Valencia CF football club. News, articles, match previews, match reports, team, squad, lineup, results, transfers, information, statistics for valencia cf los che
Initially Atletico Madrid proposed a 1.5 million euros offer, but was swiftly rejected by Valencia CF and the club was ready to have the player sit out the rest of the season before selling him for such a low amount, but as the end of the transfer window was coming Atletico Madrid improved their offer and have reached an agreement with Valencia CF over the transfer of Daniel Wass for 2.7 million euros plus half a million in variables.
Valencia CF is desperate for more more options in midfield and is now turning to Samuel Castillejo as an alternative to Bryan Gil. Both are wingers though they play on the opposite wing of each other. Samu is a right winger, though he is left footed and can play both positions. Valencia CF wants to get the player on a 6 months loan deal.
Tanguy Ndombele is a French football player who currently plays as a central midfielder for Tottenam, but he has found himself on the fringes this season therefore the club and player want him out, with Tottenham preferring a loan option so that the player can get some minutes and improve, unless a big offer comes along of course, but so far no one is willing to match their 50 million euros asking price, which is 5 million euros less than they paid for him. PSG are supposedly interested in purchasing the player, but are unwilling to pay more than 35 million euros.
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| Tanguy Ndombele to join Valencia CF? |
Valencia CF have been asking around for a central midfielder and Tottenham has offered Tanguy Ndombele to Valencia CF on a 6 months loan deal. The big issue for Valencia CF is once again his high salary, but Tottenahm is reportedly willing to bear some 20% of his salary in order to facilitate the move.
Valencia CF have recently been linked with some impressive names like Van De Beek, Bryan Gil and now Tanguy Ndombele, but are any of these realistic targets for Valencia CF? I think this is probably the best option Valencia CF can go for as he has significant experience and has played at the top level as well for 2 seasons at Tottenham. Before that he had two very impressive seasons at Lyon and what had him noticed by Tottenham and why they were willing to splash 55 million euros for the player.
The biggest issue for Valencia CF is reportedly his high salary and that could prevent the deal from going through. Valencia's been interested in Juan Mata from Man Utd as well and at one point he was an option to join Valencia CF, but guess Man Utd want to keep him for now and decide on his future in the summer when they are to appoint a new coach.
We reported that FC Dallas signed Valencia CF goalkeeper Cristian Rivero, but it turns out that didn't happen. There were credible reports from the USA about this, but maybe the player didn't want to go to the USA, maybe the deal fell through or maybe it was completely made up for all we know, but whatever the case might have been the player is still in Valencia CF and still on the exit door.
Latest reports suggest that he is going to join FC Alcorcón in the second division, but its likely going to be a loan deal, rather than a sale as Alcorcon don't have the money to buy the player. I think a sale without a fee while retaining 40% of the right to the player is the best as he is just useless at Valencia CF at this point with 3 goalkeepers above him in the first squad.
Eray Comert is 23 years old and still has his best years ahead of him, but he has featured quite extensively for Basel these past two years, before that he's had 2 loans in each of which he's featured 12 times. He is also a Swiss international and has featured 7 times for his national team, but has also played for the youth teams of his national team.
Seems like a good player overall with the ability and opportunity to improve a lot and hopefully he finds himself at Valencia CF.
Reports from England suggest that Bryan Gil might be on his way out of Tottenham at least temporarily in order to get some playing time and get in form. Tottenham just bought the player 6 months ago for 25 million euros, but he's been underutilized at Tottenham and their expensive signing is sitting out the matches warming the bench. Valencia CF have reportedly approached Tottenham to ask for a loan deal on the player with no option to purchase the player, just simple loan deal that will benefit both the player and Valencia CF.
As most of you know Valencia's coach Jose Bordalas has requested a defender and a midfielder to strengthen the squad, but he's not received this and Valencia CF have already sold 4 players, including Cristiano Piccini who was a good cover at the back, especially with so many players injured this season.
I'm not too sure about this player, not questioning his skill, but rather his position as he is predominantly a winger and we are lacking a central midfielder, not a wide player. So even if we were able to negotiate his loan deal I'm not sure how he can help our current situation.
So frustrating. Valencia's poor run against Atleti continues. We haven't beaten them since 2014 and haven't won away to them since the pre-Simeone days of 2011. This was a game we had in our hands. An excellent first half performance, taking advantage of their defence being all over the place. Guedes played a superb cross field ball to Musah who produced an excellent finish for the first. Duro took advantage of defensive confusion to sneak in and finish well.
The logical thing to do in the second half would be to keep the pressure on, try and exploit their poor defending but no, Bordalas chose to camp everyone back near our box and the outcome was predictable after that, despite our 2-goal lead. Poor marking from a corner led to them getting one back and then, with us doing nothing except defend and hoof the ball forward aimlessly rather than try and keep possession, they scored 2 in injury time to revenge us for when we did the same to them earlier in the season. Games like this raise serious question marks about Bordalas. It doesn't help that the team is very thin and is now down to relying on youth players.
