Valencia CF 2-2 Getafe CF La Liga

                                                                       M.O.M.  Joao Cancello

If it is drama you like to see when you watch football The Mestalla was the place to be today. If the 3 points is more important then close your eyes now.  Their were many pluses today but their were also many questions that remain unanswered.  With a back 4 of Barragan Mustafi, Abdenour and Gaya.  Midfield Parejo, Danilo and Gomes with Cancello on the right wing and Pitti on the left.
Also good to see Guaita in goal for Getafe
In a frantic first period Getafe took an undeserved lead after a mix up in the home defence saw Gaya give away a freekick in the 10th minute in a dangerous area right in front of goal.  The shot looked stoppable but the power was too much for our hero and it was just out of his reach.
5 minutes later a great ball from the right wing from Cancello found Alcacer to fire home a typical Alcacer goal. Great goal, great cross.  This joy didn't last long though as a terrible mix up by Abdennour let in Lafita to put the visitors ahead once again. He passed the ball to space to allow the Getafe player an easy chance  On the 34th minute Gaya had to go off with an injury and was replaced by Santi Mina with Cancello switching to the left back position.  Within 2 minutes he had put the home side back level for his second goal in two games.  A great pass to the far post from Alcacer enabled him to fire home.

Cancello was having a game of his life and looked just as good on the left as the right.  Unfortunately Abdennour was having a game to remember for the wrong reasons after giving the ball away twice in dangerous situations. I have to say though on behalf of Abdenour.  The fans started to whistle him and his reply was to give a thumbs up and clap them back to ask them to keep encouraging.  The supporters reacted well and each time he touched the ball they all clapped him.  He then settled down and had a very good second half.  His reaction was just like an ageing stand up comedian who was getting heckled in a working mans club but managed to get the crowd back on his side with his experience and not let it affect his game.

Getafe were slightly unlucky when they had the ball in the net from a freekick but the linesman adjudged him offside much to the relief of the home fans.
The players went in at half time with the score 2.2 and surely there was going to be many more goals in the second half.  Unfortunately it wasn't to be, chances came and went but the ball would not go in the net.

Negredo came on in th 73rd minute to a load applause to replace Piatti and De Paul for Danilo in the 85th minute.  After all the play Valencia had it nearly all went terribly wrong in the final minutes when Getafe missed an open goal and soon after a shot grazed the bar to deny them victory that was not deserved.

Conclusion
A really entertaining game but very frustrating and disappointing result.  A game that Joao Cancello played one of the best performances I have seen for a long time in a Valencia shirt.   Definitely 2 points lost to a very average team and that is being kind to them.  Gary has the tools for the job. i.e. the players, he just now has to get them more ruthless and winning games.  Good luck because I think there is still a lot to do,

Player Results:
Jaume 6  Let in 2 goals and therefore not his usual self and didn't really have too much else to do.
Barragan  5  Typical Barragan performance really, not up to the standard required at this club and may soon be replaced I think.
Abdennour 5  Two bad mistakes but is a quality player going through a difficult spell but he needs to shape up soon.
Mustafi  7   Came into the game carrying an injury but performed very well with saving tackles all over the pitch.
Gaya 6.5  Not on long really but made some good tackles before having to leave with an injury.
Parejo 6.5  Got caught in possession  a couple of times but had a generally good game with his defence splitting passes out to the flanks
Gomes 6.5  Another very good game similar to Parejo really. Good control of the ball but sometimes his distribution lets him down when the passes are almost brilliant but don't quite make it.
Danilo 6  Some good work and looks a good prospect for so young. Obviously liked by Gary Neville for his work rate.
Piatti 6  Caused the away defence a few problems with his speed but I think he is a player that divides supporters opinions.
Alcacer 7  Great goal and lots of hard work put in.  I would like to see him score more than one goal in a game for his confidence. He seems to have trouble keeping his feet when he turns and it is happening a lot now.
Cancello 10  Yes 10.  Jao Cancello had a game that would have got him into any team in the world today. I am not worried about giving him the maximum because he was absolutely brilliant.  He had to switch sides to cover for Gaya going off but it just made him even better.  He had so much of the ball and just did not put a foot wrong the whole game. Made the goal for Paco and also made a last ditch tackle in the final minutes to deny a certain goal. After this tackle I stood and gave a standing ovation as did just about everybody else in the ground did without being  prompted. Today he was pushing the ball through players legs and showing his skills all over the pitch.
Subs:
Mina 7 Had a really good game and is looking a class player scoring as soon as he came on
Negredo 6 Not really enough time to make his mark on the game.
De Paul  5  Nearly gave a goal away by typically doing to much and not releasing the ball earlier
  
Yellow Cards    Danilo  and Barragan

Goals:
Paco Alcacer 15 mins, Assist Joao Cancelo
Santi Mina  36 mins, Assist Paco Alcacer

Attendence: 35,000

Valencia CF vs Getafe CF Match Preview

Valencia CF vs Getafe CF Match Preview

Stadium: Mestalla

Date: 19.12.2015 16:00 CET

16th matchday, La Liga

Coaches: Gary Neville and Fran Escriba

Since Nuno Santo resigned things have been hectic at Valencia CF, with new manager Gary Neville trying to manage a new situation for him, since he lacks coaching experience and things have been mixed so far, though with little time for his ideas to be implemented and for things to really change. Every coach when replacing someone else in mid season would need at least a month before he can implement his style and ideas, though we are likely to see a bit of what Gary Neville's Valencia CF looks like against Getafe CF.

