Valencia CF president Manuel Llorente taking things into his own hands

Probably one the best presidents in the past 20 years for Valencia, Manuel Llorente is taking things into his own hands to get the job done and that is Valencia CF finishing 3rd place.

Third place means so much to the club sportingly and financially that president Llorente doesn't want to leave no stone untouched. In fact there was similar meeting very recently on 17th of March where the objectives were laid out and where Llorente asked of the players and technical staff to give it their all and reach the objectives.

This new meeting will be pretty much the same, with the only difference being that Manuel Llorente is going to ask full professionalism and commitment from the players in the recent wake of the controversy with Vicente.

The meeting will take place Thursday when all the players have returned from their international games and as I've said the focus will be to get the team together and fully committed to reach the final objectives of finishing 3rd place in the league.

Players on international duty - report

Marius Stankevicious played in Lithuania's both matches, 2-0 friendly win over Poland and a 3-1 loss to Spain for Euro 2012 qualification. Stankevicious was also the scorer of the one goal against Spain. As usual he had few glaring mistakes, especially for Mata's assist as he was nowhere to be found and was suspect in positioning a few times as well.
Still in the previous match against Poland he was one of Lithuania's best players on the field.

Adil Rami played in France both matches, 2-0 win over Luxemburg for Euro 2012 qualification and a 0-0 frindly against Croatia.
Adil Rami was solid in both matches, though overall France looked more dangerous against Luxemburg, but against Croatia they were quite easily contained. In fact Adil Rami had the best chances to score for France through headers.

Hedwiges Maduro didn't play for Holland because he is injured, although he was still called to the squad and traveled with them.

Jordi Alba played in Spain U-21 squad one match when he came in as a substitute in the 1-1 draw against Belarus U-21 squad. He was selected to play as a left back in the short time he did get. While this isn't something special for Alba at least he is getting some confidence playing for Spain U-21 squad.

Ever Banega played in Argentina's both matches, the first match against USA he played the full 90 minutes and was quite good, keeping high possession for Argentina and having good passing. The match ended in a 1-1 draw, even though Argentina dominated is every aspect.
In the second match against Costa Rica he played 45 minuted and in that time he was also pretty good, unfortunately Argentina couldn't win in both of their matches so that may weigh heavily for the current starting eleven, as its wins that count.

Mehmet Topal returned to the Turkey squad after a long absence and did play in both of Turkey's matches, a 1-0 loss to Finland and in the 2-0 win over Austria for the Euro 2012 qualification. He played just few minutes in the second match, but this is positive since he is finally back to the national team.

Juan Mata played in the second match against Lithuania for the Euro 2012 qualification, he came on as a substitute and single-handedly won the match for Spain. Spain were level at 1-1 with Lithuania when Mata came in, but he provided the assist for Spain's second goal and then scored the third goal himself, after a beautiful pass from former Valencia CF player Silva.

Jonas Gonclaves came in as a substitute in the 78th minute in Brazil 2-0 win over Scotland. Jonas almost scored two goals for Brazil in his short time on the pitch, though he was a bit unlucky. This is Jonas first Brazil call-up and first match to actually play for Brazil national team.

Valencia CF transfer rummors and speculation

In the last few weeks, especially the last two weeks there has been a ton of transfer speculation who Valencia will bring in the summer. The most talked position to get strengthen is the right back position with Miguel facing possible jail time and his off field antics worrying and Bruno getting old and rarely ineffective in helping out the attack its fairly logical there to be ton of rumors.

Andreas Beck and João Pereira were one of the first speculations these past two weeks, from then on it seems the rumor mill blew wide open and can't stop. Beck plays for Hoffenheim and is considered by many as Philip Lahm replacement in the German squad. His contract ends in June 2012 and by that account only it may have a little merit for Valencia to really be following him.

Joao plays for Portugal's Sporting club and has also been called to the national squad, he has started his career with Benfica through their youth system and has always been considered a very talented player.

Next up is Kiko Femenía, young Hércules fullback who is reportedly followed by Valencia after some impressive performances for Hercules. He has played 25 games for Hercules, scoring 1 goal in the process, but his release clause is set very high at 10 million euros.

Next up is the young right back Martin Montoya from Barcelona B team. He has been impressive this season and has caught the eye of several club from Spain, reportedly including Valencia. His contract is also set to expire at the end of the season and there is a potential in that sense to get the player.

One of the first rumors was the possible signing of Celta Vigo right back Hugo Mallo.He is reportedly eager to switch teams and go into a bigger club and Valencia is interested in him as he has big potential. Hugo has also been called 3 times to Spain U-19 team.

Coke Andújar is a player for Rayo Vallecano, he is 23 years old, soon to be 24 and has been playing some good football, enough to catch the eyes of Valencia staff. He is also one of the cheapest players and is reportedly going to cost Valencia only 1 million euros.

Bogus or not? Well its certanly not bogus that Valencia technical staff is following a lot of player and not only for the right back position.

In fact Valencia technical staff are following players for the left back position, center defense position, left wing position and central midfield position as well.

Whether all the players above are followed is uncertain, but what is certain is that Valencia are going to try to bring a new right back for the lowest amount of money, who is also the best option for the money.

Personally I'd go for Andreas Beck from all the above, though there are some better players out there that I'll write about once the season is closer to finish.

Ever Banega to leave Valencia CF?

In a bit of surprising news coming from Spanish media it seems that Ever Banega could be on his way out of Valencia CF this summer.

Reports suggest that Valencia CF has received several offers for Banega and that the player himself has told his agent that he want to leave Valencia and go to another club.
How much if any of this is true is unclear at this time, but such a possibility is not totally remote.

Ever Banega has been very important to Valencia CF this season and even though he is not in the form he was last season, he has shown that he has skill. He has also started most of the matches, though Unai Emery has been changing him with Tino Costa.

The club management probably wants Banega to stay as he is an important player and one of great quality, but should a big enough offer come along they might consider letting him go.

Valencia CF players called for national squads duty

Valencia CF players have once again been called for international duty for their respective countries.

The ones that features for their countries, but have been since left out are Manuel Fernandes and Ricardo Costa. Manuel Fernanded featured for 2 matches for Portugal, but once the coach changed he hasn't been called up. Ricardo Costa was called the last time due to injury in the Portugal back line, but he is not a standard player for Portugal and its likely that is the way its going to stay.