Our transfer window as usual has been a farce. We had all of December to identify players to bring in to strengthen the team for this tough run of games, but as always, we're leaving everything to the last minute and far from strengthening are reducing the squad further by moving out players like Piccini, Vallejo, Blanco and probably soon Wass. Unless something changes, it's easy to see this being another write off season around 12th place. Top 7 looks very unlikely now, with only an unlikely Copa win being able to save us.
Bordalas has reportedly given the green light for the player with the club now waiting for Peter Lim's approval before making an offer to Basel. The player is also reportedly interested in joining Valencia CF and starting a new challenge away from Switzerland.
Unfortunately I've been sick this week and could not write about Valencia's last match against Sevilla FC, a big match for us that ended up in a 1-1 draw. Solid result for Valencia CF to come back after the trashing at the hands of Real Madrid and losing to Espanyol.
Tomorrow night we have an even bigger match against Atletico Madrid in what is going to be an exciting and interesting match to watch. I do plan on watching the match and writing a report on it.
Atletico Madrid had a small setback in their last match against Villarreal CF as the match ended in a draw, though they've not looked as strong and as good this season as the previous ones, so maybe not really a surprise that Villarreal CF were able to get a draw out of the game. In fact it is only Real Madrid and Sevilla FC this season who are the outstanding performers with Real Madrid at 49 points and Sevilla closely behind at 45 points. The fact that Valencia CF was able to draw against a strong Sevilla side means that we are in a good position to challenge Atletico Madrid as their style of football is a similar to ours with a more defensive mindset and reliance on counter attacks to score goals.
Valencia CF sold Manu Vallejo to Chinese club CF Wuhan for 2.5 million euros and 30% of the rights to the player. The transfer of the player was known weeks in advance with the only question being the destination and now we know! Valencia CF has already sold 4 players in Rivero, Alex Blanco, Cristiano Piccini and now Manu Vallejo with Daniel Wass being on the exit door as well, though Valencia CF is refusing to sell him this transfer window to Atletico Madrid.
Manu Vallejo has signed a three year deal with the Chinese club and will be hoping to make a name for himself in the Chinese super league. He was brought to Valencia CF for close to 6 million euros, but it did not work out for the player, nor Valencia CF.
Matías Vecino is 30 years old and has played in Italy for most of his professional career, arriving to Fiorentina in 2013 from Nacional and ultimately joining Inter in 2017 and settling there for the past 5 years. He is a central midfielder who play in a defensive and offensive role and therefore will offer Bordalas a solid option in midfield a position he has deemed necessary to strengthen this winter.
The player features extensively for the first 3 seasons he was at Inter, but for the past two seasons he's had his role reduced to a substitute with very few minutes played, as such the player would be keen to leave Inter Milan and find a new challenge. He is valued at about 4 million euros, but because he only has 6 months left on the contract its likely Inter will sell him for much less. I believe a million euro fee will be enough to secure his services!
He is now the third player to leave Valencia CF and few more players are likely to join him as well with Rivero and Manu Vallejo also on the exit door, with Wass's future also up in the air, though Valencia CF seem firm in their decision to keep him even if it means he gets to sit out the rest of the season as punishment's for wanting to leave for Atletico Madrid.
Unfortunately for him just a few matches into his second season at VCF he suffered a devastating injury to his knee that would leave him stranded on the sidelines for over a year. He as loaned to Atlanta, but was still injured when he arrived there and never got an opportunity there, with Valencia CF agreeing an early release with Atlanta as the club wanted to use him.
Long story short he has been injured for most of his time back at Valencia CF and never reclaimed his starting spot which was taken over by Correia, who's ironically been out injured himself for several months now.
French football club Red Star is interested in the player and have send a formal offer to Valencia CF to acquire the services of the left back for a reported fee of 1.5 million euros. While the fee might be low, the player's contract is expiring in 6 months, so Valencia CF is looking to get literally anything no matter how little it is.
Valencia CF have started looking at replacement players and have identified Héctor Herrera as the best option to replace Daniel Wass. Of course he is an Atletico Madrid player therefore if both players and both parties agree we would see a player swap with no money being exchanged.
As many of you know Daniel Wass was been eager to leave Valencia CF since last year, but a deal with his home country club felt apart and he decided to stay for another year at Valencia CF. The club could technically keep him for 6 more months, but they are likely going to use this interest to arrange a play swap or at the very least gain a little bit of money.
Pablo Mari arrived at Arsenal two years ago alongside new manager Arteta and played a key role in the team that first year, but progressively fell out of favor, culminating with the current season where he has barely featured for Arsenal as very low level games.
The player himself is keen to leave but doesn't want to return to Brazil to continue his career there and is fond of continuing in Spain, with Valencia CF being a solid option. Of course he would have to take a hefty pay cut in order to join Valencia CF.
It was a high order from the start to get anything against Real Madrid, but hope dies last and tonight hope died. I was expecting a loss, but what we got was a trouncing, what we got was complete and utter dominance by Real Madrid and complete inferiority by Valencia CF. They were at least 5 classes above us and did not see anything positive from this match.