The new coach has been in charge for about two weeks and has had time to analyze the players, see how they perform at training, he's had three games to basically try stuff out, most recently the cup win and he likely has more of an idea of where things stand. He also has few returning players from injury or suspension.

Valencia CF has further slipped in the table and is now 8th place with 21 points, though only couple of points separate 4th and 8th place, in fact the difference between 4th and 12th place is only 11 points, this shows you how close the group is and how competitive La Liga is this season. Valencia CF could jump straight to 6th place with a win here, albeit temporarily, but it would be a move in the right direction. If the team can get some luck on there side and be able to win the next 3-4 matches, we stand a good chance for Champions league football, or at least to be able to fight for it.

Getafe CF are always a tricky opponent to play against, this season they've been in the middle of the park with a lot of games ending up in draws when they play, they don't score a lot of goals per match, in fact they are even weaker than Valencia CF in that department, but they do tend to concede 1.6 goals per match. Their key player is Alvaro Vasquez with 3 goals and 2 assists this season, the best in their team.

Valencia's key players this season have been Paco Alcacer and Daniel Parejo with Paco being really at the top of the table in all competitions. Unfortunately not a lot more players are contributing as much as Paco or Parejo and therein lies the problem.

Valencia CF is still missing a lot of players, due to injuries and suspension, Mustafi is in the squad, but he just came back from injury and is a risk to play, but we'll see who Gary puts on. I think Mustafi needs to be on the bench to be able to recoup better.

Valencia CF Squad:
Goalkeepers: Doménech, Ryan
Defenders: Cancelo, Barragan, Mustafi, Santos, Vezo, Aymen, Gaya, Diallo
Midfielders: Zahibo, Danilo, Parejo, Andre Gomes, Fran Villaba, Piatti, De Paul
Forwards: Negredo, Paco Alcácer, Santi Mina

Technical Details Valencia CF (probable setups):
Formation: 4-3-3
Line-up: Jaume; Cancelo, Santos, Aymen, Gaya; Danilo, Parejo, Gomes; Mina, Paco, De Paul.
Tactics: Medium defensive line, own half pressure, mixed passing, counter attacks, attacking triangle

Valencia 2.0 ( 5.1 ) Barakaldo Copa Del Rey

                                                                 FRANCISCO JOSE  VILLALBA

I know people will say we shouldn't get too excited about beating a team like Barakaldo  however a win is a win and many other La Liga teams over the seasons have slipped up playing the lower clubs and underestimating them.  So a night for some young new faces to prove themselves and for some not so young to prove a point.
With the game starting with Wilfried Zahibo from the youth team lining up with the first team including Negredo up front we were in line for an interesting night.  The game started lively enough with chances at both ends and with the pressure on the away team to come out for goals. It was Valencia that opened the scoring in the 8th miinute with Santi Mina heading home intelligently after a great shot was parried out to him from Piatti. He picked his spot like a seasoned pro heading back across goal.  Chance after chance came and went but it wasn't until the 31st minute that Valencia made it 2.0  A great dummy by Negredo allowed Gomes the chance to slip it back to him for him to poke it home for a great goal.  Negredo had looked to have added another when a fine nod on by Zahibo allowed him to head home but he was ruled offside. It wasn't all one way and Barakaldo managed to force Ryan to a number of good saves to keep the score safe.

Overall a good performance but once again the missed scoring opportunities was a bit disappointing as was the performance of Barragan who was replaced by Diallo at right back in the 61st minute. I noticed Gary Neville having a real go at him in the first half. If anyone knows what a right back should be doing it's Neville.  Diallo looked safe and reliable and surely it cannot be long before he comes in on a more permanent basis

As for Zahibo,  he looked confident and had a really impressive game. Maybe in the second half he was getting a bit too confident and instead of doing the simple passes tried to do a little too much. However, I am sure that Gary Neville will have a word and he is still young.

OK and what about this kid Villalba ?  he came on at half time to replace Andre Gomez and what a performance he gave.  Gary Neville has compared him with David Silva and I think if Silva saw him play he would be quite flattered with the compliment.  We have seen cameos of Villalba before and I have seen him play for the youth team where he looked good but last night he was a revelation I.M.O.
He was wanting the ball all the time, doing little flicks through ( take note Parejo ) and has such quick feet it is incredible. He did not do one bad thing in the whole half he was on. Every ball he passed and every move he made was excellent.  This guy is going to be a top player very soon if bought on at the right pace. I would certainly be putting him in against Getafe at the weekend at least for another half hour.

The game petered out in the second half and it was apparent that Valencia eased up and saved themselves and eventually we won with ease.  A little disappointing 10,000 crowd even though stand tickets were going for 5 euros but the early rounds of this cup are never going to be a top draw.