One new inclusion has been Jonas Goncalves to the Brazil national team, which is a bit of a surprise, but is good for the player and Valencia CF as well, as getting international experience is always good.

Stankevicious has been called in for Lithuania, he is one of the most standard players there and is considered one of the best players in the country.

Topal has been recalled to the Turkish national team after a long break, he has a standard player for Turkey before, those for much of 2010 he haw out of the national team. Anyways he has been recalled and is probably going to be a first eleven player as Turkey has been suspect at the back and Topla is going to provide some much needed defensive cover.

Maduro seems to have found a permanent place in the Holland national team and has been called up for all of the matches after the world cup in Africa ended.

Mata has also been recalled to the Spain team, he was only out of the senior team because he was playing for Spain's U-21, but Vicente Del Bosque has decided to bring him back to the senior squad.

Banega has been called for Argentina once again and he is already a standard 11 player for Argentina. When Banega has played Argentina have not lost, the only match Argentina were without Banega was against Japan and they lost by one goal.

Jordi Alba has been impressive this season and in great form so he has been called up for Spain U-21 squad and this is I believe his first national squad call up.

Valencia CF also has a lot of youth players called up for Spain U-21 and bellow squads.

Valencia CF 0-1 Sevilla FC - Match Report

Sevilla kept their chances of achieving top-four finish alive with a fine win at Valencia.

Ivan Rakitic scored the only goal midway through the second half, slamming home a loose ball to put his side to within 12 points of Valencia who occupy fourth spot.

They were indebted to goalkeeper Javi Varas for the win, with his string of fine saves keeping Valencia at bay.

Spain winger Jesus Navas was the first to look likely for Sevilla, forcing his way into the box before flashing an effort across goal.

Valencia then thought they should have been awarded at least one penalty, with Roberto Saldado being brought down in the box by Mouhamadou Dabo, with the same man then colliding with Joaquin.

Jonas then found himself well set in the box for Valencia, but fell over as he attempted to hit the target, while at the other end, Alvaro Negredo broke clear but hit the near post instead of going across the goalkeeper.

Jonas then broke through on Sevilla`s goal, but, as Varas stormed out, the striker dinked an effort wide of his right-hand post.

Navas volleyed wide after the restart, before Jonas thumped the woodwork after taking in a Soldado pass.

Frederic Kanoute put a free header over Valencia's bar from a corner and Varas then began to excel, palming Juan Mata`s chip on to his bar, before using his thigh to bundle a Jonas header away.

Valencia were then made to pay, with Rakitic firing in an unstoppable half-volley after a blocked Negredo shot fell to him.

Varas beat away a Joaquin volley as Valencia looked to snatch a leveller, but they could not find their way through.

Technical details:

Valencia                            Sevilla FC

26(9)	Shots (on Goal)	23(10)
14	Fouls	13
9	Corner Kicks	6
2	Offsides	2
55%	Time of Possession	45%
2	Yellow Cards	1
0	Red Cards	0
9	Saves	9

Valencia CF: Guaita, Bruno, David Navarro (Banega, m.54), Dealbert, Mathieu (Jordi Alba, m.78), Topal, Tino Costa, Joaquín, Jonas (Aduriz, m.75), Mata, Soldado.

Sevilla FC: Javi Varas, Alexis, Fazio, Escudé, Dabo, Medel (Zokora, m.79), Navas, Rakitić, Perotti (Capel, m.90+), Kanouté, Negredo (Renato, m.90+).

Goal: 0-1, m.69: Rakitić.

Player Ratings: 
Guaita 7 - Good match for the keeper, after two shakier performances the last two matches.
Bruno 6 - Decent play, went forward often enough and was good at the back.
Navarro 5 - Good display from the captain, a bit too slow on two occasions, but otherwise good.
Dealbert 6 - Did well, slow as Navarro, but did not make any mistakes.
Mathieu 5 - Won 50% of the challenges with Navas, but lost few crucial challenges, didn't provide much in attack either.
Joaquin 7 - Great performance from Joaquin and always caused Sevilla problems.
Topal 5.5 - When in his position did well, simple and tidy passing with good defensive cover, but he is not good enough for a center back.
Tino Costa 6 - Fought hard, had few nice touches and generally useful, but failed to break Sevilla's defenses.
Mata 6 - Had good moments and can be considered one of his better matches in a while, but goes invisible for large periods of the match and needs to play more direct football. 
Jonas 4 - Found himself in may positions to score and his movement was great, but failed to score which is the most important thing.
Soldado 4.5 - Better than Jonas as he was more active and went wide to the right to help out, had a great assist to Jonas and few shots himself, but he also failed to find the net.
Subs:
Banega 6 - When he came in Valencia CF instantly got more possession and he had one great cross that put someone from the attack alone on goal, but ultimately could not really break Sevilla's defense. 
Aduriz 4 - I barely saw him. He had few sloppy touches and could not control the ball, so he did nothing really.
Alba N/A - Not enough time.

Valencia CF vs Sevilla FC - Match Preview

Valencia CF has had a rough two weeks with two painful and demoralizing losses. Loosing to Schalke 04 in the champions league was taken very bad by the players and it showed in the next match against Real Zaragoza where Valencia CF were trashed 4-0 by the relegation threatened Zaragoza.
That match was probably the worst match this season and the players need to forget it and continue on with the fight for 3rd place finish.

The first opportunity to bounce back is against Sevilla, a very dangerous opponent and one that has caused Valencia CF troubles on the tables a lot of times, a old rival you can say. While Valencia CF have a good historical record against Sevilla at home this is a dangerous time to be facing Sevilla after two rough weeks. Right now we may just hope the players have recovered and are motivated and ready to play Sevilla and beat them.

Valencia has some negative news as David Albelda has suffered another injury in training and Maduro continues to struggle with his injury as well and both won't be available for the next match. Stankevicious is suspended to due his red card against Zaragoza.

Valencia CF squad:
Goalkeepers: César, Guaita.
Defense: Bruno, David Navarro, Ricardo Costa, Dealbert, Jordi Alba, Mathieu.
Midfield: Topal, Tino Costa, Éver, Joaquín, Pablo, Vicente.
Attack: Mata, Jonas, Aduriz, Soldado.

