His name is Paris Alejandro De Roque so keep an eye out in about 17 years at Nou mestalla.. im sure he will be a striker the way he was kicking my wife during her pregnancy.

Well needless to say as a result of the wonderfull arrival i missed the match and have had little time to do any writing at all. Though i did catch the match highlights and oh man what a game.

It was well played by our boys and im truly impressed by Dealbert and Navarro. Cant wait to see us in Mestalla this weekend.

So i know its been a while since the last update

but no worries, as usual a reader comes to the rescue.

Here with a preview of Valencia vs Mallorca this week is Nithin Thazheveetil

Valencia vs Mallorca: Time to pull away

El Clasico. That effectively summarizes almost all football articles written this week. Every football writer/pseudo-writer worth his salt has written something on it (except Cesar of course, who is rumoured to be roaming some distant galaxies to keep away from anything related to football and re-ignite his waning interest in the same). So here’s my take on the Clasico.

Oh wait, this is about the other exciting match this weekend. The one that pits our beloved, in 4th place, against Mallorca in 6th at the Mestalla. Mallorca come into this match on the back of a win against Almeria, but that doesn’t mean much as Mallorca’s season makes sense only in 2 separate halves.

Mallorca’s impressive placing is the result of their form at home, where they have won all their matches. In stark contrast, they are yet to win a match away from home. Here are their stats home and away.

Home g w d l f a gd pts rank
6 6 0 0 16 2 14 18 1
Away
5 0 2 3 5 12 -7 2 14

Even not considering the results, they have been excellent at home, scoring 16 and conceding only 2 while they have scored 4 and conceded 12 on the road. This record, however, seems a little less strange once you take a look at the teams they’ve played. At home, they’ve played Xerez, Tenerife, Valladolid, Getafe, Racing & Almeria and they have visited Villareal, Sevilla, Sporting, Atletico & Barca. And they follow it up with trips to Valencia and Osasuna. Not a bad bunch to come across on your travels, right?

Mallorca has a tendency to score late in the game, with two-thirds of their goals scored in the second half and two-thirds of that in the last 15 minutes. Their equalizer against Atletico and winner against Almeria came in the dying moments of the respective matches. That is something we’ll have to be wary of. Their top goalscorer is Aduriz with 5, with Valero and Webo, among others, also contributing their fair share. The player to watch for me, however, is their goalkeeper Aouate who has been in excellent form. Watch this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7C7VwsAGTsM) from their last away game against Barca, where they gave an impressive performance.

We go into this match on the back of 4 consecutive wins, including a morale boosting one at the Reyno de Navarra. Our home form hasn’t been as good as our away form due to 3 draws early on, but one of them was an impressive game against Barca and the other two came at a time when our defense was in shambles. The defense has improved much since then, and with Navarro and Dealbert supporting Cesar we have let in only 2 goals in our last 6 league matches.

I’m still not entirely happy with our team’s defending as a whole though. Once we get a couple of goals lead, we have a tendency to sit back and let the opponents attack us. And that has been leading to goals of late, especially and inexplicably if we have a man advantage. I’m okay with taking your foot off the pedal once we have a good lead, but do that by knocking the ball around in the midfield, not by giving up the ball every time we get it and letting the opponents attack all the time. With that kind of constant pressure, chances will be created and it’ll be hard to avoid conceding.

At the other end of the pitch, we have been doing rather well. We have scored 22, which is the third best in the league behind the usual suspects. We have Villa, the current leading goal scorer, who can pull out moves you’d never have dreamed of. But he’s not the only one who’s been scoring. Mata, Silva, Pablo, Joaquin and even Navarro has goals against their name. In fact, Emery put two defensive midfielders on the pitch last match and they scored two and created the third. I reckon its Banega’s turn next. Add to that the fact that Mallorca likes to attack and play a high defensive line facilitating counters and we shouldn’t have too much trouble scoring.

A win here is very important for us for several reasons. Mallorca is a direct rival for European places, at least for the moment, and with a win, we can pull clear by 7 points. Among our other direct rivals, Sevilla in 3rd play bottom club Malaga with a Sevilla win looking most likely and Depor in 5th are just 2 points behind us. Also, a draw in El Clasico could see us move within a point of Barca and 2 points of leaders Real Madrid. More importantly, we play Real at home in 2 weeks time and wins against Mallorca and Atletic could mean we go into that match with a chance of going past Real. How awesome would that be?