Player Ratings

Ryan  6.5   A couple of good saves and showed why he is so highly regarded.  A difficult decision will have to be made in a few months perhaps
Barragan 4  Awful performance against a weak team.  An opportunity he wasted to show what he can do but only managed to highlight his deficiences.
Vezo 5   Not a great game for him tonight. He was caught out a few times and seems to be lacking a bit recently.
Santos  6   A solid performance IMO  didn't make any real errors and was busy. The game would have been good for him.
Orban  6.5  That's better.  Good to see Orban showing again what he is capable of after the disaster at Eibar last weekend.
Zahibo  6   A good game for the young player. Big solid lad that we need, Definitely a player with good prospects for the future for Valencia.
Parejo 6   A truly class player and some of his passes are of top quality and seem effortless. Fairly quiet game but did enough and knows he will be needed again at the weekend so nothing to prove.
Gomes 6  Found oceans of space on the left side and made some great runs.  Started the move for Mina's goal with a lovely through ball.
Mina  6.5   A great goal and a good performance, missed a good opportunity in the second half when miss controlling a great Negredo through ball but improving all the time.
Piatti  6   Much better from Pablo,  I and other have written him off too many time but tonight he had a good performance and showed, at times some of his old attributes.
Negredo 7  Neville wants to see the old Negredo that he saw in England.  Well,  he saw it tonight with this performance. Full of running and class,  needs to keep this up and he will be back in the goals soon.

Subs
Villalba 7  (on for Gomes 45 mins)   The guy has magic in his feet and just as important, in his brain, An amazing performance and could he one day be the player we all crave at Valencia, the star, the player we all want to see, the player people are talking about, the player we are disappointed when he doesn't play.  A player we will definitely be talking about a lot more very soon.

Diallo 6.5  (on for Barragan 61 mins)   A really good game and a massive improvement to Barragan. Really cool under pressure and ready for the first team in my opinion.

De Paul  6  (on for Mina 65 mins)    Did fine when he came on, always full of running and energy and surely he must get a goal soon as he gets himself into some good positions but fails to take advantage. Picked up a yellow card for silly dissent


Goals  Mina 8 mins
Negredo 31 mins

Europa League Opponents

                                                                                      Rapid Vienna

Well here we are back in the Europa League and our next opponents are Rapid Vienna from the Austrian League.  They are currently lying third in the league behind Red Bull Salzburg and Austria Wien
the games are scheduled  Home 18th February   Away  25th February  2016  so a couple of months to get our act in order

Some good news is that their main goalscorer Slovenian Robert Beric is injured and will be out for the rest of the season  Their manager is Zoran Bavisic, a household name... in Vienna.

Therefore depending on your preferences it is a relatively easier draw than we could have had.  Personally I would have preferred a top English Premier side but maybe next time.

Eibar 1-1 Valencia CF Match Report

Valencia CF was on the verge of losing to Eibar today with the opposition leading by one goal since the first half, and then gaining a player advantage in the second half after a terrible decision by the referee to give a straight red card to Orban for a non existent foul. There was no foul, let alone a direct red card, but once again referee bias or whatever you want to call it damaging Valencia CF.

Ultimately Valencia CF fought back with one less player, managing to equalize the score in the 85th minute, with an own goal by David Junca. Technically Valencia CF has scored only once in the last 5 matches, with a sole goal against Barcelona.

That is one of the worst goalscoring ratios in the league and something that the team must improve if its going to even stand a chance to potentially fight for a Champions league position, with chances of it significantly reduced this week. Few more poor results like this and we'll certainly be out of the running for Champions league, making the team regress from last season.

Valencia CF could also consider themselves lucky, as Jaume had a wonderful save early in the first half to keep a shot out of the net and earlier than that there was a possible penalty for Eibar as Mustafi handled the ball with his hand, though to me it seemed like his hand was in a natural position and it wasn't higher up or anything to make it unnatural position.

Eibar also had a penalty shot awarded to them when Orban got his red card, as the non existent foul was in the penalty area, but once again thanks to Jaume who made another wonderful save, Valencia CF was able to keep on fighting. Ultimately all his saves payed off and its not much, but a point is better than no point and Valencia CF managed to scrape off a draw.

Some of the negatives are that the defense is quite bad, three of the key chances for Eibar in the first half came from the left side, meaning Orban and De Paul weren't covering well, then the positioning of both our central defenders was bad as they were always positioned in a worse situation and allowed the ball to go into dangerous positions, instead of easily being headed away from the penalty area.

Our midfield control also sucks, we can't seem to be able to hold the ball for longer periods of time and there is no sideways passing, all our passes are forward until we lose the ball, this has to change and I urge Gary Neville who might be reading this blog as I'm sure he is searching for VCF sources in English, I urge Gary to work with the team on sideways passing and retaining the ball. The players have to learn to slow down the forward movement and passing and start passing sideways or backwards in order to retain the ball. We need a little bit more controlled attacks, rather than the free for all that we have now. This is purely tactical and it can be solved with proper training and tactics.

Finally we might as well play with only two central midfielders since playing with 3 of them doesn't give us more control, so why waste space and attacking power like that when we suck at it? Gary needs to play with two strikers or experiment with more forward players, maybe implement a 4-2-1-3 formation.

Have a diamond formation in midfield with two deeper midfielders to keep the back safe and one forward midfielders like Gomes to be really up front and running channels. Then of course the forward trio of two wingers and a central striker. Its clear to me that our 4-3-3 formation and small variations of it don't work for us and we need to adapt and change.

Gary if you are reading this I urge you to experiment with the formation and implement proper training and tactics for our midfield to retain the ball and slow down the attacks, right now we lose the ball way too often as the players don't see to understand that they can pass backward or sideways, they don't have to all out attack all the time, retaining the ball and keeping possession is more important in most of the cases, rather than all in attacks that don't do anything.

If you guys have Gary's twitter account, tweet this post to him, lets have him know that there is an English VCF resource that he can visit and read up.

Goals:
Sergi Enrich 1-0, 44 min. Assist Ander Capa
David Junca 1-1(o.g.) 85 min.