Sevilla FC on the other hand have been for the most part of the season in terrible form and their results have been from mediocre to downright bad. Their biggest problem this season has been the defense, while they are able to score goals and are dangerous on the attack, especially on the flanks, they tend to receive goals pretty easily.

Their coach Manzano has so far been unable to find the perfect pairing of center backs and there has been problems and accusations of players that the coach favors a set of players and chooses them even if they don't perform good.

In recent weeks though it seems that the team has been getting better and there is more collectivism and friendship in their camp. Is this just a calm before the storm where they all get on each others throats is unclear at this point, but what is certain is that Valencia CF need to be at their best game if they are to beat Sevilla.

Sevilla's last three matches have been all over, from a 3-0 win against Sporting, to a loss to Bilbao and last week a surprise draw with Barcelona.

Sevilla FC squad:
Goalkeepers: Javi Varas, Dani Jiménez
Defense: Federico Fazio, Ivica Dragutinović, Julien Escudé, Mouhamadou Dabo, Alexis Ruano
Midfield: Jesús Navas, Didier Zokora, Diego Perotti, Renato Florêncio, Alejandro Alfaro, Diego Capel, Gary Medel, Ivan Rakitić
Attack: Frédéric Kanouté, Álvaro Negredo, Rodrigo 'Rodri' Lozano

Valencia CF celebrates its 92nd birthday

March, 18th 1919 is the historic year as that was the date the club was officially formed in a bar called Torino. The first president of the newly formed football club back then was Octavio Augusto Milego Díaz, his presidency was decided by a coin toss.

Since Valencias first match against Gimnástic the team has been growing and earning prestige on the Spanish and international scene. Even though Valencia CF is not on the same level in international recognition as Barcelona and Real Madrid they are considered the third biggest club in achievements, status and prestige.

Valencia CF 92 birthday

Hopefully the team is going to continue growing and achieve big things in the very near future so that we the current fans can have something to cheer and be happy about.

Image source: valenciacf.blog.mk

Can Valencia CF challenge for La Liga title?

There is one short answer and that is no, but that would be too simple and undeserving of a post, so I'm going to go into more detail if Valencia CF can challenge for La Liga title in the next season.

First let me start with the fairly known facts why Valencia CF can't challenge for La Liga title this season and then transfer to next season.

First of all Valencia CF is technically still a mess, a mess worth of 400 million euros and even though the money from the Champions League were good and Valencia CF is profitable once again, the debt will only be reduced by 50 million euros till the end of this season and only if there are no significant transfer purchases.

The only way Valencia CF can get any value in the market and reduce the debt is by selling Mata as he is the only player right now in Valencia CF that is worth more than 20 million euros. With a bit of negotiations Valencia CF can easily sell him for 25 million euros and bring home some much needed cash.

The other thing is that Valencia CF is still in the building process, with Unai Emery the club has achieved stability and consistent results, though its understandable that the fans want to challenge La Liga and the European competitions and this is something that Emery has not able to achieve and the circumstances have certainly not allowed it.

The circumstances are clear and those are huge debt, coming off a terrible season 3 years ago under Koeman and this season the selling of Villa and Silva, but the bigger reasons why Valencia can't challenge for La Liga title are Barcelona and Real Madrid. They are just too big and too powerful, they have all the prestige in the world and all the money in the world and contrary to popular belief money does buy you success, maybe not immediately and each time, but its a big part of being successful at least in today's game of football.

The Spanish league is essentially a two horse race for now, but the fans of Valencia CF are questioning if next Valencia CF can challenge the big two next season.

There is no clear answer and it will depend on the circumstances, for example will Unai Emery stay as coach of Valencia CF, which players will be sold and purchased, how will Barcelona and Real Madrid strengthen and will the smaller clubs in Spain be more challenging or not.

I think Valencia is on a good path, on a path from which the team can only grow and improve, but this is still a dirt road, while the big two clubs are racing on an American speed circuit, the ones that Nascar race on.

The biggest thing for Valencia would be the coach, will Emery contract be extended or not and if not who is going to be the next coach for Valencia. Bring a coach that isn't ready to coach a team like Valencia and you may have a problem and its a risk, but that risk may pay off. Valencia's president Llorente may bring an experienced Spanish coach and the team may continue to be stable and with expected results, but its unlikely to achieve anything big like winning any tournament.
The other option is extend Emery's contract and hope that he has improved enough and has enough experience now to take the team to the next level.

The other important aspect are the transfers and these always have big influence on the play. The summer transfers can make or break a team and while these past 2 years Valencia CF has improved significantly in this department, there is still a risk the mistakes from the past will show their ugly head.

This season if Valencia CF finish third is going to very successful, but I think next season the team will be better and if it isn't going to challenge for the Spanish title, its going to go further in the Spanish cup and Champions league.

Valencia CF replacement coaches for Unai Emery - analysis

I'm going to do a little bit of analasys of which coaches can replace Emery, should he be let go in the summer.
The coaches that will be on the list are some fan favorites and they are thought to be able to produce better results than emery.

1. Rafael Benitez. This for some is the most logical choice as older fans will remember one of the biggest successes of Valencia Cf with him as the coach and are likely to support such a move.
Lets not forget though that while Rafa is no doubt a good coach, his most successive spell was when he was in Valencia from 2001 to 2004. He won the Champions League with Liverpool and then brought Liverpool once again in the final, but he failed to win the Premier League with Liverpool in his 6 years with them.

Most notably is the recent failure with Inter where he managed to take out Inter out of the Serie A league championship battle in less than 4 months.

Today's Rafael Benitez is a different coach than the young one he was when he came to Valencia and won trophy's and then won trophy's with Liverpool also. Valencia is a different side also and Barcelona and Real Madrid are different beasts now all together.

Chance of success: 6/10 - Its unlikely he is going to produce the results for Valencia at this time and age.

2. Michael Laudrup. People like him because he is a young and promising coach and he has had a good playing career as well, so he is a known name. While his playing career is rich and successful, his coaching career is still a question. He has been very successful with Getafe reaching the Copa Del Ray finals and loosing to Valencia CF, as well as the quarter finals of the Uefa cup and loosing to Bayern Munich.