I haven’t found a list of players anywhere, but it appears that Miguel will be left out again this weekend. Dealbert has recovered from gastroenteritis and along with Silva should be available to play. Manual Fernandes has apparently recovered from another ankle sprain he suffered, but it remains to be seen if he will play. My lineup would be the usual Cesar, Bruno, Navarro, Dealbert, Mathieu, Banega, Marchena, Mata, Silva, Pablo and Villa with Albelda and Joaquin getting a run our later on depending on the state of the match.

In the corresponding fixtures this decade, we have drawn one and lost one, winning the rest. The loss came in the Koeman era, I believe, which would make perfect sense. So I’m going to go ahead and predict a Valencia win here, taking our winning streak to 5 matches. No predictions for goal scorers though. The way it is going, it could be Cesar for all I know.

Finally, here’s what Mata http://soccernet.espn.go.com/preview?id=275581&cc=4716 and Manzano (http://www.goal.com/en/news/12/spain/2009/11/27/1650411/mallorca-have-nothing-to-lose-against-valencia-coach-manzano) had to say about the match. Superdeporte has an interview (http://www.superdeporte.es/valencia/2009/11/28/emery-debemos-prudentes-mejorar/79369.html) with Emery as well, but it is in Spanish.

Now let me go read up some more on El Clasico.

Nithin Thazheveetil

Thanks to Nithin for the helping hand this week. I look forward to catching the next match.

AMUNT VALENCIA
Javier De Roque

Its to be expected of course seeing how much suffering we are forced to endure week in and week out.

My blood pressure is high and my finger nails are non-existant.

Valencia will surely be the death of me.

Todays Copa performance was just one more stressing moment in my life as a Valencia follower.

Once again our backups have shown why they are backups.

2-2 in Mestalla against a lower division team is simply not an acceptable result. unless your Real Madrid..;)

This Dr Jekyll and Mr hide performance really needs to end.

At first Valencia stormed the field and scored 2 goals in 15 minutes.

This is what should be expected of thistype of pairing.. but in character fashion our backups continue to allow opposing teams to get back into the game.

By the final whistle 2-2.

The defence looked lost. The midfield had no control of the middle either.

And in my honest opinion. Cesar has no competition for #1 keeper. That much is obvious now.

On the bright side.

Valencia have qualified for the next round of play.

And the undefeated streak continues.

Lets just assume this was another instance of Valencia playing to the level of their opponents.

Next up.

Los Che travel north to Pamplona to face Osasuna November 22nd.

Osasuna are currently in 10th place.

If last weeks Valencia squad show up this match should be another 3 points in the win category.

Playing in Pamplona is never an easy tast however and we should expect alot of attacking football.

The defence will have to be on and that means no Alexis in the back line.

No experimenting.

Emery is sure to play it safe for this one and we shoudl expect the best out of a team that has an excellent away record.

Villa Silva Mata and Pablo are all healthy and have in the last few weeks proven their attacking prowess.

Our only worry is the central midfield.

Personally a Marchena and Banega matching is ideal. The only question mark being above Banega’s head as the last couple of weeks have shown his current lack of energy.

My prediction.

Osasuna 0-1 Valencia

AMUNT VALENCIA
Javier De Roque

Thats the conclusion that has to be drawn if you read the the chatter this week.

Our Che have lost 1 game all season. 1 Match. We are in 4th and within grasp of the top.

And yet even after a hard win against Malaga the fans complain.

Here are the highlights in case you missed the match.

What must Valencia do to get the fans behind her?

The defence has improved. Our attack is sufficiently scoring the necessary goals. Our goalie is keeping the sheets clean.

Lets get behind this team and push them to the pinacle of la Liga.

Can Valencia win the League?

Of course its a long shot. But like Benitez once said. In Spain to win the liga you need Barcelona and Madrid to flounder.

Well Madrid does not look solid and as usual is a management mess.

Barcelona looks in bad form and is either brilliant or vulnerable from week to week.

Sevilla and Valencia both have an opportunity to snatch the crown if this pattern continues.

Wouldnt it be brilliant if Valencia could grab that title again. It would be the third in a decade. And a shot in the face of the huge big money clubs.

Will it happen ? Its unlikely but Valencia have done it in the past. Till then i believe this is a top 4 team without a doubt.

Emery now has a core team which can scratch out victories without bleeding goals. That alone should create far more wins that losses.