Valencia CF was able to match Real Madrid for the first 20 minutes, high pressure, positioned high to close down Real Madrid players from the back, and it worked for 20 minutes or so and Valencia CF was on occasion outplaying Real Madrid, we had couple of attacks and were threatening to make Real Madrid's night hell. After 20 or 25 minutes had passed though Valencia CF just went to defend mode. Do nothing except for sit back and allow Real Madrid to do whatever the hell they wanted! How can we win games like this when our team isn't even playing? They are all standing and doing nothing, piss poor passing, piss poor defending, no attacks, no initiative, no ball control, nothing! Should have brought the Mestalla team to play against Real Madrid, they would have probably done a bit better.
Yeah I can complain about the penalty they were awarded, it was most likely outside of the penalty area and it was a very soft foul as well, but zero response after the penalty, you'd think players would get angry and try and prove something, but no the team shut down even more.
Second half starts and you'd think Valencia CF would be ready to challenge Real Madrid and try and score an equalizer, but no we were still defending as if we are leading 5-0 or something. They just used our passiveness and scored two more goals, both of them scored by Vinicious Junior.
The frustrating thing is how easy they were able to score, how easy it was for them to shoot and create chances and find themselves in good positions, our marking and positioning at the back was atrocious, but even if it was impeccable we still can't expect to defend for 60+ minutes and not concede even once! Even the best Italian teams who played that kind of football a decade ago were not able to withstand an onslaught for 60-70 or more minutes, even they had to play some football.
Valencia CF would score a condolence goal after a pity penalty was given to us. Guedes steps in to take the penalty, shoots straight into the goalkeeper, but luckily the rebound heads towards him and he heads the ball into the net.
Real Madrid weren't even playing anymore at that point, they were just allowing Valencia CF to do whatever and hitting us on the counter, but even that wasn't enough for Valencia CF as they were not able to muster up any serious chance. Daniel Wass had few long range efforts that went wide and to make matters worse Benzema would utterly finish this match with a 4th goal for Real Madrid. Gaya tried to get to him and cover, but like a headless chicken just lunged towards the ball and Benzema with one simple move got rid of him and slotted the ball into the net.
This team can play 100 times against Real Madrid and lose like 99 of the matches, it was that obvious. In previous years even when they were considered much better Valencia CF has given them a much tougher time, on many occasion's relying on the referees to bail them out. We only have one similar loss to them in the past decade, but this was even worse as the team did not show up to play! After the first 20 or so minutes it was all Real Madrid.
I hope they give Bordalas few reinforcements this winter, and believe me Diego Godin and Juan Mata would be 10x better than what we have now. They might be old now, but they have something called skill and experience and we would be much better with these players. I truly believe Diego Godin will be better than all of our defenders except for maybe Gabriel Paulista and only because he is 35 years old, few years back much better! Juan Mata can still probably run circles around a player like Wass or Racic or Hugo or Helder Costa, etc...
So yeah bring in the elder ones, bring in the "grandpa" squad they are better than what we have now!
Bring in David Villa, David Silva, Juan Mata, Diego Godin, bring back Ayala from retirement to run circles around these kids.
Valencia CF is facing Real Madrid tonight in what is likely to be an exciting match with many goals. The first time these two teams faced this season was at the Mestalla with Valencia CF almost beating them with some solid performance, but Real Madrid were more precise at key moments and had a lot more luck so they managed to squeeze a 2-1 victory over Valencia CF. Since that match Valencia CF went on a downward spiral and was barely able to stop the bleeding, while Real Madrid went on an upward spiral and have not looked back since.
Can Valencia CF reverse its own and Real Madrid's trajectory if Valencia CF is able to win tonight against Real Madrid? I sure hope so as everything bad that can go after that first Real Madrid match went wrong and everything good that can happen happened to Real Madrid. Tonight it has to be time for payback and even though realistically Valencia CF would be happy with a draw, but a win would elevate the team so much and boost players confidence immensely and so I think they should go out and look for a win against Real Madrid.
Both clubs won their matches in the Spanish cup and move forward in the competition, though Real Madrid's win was much more secure and dominant, with Valencia CF barely able to squeeze out a last minute win as Cheryshev scored a goal in the 93rd minute to clinch the victory for Valencia. In the league both teams are coming off a loss with Valencia CF managing to squander a lead in the match and through a series of big mistakes give the win for Espanyol, while Real Madrid lost minimally against Getafe in one of their rare losses this season, in fact this was only their second loss of the season, lets hope it opened the gates for more though and that Valencia CF can give them their third loss of the season.
Many Valencia CF players leading up to this match were having issues with injuries and covid19, but it seems as though most of the covid19 cases were resolved and will likely be able to play, with the biggest worry being Soler who got an injury in the cup match.
As much as I would love for Valencia CF to win against Real Madrid tonight I know its highly unlikely and though I think they should at least go for the win as the a draw doesn't really benefit us in any way and we are never able to hold a lead against the big teams especially, so unless we are equalizing we should not be defending a draw. That said Real Madrid have a bigger chance at a win as they are playing at home and have been luckier than Valencia CF in terms of injuries with all of their key players available.