He went to coach Spartak Moscow and was a huge fluke having made a string of bad results and was sacked within 7 months. He is now coach at Mallorca who are currently 10th at the table with no notable results.

Chance of success: 5/10 - This is too much of a risk. He had one great season with Getafe, but has also been a flop, so its a 50-50% chance of success or huge failure.

3. Mauricio Pochettino. He is currently ridding a wave of success and hype, leading a mediocre team of youths and average players fighting for European competition. His coaching career is very new and he is very inexperienced as a coach. His first season at Espanyol he brought them from relegation zone and they finished 11th and this season are fighting for a spot in the European league. He is yet to achieve something notable in his coaching career.

Chance of success: 3/10 - He is a decent coach, but not at the level required to coach Valencia CF. He is neither experienced, nor successful and is very new to the coaching scene.

4. André Villas Boas - Much like Pochettino, Andre Villas is riding a wave of success and hype. He has been for most of his career an assistant of the now infamous Jose Mourinho, so he has had the pleasure of learning from one of the best coaches in the world. He was Jose's assistant coach in Porto and later in Chelsea and Inter.

In his first season as head coach he helped guide relegation team Academica to respectable 11th place finish and Portugeese league cup semi final. This season he has been Porto head coach and has achieved great success so far, beating the record of 33 unbeaten matches previously set by Jose Mourinho.

Chance of success: 7/10 - He is very inexperienced, but has learned from the best and has achieved some success under his belt, although he should be judged at the end of the season. Its a risky endeavor if VCF sign him but it may just work. If it works its going to be very successful period for Valencia, if it doesn't it may be really bad.

5. Manuel Pelegrini. The most experienced coach from the bunch above and probably the most successful as well, with less titles won than Rafael Benitez though, but otherwise being way more successful.

He became recognized at Villarreal, although his previous tenures have proven just as successful, but it was Villarreal that put him on the map as one of the best coaches in Spain and Europe.While he hasn't won anything with Villarreal he brought the club on the map as well. Before that Villarreal was one of those less known clubs in Spain with fairly poor history.

He is currently the coach of Malaga and has a 5 year long contract, though he hasn't made much progress with Malaga and anything can happen at the end of the season if Malaga are relegated to second division.

Chance of success: 8/10 - With Pelegrini you know what you get, its going to be a steady performance with little highs or lows. While he can probably be very successful with Valencia CF in Spain, he is also a doubt if he can deliver European Success.

Real Zaragoza 4-0 Valencia CF - Match Report

Valencia CF needed to win against Zaragoza to forget the loss from Schalke 04 in the champions league, bounce up and continue its path to 3rd place in La Liga. It was going to be a hard away match that much was known, but Valencia CF needs to prove its quality over and over again and win in these kind of situations and show character.

The match started quite equally, but the first bigger chance for Zaragoza and they scored. After a free kick Uche managed to escape Bruno and then out jump Topal and head the ball past Guaita and into the net.

The match was quite uneventful and for most of the match there were some bad attacks, though Zaragoza were the more dangerous thanks to the mistakes of the Valencia CF midfield and Bruno in the defense with Zaragoza having a chance exactly similar to the one when they scored.

Valencia CF midfield was nowhere to be seen and could barely come close to Zaragoza goal, with one chance of note being a shot of Soldado that was deemed offside.

The biggest problem though was the attack being cut off from the rest of the players. Either Jonas and Soldado were playing too deep or the midfield was playing too deep and close to its own goal. I think it was a combination of both and then there was a clear lack of determination from the Valencia players, they all seemed still shaken from the loss to Schalke 04 and the abrupt stop of the champions league.

Unai Emery introduced Ever Banega for R. Costa in order to strengthen the midfield and link-up play better, but that didn't pay off either. Ever Banega first contact with the ball and he slipped giving Zaragoza a good chance to score and then just minutes later Zaragoza scored a second goal.

Valencia CF had 1 more half chance to score, but it wasn't to be. Overall the players looked tired, demoralized and undetermined and it wasn't strange that Zaragoza was leading 2-0.

Second half started a bit better for Valencia CF with more control over the ball, but once again the players could not muster up more than 2-3 passes in a row and lost the ball every time.

Zaragoza wasn't attacking or playing very good, but they were direct and effective, 4 chances and two goals in the first half and had additional 3 chances for goal in the second half. They were awarded two penalties also with Stankevicious making a soft foul, but still being awarded a penalty, he also got a second yellow and was sent off, Albelda came in to strengthen the defense, but soon after he also made a penalty and Zaragoza had no problems scoring from the two penalties.

Valencia has no chances for goal for the whole 90 minutes and apart from once chance from Soldado in the first half that was deemed offside and does not count they had to chances for goal.

Tino Costa had a measely shot on goal and pretty much nothing else, nothing seemed to work and this is the biggest defeat to Valencia this season.

Technical Details:
R. Zaragoza (4): Doblas, Diogo (Da Silva, min. 86), Paredes, Contini, Jorge López, Ander, Uche (Braulio, min. 60), Bertolo, Gabi (N'Daw, min,79), Jarosik y Ponzio.

Valencia CF (0): Guaita, Bruno, Topal, Joaquín, Soldado, Stankevicius, Jonas (Albelda, min. 67), R. Costa (Ever, min. 34), Mathieu (Mata, min. 55), T. Costa y Jordi Alba.

