La Liga Matchday #1: Valencia CF 4 - 2 Levante UD Match Thread

Valencia start off their first game of the season in a local derby against Levante UD at the Mestalla. This will be a great chance to evaluate the level of the team and hopefully build momentum in what would be the first of a series of "beatable" opponents.

Valencia's preseason was eventful. Javi Gracia took over as head coach and bean training the team on August 10. Key players like Parejo, Rodrigo, Coquelin and Ferran have all moved on to other clubs, another key player - Garay - had his contract expire with no renewal, Costa's loaned ended, while Piccini was recently loaned out. To deal with the absences, Javi Gracia heavily relied on the youth players as well as some of those returning from loans like Racic and Jason Remeseiro.

Valencia had 4 preseason fixtures in total, playing against Castellon (W: 1-0), Villareal (W: 2-1), Levante (D: 0-0) and Cartagena (W: 3-1) and remained unbeaten throughout. 

Levante's most notable loss in the transfer window was Borja Mayoral, who has been a rumored Valencia target, since his loan period has ended. Levante most notably brought in Jorge de Frutos and Dani Gomez from Real Madrid, while most other transfer activity was either free transfer arrivals or promotions from their youth team.

Levante played 5 preseason fixtures with some common opponents to Valencia's preseason. They faced Mallorca (W: 2-1), Valencia (D: 0-0), Cartagena (W: 2-1), Villareal (W: 2-1), Castellon (W: 1-0) and also managed to remain unbeaten.

The scorelines and results from the preseasons of both teams are actually really similar. Levante did play an additional game against Mallorca though.

SQUAD

The most notable absentees from the squad list are Gameiro, Jason and Cillissen, all missing due to injury. Lato is also not on the list, as he was not deemed fully ready after struggling with a muscle injury.

Due to the absences, Rivero, Centelles, Musah and Alex Blanco supplement the first team. Furthermore, Wass is listed as a midfielder and Guillem Molina gets on the list in defense.

Javi Gracia has recently expressed his dissatisfaction and concern with the lack of signings and had some strong words in his press conference. Anil Murthy's promise of having at least one signings before the start of the season was broken. However, the coach insists that those who are here are ready and can compete.

Bench: Rivero, Thierry, Diakhaby, Guillamon, Centelles, Molina, Soler, Cheryshev, Racic, Sobrino, Vallejo, Alex Blanco

FIRST HALF

1' - Goal for Levante. 0-1. About 30 seconds in before Esquedro loses the ball and is quickly punished for it. Morales runs into the box and perpendicular to the goal, dribbling past Kondogbia, avoids Paulista challenge and slides in between him and Wass before slotting it past Domenech at the far post. 

5' - Shaky start from Valencia. The ball is being given away time after time in dangerous positions.

9' - Gaya plays a pass along the touchline for Guedes to run into. Guedes sends a low cross into the box aimed at Maxi Gomez but the defender gets there ahead of him.

11' - Goal for Valencia! 1-1! Kang In sends the corner all the way to the far side where Paulista had found a pocket of space. Paulista just manages to squeeze the header between the keeper and the post. The service and goal-scoring from corners was really lacking last season, so this is great to see.

16' - First change of the game for Valencia as it looks like Mangala has picked up an injury. Diakhaby is his replacement.

18' - Goal for Levante. 1-2. Total pin-ball chaos at the back for Valencia. Diakhaby was drawn out of position and out of his penalty box. Morales gets the cross in which results in shot after shot at Jaume which he blocks one after the other. The ball falls to just inside the box where Melero strikes it into the net. 

19' - VAR is checking the goal and after a few minutes the goal is overruled due to handball. Lucky break for Valencia. Back to 1-1. The defense looks really vulnerable.

34' - Jaume Domenech with a fantastic save to deny Levante from taking the lead. Morales picks out Miramon in space on the right flank and continues his run into the box. Miramon sends a cross to the near post and Morales is there to head it but Jaume stop it.

36' - Goal for Levante. 1-2. The ball is given away by Guedes in a dangerous position just outside the box. Levante string together some passes between a square of players before picking out Morales centrally at the edge of the box. Diakhaby is drawn out to deal with him but he dummies his challenge before picking out the top right corner of goal. Nothing Jaume can do about that.

39' - Goal for Valencia! 2-2! Kondogbia plays the ball out from the back and finds Maxi Gomez in the center of the pitch. The striker turns away from the defender and spreads the ball out wide to Kang In. The youngster takes a few touches and is patiently waits for Maxi Gomez to make the incisive run in the box, threading in a fantastic through-ball. Maxi takes a touch and fires the ball across goal into the far post.

44' - Maxi plays the ball into space for Musah to run into which he does, managing to stay onside. He holds his run and waits for his teammates after a heavy touch. He pulls the ball back for Maxi Gomez at the edge of the penalty box where the striker tries a shot from distance that is spilled by the keeper. No one is in a good position to take advantage of the spill.

45' - Two minutes added by the referee for stoppages.

HALF-TIME

Mixed reaction at half-time. On the one-hand this is some of the worst defending from Valencia on display. On the other hand, this is quite a good showing in attack. 

Levante took the lead quite early with a complete collapse at the back. Valencia would continue giving the ball away and could've fell even further behind. The one chance that Valencia got from a corner was well-taken. Being a threat from these set pieces will add an extra dimension to Valencia's attack that was lacking in previous seasons.

Mangala's injury resulted in an early substitution for Valencia. Hopefully, these injuries don't persist like they did last seaosn. His replacement Diakhaby would be caught several times out of position, both resulting in goals. The first over-turned by VAR and the second stands. 

Valencia would equalize for the second time out of nothing. It was a 6v2 at the back with Levante outnumbering the Valencia players yet patience from Kang In and smart movement from Maxi would unravel their defense. 

Kang In, Maxi Gomez and Yunus Musah have really stood out this first half. They seem the most alert, most determined and are fully of energy. Naturally, they have caused the biggest problems for Levante. Javi Gracia really needs to sort out the defense in the second half. Even experienced players like Mangala and Paulista have looked very fragile against this Levante offense.

Half-time stats. 2-2 goals, 4-8 total shots, 4-5 shots on target, 44-56 %possession, 82-84% pass accuracy.

SECOND HALF

53' - Kondogiba does well to dispossess Levante in his own half. He quickly finds Guedes who drives the ball forward. He looks up and finds Musah's run and picks him out. He out paces his marker and gets into the box before taking a shot that hits the frame of the goal. Great chance!

59' - First substitution for Levante. Dani Gomez replaces Sergio Leon

62' - Yellow card shown to Rober Pier for a heavy challenge on Maxi Gomez

71' - Triple substitution for Valencia. Cheryshev, Racic and Vallejo come on for Guedes, Esquerdo and Kang In

72' - Wass with a wonderful diagonal ball that sets Vallejo up for a one-on-one against the Levante keeper. Unfortunately he could take advantage of the opportunity and had his shot blocked.

74' - Goal Valencia! 3-2! The substitutions by Gracia team up for the goal. Cheryshev puts in an early cross into the box. Maxi Gomez lets the ball go through for Manu Vallejo, who takes one touch away from the defender and scores past the frozen keeper. It's nice to see both forwards looking sharp and lethal.

76' - Double change from Levante. Vukcevic and de Frutos come on for Melero and Bardhi

84' - Musah goes down from fatigue and some cramps. 

85' - More changes from Levante. Postigo and Coke on, Radoja and Duarte off.

87 - Final substitution for Valencia. Musah is finally taken off, and Sobrino come on.

89' - Yellow card shown to Racic for time wasting.

90' - Four minutes added by the referee for stoppages.

90+3' - Goal for Valencia! 4-2! Cheryshev intercepts the Levante's ball out from the back and brings it forward for a counter attack. Maxi Gomez is picked out with a through ball and looked like he would grab a second but his shot bounces off the post. Thankfully, it falls to Vallejo, who made no mistake and smashes the ball into the roof of the net.

90+4' - Yellow card is shown to Campana for dissent.

FULL-TIME

A winning start for Javi Gracia. After a first half where the team looked vulnerable defensively, there was a lot of anxiety. In the second half, this wasn't the case though as the team looked a lot more stable.

Valencia seemed comfortable in the second half. Musah almost grabbed a goal in the opening few minutes of the half. Javi Gracia made a triple substitution all of whom would change the game. Talk about impactful subs.

Racic brought much need calm and collection in the midfield whereas Cheryshev and Vallejo would be instrumental to getting both the third and fourth goals for Valencia. They have definitely made a case for their selection in future games.

Full-time stats. 4-2 goals, 14-19 shots, 8-8 shots on target, 44-56 %possession, 80-86 % pass accuracy.

It seems likely that Javi Gracia will use the first half as leverage to squeeze one or two signings out of Anil and Lim. There is plenty of positives to take away and a step was made in building momentum. The coach has shown that he can make impactful decisions and made the team lethal in front of goal. The defense still has a lot of question marks on it though and he will certainly look to address that.

Next game will be on Saturday the 19th away against Celta Vigo. Amunt!

Official: Cristiano Piccini loaned to Atalanta

 The club has confirmed today through its website and social media accounts, the departure of Cristiano Piccini to Atalanta. 

