.

What does that mean? Basically … we’re in for some lean years …

So say goodbye to Villa, wave so long to Silva and Mata, don’t get your hopes up about any amazing transfer signings or glorious young starlets gracing the Nou Mestalla pitch.

It’s simply not going to happen if things continue like this.

And honestly, after the debacle we’ve been bearing for the past few weeks, what else is there to do?

The team’s deficient on so many levels.

I hate to say this, but I’d rather the team cash in their chips and just blow this current team up than have to watch this tepid display week after week. It’s infuriating.

So … what about the match yesterday/

I dunno … you saw it. It sucked.

Here’s goal.com’s player ratings.

- Cesar should get a 10. The guy’s amazing.
- Our defense should get a -45. They’re simply the pits.
- Silva looks lost, like a puppy who can’t find his owner. Must still be recovering somewhat.
- Fernandes is starting to look like Albelda more every day. His violent shots from 300 yards out have to stop.
- Del Horno should always stay back. He should never try to imitate Cristiano Ronaldo and run past the halfway line.
- Villa looks tired. Still, what a wonder goal he scored. Great shot. The boy’s got a cannon for a leg. I SO don’t want him to go this summer …

I guess I shouldn’t be so hard on the team. We were missing a few players. Still … even when we do have the players, we never inspire or amaze.

Of course, going down to 10 men for a silly foul didn’t help the situation …

After the match, Unai Emery whined.

“The referee was a lot stricter with us than he was with our opponents,” he told reporters during the post-match interviews, making a ‘What? Me?’ face like Marchena makes every f*ckin’ week.

“He rarely blew the whistle when Depor committed fouls and he barely showed them any cards. But he wasn’t afraid to book my players and the second yellow to Villa was simply unjust.”

Despite his unfavorable comments about the refereeing performance, Emery chose to look on the brighter side of things.

He said, “We wanted to continue working on our defense and to keep a clean sheet. We did not achieve that tonight but we are getting better, although we had to sacrifice our attacking fluency. A single point is good enough, even though we really wanted to win. It is necessary to draw positives from this game and learn from the negatives.”

I think that’s all I have to say today. Sorry for the negativity. But the truth is the truth.

We’re in trouble.