The truth is that our current team reminds me a hell of alot of our Liga Champions team… Great striking. Creative midfield. Solid defence with a great goalie.

The Team is there. We just need the luck.

So this midweek we are back in Europa league action.

Its the start of winter in Slavia Prague and our palm tree loving lads are going to need to bundle up.

Im pretty sure its safe to assume that it will be the B team showing up with Moya in net. And thats fine.

Our B squad needs to improve and show what they can do. A win today is vital if Valencia intend to progress.

The strategy of using our second team in Copa and Europe has allowed Valencia to compete in la liga. At the same time it brings the players who havent been playing up and into playing form.

I would like to see Baraja and maybe Fernandes if he is fit. Play Joaquin Zigic and Miku. Lets get these guys in a place physically where they can pop into the first team and make a difference.

Just dont lose.

This weekend we meet Zaragoza.

Zaragoza are in the lower half of the table right now and have a 3 win 2 draws and 4 losses record.

Not a very impressive start.

That said they could pose a problem in the counterattack. They have scored 13 goals so far this season only 3 less than Valencia.

However.. they have also allowed 18 goals so sneak through making them the second worst defensive team in the league after Atletico Madrid.

What does this mean for us?

Well if the Valencia defence stays firm and Cesar can perform as he has, then this one is in the bag.

Villa, Mata, Silva and Pablo have all shown how agressive they can be in attack when a team defends all out.

Imagine a weak defence.

it could be a goal fiesta.

That is alot of “ifs”

Will Zaragoza come out to play? Or will they pull a Malaga and turtle only to come out on a counter attack.

Its hard to say for sure.. this one though Valencia should still win.

Banega will hopefully be back to himself and Villa needs a couple to keep up his race for those golden boots.

My prediction.

In front of a home crowd.

Valencia 2-0 Zaragoza

Lets give Mestalla something to cheer about.

AMUNT VALENCIA
Javier De Roque

Joaquin scored a a gorgeous little chip shot to gain the winning goal in the 10th minute of play.

The rest of the match was mostly forgettable.

Fielding a team of backups and freshly recovered players, Valencia did just enough to secure the away goal.

Moya looked unsure inbetween the posts but did manage to keep a clean sheet which is something he has been unacustomed to as of late.

The defence was adequate though Alexis did pick up a injury which saw him carried from the field. It has turned out to be a small fracture but will be available if needed for the weekend.

In the midfield Joaquin Baraja Maduro Jordi all made a show and did a decent job. Jordi’s pass to Joaquin leading to the game winning goal.

Up front Miku and Zigic looked slow and ineffective against a squad that should have been an opportunity for them to shine.

On the lighter side …

Joaquin played a solid match and also scored the winning goal.

However this seems to have come as news to Unai Emery.

During the after match press interview Emery twice said the goal by “Miku”

When this was mentioned to Joaquin he didnt seem pleased but hoped it was a simple mistake.

What game was Emery watching?

Here are the match highlights in case you missed the game.

Well in unfortunate news.

Uefa has decided to hand David Villa a two game suspension from European matches.

This was in response to Villa’s behaviour in the Europa league tie last week. In which Villa kicked out angrily after being fouled.

A club spokesman stated that the punishment is seen as excessive and would investigate any chance at a reduction in the suspension though he felt it was unlikely as the governing body does not tend to rule against their official’s decisions.

Now the good news.

Valencia continue to play on the road this time visiting bottom dwellers Malaga CF.

Malaga are dead last in the league and are having a brutal start to the season.

With only 1 win in 8 Liga matches Valencia should be able to take advantage of their current form and chaulk up another 3 points this weekend and keep pace up top in the league.

Another bonus is that Valencia’s key players all appear to be healthy and match ready with the exception of Marchena.

Oh Oh !!!! The Bullshit British Rumourmill of the minute!!!

Mata is going to Liverpool. According to some tabloid the brits call a newspaper. Benitez has convinced the Liverpool owners to shell out busfare for Mata. And because Valencia are ooooooh sooooo broke and desperate and stupid ect ect ect so for sure he is leaving.

My prediction this weekend.

Malaga 1-3 Valencia

AMUNT VALENCIA!
Javier De Roque

Ja Ja !!

World Soccer magazine has just awarded our very own DAVID VILLA best forward in the world.

Booya

Not that we didnt already know that. Villa has proven himself already this season with a stunning 7 goals.