The agreement between the clubs is a one-year loan with a purchase option at the end of it. The fee is reported to be around 3 million euros. Piccini arrived two seasons ago from Portuguese club Sporting CP for 8 million euros.

For many fans, the signing of Piccini did not accomplish it's intended goals. He was supposed to take over the right-back role thus addressing a previously vulnerable position for the team. However, his time in Valencia has seen him playing while struggling with injury, absent due to long-term injury or playing after a long period through recovery from injury. His injury has lead to Wass having a prominent role as right-back as well as the signing of Correia later on. With those two available and with Piccini being injury-prone, many would have wanted the club to push for an exit. He did play in parts of the pre-season games with Javi Gracia so there was some indication he could stay but it just wasn't to be. It remains to be seen whether a signing will be made in right-back or if Wass and Correia will be in charge of that position this season.

Piccini has sent a farewell letter to the fans in which he expressed appreciation for all the support, thanked his teammates and coaches, reveled in the Cup victory and provided some words of encouragement moving forward. Good luck to Piccini with his new team!

La Liga fixtures announced

 La Liga have just published the fixtures for the coming season. Our fixtures are at this link.

It's a not too testing start, with the hardest games coming later. Levante (H), Celta (A), Huesca (H) offers a chance to get some points on the board before we face the other pretenders in October: Sociedad, Betis and Villarreal will show where this team is really at. It's also helpful that the "away" games at Villarreal and Sociedad will take place in October meaning they will almost certainly be behind closed doors. The last 3 games are Sevilla away, Eibar home and Huesca away. Again, the last two are, at this point in time, games we would normally expect to win.

Another aspect of the COVID situation is that the traditional Christmas/New Year break is cancelled.

Our opening game against Levante has to be a prime contender to be moved for TV reasons, so I wouldn't be surprised to see it played on Friday next week. All this makes it imperative that Valencia sort out its squad soon. It's sadly quite usual that we dawdle till the last minute in the transfer market, but I can never remember a transfer market where we have signed literally no one just 11 days before kick-off. Speaking of transfers, our ex-player Rodrigo just gave his first interview in English since signing for Leeds. His English is pretty good and good luck to the guy.

Rodrigo Moreno leaves

 It seems to be confirmed that Rodrigo has officially left the club, signing for Leeds United, for a reported 30m plus a potential 10m more in objectives.

Rodrigo was always a divisive player. Signed for 30m in 2014 as part of Meriton's first season splurge, in his early years he was the poster child for Meriton's excesses and unhealthy association with Jorge Mendes' clients.

Usually played on the left of a 4-3-3, his goal rate was hugely disappointing. His first goal for the club came from the penalty spot at Getafe in late September. It would be 4 months before he scored again, his first from open play highlighting what he can do: intercepting near the halfway line, dribbling to the edge of the area and scoring from outside the box. In total he managed 4 goals in his first season, 7 in his second. The departure of Alcacer and Negredo in 2016 saw him moved more central and, somewhat unnoticed at the time, his rate picked up: 7 goals in 21 games before getting injured.

It took the arrival of Marcelino to boost him, with 19 goals that season in a 4-4-2 with Zaza, followed by 15 the following season. The latter included his only hat-trick for the club in the memorable comeback versus Getafe. At the end of the game he clashed with Getafe players and mocked them in revenge for similar gestures. He went on to score the winning goal in the cup final.

Last season he reverted to disappointing goal numbers: 7 in 34 games, though his assists record remained good. He also scored two crucial goals in the Champions league: the winners at Chelsea and Ajax.

Ultimately, as usual, I'm a little disappointed with the transfer figure. I know he's 29, but he is a Spain international and therefore I would have hoped for 40m at least. The big question is how the club will replace his link-up play between midfield and attack. Soler? Kang-In? Guedes? New signing?

Lastly, this is another sign for me of the decline of La Liga, something the league's overseers only have themselves to blame for as they concentrated too much money into two super-clubs (one of which is in clear decline.) It's hard to imagine newly promoted Cadiz signing an England international forward, yet the equivalent has happened. 

In previous transfer windows we seemed to leave things very late, even when we had cash to spare. We're now doing the same, as there are just two weeks until the return of La Liga, but from an even weaker position. Maybe the Rodrigo money can finally get things moving? Cillessen is said to be next out the door.

Anyway, good luck to Rodrigo with his new club

News and Preseason Fixtures

Here's a news round up from the week:

FINANCIAL SITUATION

The headline news about the club over the past few days has revolved around players' salaries. It was reported that, due to liquidity issues at the club, Valencia was negotiating with players to delay their salary payments over the next season. Instead, they would receive promissory notes (IOU's) with the amount and date of payment. Javi Gracia was said to have spoken to the club about this on behalf of the players.

This has come as a shock for many as it demonstrated that the financial situation at the club is in much worse conditions compared to what has been communicated by management. It certainly would explain why the club is in a desperate need to sell and why there are so many players that the club is willing to let go. Many were also quick to point out that Valencia's recent transfer activity which involved accepting transfer fees that were only a fraction of what the players are worth, only made the problem worse. With the club going public with their blacklist of players and their financial situation, other teams will no doubt look to take advantage, as they have already.

In response to rumors that Peter Lim was taking money out of the club, Valencia went on social media to state that the opposite was true; and that Peter Lim had actually injected more money into the club for the upcoming season. 

Valencia lost two opportunities to get some money through conditional clauses in the contracts of both Fran Villalba and Alex Blanco. With both Almeria and Real Zargoza failing to secure promotion to first division, around 1-1.5 million euros for each in bonuses were denied to the club. On the flip side, Rodrigo de Paul's departure from Udinese seems imminent and Valencia has a 15% stake in the transfer amount. 

TRANSFER MARKET

All rumors seem to indicate that Rodrigo is the next player on his way out of Valencia. This makes sense due to his high salary and the potential to get a decent amount of money in his transfer. Atletico Madrid is the most talked about destination.

Apparently, Gaya has also received plenty of attention with Manchester City, Barcelona, Real Madrid and PSG all indicating interest. Reports are that the club has rejected all offers. It remains to be seen at what price a deal would be accepted.

As for arrivals, there has been little movement on that front. This is probably due to the lack of liquidity and the need to sell first before buying. Jason Remeseiro has returned from Getafe recently and joined up with the rest of the squad. Alex Blanco will also join after his adventure with Real Zaragoza has finished.

JAVI GRACIA'S TACTICS

There has been little mention of what the new coach has tried so far. What was talked about when he was signed was his inclination towards a 4-4-2 and his preference for inverted wingers. Those who observe training sessions, said that he has been experimenting a lot with that team. There was talk of double pivots and building a lineup with Kang In as the central piece. From those reports, it looks like he was tried in midfield or playing behind the central striker (CAM). There are some fixtures coming up to observe some of the things that are being worked on.

PRESEASON FIXTURES

Due due COVID, the team cannot travel and conduct its preseason internationally. There has been reporting that 1 player, who remains unnamed, in the first team who contracted the virus recently, further statement to the persisting risk. As such fixtures, have been organized locally to help prepare the team for the new season while avoiding unnecessary travel. The two fixtures announced are as follows:

Valencia vs Castellón: 

Date: Saturday August 22nd

Time: 07:00 pm CEST

Location: Antonio Puchades stadium at the Ciudad Deportiva

Valencia vs Villareal

Date: Friday August 28th

Time: 08:00 pm CEST

Location: Pinatar Arena, San Pedro del Pinatar, Murcia

Valencia vs Levante

Date: Saturday August 29th

Time: 08:00 pm CEST

Location: Pintar Arena, San Pedro del Pinatar, Murcia

An open letter to Anil Murthy

 As some of you will have seen, Anil Murthy has released a statement on the club's website explaining some of the club's actions.

It deserves a reply, and I've pinged him on Twitter, though without little expectation of acknowledgement. 

========================================== 

First of all, that the club’s president has taken the time to outline some of the club’s thinking is to be welcomed. All too often, due to a lack of communication, supporters have been left in the dark on the club’s motivations. This has led to an atmosphere of mistrust, bred conspiracy theories as to the owner’s real motives and made the fans feel as if they don’t count. The regrettable comments by the owner’s daughter on social media have simply added to this. So in that context, some explanation is appreciated.

To begin with, the statement is accurate in some respects. Valencia before Meriton was poorly managed by local owners. Decisions were made which created considerable problems further down the line. Those led to some of the issues which the club currently faces.

What is problematic is the version of history presented in the statement. The history carefully skips over the first 3 years of Meriton’s ownership. In that period of time a number of mistakes were made which simply deepened the club’s financial and sporting problems.  

Large amounts of money were spent, often blindly, on “prospects.” Often from Portugal and usually from the Jorge Mendes roster. Considerable sums were also spent on players past their best. Much of that was a significant overspend on players who did not work out: 30 million for Alvaro Negredo, 25 million for Enzo Perez, 23 million for Aymen Abdennour,  9.5 million for Aderllan Santos and 9 million for Nani. Only sporting failure prevented a similar mistake to be made in the case of Danilo Barbosa, who the club had planned to buy for 15 million.