Goals: 1-0 Min. 4 Jarosik; 2-0 Min. 40 Ander; 3-0 Min. 65 Gabi; 4-0 Min 74 Gabi.
Player ratings:

Guaita 5 - Could not be blamed for the goals and had little to do otherwise with only one save.
Bruno 3 - Absolutely terrible performance, lost his man for the first goal, lost the duals constantly and offered absolutely nothing going forward.
Stankevicious 4 - Not a bad performance, but did make the penalty and along with the collective at fault for the second goal.
R. Costa 5 - Taken off early for Ever Banega. Did not make any mistake in his time on the pitch.
Alba 4.5 - Not particularity for blame for any of the goals and did play decently, but just like everyone else did not give 100% today.
Joaquin 4.5 - Probably the best player tonight, which is not saying much. Had few good dribbles but lacked the final pass.
Topal 4 - At fault along with Bruno for the first goal, could not bring the back forward from the back and his short direct passing was not suited for this kind of game.
Tino Costa 4 - Dreadful performance. Misplaced passes, unable to keep possession and failed to link-up play.
Mathieu 3 - Invisible for 95% of the match. Apart from 2 or 3 runs and few touches did not do anything.
Jonas 4 - Lost the ball each time he got it, did not find useful positions, but other than that he had absolutely no service.
Soldado 5 - Was active and tried to make something out of nothing, but with no service at all its hard for him or any striker for that matter to score goals.
Subs:
Banega 4.5 - Barely better than Topal and Tino. Misplaced a lot of passes and too static in his movement, much more is expected from him.
Mata 4 - More effective than Mathieu, which is not saying much. Could not influence the match one bit, although did have few good passes.
Albelda 4 - He is not a defender and is old and slow so could not blame him for conceding a penalty, but did not bring anything positive, although the match was over by the time he went in anyways.
Coach: 
Unai Emery 3 - Obviously lacks the motivational skills, started with the team that just lost to Schalke just 3 days ago and its expected to loose in such situation. Made the wrong move to bring in Banega so early with Valencia loosing just 1-0 and Banega didn't bring much to the table.

My thoughts on what line-up and formation should have been used:
Formation: 4-2-3-1
Line-up: Guaita; Bruno, Stankevicious, Dealbert, Alba; Albelda, Tino; Pablo, Isco, Vicente; Soldado.

Why this formation you ask? Well its what Emery has been using the last 2 matches and players have just settled into it, so a change is going to be negative. The players I chose are mostly fresh and have not played against Schalke 04, so in a way I'm removing the demoralized and tired ones and placing them with fresh and motivated ones.

Schalke 04 3-1 Valencia CF - Match Report

Update:
Here is the match report, its a bit different now from the other reports I've done.

So the match started as good as possible for Valencia with an early goal by R. Costa after a cross by Topal found his head. Valencia also had more possession and thus controlled the match and were actually a lot more dangerous than Schalke in their attacks.

The first goal Schalke scored was a lucky thing with the referee being way too harsh and awarding a free kick 25 meters away from goal. If you ask me I think there was no foul there, but anyways its just crystal clear that luck was not on Valencia's side. Farfan stepped to take the free kick and it was the perfect free kick, a speedy traveling ball high into the left side of the net, I don't think Guaita had any chance or most of the keepers in the world for that matter.

This goal startled Valencia as it came so unexpected, considering Schalke 04 didn't have even one chance on goal and yet they scored from a set piece and this was so demoralizing. Seeing such a weak team as Schakle 04 and playing badly score from a nonexistent free kick is hard to swallow.

The second half started and Valencia was yet again the better team with more control, initiative and will to win, but it was yet another unlucky circumstance and this time Guaita misjudged his flight and failed to punch the ball hard enough, which resulted falling in the penalty to a schanlke player, the shot was saved, but then Mario found himself in a good position and scored, but it was once again a very lucky goal as it hit the bar twice before going into the net.

We could blame Aduriz for missing a ton of chances, we can blame Guaita for making a mistake for the second goal, but the honest truth is that Schalke 04 had incredible luck, while Valencia had the opposite of luck and even a powerful Joaquin shot that was going to go towards the Schalke net was blocked by the referee, Tino Costa shot with his right foot instead of left when he got a beautiful pass from Soldado, Mathieu had a good chance that he missed, there were 2 penalty situations that the referee could have easily awarded to Valencia, but it just wasn't to be.

My final verdict is that Valencia had some very bad luck, while Schalke 04 had a lot of good luck and that is why they won. Valencia CF was better in every respect and realistically deserved to go through, but maybe it just wasn't meant to be.

Player Ratings:
Guaita 5 4 - Saved the goal several times, but at fault for the second goal as he should have punched far away from goal or stay on his line.
Bruno 5.5 - Good defensively, barely troubled but offers absolutely nothing in attack and here is why Miguel is better than him.
Navarro 6 - Good defensive display and each goal from Schalke had a huge element of luck.
R. Costa 4 - Bad performance from Costa, he scored the goal yes, but it was a lucky goal and was miserable in defense.
Mathieu 6 - Went forward as much as possible and was reasonable good in defense considering, but he had no support from Mata in the second half. Forced to be a winger way too often as Mata sucks.
Banega 6 - Spread the ball well, keeps possession for Valencia CF and once he was subbed Schalke immidiately got more possession.
Topal 6 - Good at breaking up play and his passing was simple and direct, good job for his role.
Joaquin 6.5 - Had several shots, but was not in the best positions to score. Not very effective from the wing and was forced to come often in the middle.
Mata 3 - Crap performance from our "best" player. Gave absolutely nothing, lost the ball every time he got it and never dangerous.
Pablo 6 - The most creative player on the field for Valencia, huge mistake by Emery to substitute him, instead of Mata.
Aduriz 1 - The worst match as if he hadn't had worst matches so far. Absolutely terrible, dreadful, crap, 5 years old kid would have done better than him.
Subs:
Soldado 5 - No effect what so ever. Apart from two touches with the ball, did not see him.
Tino Costa 5.5 - Had one big chance to score a goal, but instead of shooting with his left foot and scoring goal, he decided to try and shoot with his right leg and screwed the chance. Did nothing that Banega didn't do better.
Jonas N/A - Not enough time to change anything and Valencia had already given up when he arrived.
*After watching the goals again I've reduced Guaita score even though he had few good saves. Its just unacceptable to make such a mistake for the second Schalke goal.

Schalke 04 vs Valencia CF - Match Preview

Felix Magath predicted an all-action conclusion to FC Schalke 04's round of 16 tie against Valencia CF, with Unai Emery having "a clear plan" as to how to turn the tie in the visitors' favour.

Felix Magath is more than pleased with the form of his transitional FC Schalke 04 side and is adamant that they will not look to cling on for a goalless draw at home against Unai Emery's Valencia CF following a 1-1 tie in Spain in their UEFA Champions League round of 16 opener.