There is however rumours once again that Manchester United are after Villa and SIlva in a 40 million pound bid to take them in January.

Like most rumours i would be quick to ignore these.. 40 million for two stars is rediculous.

Lets hope our club feels the same way. After all simply making it to the Champions league would net us an additional 25 million in television rights. And that would be undoable without Silva and Villa.

So today is Copa del Rey.

Hey want to have a good laugh. Watch this 250 million dollar flop !

My prediction is an easy Valencia victory 2-0 won by our backup team.

AMUNT VALENCIA
Javier De Roque

A win in Almeria and we move up to 5th place and within striking distance of the top 4.

These are a vital 3 points.

Now Valencia, truth be told should win this.

Silva is in.

Joaquin is healthy.

Baraja is healthy and looks like Villa is set to be in as well.

That means a full squad.

Also looks like Navarro has received the nod from Emery to play in Center Back.

This is good news.

Miguel Dealbert Navarro Mattheiu is our best back line. Alexis is simply in poor form and needs to sit a while. Also Navarro is a solid defender and deserves his place in the back line.

Cesar in net also calms my nerves to no end. Knowing that our goalie is solid and that the defence is competant means our team is good. The rest is on the Attack.

And what an Attack we have .. Pablo, Mata, Silva, Banega, Villa.

If we dont score at least 2 goals in this game i would be shocked.

A healthy A team Valencia should not lose in Almeria.

All that said. Almeria are not a pushover team. Emery’s old boys that only last season rose to the ranks of la primera have impressed thus far. They have become a mid table team that manages to steal points from above and below. They do surprisingly welll.

Málaga-Almería 1-2
Barcelona-Almería 1-0
Almería-Racing 2-2
Atlético-Almería 2-2
Almería-Getafe 1-0

Their only recent loss has come away at Barcelona. An understandable defeat but also only allowing 1 goal in Nou Camp is a feat. Also they have beaten Getafe which tore los Che a new A hole. Dont expect a pushover. This is going to be one tough match.

Valencia need to score early and play just like they did against Barca. This is not the B team. No excuses like during the mid week Europa league match which i purposely ignored and put behind me.

3 points here and we are on track.

My prediction this week. Almeria 1-2 Valencia crossing fingers.

AMUNT VALENCIA
Javier De Roque

But first a recap of our adventure with the best team in the world.

In case you missed it.

Which if you did..

shame on you.

Now i did predict that we would draw this match with Barcelona comming back 1-1. The score was wrong the result was right.

Barcelona was very lucky to come away with a point. At first i felt it was a fair result due to the fact that in the second half Barca did have some chances. But I’ve watched the game 4 times now and the more i watch it the more i realize Valencia dominated the first half completely, and it was about 50/50 in the second have with some clear goal scoring chances being tosses to the bin.

Its a pity. But regardless still a great result.

Now that Valencia have proven that they can play top level football. Lets keep this going.

If you look at the top teams. Madrid , Barcelona, Sevilla and Valencia and calculate who they have played so far, one thing becomes clear.

Valencia have had a far tougher group of teams to play so far than the others.

Madrid has had a fairly easy go with only Sevilla being their top test.

A test they failed.

Barcelona’s top challenge so far has been Valencia.

They tied.

Sevilla has beaten Madrid but lost to Valencia. so 50/50

So far if you look at the top team records Valencia has performed very well so far.

We only have 1 loss. Thats not too bad. We have been drawing alot of games which means lost points but we have not been losing.

Considering the fact that for the first 5 matches we bled 9 goals against us. Thats impressive.

A few things have me convinced we have what it takes.

FIRST: Our goal is now in order.

Cesar may be 108 years old and fought in both world wars. But he is also and outstanding keeper. We replace Moya and suddenly the sheets are clean. 2 games in a row with no goals on Valencia.
To me thats amazing. Cesar has made some great saves but thats not the end of that tale because alot of that credit belongs to our second point.

The Defence is clicking.

Miguel has found a new lease on life. In the Barca match he was a demon. Nothing passed him. He robbed the ball at will and scuttled Barcelona on the right. Essencially forcing Barca to try the left. No worries. Matthieu has found his focus. Matthieu was brilliant. He could not be passed .. and would break out and get the ball forward. Who is this guy. Wow. Just brilliant. I cant wait to see when he is 100% in the zone.. its clear his speed and talent are going to go a long way if this keeps up.
Dealbert and David. The center is solid and there is no opening. Thanks for calling.