For balance, it does need to be acknowledged that there were successes: Andre Gomes and Joao Cancelo, while Rodrigo Moreno has at least proved valuable to the club despite being one of many players with a questionably inflated transfer fee of 28 million. However, it is clear that that strategy was overall not a success and added to the club’s debt issues. Exacerbating this, the club too often put the sporting project into the hands of people with little or no experience of either presiding over a sporting project or managing a top level club in Spain: Chan Lay Hoon, Gary Neville, Pako Ayestaran and Cesare Prandelli to name just some. Their failures undermined the club still further.

Next comes one of the biggest problems with the statement: “In 2017/18, after nearly a decade, the club started paying back the banks. The banks were finally happy. They trusted that this version of Valencia CF would be sustainable. In 2019/20, VCF had by far their greatest ever income in history. The club won a first trophy in 11 years, beating Barcelona in an historic battle in the Copa del Rey.”

It seems strange that the club claims credit for the Copa win. Two previous managers, Marcelino and Gary Neville, have stated that Peter Lim instructed them to get out of the cup as soon as possible. The cup win appears to have come in spite of Meriton, not because of it.

The major problem and what is not mentioned in this statement is why the club managed this high income in 2019/20. What happened between 2017 and then? The answer is simple: the club entrusted the running of the club to professionals. Mateu Alemany was hired to oversee the sporting side. He in turn recommended the hiring of Marcelino as head coach, while Pablo Longoria was given responsibility for scouting. Hiring tested and experienced professionals produced results. The club qualified for the Champions League two years in a row.

The impact of that on the club’s finances were profound. According to UEFA’s accounts, the club received 57.1 million from participation in the Champions League and Europa League for the 2018/19 season. While the accounts for 2019/20 have yet to be published by UEFA, Valencia making the last 16 of the Champions League is worth over 60 million in participation fees and prize money to the club. On top of that, the club benefits from ticket sales, merchandising and sponsorship, all of which would add at least 20 million to those figures. It also made it a more appealing destination for ambitious young players and coaches.

“We must be a serious club. We must be responsible” is a laudable sentiment. However, the actions which Valencia’s owners took in 2019 were anything but serious or responsible. To the astonishment of Valencia fans and the entire football world, they dismantled the sporting structures which had brought success and ended the club’s turmoil and lack of achievement. Showing once again a lack of self-awareness of the mistakes made in the two seasons prior to 2017/18, they yet again entrusted the club to an untested coach who lacked experience of being a club’s head coach anywhere. It's clear that relations between the owner and the previous manager Marcelino had broken down, but why was a more experienced coach not appointed and given part of a pre-season to work with the players? Why wait until after the season had started and just before crunch games in the league and Champions league?

In other words, 2019 represented a return to the flawed model which had been tried several times in 2015 and 2016 and had resulted only in mid-table finishes. Predictably, this led to a failure of the sporting project for 2019/20 and results in renewed financial problems for the club.

“We need to reduce the cost of our team” is true but again, a major reason for that is the poor decisions taken in 2019, which have left the club short of 60-70 million of income from European football. It is also totally unclear to fans how the financial issues can be solved by gifting players with two years of their contract left on free transfers to clubs directly competing with us for European places. Some transfer fee would be expected and would go some way to quelling supporter unease. Furthermore, as replacements for those players, we are now being linked with “prospects” who have never played in the Spanish league, who are represented by Jorge Mendes, and who the club seems willing to gamble 15-20 million on. Basically, this is simply returning to the same mistakes of Meriton’s first three seasons in charge and shows a spectacular failure to learn.

Unfortunately, the President’s statement then contains a number of statements or implications which are either questionable or simply untrue.

“Pushing to have a big stadium and big name players, wining LaLiga and the Champions League at all cost will lead to a repeat of the past. “

As noted previously, the club is already repeating mistakes of the past. However, the implication that Valencia fans are “pushing to win La Liga and the Champions League at all cost” is totally incorrect. The overwhelming majority of Valencia fans realise that, due to the imbalances in club funding within La Liga and other major European leagues, winning either of these top prizes is unachievable until major reforms of how clubs are funded and how TV money is allocated occur.

What fans do expect is the club to make top four at the very least on three seasons out of six, with qualification for the Europa league the other three occasions. Additionally, winning the Copa del Rey or making the final at least twice a decade. The 2017-19 period showed that these are realistic objectives. Ultimately, we want a club that we can have pride in, not an underachieving mid-table team with constant managerial changes and instability. 

Lastly, most fans would take issue with this claim: “We have qualified for Champions League three times in our six seasons here, and won a trophy. It is no less, if not better, than the previous six seasons before we arrived. It is also in line with VCF’s Champions League qualification record throughout the club’s history.”

It’s true that the three Champions league qualifications are exactly the same as the six seasons prior to Meriton, however two of the three seasons in which Valencia failed pre-Meriton did at least have the club in the Europa league. There lies the big problem:

in the 17 seasons prior to Meriton’s takeover, Valencia failed to qualify for Europe just once. In just 6 seasons under Meriton, Valencia have failed to qualify for Europe three times.

In the 17 seasons prior to Meriton, 8^th and 10^th were Valencia’s worst placings. Under Meriton, the club has finished 9^th, 12^th and 12^th.

It may now be too late to win back the fans’ trust. Moves are already underway in several penyas to organise a boycott of the club, which would involve not attending games after the COVID restrictions are lifted and not purchasing merchandise.

If the club wants to avoid that, it needs to stop repeating the same mistakes over and over. The President’s statement is a step in the right direction towards better communication, but a flawed one, since it lacks self-awareness, avoids taking any responsibility and fails to understand that a successful sporting project and stable financial situation are inextricably linked.

Official: Javi Jimenez loaned to Albacete Balompié

The exit operations for Valencia continue with the announcement that Mestalla B defender Javi Jimenez has been loaned to Albacete Balompié for the duration of the 2020-21 season.

Despite having recently renewed his contract with Valencia until 2022, Javi Jimenez was not part of the 31 players summoned by Javi Gracia for the preseason. It seems like he wasn't even given a chance with the new coach. Seeking to get some minutes under his belt, a loan deal was established with Segunda division team Albacete Balompié. Other offers included teams like Castellon and Lugo. 

Official: Dani Parejo signs for Villareal

 Villareal and Valencia have both officially announced the transfer of Dani Parejo to Villareal. This is the second transfer in a row to Villareal with Coquelin's signing announced earlier.

Parejo's contract with Valencia has been rescinded and as such goes to Villareal on a free transfer. The deal will see him play for Villareal for the next three years.

Parejo has been a player that has often divided fans during his 9 years at Valencia. Many point to his contribution from midfield in build-up play as well as goals, scoring 65 goals in 381 games. Commentators and pundits often refer to him as the key player or main man at Valencia before any European games. He helped guide Valencia to their their first trophy in over a decade, with the Copa del Rey victory last season. He also earned himself a short spell with the Spanish National team as a result of his performances.

On the other side, many talk about his inconsistency when discussing his negatives. This has certainly become more prevalent towards the latter half of his time at Valencia. With recent drops in Valencia performance, he would get his fair share of the blame for being nonchalant, slowing down play too much or, even more recently, for squad conflict. His loyalty to the previous coach, Marcelino, has been a big part of that conflict since he made it clear that he disagreed with the decision to sack him. 

A free transfer is outrageous by any stretch of the imagination, especially for a player with 2 years left on his contract, the captain of the club, a central piece in the team and someone who is a capped Spanish International player. 

Regardless of which opinion people hold, his positive contributions to the team are undeniable. At his best, he provided much needed control and level-headedness in midfield. He also deserves a lot of credit for persevering with the club all this time even under constant criticism and blame. He could've left much earlier with offers from Sevilla and Atletico Madrid being reported but ultimately stayed to help the team.

Good luck to Parejo on this new chapter of his career and beyond!

Official: Francis Coquelin Signs for Villareal

Villareal has completed the signing of Francis Coquelin. The news has been made official by both club's through statements on their social media and websites.

The transfer fee was reportedly 6.5 million euros + 2 in potential add-ons depending on performance and objectives. This is around half of the 14 million euros that Valencia paid to purchase the player from Arsenal in 2018.

Coquelin was a excellent player and an exemplar of great work ethic, giving his all every game. He has definitely added to the team during his time here with his defensive ability in midfield and by adapting to various positions to meet the needs of the club. He will most certainly be a great addition to Villareal as well. Good luck to him! 

Keys to the Next Season

The new season for Valencia is set to start on Monday, August 10. That's when new coach Javi Gracia will take hold of the reins of the team and start working with them. As the date approaches, I would like to take some time to go over the keys to the next season's success.

TRANSFER ACTIVITY

Valencia must act quick in the transfer market. With a long list of players on the blacklist and with plans overhaul the entire squad, Valencia cannot afford to wait. In recent seasons we have seen Valencia wait until the last moments of the transfer market before beginning to move. This has caused Valencia to lose many signings to other teams.

With budget being a key issue for the next season, which is partially why so many sales are planned, we could see a scenario in which Valencia cannot secure signings without first getting rid of the players on hand. This seems to be already happening on two levels. Firstly, Diego Liete is reportedly the first signing for the team but the signing will remain on hold until some players are offloaded. Secondly, with only 3 non-EU passports available to the team, the pool of signings for Valencia is restricted. Paulista is on his way to acquiring an EU passport, so this will help take some pressure off. Any time wasted will give other teams opportunities to steal the players.