Player Ratings:
Jaume 8 - Had two wonderful saves to basically keep Valencia CF in the game and not have us lose badly. He is constantly improving and might prove to be the long term goalkeeper that Ryan was supposed to be.
Barragan 6 - Good defensively, made few good moves clearing out dangerous balls, but was weak going forward and unable to support Cancelo.
Mustafi 5.5 - Not impressed by him performance, didn't seem to be in the best positions when needed and didn't have the defensive impact that he needs to provide.
Aymen 5 - Have no clue what it is, but his performances are really mediocre to bad. He doesn't use his strength, he has questionable positioning, man marking is another weakness, just overall poor performance.
Orban 4.5 - Not at fault for the expulsion and penalty, it was a refereeing mistake, but he wasn't up to par and all of the dangerous actions came from his side of the pitch.
Fuego 6 - Weak and anonymous in the first half, actually improved in the second half with a man down and started providing a more substantial contribution.
Danilo 5 - Surplus to requirements, was unable to stem Eibar's attacks and didn't have any contribution on attack.
Gomes 5.5 - Tried a lot of things and was a willing runner, dribbling and moving forward, but ultimately couldn't provide the final ball.
De Paul 4 - Completely out of energy as he couldn't provide good defensive cover and failed all of his attacking moves. Substituted at half time.
Paco 5 - Feeding off of scraps, but have to rate him for his contributions even if it isn't his fault he get no chances, couldn't muster up anything to either score or assist.
Cancelo 6 - Decent attacking contribution, provided few crosses and few passes, but it was never quality crosses or quality passes. Useful when going back to provide defensive cover.
Subs:
Piatti 5 - Better than De Paul, was a lot more active and caused the opposition to do a lot of fouls on him, allowing VCF to have some good free kicks.
Gaya N/A - The match was weird and have no clue how to properly rate his 30 minute performance, overall did good, sound defensively.
Negredo N/A - Not enough time.

Logistics Shrink in Valencia

It was apparently too early for the Mestalla fans to whistle Gary. But indeed, they way Valencia has been handled nowadays is undoubtedly terrifying and full of doubtful dividend. We respect the fact that Valencia is a Football Club, and they must appreciate that Valencia is not a 'ball' which everyone can kick here and there.

Going down 0-2 at home to so-far-not-good Lyon, was embarrassing. Not only that, spending 90 minutes playing a crucial match at home without creating dangerous chances was also disastrous to a club like Valencia.

I have no hidden intention to criticize Gary, but in my previous piece I accused the authorities of Valencia of being in a hurry and in desperate state to appoint a new manager. They ought to have allowed Voro to continue for some times as a caretaker before a right medicine is identified and chosen.

In all, Lim seemed to have brought a policy which failed to yield convincing result thus far. In football, a club's president is vital and has all the basics and philosophy of the club he chaired. But the situation is different in Valencia where the president is simply someone who knew nothing as far as the club's philosophy and tradition is concerned.

    

Valencia CF 0-2 Lyon Match Report

What a fizzling end to what has been a very disappointing campaign in the Champions league, though truth be told this Valencia CF team doesn't deserve to go to the next round, we are just not good enough to be with the best.

Now of course this loss can't be blamed to the new manager, he's barely had 2 training sessions, so it will take time in order for him to instill his philosophy and game play, I'd say we'd probably start to see his input after two weeks and overall at least a month.

The team didn't play terribly and at the start of the first half Valencia CF dominated possession and looked really determined and scary going in attack, it seemed as if it was going to be just time when the team started scoring goals. In fact Mustafi actually scored one goal, but erroneously it was negated as the referee awarded a non-existant foul, so pretty much robbed out of a legitimate goal, once again terrible refereeing working against us, if anyone really has a cause to complain about biased or bad refereeing its Valencia CF and I don't think the coaches, players and administration have complained enough! If Mourinho can complain for every little minor refereeing issue, I'd think being the victims of "bad" calls 9/10 times is a reason enough to be pissed off and call it out!

Our defenders were booked by minute 30, basically all our defense was put on notice and threatened red every other foul, so right there its a huge refereeing impact on the game.

Apart from garbage refereeing against us, we also had bad luck, well maybe not so bad luck, it was clear that Enzo Perez was suffering from some muscle tear, but the coach took his chance with him and played him and again call it bad luck or just inevitability or whatever, Enzo got injured and was forced to leave the pitch.

After that our game really took a shot, the intensity and control instantly dropped and we were unable to put the same type of pressure and aggression towards Lyon. I think the biggest reinforcement in the winter should be a new defensive midfielder that has amazing technique and play making skills. We can't rely on the aging Javi Fuego who is of the old rigid defensive midfielders, he doesn't move over the midfield line, he doesn't participate in attacks, its really bad when we need attacking power.

Second I was really disappointed and frustrated with Aymen, I had a bad feeling about him, I generally don't like one season wonders with inflated prices, I'd rather have us buy a player that has been constantly good, rather than one season amazing, I'd rather them be 4/5 seasons good or very good, rather than have 1 season of greatness. I can't even count how many mistakes he did and I understand he was on a yellow card and had to be careful, but so did Mustafi and he still was doing great and marking properly.

Aymen was just like a headless chicken, he lost his marker, he failed to anticipate balls, he failed to tackle so many times, he was completely outclassed and destroyed by Lyon's players, it was extremly bad by him. One of the worst defending I've seen and I've seen a lot of it!