I was hoping to see a super strong and tight side tonight that was going to give Real Madrid a real difficult time and possibly even win, but judging from our last match in the cup I'm really doubting how much we can do. All I'm seeing is we defend and defend even against supposedly much weaker teams and then we score goals through individual brilliance on counter attacks. We don't really have a strong attack that is able to create plenty of chances, we don't have a midfield and can't even pass the ball around for more than few times before losing it or giving it away in a crazy long cross and while our defense is technically good, they make so many individual mistakes that easily lead to goals.
So how are we going to challenge Real Madrid with that kind of play? How can we even hope for any other result other than a loss? So I'm expecting a loss tonight, I'm thinking a 2-0 loss, if we are lucky we can might score one, but yeah its almost impossible. I'm expecting a 2-0 or 2-1 loss, anything else would be a surprise.
Peter Lim is supposedly open to few new arrivals at Valencia CF, but only on a free transfers or loan deals. The club still has a little bit of wiggle room in terms of transfer policy, but he wants to save those little remaining money for the summer where a better assessment can be made on what the team needs.
He is also under pressure to finish the new Mestalla and is possibly even considering moving funds from transfers and salaries to construction in order to finish the stadium. Plans for the stadium have changed again and now the plan is for the new Mestalla to have a capacity of 40k people, with the possibility of adding 5k more. Obviously this is an issue as the current Mestalla has a capacity of 55k people and why would you build a stadium that is smaller and dumber than the existing one? It doesn't make any sense whatsoever, but that is for another article.
Valencia CF is most likely not going to be spending any money this transfer window and any possible arrivals will have to be on loan or free. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but it does limit Valencia's options and some targets might be automatically dismissed based on their transfer fee, even if that fee is relatively low.
Valencia CF next opponent in the Copa del Rey is FC Cartagena a football team based in Cartagena, in the autonomous community of Murcia. The club was formed in 1995 and they are currently playing in Spain's second division which is a huge achievement for a club formed just over 25 years ago.
They beat Castellon 2-1 in their previous round in the copa del Rey and have already achieved a historic result for them, but why stop here, they'd be extremely eager to show what they've got against a club like Valencia CF. They have nothing to lose as this result is already great for them, but everything to gain so you bet they are going to play the best they possibly can and try and shock Valencia CF.
Valencia CF is coming to this match after a devastating loss against RCD Espanyol and the team will be looking to forget about that match and what better way by getting a clean win over FC Cartagena and progressing further in the cup.
Jose Bordalas is likely to field a weaker team and give opportunities to players who've not had a great deal of playing time and see how they perform and if he can maybe rely on some of these players for league matches. Valencia CF is also traveling to Madrid next Saturday to face of against Real Madrid and therefore the coach will be looking to rest key players for the cup and have them at full energy for that very important match.
I expect Valencia CF to win this match and hopefully not have any troubles in doing so, but I do expect FC Cartagena to give it their all and make it hard for us, but I do expect to see a win nevertheless and don't expect any surprises. I'm thinking a 2-0 or 2-1 win for Valencia CF, 2-0 would be a clean and secure win, but with our defensive issues and lack of concentration at key moments I wouldn't be surprised if they scored a goal.
Valencia CF are going to try and bring back Juan Mata either this winter or in the summer as the player's contract with Manchester United will end in 6 months and he will become a free agent. Manchester United have no plans to extend his contract beyond the existing one, so the player is likely going to come back to Spain to finish his career.
Juan Mata has had a horrendous season so far starting only few matches and on occasion not even sitting with the reserves, though truthfully Mata hasn't played regularly for United for over two seasons now and with his contract running out in just six months the player knows its his final time at Manchester United.
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| Juan Mata to return to Valencia CF? |
Valencia CF is the logical team for him to return to, the club that launched his career essentially and where he established himself as a top talent. For Valencia CF its also a great move as the team sorely lacks experience and has often had troubles crating chances and being proficient in front of goal and Mata has a great eye for goals and is a true playmaker. He is not the defensive destroyer Bordalas wants, but I think we lack technique and control in midfield rather than just brute force. We need to more dominant midfield that is able to pass the ball around.
Other La Liga clubs have learned about Mata's situation and have already made advancements towards the player, hoping to lure him in. The player is going to come very cheap even if he is to leave in the winter as his contract is over very soon and he is 33 years of age, so at most Manchester United might ask for 2 million euros and they might settle for less as well.
So Rivero is gone and expect Jaume to follow suit as he is just surplus to requirements right now and is on the exit door. If he isn't sold or loaned this winter, he is 100% gone in the summer. Rivero would be glad to make this switch as it is a good opportunity for him to prove himself in the MSL.
Deportivo Alavés have signed Valencia CF forward Jason for free on a 3 years deal which will have Valencia CF retain 30% on the players rights in case of any potential future sale. The player has been surplus to requirements and with Valencia CF planning on bringing a new central midfielder and defender he is one of they several players that will likely leave this winter transfer window.
Next on the chopping block for Valencia CF is Manu Vallejo and Alex Blanco with Daniel Wass and Piccini closely following suit.
Valencia CF is lacking experience as the team is comprised of mostly young players, with few players as Cheryshev, Wass and Paulista being a tad on the older side, but predominantly its a young team with limited experience. Joe Bordalas wants to bring in players with experience who can help the team with their vast knowledge of the game and even serve as a mentor to the younger players, as such he sees Diego Godin as the perfect reinforcement in the winter transfer window to help Valencia CF with their defensive woes.