Felix Magath, Schalke coach
I have been brought here to start a refit of the club. We are right in the middle of this process, and I am very pleased so far. We are playing well in the Champions League, which is something I had promised, and we have reached the German Cup final, winning at [FC] Bayern [München] in the semi-finals. Considering this is a transitional year, we have achieved quite a lot.
Playing for a 0-0 draw against Valencia is too risky. Experience shows that pressure tends to mount towards the end of games like this and you never know if you will be able to cope. Any late goal could be a winner, so there is no way that we will drop deep and wait. Valencia have to score and they have their weaknesses at the back, so they will most likely play attacking football too. It will probably be a fascinating game to watch.

Unai Emery, Valencia coach
We know Schalke have a small edge on us due to their home advantage. They are not doing so well in the Bundesliga, but they are strong in the cup and the Champions League, and they will punish every mistake we make. However, I am certain that we will put in a good performance.
We can play better as a team than we did in the first leg, but the first leg is history; only this game counts now. We have formulated a clear plan and now have to put it into action. Schalke have their own style and are a great side, which they showed with the 1-1 draw in the first leg. They are a very strong side that can keep up the tempo for 90 minutes, but we know where our strengths lie.

Team news
• Schalke
Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (knee) will not feature, with Magath explaining: "He is making progess, but cannot play yet." However, the coach was in no mood to reveal Schalke's attacking plans. Lukas Schmitz is serving a one-match ban while José Manuel Jurado is within a booking of a suspension.
• Valencia
David Albelda is available after serving a one-match ban in the first leg, while Aritz Aduriz is available after shaking off an ankle injury, though he will miss his side's next match if he is booked. The striker said: "We have to attack in a controlled fashion and not go mad and leave ourselves exposed to their counterattacks."

Latest results
Saturday: VfB Stuttgart 0-1 Schalke
(Kuzmanović 15pen)
Benedikt Höwedes was sent off for the handball that led to the penalty as Schalke lost to a Stuttgart side that began the day second from bottom in the Bundesliga. It was the defender's third dismissal of the season. He had never been sent off before this term.
Saturday: RCD Mallorca 1-2 Valencia
(Ramis 31pen, Pablo Hernández 33 56)
Pablo Hernández scored twice in a Liga game for the first time in his career to take his league tally to five for the season – equalling his best total, set last term. It was only Emery's team's sixth victory in their last 14 away games in all competitions although they have won their last three away fixtures.

Did you know?
The sides' two previous games in Gelsenkirchen ended in a win apiece. Valencia triumphed 1-0 in the 2007/08 UEFA Champions League group stage with a second-half David Villa goal while ten years previously, in the UEFA Cup quarter-final second leg, Schalke's 2-0 home win sent them through.

Source: Uefa.com

Schalke - Valencia

Goals scored	11		16
Attempts on target	38		52
Attempts off target	31		48
Corners	39		50
Fouls committed	110		91
Yellow cards	16		9
Red cards	2		0

Valencia Technical:
Formation: 4-4-1-1
Line-up: Guaita; Bruno, Navarro, R.Costa, Mathieu; Pablo, Topal, Ever, Mata; Tino, Soldado.
Tactics: Medium defensive line, high opposing field pressure, mixed passing, high crosses, wings positional changes.

Result prediction:
Schalke 04 1-1 Valencia CF; Extra time: 1-2
I think Valencia will come out attacking from the start in order to score an early goal, but that won't happen. It probably going to happen in the second half, but Schalke will equalize and with the same result as in the previous leg the match will go into extra time. Then in the last 2 or 3 minutes Valencia will score the winning goal.

RCD Mallorca 1-2 Valencia CF - Match Report

Just 3 days after the unlucky and controversial defeat to Barcelona, Valencia CF managed to rise to the occasion and win against a tough Mallorca side, who were up till now renowned for not loosing to Valencia in the last two years and in fact winning 3 of the 4 matches.

But before I start I must commend my self once again for predicting the correct result of Mallorca 1-2 Valencia. I seem to be getting more and more reliable in my prediction and I hope my prediction of Valencia winning against Schalke when I make the preview come true.

Anyways Valencia started the match in full control and very confident and assured, like something has changed and in reality it really has. I guess after 3 months of not loosing a match you gain that kind of confidence and spirit to fight hard and so the players were playing really well.

Mallorca has one of two chances and Valencia having few chances as well. Mata had a good try in the 22th minute and later on Jonas had a chance to open up the scoring early, but his shot went wide. Valencia were punished in the 31st minute when the referee awarded Mallorca a penalty which didn't really exist, but anyways the referee has got the final word and Ramis did took the opportunity and scored.

Just 1 or 2 minutes later Aduriz set up the ball to Pablo who's shot went straight to the net, it was 1-1 and this would prove to be the result both teams would go at half time with.

In the second half after a lot of battle in the middle of the field and few decent chances on both sides Valencia scored one more goal, once again Pablo was the scorer and Jonas made the assist.

Valencia took the lead, but soon after that Mallorca pushed forward and tried to at least get a draw and they had some dangerous shots towards Valencia's goal, though Guaita once again prove his worth and showed he is a top class goalkeeper and hopefully he stays in full form for many, many years for Valencia.

In the end it was a good match for Valencia as they leave with the 3 points and go happy and still confident to prepare for the champions league match against Schalke 04.

Technical details:
RCD Mallorca (1): Aouate; Cendros, Nunes, Ramis, Kevin; Nsue, Martí (Tejera, min 81), De Guzmán (Joao Víctor, min 85), Pereira (Aki, min 64); Castro y Webo.

Valencia CF (2): Guaita; Bruno, R. Costa, David Navarro, Jordi Alba; Topal, Ever (Albelda, min 87), Pablo, Mata (Vicente, min 80); Jonas (Joaquín, min 70) y Aduriz.

Goals: 29th min. 1-0 (p.) Ramis; 32th min. 1-1 Pablo Hernandez;. 56th min. 1-2 Pablo Hernandez.