Finally, Javi Gracia must give his input in terms of both incoming and outgoing transfers. Lim and management have shown they are incapable of making that decision and have refused to hire a sporting director. Javi Gracia is the only one as such that is capable of making the decision from a sporting perspective rather than a purely economic one. 

HEALTH, FITNESS AND INJURIES

This is one that I have seen completely missed in similar articles from other sources. Every player with the exception of 2, have been on the injury list at one point or another for Valencia. With key players unavailable and a lack of effective replacements on the bench, Valencia suffered for long runs in the season.

There has already been movement in this department. Early July, one of Valencia's doctors, Dr.Casany, resigned after losing the confidence of management in the ability to handle injuries, specifically the Guedes injury. Dr. Pedro Mateu took over after. Additionally, several academy doctors and physios have been fired just this week.

A key part in this is also making sure that players who are injury prone are offloaded if possible and any new signings vetted more rigorously in terms of their injury history.

The fitness of some players has also been of question in games. Some players were caught walking or sleeping at crucial points of the game and have cost the team valuable points.

With COVID-19 affecting somewhere between 35-50% of the Valencia squad and recent studies showing that there are long-term/chronic affects even after recovery, the medical department should be equipped to deal with this. They will also have an important role to play to keep the squad and staff safe as the situation continues to evolve.

SQUAD UNITY

The departure of Ferran has aired out a lot of dirty laundry about the squad. These were things that many fans have speculated about from the attitude displayed by various players, and it is only now that confirmation has been given. Salary disputes, contract renewals, egos, loyalty to Marcelino and the resentment from his firing and the alienation/blame of younger players for his departure. How Gracia deals with this will show a lot about his character.

TACTICS

Valencia has been very predictable in games this season. Most teams have been able to read and nullify the Valencia tactics and it isn't very hard to do that. The team is designed, in theory, to play counterattacking football. Soak all the opposition pressure and hit back in explosive counterattacks. However, under Celades this was really missing. The team would get 2 or 3 passes into the counter attack and then pass the ball back at the first sign of an obstacle or challenge from the opposition team. Then the players would get stuck playing this very tame possession football without the ability to do so and struggled in breaking down the opposition defense. The team would then be forced to surrender possession. Closer to the second half of the season, the team decided to just hoof the ball up the field every time they would get stuck in this possession period after a failed counter attack. This almost certainly resulted in giving possession back to the opposition. 

Gracia has to be willing to reward good performance and punish poor performance. A merit based system should be implemented over the favoritism based system we have seen recently. Even if the player is a senior player or is a big name signing, if they are not performing to the required level, they need to negative stimulus to correct the behavior. Once a player has their spot in the team guaranteed despite poor performance, then they start to feel entitled and no motivation or growth occurs. 

Gracia should look to be more flexible in his tactics and formations. The rigid ways of previous coaches has seen Valencia adopt a rather strange loyalty to the 4-4-2 formation in all scenarios regardless of opposition. The positions of players has also been another area where the previous coaches have been rigid. Players like Guedes, Soler and Kang In must be experimented with to find out their ideal position rather than simply adopting their position from previous coaches. 

YOUNG PLAYERS

Ferran warned that care must be taken with other younger players to avoid a scenario similar to his. Him and Kang In were in the same bubble of exclusion so no doubt they have had many conversations with regards to this. There needs to be plenty of opportunity for young players to participate and get some minutes under their belt whether that's for Valencia or on loan with another team. Having the players sit on the bench or in the stands and just grow in resentment. Players that do end up playing for the first team and show promise should very quickly be involved in a renewal process to safeguard from outside interest. Players with 80-100 million euro release clauses should not end up leaving for fractions of that amount. 

DISCIPLINE

Building a squad of young players will require a lot of effort in instilling discipline in the squad. We have seen even senior players over recent seasons show a complete lack of discipline. The basics of the game has been compromised as a result. This can be seen with the sub-par quality in all areas from fitness, passing to shooting, offense and defense, transitions between the two, as well as set pieces. Gracia needs to get the team on the same page and vision of his ideas. There should be no shame or hesitation in taking sessions to work on particular aspects of the game rather than accepting it as fact and continuing to work on more advanced areas of the game. If the basics are lacking, everything that comes after will follow suit.

WIN BACK THE FANS' TRUST

Many fans, including some on here, have lost hope and trust in the management and the club. They see coach after coach being replaced and a few steps back for every step forward. They seen an owner that shows more interest in serving his friends and visiting other clubs than his own. They see a loss of presence and negotiating power of the club in the transfer market for players and coaches. Needless to say, there will be a lot of hesitation about the ability of Javi Gracia to turn things around no doubt. The patience of fans shrinks with each and every coach and that will be a difficult challenge to overcome. However, if the fans do see attractive football, the coach being an individual rather than an "official" or puppet of Lim, and most importantly results, they can be won over and will stand behind him. It's good to see so many fans want to give Gracia a shot despite this hesitation.

Alemany has reportedly made a rather interesting statement recently. He has stated that if Lim was willing to pick up the phone and have a discussion with him, that he could be convinced to return to the club. Despite previous disputes, he claimed that his love for the club leaves enough room for a come back. Unfortunately, Lim's ego will likely mean this will not happen. Murthy certainly would rather retain all powers given to him than concede some or all grounds to Murthy, so he is likely to work against any such movement. If his return can be secured, it will be a very important step forward to winning the fans back and is an opportunity that the club shouldn't miss.

Ferran Torres joins Man City

Well, the news was made official 1 hour ago. The first departure of what could be a long and depressing transfer window. 

Ferran Torres has joined Manchester City. Few eyebrows will be raised at that, as it's only been a matter of time, however the transfer fee for one of the club's biggest talents in years is gutting: 23 million euros, with a paltry 5 million more possible in bonuses. With a year left on his contract and him refusing to negotiate, the club had very little wiggle room. Hopes of a bidding war didn't materialise, with only Manchester City in for him in the end. 

For that pittance, I'd almost have been tempted to keep him and just let him go for free next summer, there's very little we'd be able to buy with 23 million.

Valencia appoint Javi Gracia

Valencia have just made official the appointment of Javi Gracia, who signed a two-year contract.

The question is, will he be able to see out the two years? Let's start with the positives. Gracia is Spanish and has extensive experience both in La Liga and abroad and therefore speaks Spanish and English as well as basic Russian. He's not a Celades-type, fumbling his way round for the first time in club management.

Gracia's time in management goes back to 2004. He started with Villarreal youth and then lower division sides before spending a year in Greece. On returning, he was able to get Almeria promoted to the top flight, managed relegation strugglers Osasuna, then helped Malaga to eighth and ninth. He then ended up abroad again, having an underwhelming time at Rubin Kazan before moving to England to manage Watford who had fallen from fourth to tenth under his predecessor. Though he was unable to substantially improve results, with the team finishing 14th, the club saw enough to stick with him and the second season was a good one, with the club finishing 11th, their highest ever Premier league finish, and reaching their first cup final in 35 years, where they were crushed by Man City. After a slow start to the 2019-20 season, the trigger happy owners of Watford fired him, replacing him by Quique Sanchez Flores, who would be sacked at the start of the year, with his replacement Pearson also sacked before the season's end, none of which helped as Watford were relegated. At least Gracia has experience of working under erratic owners.

In terms of playing style, he generally goes for 4-4-2, often based around a double pivot, and with, at times, inverted wingers, meaning that the style often resembles 4-2-2-2. His teams were known for defensive solidity and low possession, often with two banks of four. Late in his time at Osasuna, fans turned against him, finding the playing style boring. Sound familiar? That said, he's been known to mix it up at times, also playing a 4-3-3, 4-2-3-1 and a back three. At Watford his teams thrived on soaking up pressure and hitting on the counter.

Ultimately, I find it an underwhelming, but not surprising choice. The foolishness of the club's choices in the 2019-20 season means that top managers were not exactly queueing up outside Mestalla. He's one of the better choices from a limited field and does at least bring experience, including that of managing on a tighter budget. I'm not overly optimistic about this one. He strikes me as being a manager more for a plucky underdog team battling to make the top half, not a team like Valencia, but let's see how he does.

Guillamon renews until 2023

Finally, after the doom and gloom of late, we have some very good news, first mentioned in the comments by our contributor Kuku.

Hugo Guillamon has signed a 3-year contract extension, until 30 June 2023.

His release clause is set at 80 million euros. Guillamon, of course, broke into the first team after the restart in a position where Valencia were badly in need of players with Garay leaving and Mangala and Diakhaby proving error-prone. It's a much needed boost to the back line, as he was out of contract and Villarreal were reported to be interested.

Meanwhile, the search for the new coach rumbles on. After the resignation of the previous sporting director, chief scout Miguel Angel Corona is now taking a more prominent role. A rumour on Twitter (here) is that he has proposed the options of Bordalas and Javi Gracia to Lim, with Ruben Baraja as a plan C. Mendes, in contrast, has proposed the options of Laurent Blanc and Leonardo Jardim. Of those, I'd probably go for Jardim, as he has good international experience, has worked well with young players and generally favours a more attacking style.