Diego Godin has already announced that is leaving Cagliari and will announce his next team early in January, so maybe a week before we find out if Diego Godin is joining Valencia CF. I think this is a good signing as he can share some of his experience with the younger players and might even be able to displace some of our defenders if he is in good physical shape.
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| Alexis Sanchez to join Valencia CF? |
Inter Milan are desperate to get rid of him though, so they would be willing to lower the asking price and the good relations these teams have can make this transfer a possibility. As you know Valencia CF also has troubles in attack as Maxi Gomez has been a gigantic failure at Valencia CF and it wouldn't surprise me if Valencia CF just trades him off for Alexis Sanchez.
Would Alexis Sanchez be an upgrade over Maxi Gomez? Its hard to say, but at this point it seems like Alexis wouldn't be able to do worse, after all Maxi has only scored few goals per season for the past 2 or so seasons at Valencia CF, so a very low bar set.
Alexis Sanchez would also need to take a decent pay cut if he is to join Valencia CF as the club is severely cash strapped and is under pressure by the Valencian government to have the new stadium finished in the next few years.
On the chopping block are players like Daniel Wass, Jason, Manu Vallejo, Alex Blanco and Piccini, all of whom have their contracts ending in the summer except for Daniel Wass who can leave now, though he will probably wait till the end of the season to make that decision.
Jose Bordalas has requested a central midfielder and a central defender to strengthen the squad as he knows that Wass's time is ending at Valencia CF, Uros Racic has not impressed him to be a starter and due to injuries at the back Hugo Guilamon has been moved back to a defensive role from the midfield one.
Bordalas stated even publicly that he isn't happy with Valencia's defense and has been pushing for defensive reinforcements both publicly and privately. The team is looking to accommodate the coach, but before they can do so they need to offload several players in order to reduce the wage bill before they can sign new players.
Jason and Manu Vallejo already have some interested teams in them with Rayo Vallecano and UD Levante asking about the players, but it remains to be seen if a deal can be reached and if the players are even willing to move to different clubs during this transfer window.
He is described as a midfield destroyer and someone who is predominantly defense oriented, so its unclear how technical he is and if he is going to be able to help with control of the midfield which in my opinion has been the biggest issue for us this season. I don't think a defensive minded player is exactly what we need, but rather a technical player that can help us retain possession and pass the ball around with accuracy.
Either way before Mubarak Wakaso can join Valencia CF the club needs to sell some of its players to make room for new arrivals. Valencia CF already has plans to offload players like Jason, Manu Vallejo, Rivero and Fabio Blanco, but it remains to be seen if all of these players have suitors lined up to acquire them.
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| FC Barcelona to sign Jose Luis Gaya |
FC Barcelona are in search for a long term replacement for Jordi Alba at the left flank and have placed their attention to their long term target Jose Luis Gaya. Those of you reading this site regularly will know that FC Barcelona have been a frequent suitor to Jose Luis Gaya and have been trying to acquire him for at least few years now, but without success. FC Barcelona are hoping that a big money swoop in for the player would sway Valencia CF this time around, as Valencia CF is strapped for cash and Peter Lim is under severe pressure to finish the new stadium, so they are hoping a big initial offer would sway Valencia CF to part with the player, and if not they have a secret weapon with their director of football Mateu Alemany who used to be Valencia's sporting director for two and a half years and presided over two very successful seasons along with coach Marcelino, so they are going to use his connection with Valencia CF to convince the club and player to transfer him to FC Barcelona.
FC Barcelona are having troubles at the back and they are in desperate need of new blood with Xavi desperate to create a new FC Barcelona to lead into the next century that is able to win trophy's. FC Barcelona want to sign Gaya in order to bring their new vision to life and Xavi has given the green light for them to sign Gaya.
Well I got the result right, but the other way around. I thought Valencia CF is going to win 2-1, but it was a 2-1 win for RCD Espanyol. It was a tight game as expected with Valencia CF starting the match livelier and more attack focused, but as expected after a while the tempo dropped and the match equalized with both teams battling it out in the middle with the occasional attack.
Valencia CF did have slightly more attacks and were looking for the win, but RCD Espanyol defended well and on occasions had some decent attacks as well. The first goal would come in the 50th minute as Omar Alderete powerful header ends up in the net. Valencia CF were attacking and trying to create something around the penalty area, Helder Costa got the ball on the left flank and sent a cross inside the penalty area, Alderete rushed towards the ball and jumped the highest even beating Hugo Guillamon to the jump as both were very near, heading the ball directly into the net.
With a goal up Valencia CF decided to fall back and defend and basically try and see through the match with this result, but RCD Espnyol had different plans. They started attacking and created few decent opportunities, but nothing came out of it, that is until Hugo Duro fouled a player in the penalty area and got himself sent off and a penalty awarded to Espanyol. Thing is he could try and do something or just let Jofre Carreras shoot and most likely allow a goal, so he tackled Jofre and got penalized for it.