Anybody miss Alex. I dont.

One more point before we leave the kudos behind..

Albelda. Welcome back. We missed you capitan.

Albelda during the Barca match looked like Julius Cesar crossing the Rubicon. He led the Che relentlessly advancing and controlling the midfield.

Xavi, Iniesta ? Nobodies. If it wasnt for Yaya Barca’s midfield would have been non existant.

Albelda has shown he still has the flair and ability. After the match he was even emotional about the cheers for him coming from the stands. See Albelda. Valencia fans are not so hard to please. Just be amazing. It was nice to see alot of his blackened history wash away with this performance. And i hope its the start of a epic comeback on his part. Because he really is a great player. We could use some great leadership again.

Before i forget. Kudos to Unai Emery.

Our coach orchestrated a magnificent spectacle against the best team in the world.
He got them to tremble, shake sweat and a whole lot of other things that are unpleasant.

knock knock.. Who’s there? Fucking Valencia that’s who !

So who wants to come over and play with los Murcielagos now ?

SK Slavia Praha … bottom of our group. Not a point to their name so far in this Europa season.

Should we be worried?

Well Yes and No.

Yes we should be worried. Why. Because we are Valencia. We all know how great Valencia play against teams that appear to not be very good.
Barcelona Milan Arsenal.. no problem. Getafe… boom down 3 goals. WTF

No we should not be worried. The team that played Getafe is not this team. They do not have this mentality. And On top of all that these boys are pumped. At home and eager for blood. For the first time in a while Valencia seem hungry and want to use their new found form to tear a team apart.

Los Che did not resist Barcelona.

They went for the throat.

Prepare yourselves Slavia

Thursday you will need to be cleaned up off our new green Mestalla grass!

AMUNT VALENCIA!
Javier De Roque

Group B Pld Pts
Valencia 2 4
Lille 2 4
Genoa 2 3
Slavia Praha 2 0

The day we look forward to and fear every year.

Barca is comming to Mestalla.

What will happen?

Will we play the glorious game that we saw last season.

Will Barca create magic and have a goal fiesta in our castle.

Well i hope not. It has been a rough few weeks for los che.

First Fernandes re-injures himself, followed by Villa our star goal scorer right when he was on a scoring streak. Then our devil Marchena also injures himself.

Lets go on. Joaquin, Vicente, Del Horno… ect ect ect.

Thank Goodness Spain has free healthcare. Imagine the medical bills.

So will we be destroyed?

Will the Murcielagos be beaten in their home?

I dont think so.

While Barcelona are a great team they have had their share of bumps and bruises as well. Ibra can play but recieved a nasty bruised knee. Henri is out and on the injury list. Messi was suffering from exhaustion after a rough international duty but should be deemed fit to play if not 100%.

Dont get me wrong. By no means is Barca weak. But they have shown in the Almeria match that even in Barcelona they can be held down. And there is no reason in Mestalla they can be held down.. then beaten.

We have a great team. Zigic has been scoring. The rumour is Villa could play. Mata was brilliant for la Furia Roja the last two games. Silva is also scoring. Pablo has proven he is a great starter on the wing. Our defence is all in tact. Well as in tact as Mathieu can be considered. Banega is on fire. Cesar is brilliant in net.

Valencia are a great team. And if that great team clicks then Barcelona should be worried. Ive seen Barcelona without Messi.. and they are half the team. If Messi doesnt play neither does Barca. And if Messi does play and he is exhausted.. then lets make them pay.

Come On Mathieu! Show us the best defender in France!

So let me do the tear down of the best team in the world right now.

In Goal:
Valdes.. well im not a big fan of Valdes. I dont think he is that great a goalie. What he has is Puyol and Marquez in front of him making sure that no sure shots get taken. Cesar is better.

Defence:
Alves. Good attacker poor defender. Leaves his Right Back open often. Just perfect for our man Mata to tear in and give a ball to Silva or Zigic or Villa.
Puyol and Pique: Puyol is a great defender.. and the man to beat. A man like Villa or Silva can beat him. Zigic.. well he’s about 4 feet taller than him. Pique is not so short.. but also not so good with his feet.
Abidal: Im not impressed by the guy.. but he is fast. I just think Pablo can beat him a few times and make a big play.