However, the way of doing it just shows the problems with the club. Why is Lim taking such a prominent role at all? Has he consistently demonstrated his footballing acumen? Obviously not. On the contrary, it seems that what he knows about football management could be written on the back of a postage stamp. In other clubs there would be a competent sporting director who makes this choice and then the owner simply rubber stamps it. Of course, Valencia being Valencia, we don't even have a sporting director. The involvement of Mendes is also worrisome. While Jardim interests me, there would be the suspicion that he would just be Mendes' inside man, so that Mendes could use the club as a shop window for his prospects, most of whom seem to come from his c-list rather than his top table. It is expected that the new manager will be appointed by next week, possibly Monday, as the club will return to training on 10 August.

La Liga Matchday #38: Sevilla FC 1 - 0 Valencia CF Match Thread

The final game of a season that couldn't possibly end fast enough for some Valencia fans. This was supposed to be the decider game on which of these two rivals would take the 4th spot and qualify for the Champions League. Unfortunately, only Sevilla managed to make it to the end of the path. They have already qualified for the Champions League, while Valencia play this game with the hope that they might qualify to the Europa League. A win here is not enough though, results from the Real Sociedad and Getafe games have to go in Valencia's favor as well.

The news since the last matchday has been a continuation of the discussion on who the next Valencia coach will be. Sources say that Lim could decide on Monday at the earliest and by the end of the week at the latest. The most discussed names have been Bordalas, Javi Garcia and Ruben Baraja, with names like Laurent Blanc, Valverde and Emery all fading away. It remains to be seen what Lim will do.

Sevilla arrive at this game with qualification secured. They are already looking ahead to their second leg Round of 16 of their Europa League fixture against Roma no doubt. In their last match day they played out a 1-1 away draw to Real Sociedad.

Valencia's last game was their final one at Mestalla for the season. They beat an already-relegated Espanyol side by a narrow 1-0 margin thanks to a goal from Gamerio that was set up with a brilliant Ferran through ball.

FORM ***all competitions

Sevilla: DWWWW
Valencia: WLWDL

SQUAD

Gaya and Rodrigo's absence continues as they work to recover from their injuries.

Costa will miss this game due suspension after he picked up a red card against Espanyol. This will mean that youngster Guerrero will be the likely starter.

Diakhaby will also miss this game with a suspension from accumulation of yellow cards, meaning Javi Jimenez gets another call up.

Esquerdo and Koba Lein are called up from the youth team to complete the squad numbers caused by absences.

Going the other way, Manu Vallejo has recovered and is available for selection.

Bench: Cillissen, Thierry, Guillamon, Jimenez, Guerrero, Kondogbia, Soler, Kang In, Esquerdo, Koba Lein, Vallejo, Sobrino


FIRST HALF

5' - Coquelin forces the opposing left-back into a rushed clearance which falls straight to Guedes with space ahead of him. He takes a few touches forward and fires from distances but Bono sees it all the way and parries.
15' - Jesus Navas wins back the ball at the edge of the Valencia box. Joan Jordan finds Navas again in the wide position who then plays the ball into the box to Oliver Torres. The youngster takes a touch and shoots at a narrow angle, forcing the save from Jaume nonetheless.
22 ' - Early substitution for Valencia, Guedes is subbed off after picking up an injury. Good thing this is the last game of the season. Unfortunate if he has to suffer another long-term injury. Soler is his replacement.
23' - Sevilla play the ball between themselves on the right flank before releasing a ball over the defense to Ocampos who acrobatically strikes at the ball and gets it on target. Jaume can save easily from such a tight angle.
28' - Diego Carlos with a long ball over the Valencia defense for Munir to run onto. He gets into the Valencia box but can only hit the side netting.
38' - Parejo's free kick is on target and caused some trouble for the keeper due to the bounce just before it made it to him. He manages to avert the danger and play goes to a corner.
45' - Five minutes are added by the referee for stoppages

SECOND HALF

47' - Reguilon tests Wass and is allowed quite a bit of space. He fakes that he is going for the run and instead picks out an incisive pass between Wass and Ferran to find Munir in the box. Munir's shot hits the far post and deflects away from goal towards Soler who clears. That was close.
52' - Yellow card shown to Carlos Soler for tripping Oliver Torres in a tactical foul after the player had pulled away from him.
55' - Goal for Sevilla. 1-0. Oliver Torres and Gudelj exchange passes on the left before Torres plays a ball for Reguilon to run onto. It seems like it's going out and Parejo watches it on its way, however, Reguilon perseveres in his run and puts in a sliding challenge to keep it in. He takes it past Parjeo near the goal line, gets past Wass as well sending him to the ground. Parejo is busy claiming the foul against Wass and Reguilon doesn't wait, he takes a touch to open up the angle at goal and blasts it into the top right corner. Really sloppy defensive work from Parejo and Wass.
71' -  Two changes in quick succession from each team. For Valencia, Maxi Gomez and Ferran Torres come off to be replaced by Sobrino and Kang-In Lee. For Sevilla, de Jong and Munir are replaced by Suso and En-Nesyri.
79' - Sevilla take off Oliver Torres and bring on Franco Vazquez in his place
82' - Final set of changes from Voro. Coquelin and Wass off, Kondogbia and Correia on.
83' - Parejo spreads play out wide for Correia on the right. He draws the attention of the opposing left-back and finds Gameiro's run behind the defender with a good pass. Gameiro drives the ball into the box and takes aim at the far post but his shot fizzles past the post.
84' - Jaume's clearance is blocked by En-Nesyri who heads the ball down to Suso. Suso takes a touch past Kondogbia causing him to lose his balance, and then another one to set himself up for the shot which is on the wrong side of the post.
85' - Final change for Sevilla. Lucas Ocampos is subbed off and Sergi Gomez takes his place.
90' - Five minutes of additional time signaled by the fourth official.
90+3' - Kondogbia receives the ball from Parejo and tries a shot from distance but its wide.
90+5' - Florenzi attempts a cross for Mangala but the keeper sithere to it first.


FULL-TIME

Hardly surprising based on recent results. The most surprising part was that they didn't lose by more. The team struggled against two relegation sides in their previous two games and now against a rival that has nothing more to play for this season.

Sevilla's goal sums up this game. One player had more spirit in him to fight for a lost ball while two Valencia players watched and tried to get the referee to intervene instead of doing so themselves. Parejo was never someone you would want defending in your own penalty box and he showed everyone why again today.

Valencia's only chance at the Europa League was if they got the win and all three points. They couldn't do that but even they could, they would be level on points with Granada and Real Sociedad in 6th place. The tie breaker is head-to-head matches where Valencia would beat Granada but lose to Real Sociedad, meaning Sociedad would qualify. However, depending on the Copa del Rey results, if Sociedad were to win, Valencia would've got the additional spot. Lot of if's but it's too late for that now.

Full-time stats. 12-6 shots, 3-2 shots on target, 61-39 %possession.

With the season over the owner has to take a hard look on how to rebuild this team. Learn from the mistakes of the past and stop trying the same thing over and over expecting different results, it won't happen and is just a fool's strategy. With no European competitions to partake in next season, it is the perfect time to rebuild and properly this time. No band-aids, no shortcuts. The hard way. The new coach has to be someone who can take this task and a proven record that has credibility with the players and allows them to get behind his ideas. That is the most important step. Next, he has to be involved in weeding out the players and having a say in the signings for next season. If these decisions are only evaluated from a business lens, the team will continue to suffer.

All that is the least that can be done for the fans that stuck with the team throughout the season. And for those that didn't, that would be a step to win them back.

Thank you everyone for keeping up with the posts throughout the season. Between us in the writers team, we managed to cover every game this season.and your comments under each thread were definitely something we look forward to reading. Stay tuned for more posts reviewing the season and player performance, keeping you up to date with transfer activity and preparations for the next season. Amunt!

La Liga Matchday #37: Valencia CF 1 - 0 RCD Espanyol Match Thread

The penultimate game of the season and the last one at Mestalla. This would usually be a time in which teams would be fighting tooth and nail and mustering up every last bit of willpower and strength to achieve their goals. For these two teams here, Valencia and Espanyol, the season is over though. Valencia cannot practically qualify for either European competition while Espanyol are seeing out their last 2 games before bidding farewell to the first division as they cannot escape relegation in the time remaining. Nothing left to fight for and everything positive will only be a consolation prize.

Who will occupy the bench of Valencia for the coming season(s)? That has been the question that the media has been covering. Around three days ago, the talk was all about Laurent Blanc. This week it's learning more towards Bordalas.

Valencia come into the game following one of the most miserable games of the season. They played another relegation side, Leganes, away from home and went down 1-0 at half-time due to a penalty conceded. The home side were barely troubled. In the second half, Valencia got gift after gift. Leganes were reduced to 10-men via red card, Valencia were awarded a penalty and Leganes parked the bus, conceding all possession to Valencia. The home team made entirely defensive subs while Valencia brought on all the artillery they could off the bench. Yet still, the man advantage wasn't made use of, the penalty that was awarded was missed, and despite all the possession and firepower on the field Leganes would not concede. They would walk away with all 3 points.

Espanyol welcomed Eibar to their home grounds in the previous matchday. Despite having an equal amount of chances and over 70% of the possession in the game, they suffered a 0-2 defeat with both Eibar goals coming in the first half; one from open play and one a penalty.