Second half was average, I didn't like our play, we were forcing too many runs, no one was playing smart, no one was returning the ball backwards and restarting attacks, all of our attacks seemed rushed, even though we had a full second half to try and score 1 goal. After you score one goal, you gain a new life and its easier to score a second, the team should have been patient and meticulous in the build-up, rather than rash and direct.

I liked the change to bring in a striker in for Danilo, he wasn't contributing much anyways so it made perfect sense, unfortunately it was with the out of fitness, out of form Negredo who just played for the first time after more than two months being sidelined through injury and for technical reasons by our previous coach Nuno! So the substitution did make sense and I liked it, but it was with a player who wasn't going to make much of a difference.

Then came the second Lyon goal, it was started after a terrible mistake by Piatti who passed backwards into space where there was no Valencia player and Lyon started a fast counter attack that led to the second goal. Once again Aymen was caught sleeping on the wheel as he didn't anticipate the pass and allowed Lacazette to pass him and get to the ball. I mean to me it also seemed suspicious that it might have been offside, but the refereeing being garbage isn't new, so it wouldn't surprise me if it was a big offside, either way I didn't like how terrible Aymen's marking was.

Long story short even if Valencia CF would have won, it wouldn't have mattered ultimately, but at least we would have went away from the competition with style, but it wasn't to be.

Player ratings:
Jaume 7.5 - Saved us several times, he had a great game, but was completely and utterly let down by the defense.
Cancelo 6.5 - Tireless performance from the full back, was almost always in attack and put in some good crosses and passed into the penalty area.
Mustafi 6 - Average performance, I'd like to see him improve considerably and with Gary being a defender maybe he'd improve and become a better player.
Aymen 3 - Terrible performance. Yes the yellow card did affect him, but it shouldn't have and he should be smarter in his challenges to avoid getting yellow cards, especially that early in the game. 
Gaya 6.5 - Big contribution in attacks, was a big danger for Lyon and provided some good crosses and passes, but was rather weaker in defense than Cancelo, but only by a little bit.
Danilo 4 - Last match he might have been good, but this time he was back to his old unimpressive self. No contribution that I saw on either side of the pitch.
Enzo 6.5 - Very short time on the pitch, but I really liked what I saw and we played 2x times better with him on the pitch.
Parejo 6 - He seems to be the only player in midfield, just didn't have anyone to play with, often forced to make the risky passes which then also put us in danger, but he has no choice. He really needs more players to come forth and open up to receive the ball. 
Mina 5 - Overshadowed by Cancelo in an attacking sense and didn't contribute much at all.
Paco 6 - He was moving in good positions and had some small chances, but nothing concrete for him to convert. He needs more supply up front if he is to score, he barely gets one or two scraps per game.
De Paul 6.5 - Was really lively and most likely to create something out of all the other forwards and midfielders, but couldn't quite find that final pass.
Subs:
Fuego 3 - Worthless defensively as Lyon didn't attack too much in an organized way and they scored twice with him on the field "shielding" the defense.
Negredo 4 - Completely out of form and out of shape and out of fitness. Didn't look capable of just receiving a ball, let alone scoring.
Piatti 3.5 - Way worse than De Paul, lost the ball every time he got it, including a terrible back pass that led to the second Lyon goal.

Valencia CF vs Olympique Lyonnais Match Preview

Valencia CF vs Lyon Match Preview

Stadium: Mestalla

Date: 09.12.2015 20:45 CET

UCL Group Stage - Matchday 6

Coaches: Gary Neville and Hubert Fournier

                      

The Mestalla experienced an excellent comback from Valencia CF, against arugably the best team in LA LIGA, Barcelona FC. The appointment of Gary Neville has brought a new enthusiasm within the players and the fans, no wonder nearly 3000 fans turned up at the Paterna to watch Gary Neville conduct his first training session. However, there are people who are skeptical about Gary's appointment, and only time will tell, if his appointment was a good or a bad move by Peter Lim. Valencia CF look full of confidence after playing Barcelona, though they just drew the game, it was one of the most intense games Valencia CF have played this season. We can expect the Mestalla to be full again, as the club is selling highly discounted tickets, so that no seat remains vacant for the one of the most important games of the season against Lyon. 

Lyon have had a terrible start to their season, losing 5 out of their last 7 games played. If we look at their UCL stats, this can be their worst performance ever in the UCL. Curently standing on 5th place in Ligue 1, their team morale is at its lowest, something which isn't helpful when you take that corner from the Curva Nord. Fortunately for Valencia CF, Lyon don't have a good track record against Valencia CF, having played 3 games against Los Che and losing all of them. Valbuena will be their main player, trying to create chances for their strikers. He was heavily linked with Valencia CF in the past, however, that deal didn't go through. 

Gary Neville, had an intensive traning session with the lads at Valencia CF. He even installed special video cameras and has brought in video technicians to record every single move happening on the training ground. He was seen training and spending a lot of time with Mustafi as he is back from injury, I feel Neville will start Mustafi and Abdennour, a defensive pair I have been waiting to watch the entire season. Negredo is back in the squad, however, I feel he won't start the game, but maybe will substitute Paco or Santi Mina later on. Cancelo is back after missing the game against Barcelone, where Vezo looked extremely weak against Neymar. Cancelo is one of Mendes' clients, who I believe was a very good buy along with A. Gomes. He has developed tremendously over the last several months. I see Danilo starting this game over Javi Fuego, as Danilo brings in some attacking capabilities with him and is more versatile, however, Fuego brings in way more experience in such big games. 