Midfield:
Iniesta Toure Xavi : A great combo. However Iniesta has not been himself lately and Toure can be very hot and cold. Expect Busquetes subbed in who is even worse and takes alot of wastefull long shots. Xavi is by far their best playmaker and must be shut down by Banega which is a very tall order. But if anyone can do it its him. Losing Marchena is going to be very painfull if we dont step up in central mid.

Forward:
Keita, Ibra, Messi: Keita is certainly not as good as Henri. Ibra is a poacher but needs somebody to set him up. He does not finese through defences well. Messi is god and we have to pray that we can stop him by any means necesary. Defence will be key. Lets hope Messi is indeed worn out from international duty. We need every advantage we can get.

So what do i think will happen. Well no idea. Im hoping for a Victory for Valencia. Its a tall order but i know that we do have a team that can beat Barcelona on the right day. Im just hoping that this is the day we do.

Barcelona are not invincible… they are only the best.

But remember last year they were also more or less the exact same team. And we had them beat until 7 minutes from the whistle.

Then again.. a tie wouldnt hurt. Wouldnt hurt if Villa made a miracle recovery either.

I dont think we will get blown out.

If Valencia lose they will have played a solid game. My prediction. Valencia 1-1 Barcelona Barcelona will score in the 98th minute. They always add way too much time if Madrid or Barca are losing.

Hey some fun facts. The last time Ibra was in Valencia this happened.

And here is a very nice highlight of last year in case you need a refreshing memory of how we treated Barcelona the last time they visited.

AMUNT VALENCIA
Javier De Roque

Our midfield was not fluid.

Our attack was lackluster.

Our wings fairly ineffective.

Our defense and goal tending however was vastly improved.

While i will say that Bruno is no substitute for Miguel on most days, he was sufficient on sunday. And David and Dealbert played well in the center for the most part. Matthieu was well not as great but did manage some very decent defensive plays that saved us from a near certain goal.

Is Emery listening to the fans ?

We complain that Alexis isnt playing well.. he doesnt play. We complain about Moya .. Cesar is in. Emery must be reading out blog hahaha.

Here are the highlights…. only a minute and a half of them. Yes the game was that lacking.

So what are the positives ?

Here is my list.

Cesar is great.

I think that last nights match has shown that our best keeper is still Cesar. yes he is older but he is also far more experienced than Moya.

He still makes splendid saves and and a much more solid defence.

Clearly he is in command of the back 4. The defence looks much better when he is behind them. Im not sure but it really does seem like Cesar communicates to his defense more, they dont seem to be caught unaware as often.

Isnt in nice to have a clean sheet once in a while.

Zigic scores goals

One thing about Zigic is his ball handling is poor.

He isnt fast.

If you pass to him it never comes back.

And yet the guy always seems to find the net. That is his talent. Being at the right place at the right time. He is now 2 for 2. Nearly every time he walks on the pitch he scores. Thats impressive for a guy who seems so awkward even walking. He really does have a gift when it comes to finding the net. He will prove invaluable if Villa’s injury proves lingering.

Spanish Women are Hot

Did you see the girls in the stands.. wa wa wi wah. They make me think naughty things. Ok the match wasnt that exciting clearly. hahaha.

So our next match is in 14 days.

Against…. sigh Barcelona.

Im not gonna lie. I beleive our chances of beating Barcelona are not great. They are undefeated and really looking good. But if there is one thing that Valencia have its class when it comes to playing Barcelona.

Last season Barcelona looked unbeatable, yet Valencia led 2-1 untill the 80th minute where a blunder by Cesar cost us the victory. Im just hoping that same team comes here and we show them a solid beautifull game.

Against Barcelona we can play the style of football we excel at. My main concern… will Villa be fit.

The tragedy of Sundays match was that Villa limped off and we wont know until later today how serious it is. Im hoping its not.. while Zigic is great and has shown he can score goals, he is no Villa. Lets all cross our fingers that he doesnt play for the Spanish national team against Armenia and gets 14 days of rest before facing Barcelona. If it isnt too serious he should be fit to play.

3 points and 5th place gentlemen. Sacrifice whatever goats and pray to whoever you pray to. We need a win against the Evil Barca Empire.

AMUNT VALENCIA
Javier De Roque

Today, it’s an analysis of VCF’s ‘defense’ from the perspective of last weekend’s Atletico Madrid draw by intrepid supporter/commentator Nithin, complete with videos from Kyle’s excellent Locos 4 Los Che.