Player Ratings:
Guaita 8 - Once again man of the match performance with some amazing reflex saves.
Bruno 6 - Reliable showing and did well in defense and helped out a little in attack as well.
Navarro 5.5 - Few smaller mistakes, but those can be punished easily by strong opposition, luckally Mallorca is not strong opposition.
R. Costa 5.5 - Did not cause a penalty by my judgement, but I'm quite biased. Otherwise same as Navarro as he did make some smaller mistakes.
Alba 6 - Not nearly as good performance as against Barelona, but did well in defense and went forward often enough.
Pablo 8 - Should probably share man of the match with Guaita as he found himself at the right place at the right time and scored two goals.
Banega 6 - Good passing, strong on the ball, but needs to work on his defending somwhat and stamina, seems to run out of steam by the 60th minute and kind of slow when moving.
Topal 7 - Great cover for the defense, made 2 visible tackles to prolong the Mallorca attack and helped out that way, and provided some clean and simple passing.
Mata 6.5 - Improvement over the last match and started the action that lead to the goal. His dribbling seems sloppy often times and need to work on that.
Jonas 7 - Most dangerous man and even though did not score any goals, he provided the assist to Pablo for the second goal and his movement and ball control were always great.
Aduriz 5.5 - Just came back from injury and he ran as if he was not injured. Covered a lot of ground and generally useful.
Subs:
Joaquin 6 - Came in and provided a bit more depth on the right wing, but Valencia went defensive when he came on and could not really do much.
Vicente N/A - Came on late, had few nice touches, won the ball few times as well.
Albelda N/A - Short cameo just for him to regain some match form.

RCD Mallorca vs Valenca CF - Match preview

Just 3 days after the meeting with FC Barcelona, Valencia CF will travel to Mallorca who have been a very dangerous opponent in the past 2 seasons with 3 wins for Mallorca from 4 meetings and one draw.

Valencia CF are in a good form though and even though the loss to Barcelona may be a bit demoralizing, the players should be up to the challenge and capable of beating Mallorca. The main worry for Valencia CF coach Unai Emery should be tiredness, after the players have been playing matches every 3 days.

RCD Mallorca is currently at 10th position with 34 points from 26 games with their last match being a win against Espanyol away.

Piere Webo and Gonzalo Castro are Mallorca's most dangerous players and the main threat is going to come from them. Webo has scored 6 goals and also has 6 assists to his name, while Castro has scored 5 goals and 3 assists. This also makes them the best goalscorers in the team and best assistants in the team as well.

Mallorca are not particularity effective in front of goal, but they are not ineffective also, they are somewhere in the middle as their table position also shows. They are also in the middle when it comes to goals conceded and its neither too much or too little. So they are a pretty average team and you know what they bring.

RCD Mallorca squad:
Goalkeepers: Germán Lux, Dudu Aouate
Defense: Iván Ramis, Rubén González, José Nunes, Pau Cendrós, Enrique Corrales, Kevin García
Midfield: João Victor, Michaël Pereira, Chori Castro, Akihiro Ienaga, de Guzmán, Martí Crespí, Sergio Tejera
Attack: Emilio Nsue, Webó, Sergi Enrich

Valencia CF on the other hand just lost their unbeaten streak of 11 matches and no less in the Mestalla, but to Barcelona - one of the best teams in the world, albeit with the huge help of its sidekick the referee Iturralde Gonzales by disallowing a perfectly onside goal, which you can see from an airplane and not to mention from 10 meters away.

Valencia CF are still third on the table, but the advantage has been reduced to only 1 point above 4th placed Villarreal and Valencia must ensure a win tomorrow if they are to stay 3rd place, even though Villarreal travel to Madrid to take on Atletico.

Joaquin was injured in the Barcelona match, but has since recovered and will be available for selection, Maduro was injured on the last training session before the match against Barcelona so he is unavailable for selection, Miguel Brito and Chori Dominguez are still suspended by the coach and finally Aritz Aduriz has made a full recovery faster than expected and will be in the team to face Mallorca.

Valencia CF squad:
Goalkeepers: César, Guaita.
Defense: Bruno, Dealbert, David Navarro, Stankevicius, Ricardo Costa, Jordi Alba, Mathieu.
Midfield: Topal, Albelda, Banega, Pablo, Joaquín, Vicente, Mata.
Attack: Jonas, Isco, Aduriz, Soldado.

Valencia CF Technical:
Formation: 4-4-2
Line-up: Guaita; Bruno, Stankevicious, R. Costa, Mathieu; Pablo, Topal, Tino, Mata; Jonas, Soldado
Tactics: High defensive line, high opposing field pressure, deep zone defensive midfield, mostly crosses, position changes from the wingers, deep line in attack.
Its very important for Valencia CF to win vs Mallorca and I think the 4-4-2 system is perfect for it. Valencia also needs to have huge control in the midfield as Mallorca has proven to be a tough opponent that scores goals against VCF, so not allowing them too much time on the ball and stopping any counter attacks before they become dangerous is imperious to not conceding a goal.

Result prediction:
RCD Mallorca 1-2 Valencia CF
This is going to be a very tough match for Valencia CF and even though I think Valencia will ultimately win, its going to be a struggle for 90 minutes.

Valencia CF news

Here are several Valencia news all in one post.

First off we have the positive news that David Albelda and Aritz Aduriz have been training with the squad and are nearing their full recovery. In fact they may just be available next week.

Goalkeeper Vicente Guaita is coming closer and closer to signing a contract extension with Valencia. He was under a youth contract with a minimum salary, but after excelling as the number one goalkeeper this season after both Cezar and Moya were injured he is set to be here in Valencia for many years. The new contract is set to have a salary of up to 1 million euros per season.

In a bit surprising news, but very positive news though, our new signing Jonas has been called up to the Brazilian national team for the friendly match again Scotland on the 27th.

In a bit of negative news Joaquin seems to have been injured in the match against Barcelona and along with Maduro won't be available for the Mallorca match.

Iturralde González defeated Valencia CF again

Was Jordi Alba onside or offside for the goal against Barcelona?
- Jordi alba was onside and the goal was legal, but the referee damaged Valencia once more.

Jordi Alba's offside is in fact onside and the goal should have stood!

Is Barcelona protected by the referees?
- Yes it is. I am not saying this based on this one offside, but rather the fact that every time a Barcelona player is touched, every time there is a fight for the ball, a struggle, a fall, etc... the referee/s always award a foul, which in tonight's match at least, the referee failed to award several obvious fouls for Valencia and has directly damaged Valencia.