The previous encounter between Valencia and Espanyol in La Liga ended in a 1-2 win for Valencia away from home. Espanyol would take the lead from a penalty due to a Diakhaby handball. Valencia evened out the game with a Parejo penalty after Rodrigo was taken down in the penalty box. Maxi Gomez scored the winner, meeting Rodrigo's cross to the near post with a header past the Espanyol keeper in the 80th minute.

FORM ***all competitions

Valencia: LWDLL
Espanyol: LLLLL

SQUAD

Gaya and Rodrigo are still in the process of recovery and miss the game. Manu Vallejo spent the last 3 days in the hospital and will miss this game as well. Esquerdo has been called from the youth team to complete the numbers.

Bench: Domenech, Mangala, Paulista, Wass, Florenzi, Guerrero, Parejo, Cheryshev, Coquelin, Esquerdo, Sobrino, Maxi Gomez

Starting XI looks very different. Mostly young players with Kondogbia, Costa, Cillissen, and Gameiro for experience. Thierry and Guillamon finally get their start under Voro. Parejo also finally gets rested.


FIRST HALF


17' - Goal for Valencia. 1-0! Ferrran Torres puts in a fantastic through ball behind the defenders for Gameiro to run onto. He gets into the box with the two center backs on his heels but he manages to slot it past the keeper at the near post.
36' - Fantastic save by Cillissen to deny a dangerous change from Espanyol. Didac Vila had put in a great cross for Raul de Tomas but Cillissen denied him the goal. Saves like these are the equivalent of goals.
39' - Yellow card shown to Pipa for dangerous play.
45' - Three minutes of stoppage time added by the referee.


SECOND HALF

59' - Yellow card shown to Diakhaby for tripping Raul de Tomas.
63' - First change for both teams. Valencia replace Kang-In with Coquelin while Espanyol replace Marc Roca with Oscar Melando.
66' - Yellow card shown to Raul de Tomas for a push on Kondogbia
69' - Yellow card shown to Didac Vila for a rough challenge on Kondogbia
71' - Single change for Espanyol. Raul de Tomas is replaced by Compuzano. Double change for Valencia. Correia and Ferran are taken off, Florenzi and Cheryshev are brought on.
77' - Final set of changes for Valencia. Diakhby and Gameiro make way for Paulista and Maxi Gomez.
80' - Yellow card shown to Coquelin for a tactical foul to stop the advancing Espanyol player
81' - Yellow card shown to Bernardo for a rough challenge on Maxi Gomez
85' - Espanyol are really going for it with a triple change. Sergi Darder, Lei Wu and Bernardo are replaced by Ribaudo, Lozano and Vargas.
90' - Yellow card shown to Jaume Costa for a lunging challenge on Pipa as he was about to get into the penalty box. VAR review the footage and calls the referee to check. The yellow card is overruled and a red card is shown instead. Valencia down to 10-men. The replay shows that he had his studs up and made contact with the calf of Pipa. Dangerous challenge.

FULL TIME

Narrow win against the last place team in the league. Voro made a lot of rotations and changes from previous games, fielding a team composed largely of younger players. Still with these changes it wasn't enough for a convincing performance against Espanyol. However, there is plenty of room to grow and work with this young team, a lot of which don't have many minutes playing with each other, in the positions they did today or minutes at all in general.

Full-time stats 6-15 shots, 3-6 shots on target, 52-38% possession.

With Real Sociedad, Getafe and Villareal all dropping points this matchday, Valencia is still mathematically in contention for a Europa League spot. Depending on the results of the next and final matchday of the season, as well as the final of the Copa del Rey, the teams who qualify will be determined.

For Valencia, the final match of the season is away to Sevilla on Sunday, July 19.

La Liga Matchday #36: CD Leganes 1 - 0 Valencia CF Match Thread

Three games from the end of the season. With some rivals having challenging games this matchday, Valencia should look to finally capitalize on this opportunity after wasting so many earlier in the season.

The rumor mill in Valencia this week mostly continued their speculation on who the new coach would be. There was also discussion on Guillamon and how strange it was that he stopped featuring in the team under Voro despite the coach giving all but one (Correia) of the other players some game time. Maybe this will change this game, who knows.

Leganes played out a 0-0 away draw against Eibar in their previous La Liga fixture. It was a pretty even game where there was one shot on target between both teams and it went to Eibar.

Valencia managed to secure their first win under Voro in a home game against Real Valladolid which finished 2-1. The team's first goal came in the first half after a great team play to win the ball back in the opposition half and a series of quick passes that ended in a squared ball for Maxi Gomez to finish. Valladolid would equalize a couple of minutes after the half-time restart, with a deflected cross into the penalty box being controlled by Victor Garcia before he quickly turned away from Diakhaby and beat Cillissen. Kang In Lee would take all 3 points for Valencia with fantastic shot from the edge of the penalty area.

The game earlier in the season between these two teams at Mestalla ended 1-1. Dani Parejo's first-half penalty goal was cancelled out by Leganes in the same half. A fortunate deflection off a Leganes player had fell into the path of Oscar Rodriguez in the penalty box where he managed to beat Cillissen at the near post.

Leganes are currently fighting relegation at second to last place in the league with 29 points. Valencia are in 8th position, 3 points away from Getafe and the Europa League places.

FORM (***all competitions)

Leganes: DWLLD
Valencia: WDLLL

SQUAD

More rotations from Voro, as Domenech starts over Cillissen, Costa starts over Guerrero and, both Kondogbia and Coquelin are in the same lineup. Coquelin has played on the right-side of midfield before but this could very well also be an experimental change in formation.

Bench: Cillissen, Thierry, Mangala, Florenzi, Guillamon, Guerrero, Soler, Cheryshev, Kang In, Ferran, Vallejo, Sobrino

FIRST HALF

5' - It looks like the formation for Valencia is still a 4-4-2 with Coquelin playing on the right flank.
7' - Guedes find himself unmarked in the opposition half and strikes at goal from distance, hitting the target and rattling the cross bar. It's good to see a diversification of the types of efforts on goal.
8' - Yellow card shown to Daniel Wass for a late challenge on Jonathan Silva.
15' - Penalty awarded to Leganes after Kondogbia's trailing hand made contact contact with the ball as it bounced off the head of the Leganes player.
17' - Goal for Leganes. 1-0. Ruben Perez scores from the penalty, just rolling it into the net as Jaume dives the wrong way.
23' - First substitution for Leganes. The injured Kevin Rodrigues is replaced by Bryan Gil.
26' - Free kick is well delivered by Parejo into the opposition penalty area and onto the head of Diakhaby. He nods it back across the face of goal, the keeper gets a touch, there is a bit of pinball between them and the Valencia players before the ball is finally cleared.
45' - Three minutes of injury time added by the referee.

HALF-TIME

Not that the half the Valencia would have wanted. Despite having the majority of possession in the half, the team still finds themselves behind on goals as well as total shots for that matter.

Valencia would cause some worry for Legans in the opening 10 minutes as Guedes struck a shot from distance that hit the cross bar. That was the closest that Valencia got to scoring.

At around the 15 minute mark, Valencia gifted the opposition a penalty after Kondogbia handled the ball. That was the only shot on target for Leganes and the goal that separates the two teams in this half. Valencia would not look like they were going to score for the remainder of the half.

With Coquelin occupying the right flank for this game, most of the attacks went through Guedes on the left. This made Valencia very predictable and easy to defend for Leganes. As soon as Guedes so much as touches the ball he gets taken out by his marker and the play shuts down.

Valencia has overall played very lethargic as the ball movement is very slow. This further adds to the predictability of the team and nullifies danger as Leganes defenders have plenty of time to get back and reorganize.

Voro's substitutions in the second half have usually had a positive impact on the team. Changes are definitely needed based on the performance of this half.

Half-time stats. 5-3 shots; 1-1 shots on target; 38-62% possession.

SECOND HALF

45' - First change for Valencia. Kondogbia is replaced by Ferran Torres. Coquelin moves to a central position as a result of this change.
46' - Diakhaby plays a ball over the defense to Ferran Torres who manages to beat the keeper, however he was in an offside position. The goal is ruled out.
52' - Yellow card shown Jonathan Silva for handling and kick Ferran Torres in an attempt to stop his run. VAR reviews the decision and calls the referee's attention to the challenge again. The yellow card is replaced with a straight red and Leganes is down to 10 men. Replay shows that he had made contact with Ferran's calf with his studs up.
56' - Parejo picks out Jaume Costa in the penalty box who then manages to get a shot on target but it's hit directly at the keeper. Easy save.
57 ' - Another VAR check for a handball by Tarin in the penalty box. It is a clear handling of the ball and a deserved penalty. Leganes falling apart over the last 5 minutes. Parejo steps up to take it.
59' - The penalty is saved. Cuellar guesses correctly and smothers Parejo's shot.
61' - Second change for Leganes. Roque Mesa replaces Guerrero. A defensive change as Leganes is left with no striker on the field.
63' - Jaume Costa plays a fantastic cross into the box and Ferran Torres gets on the end of it. The header is over the cross bar though. That needs to hit the target at least.
64' - Double substitution for Valencia. Cheryshev replaces Jaume Costa. Florenzi replaces Wass.
69' - Yellow card shown to Roque Mesa for forcefully stopping the run of Guedes. Free kick in a good position for Valencia.
70' - Parejo hits the target from the free kick, curling it towards the far post and forcing a save from the keeper.
73' - Another change in personnel for Valencia. Paulista off, Kang In on. Interesting to see how the players lineup with this change.
78' - Cheryshev gets past his defender and plays a cross to the opposite flank where Florenzi sends the ball across the face of goal. Gameiro slides in to get a touch but it is just out of reach. All it needed was a touch and it would've been a goal.
79' - Yellow card shown to Aitual Ruibal for a tackle from behind on Diakhaby. Red card shown to one of the Leganes staff for dissent against the referee.
85' - Double change for Leganes. Siovas and Gill are replaced by Recio and Aviles. Valencia's final change is Sobrino for Gameiro.
90' - Seven minutes added by the referee for injuries and stoppages.
90+2' - Yellow card shown to Awaziem for time wasting.
90+3' - Yellow card shown to Recio for a scuffle with Parejo.