Then with one player down Valencia CF weren't able to hold out and in the 87th minute Javier Puado from Espanyol would score the second goal and secure the victory for RCD Espanyol. It was a solid header from the player who was essentially left alone and was able to easily head the ball into the net. Alderete was the one marking him and he allowed Javier to escape him and score the goal.
I'm not convinced with Alderete's performances, I've found he makes this type of mistake very often, where his marking is extremely suspect and allows for opposition players to have chances on goal.
It would have been great to start the new year with a win, and technically its still 2021, but still. This way we are set back and much of the good work from previous matches goes to waste, especially as we had this match in the bag all the way until the 80th minute. The team should have been more careful and not allowed Espanyol to take full control of the match in the last 20 minutes, where they would be able to create chances to score.
Overall it was a decent performance, even though we lost we could have just as easily won and even in extra time the team had chances to equalize, coming so close with two dangerous headers towards goal, but it wasn't to be.
After a short one week break the Spanish league starts up again and just before New Year's eve. Valencia CF will play RCD Espanyol at the Mestalla in what is going to be an exciting match to watch. I was right about last match against Valencia's local rivals Levante as it was a super exciting game with lots of goals.
This match I expect it to be a lot tighter and with fewer goals with Valencia CF probably trying to score an early goal, but after the first 20 or so minutes slowing down the tempo and probably going into the typical Valencia CF play of sitting back and hitting on the counter. I think Valencia CF is the favorite as they are playing at home and with several good results coming into this match, but its going to be a tough match that Valencia CF barely wins. It seems to me like 2-1 is a very likely result, though I wouldn't be surprised if the match ended in a 1-1 draw at the end of the 90 minutes.
Players in both teams also probably just want to get it over with so they can get ready for the night and to celebrate the new year, so there is that as well.
Tomorrow starts the winter transfer window and Valencia CF is looking to offload few players who are right now surplus to requirements and have been mostly unused subs. So players like Jason, Vallejo, Rivero are on their way out and several clubs are interested in acquiring these players, we'll just have to wait and see if Valencia CF manage to sell them or loan them out.
Valencia CF has been on an upward trend for the past several weeks, managing some solid draws against tough competition and winning some scrappy matches against Celta Vigo and Elche to put the team in a good position towards the end of of first half of the season!
Tomorrow Valencia CF will play against city rival UD Levante who'd love to be able to beat their 'older brother' and become the top dog in the family. UD Levante have gathered several former Valencia CF players such as Shkodran Mustafi, Roberto Soldado and Ruben Vezo and with their knowledge of Valencia CF will try to beat us.
As you remember Roberto Soldado was a big money sale to Tottenham, but unfortunately for him he did not celebrate himself in England and after a few bad years there he returned to Spain. Shkodran Mustafi was also a big sale to Arsenal FC and he had a little bit more success in the Premier League, but after a few injuries and few manager changes at Arsenal he lost his position and played second dwindle to the newcomers.
So will Valencia's former players be the downfall of Valencia CF tomorrow or is our current team better than these old players of ours? We'll know for sure tomorrow in what is likely going to be an exciting match between city rivals. I'm expecting a loser match than the previous ones, local matches tend to work that way and while I don't expect much change in the playstyle of Valencia CF, I think we are going to be forced to open up and play more aggressively with Levante scoring the first goal of the match.
Jose Bordalas tested positive for Covid19 around the Elche match and due to Covdi19 policies he won't be on the bench for this match even though he has tested negative for covid19 twice now! The rules state that 10 days must pass before the initial positive test for him to be allowed on the bench and with the team.
To me that is just some bureaucratic mumbo jumbo, he's had two negative tests and feels perfectly good, don't see a reason why he shouldn't be allowed on the bench around other young and healthy individuals who've many of whom have already had covid19 and have natural immunity!
Regardless of that I don't think him not being physically present at the bench will have any effects on the team at all, I think we are going to see the same team we've been seeing for most of this season. I think we are going to play defensively as we've done for most of our match with counter attacks to try and score, I think Levande are going to score first and force Valencia CF to open up and then we'll have an interesting match on our hands. I expect Valencia CF to win this match 3-2, though a 2-2 draw is also possible.
Valencia's next opponent is Elche CF a team from the Valencian region who got promoted to La Liga this this year and have been doing relatively well with that in mind. Elche CF are 16th on the table with 15 points out of 16 matches played, so almost a point a match. Their last match was a convincing win again Cadiz and they will be looking to build on that result.
Valencia CF are also coming to this match after a win last matchday against Celta Vigo with a scrappy win, but a win nonetheless. All in all the team has been performing somewhat good in terms of being able to hold off teams and manage draws, though the play needs to improve immensely if we are to even think about finishing top half of the table, because these scrappy wins like last match won't come often and we'll need proper attacking and proper play to be able to win.
I think the biggest issue for Valencia CF right now is the midfield, we just don't seem to have it, every player is like on an island by themselves and doing stuff independent of the other players. I think the team needs to gel together and players need to learn how to play together, learn how they all move and be able to pass the ball around securely.
Regardless of all of that we should be able to win against Elche CF and I'm expecting a modest win here at the Mestalla with a result of 1-0 or 2-1, something close like that. I'm expecting to see pretty much the same lineup from last match, with the only different being Guedes instead of Maxi Gomez probably.