Lyon players to look out for - Valbuena,Gonalons and Lacazette

Valencia CF Squad:

Goalkeepers: Doménech, Ryan
Defenders: Cancelo, Abdennour, Santos, Gaya, Mustafi
Midfielders: Javi Fuego, Danilo, Enzo Perez, Parejo, Tropi, Nacho Gil, De Paul

Forwards: Negredo, Paco Alcácer, Santi Mina 

Technical Details Valencia CF (probable setups):
Formation: 4-4-2
Line-up: Jaume; Cancelo, Mustafi, Abdennour, Gaya; Perez, Parejo, Danilo, De Paul, Paco, Santi Mina. 

Tactics: Strong possession play, through passes, wing attacks, low defensive pressure

Prediction: 2-0

Resilient and Endured Valencia Hold Barca at the Mestalla.

Despite their seemingly vastly built ship, Barca was still in need to hire a Captain(Jaime Latre) to navigate their way out of the stormy situation inflicted on them at the Mestalla.

     When incident happened once, we may call it accidentally - but when it kept repeating itself, then it was no longer accidental but deliberate and with conscious intention.

     That was the story at the Mestalla last night. It was an apparent fact that Barcelona were favorite to win the match due to what could be termed an 'inconsistency' in the part of Valencia these days.

     Unfortunately enough for Valencia, despite being in a difficult time these days, they were forced to play against 12-men Barcelona with additional player only disguising as a referee. 

     The controversy ensued when Pique held and tangled with Perez very close to the spot and brought him down, but the referee said play-on. Though it was a penalty but fortunately enough for Barca as always when playing Valencia, the referee appeared uninterested. 

     It was more annoying that the visitors got all clearance from the referee to aggressively tackle Valencia players and went away with it without being booked. Valencia's keeper Jaume was elbowed in the air by Suarez and Messi's foul play earlier but both didn't saw them booked. 

     Despite all these discouragement and seemingly hard times unnecessarily inflicted on Valencia, Los Che managed to endured Barca's dangerous moves until 59 minutes when Suarez managed to scored for the visitors, thanks to an obvious blunder from the lineman and the referee. Because Suarez was clearly in offside position.

     For anyone who is conversant with Valencia's matches against either Barcelona or Real Madrid, knew that these kinds of repeated blunders occured in many occasions. It was not something new. Referees have been creating room for Valencia's defeat long ago.

     Yesterday night, luck did not hold for enemies of Valencia as their ill tactics yielded negative result. Thanks to Santi Mina's careful shot following Paco's nice chest control in the mid of two Barca defenders to dropped a well fitted pass to the running Mina who fired it into the net 4 minutes from time.

      3 minutes later, Danilo tried and fired a long range rocky which if not for Barca's keeper was standing in not-so-ruthless position, I would have been a different story.

       Excitingly, Gary Neville was sitting watching his new boys trying all their best to subdue Almighty Barca. That could at least introduced and paved way for the new manager of the great and marathon task ahead. Gary was very well known during his playing time as courageous, aggressive and confident icon. Similary, Valencia needs someone who will implant hope and courage to their playing style. So, Gary could be seen as a perfect match at the Mestalla thus far.

Valencia CF 1-1 FC Barcelona Match Report

Somehow my optimisim paid off and the scoreline prediction was spot on at 1-1. We saw a very different Valencia CF out there today, there was a lot of confidence and composure. It was a fast paced evening at the Mestalla with both teams out there to win. A note on this match is that some reports say that new manager Gary Neville had some input into the starting eleven and tactics but I have to follow up on that to verify it, we will know if he does the press conference. The other thing is we managed a great performance without Negredo, Feghouli, Diego Alves, Andre Gomes, Fuego and Mustafi. Arguably most of those would've started this game and are among our top players.

The first half was filled with chances from Barcelona with the MSN trio up front causing lots of trouble especially Neymar as he took on Vezo filling in for right back. No surprise that Neymar often found his way past Vezo and squared it across many times. Although Valencia CF had commited almost everyone to defense and Jaume pulling off saves when necessary. Barcelona had many good chances but could not convert them. Valencia CF had shots but none on target as Paco remained isolated for that portion of the game.

Voro started de Paul in this crucial game despite him rarely seeing game time under Nuno and being isolated to the stands and boy, the quality that he showed out there today makes me wonder how you could keep him out of the lineup. He was clearly out there to prove a point to Nuno, Voro and Neville that he has the quality to be in this side as well as the desire to fight for Valencia CF. He had confidence and it went a long way as he remained composed, kept possession and picked out great passes.

After long periods of Barcelona attacks, Valencia CF managed to create danger via Enzo Perez who looked like a whole different beast today. Given the freedom to go forward and attack he linked up well with other players and offered great runs in the final third. Enzo Perez made a run into the box and was pulled down by Pique, a clear and definite penalty under regular circumstances, however, the referee wasn't interested. The first half ended in a goal-less draw.

The second half was very much like the first with Barcelona creating a lot of the chances and Valencia CF being equal to them and stopping them in their tracks. Messi was contained for the majority of the game. Then he played a backwards lob to Suarez who was clearly and without a doubt offside, yet the linesman kept his flag down. Abdennour commited to the challenge but couldn't stop him and he smashed the ball into the roof of the net at Jaume's near post. Clear refereeing errors in this game were making it hard to play but credit to the boys for not giving up and maintaining their composure and character. In previous games even one decision against us would break the team's confidence. Yet this time, two major and decisive calls went against Valencia CF yet the team persevered through.