FULL-TIME

Far from the level required for the Champions League or the Europa League for that matter. The result today is the best indicator of that and pretty much seals Valencia's fate outside of the two European competitions.

After a poor first half, Valencia was given the upper hand for almost the entirety of the second half as Jonathan Silva was shown a red card, leaving Leganes with 10 men.

Further after, Valencia would be given a penalty would be awarded to Valencia for a Leganes a handball. Parejo could not convert the effort to a goal with the keeper guessing the right way. That was Parejo's first miss in his last 6 penalties.

Leganes would make defensive change after change while Valencia would make one offensive change after the other. They would have significantly more shots and a lot on target.

On top of all that, many Leganes players were yellow carded and had to play cautiously to avoid further red cards. Despite that, Valencia could not find the goal. How? Who knows. All this against a team fighting relegation.

Valencia is known to struggle against team's that park the bus and Leganes did that for the entire second half with all their players behind the ball. This proved the case once more, with Valencia having no answers to the tight defense of Leganes.

Full-time stats. 6-13 shots, 1-5 shots on target, 34-66% possession.

Next game for Valencia at home to Espanyol on Thusrday July 16.

La Liga Matchday #35: Valencia CF 2 - 1 Real Valladolid SAD Match Thread

Valencia return to Mestalla to face against Real Valladolid for matchday 35 of La Liga. The players and management have changed their words to align with reality and have been talking about Europa League being the season's objective. This was even happening before the last game despite the Champions League being mathematically possible. There is still debate as to whether or not that's worth it. Regardless, the team had quite a bit of work to do to achieve even that goal.

The past three days have featured rumors of who the next coach for Valencia could be. Names included Ernesto Valverde, Mauricio Pochettino, Massimilliano Allegri, Marco Silva and Laurent Blanc.

There was also news that Kang In has specifically asked to leave the club as he feels that he will never get the minutes he wants. Voro did feature players like Mangala, Sobrino and Vallejo which were out of favor for previous coaches, so it will be interesting to see if he gives Kang In a chance as well. Correia is another player desperate for minutes.

Valencia come into this game on the back of a 2-2 away draw at Granada. While Valencia were lucky to come away with a draw based on the chances that Granada had, the team did show improvement from the previous game in one key area: they got chances in front of goal and converted them. Not many chances, but they ended up in the back of the net. This was an area the team struggled with all season. The goals came from two players who needed a confidence boost. Vallejo scored after some perseverance from Cheryshev in finding him with a great pass, cancelling out the Granada lead quickly. Guedes would get Valencia in front with a beautifully struck shot from outside the penalty area. Unfortunately, the defense had a lapse to both allow a free kick and leave enough of a gap for the shot to pass through onto goal.

Real Valladolid played out a very tight game against Alaves at home. The game was even on almost every metric and the scoreline reflected that up until the 88th minute when Joaquin Moreno managed to put the home team in front, leaving the away team no time to respond.

The first fixture between these two teams in La Liga was in December with the game ending 1-1. With the game remaining scoreless for 82 minutes, Real Vallodolid found the goal in the 83 minute. Valencia would find the equalizer late in injury time as Ferran plays the ball across the face of goal where Manu Vallejo tapped the ball into an empty net.

***FORM (all competitions)

Valencia: DLLLW

Real Valladolid: WDDDL

SQUAD

The positive news in terms of personnel is the return of Ferran Torres after missing last game due to injury. Additionally, there was worry that Jaume Costa picked up an injury against Granada as he was subbed off in half time for Guerrero. However, those worries were alleviated and he is included in the squad list for this match.

Bench: Domenech, Thierry, Costa, Mangaka, Wass, Guillamon, Cheryshev, Ferran, Coquelin, Vallejo, Sobrino

FIRST HALF

30' - GOAL VALENCIA! 1-0! Good pressure from Valencia to win the ball back in the opposition half. Guedes carries the ball forward through the middle and picks out the run of Gameiro on the right. Gameiro looks up and plays a ball between the defenders legs, across the face of goal where Maxi Gomez pokes it past the keeper.
45' - Four minutes of injury time added by the referee

SECOND HALF 

46' - Substitution for Valladolid. Ruben Alcaraz comes on for Federico Emeterio.
47' - Goal for Real Valladolid. 1-1.  A cross from Valladolid is deflected by Soler and falls fortunately to their strikers in the penalty box. Victor Garcia has his back to goal with Diakhaby pressuring him. He turns quickly and fires at the far post, beating Cillissen.
59' - Triple substitution for Valladolid. Enes Unal, Ben Arfa, and Victor Garcia are replaced by Sergi Guardiola, Pablo Hervias and Sandro.
64' - First changes in personnel for Valencia. Kang In Lee replaces Carlos Soler, Manu Vallejo replaces Gameiro and Coquelin replaces Parejo.
71' - Yellow card shown to Adrian Guerrero for a rough foul on Pablo Hervias
75' - Yellow card shown to Kondogbia for tripping Sergi Guardiola
83' - Double change for Valencia. Wass comes on for Florenzi and Cheryshev replaces Guerrero (strangely).
84' - Final change for Valladolid. Kiko Perez off, Javi Sanchez on.
88' - GOAL VALENCIA! 2-1! Kondogbia and Guedes play a one-two on the right flank before laying it off for Kang In right at the edge of the box. Kang In takes a few touch inside and fires at the near post, his shot masked from the keeper by the defender marking him and the ball sneaks just inside the post. He took a risk at a critical time and it paid off.
90' - Five minutes of injury time added by the referee
90+2' - Yellow card shown to Guedes for a a heavy challenge on Kiko

FULL-TIME

First a loss (although could've been worse), then just barely scraping a draw (although could've been worse) and finally a narrow win (although could've been worse). This has been the team's performance after Celades left. The improvement is coming in small intervals but it's there. Let's hope the next game carries this momentum forward.

The results keep improving under Voro. First off, the team had shots and most of them were on target, That's a very important step forward. The flip side of that still remains in that Valladolid were allowed the same number of shots and similar number on target despite seeing less of the ball.

Once again, a substitution made by Voro had the intended effect on the game and resulted in a positive outcome for the team. Kang In was given some play time as predicted in the preview to this game, following the pattern of Voro giving more bench players chances in previous games.

The first goal for Valencia was a very team-spirited goal. They pressured together to win the ball and then strung together quick passes to counter-attack and give Maxi Gomez the chance to score.

The goal for Valladolid was a combination of a failure to close down both the player delivering the cross (marked by Soler) as well as Victor Garcia in the penalty area (marked by Diakhaby), and a good piece of individual skill by Garcia.

Valencia's winning goal also involved some combination play between Kondogbia and Guedes to bring the ball forward. However, Kang In took on responsibility himself to set up a good angle and squeeze the ball past the keeper. masked by his marker.

Full-time stats. 8-8 shots, 5-5 shots on target, 57-43% possession.

Next game is on Sunday July 12th away to Leganes.

La Liga Matchday #34: Granada CF 2- 2 Valencia CF Match Thread

Five games remaining for Valencia to rescue the situation and achieve their goal of Champions League qualification. Phrases often heard from the club are "one game at a time" and "every game is a final for us". These were used so much to the point where they don't mean anything anymore, especially since the actions that follow contradict these words.

More words that came this week were from owner Peter Lim's family with regards to the discontent of the fans at the club. His daughter made a short statement along the lines of 'Valencia is ours and we can do whatever we want with it'. At a time where tension is high, statements like these only add to the tension and come off as combative and irresponsible.

Peter Lim's son, on the other hand, wrote a more thought out message in which he communicated sentiments of understanding and empathy with what the fans were thinking and tried to unite under a common goal of the better of Valencia CF. He also explained his father's absence from the scene and from football matches, pointing to his age (66). He says that as his father approaches 70, he cannot make these long trips frequently.

While the statement was a lot more responsible and aimed at de-escalation, in contrast with his sister's message, it still seemed to avoid taking responsibility. There are also parts that don't add up. The spirit of working together for a common goal is nice and all, but it cannot be taken seriously be a management that has demonstrated an inability to work with or negotiate. Whether that be player contracts, coaching decisions or with regards to the stadium. Also, it should be said that the few times Lim has visited Valencia, it was a stopover or detour on his way to Manchester or Paris or some other place. It communicates a lack of interest in the affairs of the club and makes it seem like Valencia isn't a top priority. Now that this was addressed, fans can only hope that this time real change comes and it's not just empty words. Now back to the match.