It took some time to get up, but it’s well worth the read.

Nithin, the floor is yours …

‘We all know that our defense was terrible in the last match against Atletico. Watching the match, I felt they were making some very basic errors. This is an attempt to point out some of those errors, using Kyle’s extended highlights for support. Pause the highlights video at the time mentioned at the start of each comment and read the comment. The 1st half is from the 1st video and the 2nd half from the 2nd.

1st HALF

The high back line

0:36 – This shows how high our defensive line is. Pretty much the entire team was in the Atletico half when the ball was played.

The first goal

0:43 – Dealbert is marking Kun well here, as he runs into the box. Bruno is with Jurado who has the ball and Forlan is free.

0:44 – Jurado cuts in and Bruno follows him. Forlan moves into the space created on the left. Nobody is paying him any attention.

0:45 – Forlan receives the ball inside the box. Dealbert realizes he is free and nobody else is near enough. So he goes to close him down, leaving Kun. All three defenders nearby have turned their attention to Forlan as well, and nobody picks up Kun as he moves into space right in front of goal.
0:46 – Kun receives the ball the score. Note that the other 3 defenders are not serving any real purpose here. We have 4 defenders in the box against 2 attackers who can receive the ball. How difficult is it for those 4 to mark 2? Everybody watches the ball and fails to mark the opponents roaming freely in the box. This is a recurring theme throughout the match.

Some terrible marking …

2:25 – Again, 3 defenders are focused on Forlan while Jurado is free on the left and Kun tries to make his way into the box unnoticed. However, Dealbert sees him and moves with him. Jurado gets the ball, and …

2:27 – All 3 shift their attention to Jurado, letting Forlan make his run behind them. Luckily, Jurado passes the ball a little early and Alexis gets in the way of the pass.

2:50 – Jurado on the left again makes a run, unnoticed by Pablo (I think) who was standing next to him. Bruno was marking the man who made the pass to Jurado and now has to try and catch up with him.

2:54 – Jurado finds Forlan in the box in space. Though there are 5 VCF players around him, no one is marking him. Once he gets the ball though, he is closed down quickly by Banega and forced wide.

… and a good one

4:01-4:03 – Dealbert turns around a few times to find out exactly where Kun is and moves close to him anticipating his run.

4:09-4:11 – When Kun makes his run, Dealbert runs with him, staying close and putting him off enough to prevent him from getting a shot at goal. This is the least our defenders should do. Dealbert has been decent with his marking while the rest have been scattered for the most part.

Another instance of the high back line

4:21 – Another instance where our entire team (except for Dealbert) is in the Atletico half. Such a high line means every mistake by a defender, every error in marking, is a potential goal. Alexis obliges by making that mistake and Kun gives his thanks by messing it up.

Mathieu forgets he is a LB …

8:48-8:49 – Mathieu, watching the ball, has left his man free to receive the cross or our left wing. Also note how nobody is looking to mark Kun and Simao at the edge of our box and both of them subsequently receive the ball with space inside the box.

2nd HALF.

… and continues to do so

0:55 – Mathieu was caught in a central position a few times in the match, leaving plenty of space to be exploited on his wing, like this instance here

.

3:10 – Everybody, including Mathieu is on the right half of the pitch here and the entire left half is free.

3:12 – Now he has to sprint across to try and catch up with the Atletico player (Maxi?)
3:13 – But as soon as the ball is passed to the center, Mathieu stops chasing down Maxi and turns around towards the center. A return pass to Maxi would’ve been dangerous here. But Atletico continued their wasteful ways.

The offside trap and leadership

3:43-3:44 – Here’s something interesting. Watch Dealbert stepping up to try and play Kun offside and then appealing for it. But Mathieu has failed to step up with him and plays Kun onside. Very dangerous when you play a high back line.

3:51 – Following Kun’s run, Mathieu is not marking his man and is going to be caught out with the pass.

3:52 – Luckily, the ref blows (incorrectly?) for a goal kick, to prevent an almost certain goal. Watch Dealbert’s reaction in the next couple of seconds. Berating Mathieu for not stepping up, I think. Is there any doubt as to who is the leader in defense?

Mathieu’s bad run continues

4:11 – Once again, Mathieu is nowhere near his man and wouldn’t have been able to cut off a pass.