Valencia CF 0-1 FCB Barcelona - Match Report (result)

I can't describe how Barcelona managed to win in tonight's match, it was an impossible mission in which they succeeded. Seems like they caught the Valencia players tired, but Barcelona players kept on running and running like they are on some kind of performance drugs.

The goal that Barca scored was ultimately a lucky thing, as in Messi somehow forwarded right towards the ball and even after Guaita's fast reflection the ball still went in.

Before the match it was like a friendly with all the players hugging and greeting each other and there seemed to be an great atmosphere, but when the match started in was a fierce competition.

Valencia were pretty much in control and were very fluent in their movement and passing creating few dangerous runs towards Barca goal.

Perhaps what was giving Valencia power early was the fact that Unai Emery started with 5 midfielders and had Mathieu(LB) play as a winger, essentially fielding 6 midfielders in order to gain control of the midfield.
The link here was Ever Banega as his ball holding and controlling skills are superb and also his dead ball control is outstanding allowing him to block off any pressuring Barcelona players and make a pass.

This controlling and attacking momentum of Valencia will come to an end though in the 12th minute and from then on Barcelona will gradually improve their control, passing and attack.

There were generally quite a bit of chances on both sides overall in the whole 45 minutes in the first half and Valencia even had a legitimate goal ruled offside. Alba got a through ball, sprinted forward, dribbled past Pinto and scored and the linesman raised the flag and it was rulled offside, although from the replays you can see Alba was perfectly in line with the Barca defense and this should have been a goal. (please implement camera technology in the games  UEFA and Fifa).

Anyways Dealbert made a stupid mistake like against Malaga I believe when he just fell and allowed Messi to sprint forward alone on goal, but miraculously missed by attempting to lob Guaita.

Barcelona had few chances other than the Messi one and Villa actually set two of them up, one to Messi which he also missed and one to Alves.

Anyways the first half ended with both teams deserving a goal, thoug if we look at it realistically I would say Valencia should have been 1 up and the goal should not have been ruled offside.

In the second half Soldado was brought on for Joaquin and even though Barca was having most of the possession Valencia had the first dangerous chance which involved Soldado, but he could only shoot wide.


Pablo also had a great chance which he must have either scored or assisted Soldado and Valencia should have scored a goal then also.

Barcelona was having chances also and Villa, Messi, Adriano all had their chances, but they all missed, though Villa seemed like he was intentionally choosing the worst option as if he didn't want to score a goal, which is quite understandable actually.

Barcelona goal was the luckiest thing I've ever seen, even though Adriano managed to outrun Stankevicious the pass was heading nowhere particualrry, but somehow Messi as usual found himself sprinting towards the ball and shot, Guaita made a good reflex save, but still couldn't quite keep the ball out of the net.

After the goal Emery brought Jonas who was moving very well, Valencia pressed really hard and tried to make something happen in the last 10 minutes, much like they won most of their matches in the last 3 months, but they just couldn't do it.



It was a fun match and full of excitement, but unfortunately Valencia lost, even though they deserved a draw and fought really hard and often even managed to beat Barcelona at their own game in posession football.

Every Valencia fan can be pleased after the match though as the players showed real character, fighting spirit and quality(except two). Hopefully with a stronger defense next season Valencia can mount even a challenge to Barcelona for the league title.

As for this season Villarreal won their match and once again come closer to Valencias 3rd position with just one point less, but Villarreal are yet to play against Barcelona and the other tough matches are quite equal in that they need to play against Atletico which Valencia beat.

Technical Details:
Valencia CF (0): Guaita; Stankevicius, R. Costa, Dealbert, Alba; T. Costa (Isco, min. 83), Ever, Joaquín (Soldado, min. 45), Pablo, Mathieu (Jonas, min. 80); Mata.

FC Barcelona (1): Pinto; Diego Alvés, Piqué, Abidal, Adriano (Maxwell, min. 81); Mascherano (Pedro, min. 64), Xavi. Busquets; Iniesta (Keita, min. 87), Messi y Villa.

Goals: 79 min, 0-1 Messi.

Player Ratings:
Guaita 8 - Had 3 amazing blocks, two of which were sucesful, but the Messi shot for the goal somehow went in. Guaita has proven this season he is a top class goalkeeper.
Stankevicious 6.5 - Had an amazing match until that fatal minute when he was outrun by Adriano and the goal was scored, but I can't take it from him that he played really well otherwise.
R. Costa 7 - Great match for Costa, managed to tackle, mark and pass greatly and most of the time won his duels.
Dealbert 3 - The weak link in the defense. Made a huge mistake by giving the ball away to Messi and maybe could have done better to stop Messi shot that lead to the goal, had few good tackles and won headers though, but he was defenately the weak link in defense.
Alba 7.5 - Superb in defense and great in attack. Had a great understanding with Mathieu and offered a lot in this match.
Joaquin 5.5 - The worst of the player on the field, could not support the passing game and didn't return back enough and was rightfully substituted.
Banega 7 - Very confident display from the midfielder, great and accurate passing, covered his zone good and was the main player for Valencia to have any posession.
Tino Costa 6 - Run tirelessly all match, gave it his 110% percent, but could not muster up the pass or shot to do something. Needs to work on his guard with the ball.
Mathieu 6.5 - Good in defense and often very useful, less effective in attack and was overshadowed by Alba in this match, but still had a great match.
Pablo 6.5 - The most creative player in the field, made few great passes, missed from a great chance, but overall a really fine display from Pablo.
Mata 5 - One would expect our "best" and most expensive player to be a leader in this kind of matches and be the best performer but he failed flat in his task. Not dangerous as an attacker and later ineffective as winger also, lost way too many balls and falls to the ground very fast and not even getting a foul in the process, need to build up his strength.
Subs:
Soldado 5 - Apart from one shot at goal, did not really do anything. Failed to run channels, dribble and didn't even come forward to receive the ball.
Jonas 6 - Brought immediate danger after his arrival, he was moving well and his dribbling skills seem good, linked up well with several players, but did not have enough time to make a difference in the result.
Isco N/A - Not enough time, though he did lost the ball half the time he touched it. Needs refinement if he is to play at the first team in the top tier league.