Victor Ruiz Signs! But is he the defender we need?

By: dan_c | August 30th, 2011

ruiz

Rumours of various players linked with a move to Mestalla were today confirmed as having substance when it was announced that Victor Ruiz had signed for Los Che from Italian club Napoli.

Now there is never smoke without fire, but really, especially after the first game of the season, no-one with half a head will be surprised that Los Che moved for a new defender.

However, is this the man we need?

Firstly, he follows in the mould of Valencia’s transfer model of the last few years, and especially this summer. He is young talented and inexpensive. He has a decent amount of youth caps for Spain and started all of Espanyol’s games in the second half of the 2009-2010 season, winning many admirers as he went. Sounds good so far right?

Weeeell, as far as the former Barcelona youth player is concerned, that’s about it. He moved to ambitious Napoli last year but could only manage 6 starts. He struggled to make an impact, but in his defence he was participating in a very good team that ended up finishing third in their division. Like Valencia.

So if he wasn’t good enough for them…

And we know that Serie A is not on the same page as La Liga…

And also he is a Centre Back, a position where we have had problems…

but what exactly does Valencia expect from him?

He has proven himself before with a solid mid table La Liga club. But does Emery want to nurture him or immediately put him in alongside Rami?

These are questions that need answers, especially since I see the need for good and proper left and right backs as far more pressing.

Why do I think that, I hear you scream?

Because as Javier so eloquently put it, Bruno can’t defend and Jordi thinks he’s a winger. Which he is.

Now under our current system, we aim to dominate and throw lots of bodies forward, which is good because it utilises the talents and strengths of Jordi and Bruno.

But here’s the thing, with Bruno especially, they are ineffective going forward. How many times did he bomb forward against Racing and receive the ball on the wing, only to put in a poor cross? He isn’t effective. All of Los Che’s goals against Racing were created when we got lots of bodies close in around the box, and through clever passing and movement opened up Racing. Little passes, little runs, that’s when Valencia is most effective, NOT when Bruno hoiks in a cross, hoping to find Soldado’s head a midst 4 defenders. In fact the most effective moment for the full backs was when Jordi Alba squared the ball to San Soldado in the dying moments. But that wasn’t a hoiked areal ball. He got in close and tight, like the midfielders, and received the ball off a little run and put it in. Even if Bruno did have a Gareth Bale-esque talent for crosses ( OH my God, go check out his cross against city by the way, possibly the best I have ever seen, truly unbelievable) it still wouldn’t work because it doesn’t play to the strengths of Valencia’s forwards and midfielders.

The most that Bruno offers is width. His presence stretches opposition defences. But any defender can do that. Vedran Corluka can do that for crying out loud! I’d much rather have a right back who can trundle forward, pull a defender wide, offer an outlet for a return pass, but not commit himself or get to the by-line or cross so that HE CAN cover defensively. That sort of defender can pull the defenders wide, giving space and time to our creative midfielders AND still defend (a defenders actual JOB remember) AND even better not waste position with a worthless cross. Crosses don’t actually fit in to Valencia’s best form of attack anyway.

Which is why I question this buy. While its nice to get a nice youngster, is a centre back the priority right now, when full backs seem to be our weak point (lets not forget that our starting left back isn’t even one really. He’s more a natural midfielder.)

Lets hope and trust that the coach, whose job it is to do tactics and create sides, knows better than I, the ignorant fan do.

amunt