Granada played out a 0-2 away win against Alaves in their previous fixture. Despite having the lesser portion of possession and chances, they still managed to walk way with a win and a clean sheet. Antonin and Soldado were the two scorers for Granada, scoring mid-way into the first half and in the first few minutes of the second respectively. Soldado will look to make a statement against his former side this game, as Alcacer did recently.

Valencia, on the other hand, suffered a 0-2 home defeat against Athletic Bilbao. It was the first defeat at Mestalla this season. Both goals for Bilbao came from Raul Garcia and were the result of poor passes from the Valencia players. Twelve minutes into the game, Kondogbia's pass was intercepted and quick passes to a wide position followed by a squared ball to Raul Garcia saw Valencia go 0-1. Jaume Costa's pass out from the back in the first few minutes of the second half would also get intercepted and 2-3 passes found Raul Garcia at the edge of the penalty area. He took a touch and shot from distance and managed to beat Cillissen. Valencia would come into the game and take over for the rest of the game with the vast majority of chances going there way. Despite that, as well as changes in personal and strategy from interim coach Voro, the team could not finish despite the quality of chances. Maxi Gomez and Rodrigo were both off their game in front of goal and it wasn't to be.

Valencia beat Granada 2-0 in the earlier match between these two teams at Mestalla. Wass scored the first goal for Valencia late into the second half, being first to react after Maxi Gomez scuffed the delivery from Gameiro's cross. Ferran would score the second, 8 minutes into injury time, capping off a solo run that exploited the space that was left behind by the Granada players in their attempt to equalize.

FORM ***all competitions

Granada: WLDLD
Valencia: LLLWL

SQUAD

Rodrigo has picked up an injury (partial tear in the outside collateral ligament of his right knee) during the last game that will see him miss the rest of the season with the expected recovery time being approximate 1.5 months. Rodrigo has been Valencia's main source of goal since the return of the league. Valencia will have to explore other options such as using Gameiro, Vallejo or Sobrino to fill the void. Additionally, Ferran and Guedes have also played there for Valencia in the past, there are plenty of options.

Ferran suffers from a discomfort in his inner right thigh so he's out of the squad list. There is no estimate yet on how long his absence will be.

Gaya will miss this game also as he recovers from his injury that had him miss the last game as well. Should be about a week or so until he is expected back.

Esquerdo and Adrià Guerrero (left-back) join the first team in this squad list.

Starting XI features many changes. Costa continues to cover for Gaya's absence. Mangala rejoins Paulista in the center of defense, ahead of both Guillamon and Diakhaby. Wass is chosen over Florenzi. Cheryshev and Soler will play the two wide positions after proving useful last game as substitutes. Vallejo takes the place of Rodrigo in attack. Gameiro starts instead of Maxi Gomez.

Bench: Domenech, Thierry, Diakhaby, Florenzi, Guillamon, Guerrero, Kondogbia, Guedes, Kang In, Esquerdo, Maxi Gomez, Sobrino

FIRST HALF

14' - Parejo with a mistake that could've cost Valencia a goal. Thankfully, Daniel Wass is there to clean up.
27' - Different free kick play from Valencia. Parejo plays it short to Wass who puts in the cross first time to Mangala. Unfortunately, he is penalized for a foul and the play goes to waste.
35' - VAR check for a potential handball by Mangala. The decision goes Valencia's way and the penalty is not given.
39' - Carlos Neva puts in a cross to the near post to find the run of Carlos Fernandez. Cillissen produces a great save to deny a very good chance for Granada.
43' - A crossfield ball to the Valecnai penalty area is controlled by Soldado under pressure from Mangala. Soldado manages to win himself some space and get a shot across the face of goal. The ball goes wide.
45' - Three minutes of time added for stoppages.
45+1' - Yellow card shown to Foulquier for a take-downon Vallejo who had dribbled past a few of the Granada players.
45+2' - Parejo plays a ball into space for Gameiro to run onto on the right flank. He manages to square the ball across and almost finds Vallejo but the keeper gets there first.

HALF-TIME

Quite an underwhelming half. Many of the most potent players for Valencia started on the bench or are injured. The ones that have played haven't troubled the Granada goal too much. In fact, yet again Valencia have failed to produce a shot, let alone a shot on target, in this half.

Granada had all of the chances in the half and caused the bigger threat in general. A save from Cillissen as well as some key tackles from Wass and Paulista have helped keep the score level thus far.

Valencia's most dangerous chance came from a Gameiro cross in the final minutes of the game, intended for Vallejo. Unfortunately, Granada got to the ball first to deny the chance.

Half-time stats. 4-0 shots, 1-0 shots on target, 54-46 %possession.

SECOND HALF

45' - First substitution for Valencia. Jaume Costa is replaced by Adrià Guerrero
48' - Good chances for Granada. Cillissen commits himself to deal with the corner delivery. He gets a hand to it but Soldado gets his header on the ball and sends it towards the center. With Cillissen out of position, Domingos gets a header and hits the post. The offside flag goes up. It wouldn't have counted regardless.
54' - Machis opens up the Valencia defense with a through ball to Soldado. He strikes at goal but it's way too high.
58' - A through ball from Granada is poorly dealt with due to miscommunication between Wass and Cillissen. The Granada player carrying the ball back into the box is taken down by Coquelin and a penalty is awarded. VAR checks the decision. The penalty stands.
60' - Goal for Granada. 1-0. The penalty from Carlos Fernandez is converted, sending Cillissen the wrong way.
62' - GOAL VALENCIA! 1-1! Manu Vallejo with the equalizer, getting his second goal of the season. Cheryshev puts in a a great through ball under pressure, taking out three defenders. Vallejo, completely through on goal, quickly rolls the ball past the frozen keeper.
65' - Double change for Valencia. Vallejo and Cheryshev are replaced by Maxi Gomez and Guedes.
66' - Granada with a single change. Eteki is replaced by Vico.
68' - GOAL VALENCIA! 1-2! The corner delivery from Parejo is headed away. The ball falls to Paulista who passes back to Guedes who was waiting outside the penalty area. He hits it first time, smashing the ball into the top right corner of the net. This is the level fans expect from Guedes.
70' - Second change for Granada. Victor Diaz Miguel is taken off and Antonio Puertas is introduced.
72' - A well executed counter attack for Valencia end with a cross from Soler to Gameiro who made a run between the center backs. Gameiro goes clear through on goal and shoots it straight at the keeper. He really needs to finish from such a good position.
73' - A cross from Granada is headed down by Fernandez to Soldado. He takes a touch inside the penalty area and fires at goal from the volley but Cillissen is equal to it.
80' - Substitution for Valencia. Sobrino replaces Kevin Gameiro.
82' - Granada with their final set of changes. German Sanchez and Carlos Neva are taken off.  Jesus Vallejo and Gil Diaz come on their place.
83' - Cross from Granada is sent to the air by Parejo and falls fortunately to a Granada player in the penalty box. He plays a short pass to Soldado who is quick to shoot but he still cannot score.
85' - Goal for Granada. 2-2. Mangala conceded a free kick at the edge of the box. Fede Vico finds a gap through the wall in the space left between Coquelin and Sobrino. Cillissen cannot reach the ball as it settles into the net at the near post.
87' - Final change for Valencia. Parejo off, Kondogbia on.
89' - Yellow card shown to Guedes for dissent against the referee.
90' - Seven minutes of injury time are added by the referee.
90+4' - Yellow card shown to Herrera for a very late challenge on Guerrero.
90+6' - Yellow card shown to Wass for a shove.

FULL-TIME

While the first half was one to forget, the whole game picked up in the second half. Valencia showed up in this second half and made it a proper game. In the end, Valencia can only walk away with one point. However, it was great to see some signs of intent and life from this team as they came back into the game.

Granada took the lead with a penalty due to a rash tackle by Coquelin. Valencia responded quickly with Cheryshev and Vallejo teaming up to carry the ball forward in the final third and find the space for a goal. It was a good finish from Vallejo, especially having been away from the field for so long. Cheryshev did well to persevere in his attempts to pass the ball into space.

Voro strangely replaced both Cheryshev and Vallejo soon after their goal, bringing on Guedes and Maxi Gomez. Despite that, it wouldn't take long for Valencia to take the lead after that. Guedes showed real quality to strike the ball with such accuracy from that distance. He was always capable of such goals and it's good to see him grab another goal and continue to build confidence. This was his second goal since the restart and both goals were of high quality.

Granada would then go on to equalize after Mangala gifts a free kick at the edge of the area to Granada. That was the first mistake. Then, Coquelin and Sobrino allowed a space in the wall which Vico capitalized on to beat Cillissen. Another self-inflicted injury to Valencia.

Granada had the vast majority of shots and chances in the game. They almost reclaimed the lead and Valencia was very fortunate to see out the game as a draw.

Credit to Voro for making the most of the squad available to him. Despite the injury to key players, he was able to achieve an away draw and a come back into the game, all while using rotations and giving some players much needed game time.

Full-time stats. 14-4 shots, 5-3 shots on target, 56-44 %possession.

Next game is on Tuesday July 7 at Mestalla against Real Valladolid.