 Enzo Perez was fouled late in the second half and couldn't continue so Voro resorted to the bench and brought on Bakkali for him. The first real chance came when a mistake in the Barcelona midfield gave the ball away to de Paul who got past the Barcelona defense only for his shot to be denied by Bravo. Voro then brought on Piatti for de Paul.

Barcelona kept up the pressure and tried to grab a second goal. However, during their efforts they were dispossessed up front by Danilo who set Bakkali free on the right. Bakkali then played a long ball forward to Alcacer who was making a run between Barcelona's two CB's Pique and Mascherano. Paco controlled the ball well in the air despite the pressure from the two CB's, held up the ball well, was composed enough to look up and find the supporting run from Mina who smashed the ball into Bravo's net and equalizing for Valencia CF.

With more confidence from the goal Valencia kept on the offense and Danilo felt brave to shoot from outside of the box and test Bravo from a shot to the top corner which was narrowly saved.

The match did end 1-1. Barcelona did have a lot of chances but Santos and Abennour played a great game. Maybe Abdennour rushed into sliding tackles a lot of time and let Suarez get way but Santos had a great game. If we get a bit more luckly with some decisions we could've won this game potentially.

Goals:
0-1 Suarez (59')
1-1 Santi Mina (86')

Lineups:
Valencia CF (1): Jaume, Gaya, Abennour, Santos, Vezo, Perez (Bakkali, 73'), Parejo, Danilo, de Paul (Piatti, 83'), Santi Mina (Tropi, 88' ), Alcacer
FC Barcelona (1): Bravo, Alba, Mascherano, Pique, Dani Alves, Busquets, Rakitic, Iniesta, Neymar, Messi, Suarez

Player Ratings:
Jaume - 6 - Kept out everything except for Suarez's goal which he got beat at his near post. The rest were simple to deal with.
Gaya - 7 - Great tackling, could be the best tackler on the team. Sliding tackles timed to perfection and helped contain Messi and stop counterattacks. Suarez goal did come from his flank after he was caught out.
Abdennour - 5.5 - had spells of the game where he was a tank and did not let anything through but rushed into sliding challenges a lot which Suarez evaded and was free.
Santos - 6 - Lots of improvement from previous performances, decisive and kept Messi at bay.
Vezo - 4.5 - Right back really isn't his thing and he is clearly struggling there. Gave Neymar way too much freedom, luckily it didn't result in a goal
Perez - 6.5 - This is the Perez that we paid the money for, he should be contributing to the attack more often not sitting back defending as in previous games. Well done by Voro to play him offensively.
Parejo - 6.5 - This composed Parejo can lead our team to a lot of victories. This is more like the Parejo we saw in previous seasons. When he is composed and cool we play well.
Danilo - 6.5 - another big improvement. Not so much in the first half but the second half showed real skill. Could keep possesion in midfield, dispossesed the Barca attack in the buildup to the goal and got a good shot on goal.
de Paul - 6.5 - Why was he in the stands under Nuno, this kid has great potential. We need him to play more.
Alcacer - 7 - Although he was isolated in attack for huge portions of the game, he contributed with heavy pressing and ran his heart out at there. And what amazing control, composure and skill to assist Santi Mina
Santi Mina 6 -  Silent for huge portions of the game but when it counted and was needed he bulleted the shot for a great goal and equalizer.

Subs:
Bakkali - 5.5 - Great vision to pick out a pass for Alcacer from such a long distance.
Piatti - N/A - not enough time
Tropi - N/A - not enough time

Voro - 8 - continues to impress as interim coach. Whenever he takes over, he can somehow transform the team instantly and get good results. It's as if most of the team's previous problems in confidence, style and play didn't exist. Well done.

Conclusion:
Gary Neville should've been delighted to see the various talents who would work with in the coming months and if had anything to do with the tactics, kudos to him. Today we proved we could play toe-to-toe with the top team in the world at the moment. If we can go up from here, we should be a force to be reckoned with. The atmosphere at the Mestalla was phenomenal just through the monitor, can't imagine what it was in real life. If any of you were there please let us know. The game against Lyon should be a cracker if this is anything to go by. And again, it's at the Mestalla. The crowd could've just been the difference between a loss and a draw/possible  win tonight and hopefully it will keep being this way in the game against Lyon and beyond.

Amunt Valencia!

Valencia CF vs FC Barcelona Match Preview

Valencia CF vs FC Barcelona Match Preview

Stadium: Estadio de Mestalla

Date: 05.12.2015 20:30 CET

Managers: Voro & Luis Enrique

Easily the strongest opposition so far this season in the form of FC Barcelona will visit the Mestalla on Saturday. A team on mad form and a front three that can't stop scoring. Their results speak for themselves. Let's just say things could get painful for us very quickly this game. Ideally, you would not want to face the strongest opposition in your weakest moment but that's what's facing Valencia CF now and there's no running from it. Coming off the back of a Sevilla game where the team could not get a single shot on target and facing various suspensions and injuries does not help the case. On top of that with the resignation of Nuno, interim coach Voro will take charge with Gary Neville's first game being against Lyon. He did decently well in his first game managing a 3-1 win over Barakaldo after falling 0-1 behind early in the game. His opponent this time, however sits at the top of the league and doesn't look like budging.