4:18 – The second half wasn’t very good for Mathieu, who misses his man making the run here. Also, though Maxi is offside, the back 4 are not holding their line and the defender on the far side was 2 steps behind the rest leading the linesman to his error. Mathieu does really well to catch up and dispossess Maxi though.

Dealbert gives another demo

5:19 – This time, Forlan is free on the far side with Bruno quite a way off in the center. Watch Dealbert in the next few seconds, however, as he notices Maxi’s(?) run and sticks to him. Also note how he extends his hand and maintains contact with his man as he runs. This is to track his movement while watching the ball. This is the kind of man marking that pretty much everyone else failed to do throughout the match.

Lack of intensity

6:06 – All 4 defenders are inside the box at this moment and somebody is running in on the left side of the screen to take a shot. Why isn’t anybody running in with him to put him off? Where are the DMs? The rest of the team has to put in a lot of effort as well if we are to get out of the defensive hole we are in. Get back and defend in numbers. Provide your back 4 with all the support they can get. It is Dealbert who tries to close down his shot here.

6:21 – In the replay here, you can see there was another Atletico player also running in, also under no pressure from any VCF players.

The second goal …

8:08 – Mathieu is at the center of the box, watching the ball, completely unaware of Maxi in acres of space behind him. Is he marking Kun, who is right next to him? Lets move ahead a couple of seconds and see.
8:10 – Its Dealbert who comes right in front of Kun to make sure he doesn’t get the ball. Mathieu drifts behind Kun and ends up in no man’s land. Maxi is still in plenty of space.

8:11 – Alexis jumps up and heads the ball. Did he have to? I don’t think so, cause there was nobody right behind him and Dealbert was marking Kun. But he didn’t know that. So he tries to clear it. However, he doesn’t get the necessary elevation and just manages to lift it over Dealbert.
8:13 – If Alexis doesn’t head it, that’s a Dealbert clearance, but now, its gone behind everybody. So everybody turns around and oops, Maxi is waiting there with enough space to land a helicopter.

8:14 – Goal Maxi, Assist Alexis. Atletico have 3 men in the box. We have five close by and Bruno near the edge. What is the excuse to not mark those 3 in the dying seconds of the match to preserve your lead? What excuse to not have a few more men in the box making sure no Atletico player gets anywhere near the ball? Lack of intensity? Lack of organization?

… and almost another

8:39 – Altletico want another. Again, notice Mathieu in the center and Maxi in acres of space behind him. He gets the ball cause Atletico is seeing a pattern here.
8:45 – Luckily, so is Dealbert, and that’s that.

Major points of concern

A few issues stand out. The first, as usual, is the high back line. There were at least a couple of instances where almost the entire team was in the Atletico half. With a very shaky and rather slow defense, that’s begging for trouble. We’ve had problems with this style of play for well over a season and still continue to employ it. Is it so integral to Emery’s game that he just cannot do without it, regardless of the price? Only he knows, but it doesn’t look like this is going to change any time soon.
The bigger worry in this match was, however, the lack of marking, especially inside the box. I had noticed this during the Getafe game as well. Time and time again, we see 3 or 4 defenders all watching the man with the ball, leaving spaces of others to exploit, and exploit it they did. For both the goals, we had enough defenders in the box to mark the opponents and simply failed to do so. And when one or two defenders fail to mark their men, it creates confusion for the others as well.

Is this caused by lack of co-ordination or communication? Or is it a tactical error? Again, we can only guess, it can cause us a lot of trouble and Emery has to sort this out quickly. That is, if he has noticed it yet.

Finally, something needs to be said about our inability to hold the ball. When a team has a goal lead with about 2 minutes of stoppage time to go in an important match, what does it do? Hold the ball. Keep tapping it around in the midfield, waste time at the corner flag, hold it up and try and win a corner or a free kick, anything but kick it straight back to the other team, especially if your defense is shaky. And it should be pretty straightforward unless there is big difference in class or numbers, right? (When teams find it difficult to hold the ball cause they are outclassed or down in numbers, they usually pack their third with bodies and defend like their life depended on it.)

We are not outclassed by Atletico Madrid and definitely not by a 10 man Gijon. Then how were they able to attack us repeatedly in the dying moments of the respective games? This is a problem we’ve had for a long, long time and with grave consequences. How long before somebody says ‘Hey, we are not able to keep the ball in the final minutes and it has been hurting us for well over a season. Maybe we should do something about it!’?’