Valencia CF need to win this match to erase a lot of the doubts about the team and show the world that its a stable team that can perform at a decent level, I think the expectations were sky high in the beginning of the season and now they've been significantly lower, and realistically we still don't know where Valencia CF is at, as we are seeing a different team so many times. At times we seem brilliant and other times we seem like lower level minnows who got a chance to compete against top league teams through the cup. This team can do really good I strongly believe that, but it needs to gel, it needs to form cohesion, we need to establish a midfield and we'll have better play and better results.
Finally a win for Valencia CF after a string of 3 draws with an unimpressive play. Tonight was different as the play was much better as the team created decent amount of chances, and from the key chances the players were previse and scored two goals. I would have liked for Valencia CF to have more ball control though, as I think 30% ball possession is way too low, even if we are focusing on counter attacks that is still too low possession, something like 40% seems more reasonable and would prevent a lot of attacks towards Valencia's goal.
The match started poorly for Valencia CF as they conceded a goal in the first 15 minutes of the match after a mistake by Omar Alderete. He managed to snatch the ball from Celta, but then kept it too long and was disposed of it, allowing for a dangerous attack to form which resulted in a goal. Hugo Guilamon tried to block the shot, but was a bit too short to reach the ball and Iago Aspas shot went past the goalkeeper and into the net to give Celta Vigo 1-0 lead.
It wasn't looking good for Valencia CF as an early goal was foreshadowing another failed performance and possibly even a loss, but Valencia players reacted well to being a goal down and immediately upped their game and they started attacking. Soon came a string of attacks and chances on the opposing half and it wasn't going to be long before Valencia CF managed to equalize the score.
In the 20th minute Hugo Duro managed to score a goal, after a fail from Celta Vigo's defense and goalkeeper. Matias Dituro made a short pass in his penalty area to some of his defenders, the defender ran a bit forward but was under pressure from Valencia CF players and passed the ball back to the goalkeeper, he then failed to react promptly and made a mess out of clearing the ball, allowing Hugo Duro to get the ball and score a goal.
The match wsa fairly equal after that with both teams attacking on occasions and having few chances on goal, with Valencia CF being more defensive minded, but actually having the more dangerous chances on goal. Valencia CF took advantage of one of those opportunities after Jose Luis Gaya crossed the ball towards the penalty area to the incoming Maxi Gomez, who controlled the ball well, managed to escape his marker and release a precise shot into the goal.
Celta vigo started pressing harder after going down 2-1 in the match, with Valencia CF defending for the most part and attacking through counter attacks. Both teams would have few decent chances to score further goals, but ultimately weren't able to.
Bordalas freshened up the team with in the 82nd minute with 3 substitutions at once, this added some fresh legs on the field and allowed Valencia CF to cover more ground. In the end Celta Vigo had a free kick and even their goalkeeper joined in attack to help out his team try and score an equalizer, but after some chaos in and around the penalty area Valencia CF was able to clear the ball and the referee blew the whistle for the end.
Overall much better performance from our previous few matches, but I'm still worried about the low possession percentage, I think we should try to retain the ball for longer and try to pass it around some more, but this was overall in improvement. Apart from the silly goal that we conceded, which should not have happened it was a good defensive performance and when we attacked we did look solid as well.
There is a lot to improve upon no doubt and we still played second fiddle to Celta Vigo, so much more work is needed, but I think tonight was overall a better play then our previous 3 matches. The big issue for me remains the aimless balls forward and losing possession way too quickly.
Valencia CF travels to Vigo, Galicia to play at the Estadio de Balaídos against Celta Vigo the 14th ranked club on the table and direct rival to Valencia CF for those mid table positions. Valencia CF have a chance tonight to leap forward in the table and come within a striking distance against the European league positions, but with the drawish play Valencia CF have been featuring lately it is going to be a feat if they manage to win.
As you know we drew the last three games against Atletico Madrid, Real Sociedad and Rayo Vallecano, two of which were positive results mind you, but we desperately needed a win against Rayo Vallecano and barely managed a draw, so this puts even more onus on this match and winning tonight.
You could argue that Rayo Vallecano are playing well and kind of higher quality opposition than Valencia CF, but I think that is just a defeatist language, we should be able to defeat Rayo Vallecano easily in any season. Real Sociedad have been playing really good football for the past several seasons, so the are not a one season wonders or anything, they have a good and stable team, so they are a solid and tough opponent, but Rayo Vallecano should have been an easy opposition.
Anyways we are facing a team lower in the league table than us this time, and Valencia CF should be able to win this match comfortable if we are to be considered a good team, a European competition type of team and not just a middle of the table minnow that is fodder for the 'big' clubs. Our biggest issue this season has been our defense, we started off well in that department, but after a few key injuries all hell broke loose and Valencia CF has been conceding goals left and right. I know we don't score too much either, but we score enough where if we are able to prevent easy goals we would definitely be winning. Only Real Madrid have a significant goal difference from us and everyone else, all the rest of the clubs are very similar in goals scored with the second highest scoring team Atletico Madrid(surprisingly) have only score five goals more than Valencia CF. So if Valencia CF were to concede less goals we would have certainly won more matches and been in a better position.