Now, the previous paragraph might sound pessimistic but I feel those are the facts. There are other facts though that must be presented. We've conceded the second least number of goals in the league after Atletico and the team in front of us is not unbeatable. Celta Vigo proved that beating them convincingly 4-1. You can argue that the team had just lost Messi and haven't adapted yet but with the quality squads these top teams have it really isn't too much of an excuse. Add to that, we beat the very team that beat them, or at least a weaker version of that team, 5-1. At that time, everyone thought Celta was unbeatable based on their form and they were convincingly proven wrong. I'm not going to say that we will win this game but I'm also not going to say that we can't. It really depends which Valencia CF show up. The Valencia CF that's willing to change and prove people wrong that we saw against Celta or the one void of confidence, organization and belief that we saw last week. 

This game, I feel comes down to our defense. We lost Mustafi to injury and Cancelo to suspension. Voro used Orban last game but whether he will play this game is yet to be seen. Now, this is the important part. Abdennour has to turn up on Saturday. We absolutely need him. Especially with Vezo and Santos being really shaky at times. Gaya has served the left flank well and we know we can count on him. As for the right side, with Cancelo suspended. We have to turn to Barragan, whom I hope can play more responsibly than Cancelo.

The other big loss is Fuego to suspension. We need an anchor in midfield but now we have to rely on Perez or Danilo to try to fulfill that role. The return of Andre Gomes should add some much needed flair and creativity to our midfield. Hopefully, he and Parejo can deliver because on their best, we play our best going forward.

Last time we beat Barcelona, Feghouli and Parejo took charge and were at peak performance. Hopefully the same two show up on Saturday.

FC Barcelona danger players: I don't think I have to spell it out but here goes: M-S-N

Valencia CF Squad:
Goalkeepers: Doménech, Ryan
Defenders: Diallo, Abdennour, Santos, Vezo, Gaya
Midfielders: Tropi, Danilo, Enzo Perez, Parejo, Feghouli, De Paul, Bakkali, Piatti, Nacho Gil, Fran Villalba
Forwards: Paco Alcácer, Santi Mina

Valencia CF Probable Set-up: 4-3-3

Probable Lineup: Ryan, Diallo, Abdennour, Santos, Gaya, Danilo, Perez, Parejo, De Paul, Paco, Bakkali.

Prediction: It's really difficult cause we don't know what to expect from Voro. I'm going to be optimistic and say Valencia CF 1-1 FC Barcelona. 

Is Gary the Savior?

Valencia have turned into brothers and sons. As Nuno bowed out amicably, there had been the speculation that his assistant Phil Neville might well be announced as his successor in caretaking capacity.

Surprisingly, it only went on air that 'Valencia signed Gary Neville' till the end of the season. What has been going wrong at the Mestalla? This could remind most of Valencia fans of the plenty speculation made when Ranieri was sacked and desperately replaced him with Koeman instead of appointing a caretaker manager for a while.
 
It's a well known fact that Neville will be facing dual and tough task ahead. One, Neville is on his early stage in his coaching career, and most of which if not all were spent in English Football. And never played anywhere apart from England. Secondly, he was given a huge take of managing the third biggest club in Spanish Football history, Valencia. For all those who think that Valencia Fans would take excuses; they're only depriving themselves. All that Valencia fans want at the Mestalla was and is returning to the winning ways.
Moreover, Gary is not conversant with Spanish Football at this very stage and at the same time language is another problem to be faced with.

Anyway, let's hope that Gary's signature was not based on friendship or relationship just like Nuno's. Because it was clear that Nuno value his relationship with Lim more than that of his career when he tendered his resignation honorably instead of waiting to be sacked and went away with huge amount of money.

Without doubt, Gary Neville was a great player of his time. And world of football has had great coaches who once played the same role with Gary during their time. With this in mind, the roaring crowd of the Mestalla could certainly pocket their hankerchief, punished Europe once more, and sing their songs of victory as they were once was.

beIn Sports becomes Valencia CF sponsor

Bein Sports is officially Valencia CF new shirt sponsor. The financial deal is set to be worth it around 4 million euros, significantly less than what Peter Lim had hoped he would find, but considering the deal is until the end of the season, so around 7 more months, its still quite a good deal.

Valencia CF will wear the new shirts with the Bein Sports logo on them as soon as this Saturday in the match against FC Barcelona.

Gary Neville New Manager

No this is not one of my little jokes, it is true. Gary Neville the brother of Phil ( Felipe ) will take over the manager job until next summer.  It was a surprise announcement and even Gary was surprised when it was announced to him while he was taking training at Salford City in Manchester today as seen by his reaction.

Of all the names being bandied about certainly this one was never mentioned and will come as a bit of a shock to many people. Being a non Spanish speaking English man he will presumably be expecting his players to begin to learn the language to enable him to communicate with them properly, he cannot rely on his brother for the translations every time.

Seriously though he is well thought of in England and is expected to one day become a top manager. I am not sure though that ' one day. is quite what we need right now. I think we need a now top manager. Is this Peter Lim getting revenge with the Nuno Out brigade ?

Gary made his name with Manchester United and England and has won just about everything in football, apart from the World Cup unfortunately.  He will take over on Sunday after the Barcelona game,  (wise move Gary)  when we may be in a situation when things can only get better.

Apologies to fans around the world reading this when they first wake up but it is true

So your views then !