And this time Diakhaby isn't the main culprit either, the other defenders have failed us more, including Jose Luis Gaya who has been really leaky on that left wing, Foulquier has been out of position numerous times and our midfield cover for defense has also been lacking.
I think due to our leaky defense Jose Bordalas turned his focus on defending and for the past few games, and while it has somewhat worked, we've also sacrificed everything else for it, we don't have ball possession, we don't have control of the match, we don't have initiative, we don't have an attack, we barely manage to scrape few counter attacks and that's it. Even more worrisome is that this has not produced a solid, impenetrable defense, we are still as likely to concede goals and then we have trouble equalizing. This was evident in our last match where Rayo Vallecano were outplaying us in every department and Valencia CF looked lost for most of the match.
We need a balance between attack and defense, we need the ball to be recycled back and not just shot forward every time in the miniscule hopes of magically landing to our sole attacker's legs and him scoring a goal. No we need to move the ball around, pass back when there is no good forward option and the recycle the ball forward. We can't just be giving away so many balls.
Our midweek match in the Copa doesn't tell us anything, it was mostly unfeatured players that featured and Valencia CF won 3-0, but not a convincing play even against a regional league minnow. You'd think we'd be able to win 5-0 easily and completely dominate play, but even that seems like a high order for this Valencia CF.
So who knows what Valencia CF will show up tonight, I'm hoping we see the strong and secure Valencia CF from the start of the season, where we had a good balance in our play and were quite exciting to watch as well.
Valencia advanced to the last 64 of the Copa with an easy win at Aragonese 5th level club Utrillas. Bordalas didn't go too mad with the starting line-up, mostly giving a start to the regular subs. Defender Tarrega was the only debutant. One of the main questions was who would start in goal with Jaume, Mamardashvili and Rivero all possible. In the end it went to Jaume, which must raise questions about Mamardashvili's role in the team. He started very well, but will he be content to hang around to be 3rd choice?
In contrast to recent games, it was a 4-4-2. Valencia dominated from start to finish, controlling possession at all time. The breakthrough goal came on 27 minutes, good cross from Musah, Maxi dummies and Andre finishes well. On 52 minutes we extended our lead through a penalty. It was a very soft penalty I have to say and I'd have been annoyed if it had been given against us. With none of the recognised penalty takers on the pitch, Cheryshev stepped up and.... had it saved. I thought it had gone out for a corner but while I was rolling my eyes and cursing the miss, I looked back at the screen to find Musah had scored the rebound. The third came on 70 minutes. Koba scored a nice free kick goal.
We could have had a 4th later as sub Vallejo was clear through but couldn't beat the keeper.
All in all, hard to draw any conclusions from games like this. I've been watching a lot of 6th level regional teams since I came down here and this was not much better. A lot of the younger members of this forum could train for a team like Utrillas and have a chance of playing for them. If anything. I'm a little disappointed we don't win such games more comfortably. Our goal on 27 minutes was actually our first shot on target. I didn't see anything in this game which made me think we've changed our recent dynamic or made me think "wow, I can't wait for the next league game."
Draw for next round should be tomorrow or Monday. Another lower division away game.
Valencia CF managed to secure a draw against the second placed team in the league at the Reale Arena in what is a continuation of some decent results in recent weeks. Real Sociedad were hoping to secure a win at home and at least temporarily just to the first position on the table, but Valencia CF had other plans for them and managed to contain their attacks and secure an important draw.
This result can only be good if Valencia CF wins their next match against Rayo Vallecano though, as getting draws against strong opposition is good, but its the wins against weaker opposition that ultimately can propel the team on the table, so next match against Rayo Vallecano is crucial.
Unfortunately I did not have the opportunity to watch the match, so I can't comment on it beyond the highlights. Again good result overall considering how strong Real Sociedad are at the moment and the fact that Valencia CF played away from home, but this just gives more onus to get a win in the next match.
What a turnaround!!! The last 15 minutes of the match were some of the most exciting moments of football I've watched in a long time, especially from Valencia CF. Now imagine that kind of intensity and intent for most of the match, that would be an extremely exciting and powerful Valencia CF team to watch.
What can I say, from the 80th minute, all the way until the 97th minute, there was a long stoppage time of 7 minutes and towards the end, in the 95th minute Valencia CF managed to equalize the match!
I thought this match was over after they scored their second goal, I thought there was no chance for Valencia CF to equalize against such a defensively solid team and then Atletico Madrid scored a 3rd goal. They were better in ball possession, they were better in passing, they had the initiative as if they were playing at home. I tuned out for about 10 minutes and then tuned in again at about the 70th minute and Valencia CF was looking to attack, was looking for opportunities and was trying to score, even so it would have been hard to image Valencia CF ever equalizing this game and then the 80th minute started passing, Jose Bordalas decided to bring in 3 basically attacking players all at once and replace our defense and Carlos Soler in the 85th minute, last gasp desperation move!
Who would have known that it would actually work, Valencia CF managed to score in the 92th minute through Hugo Duro and then just 3 minutes later score once more to equalize the score and manage to rescue a draw!
I could not believe what I was seeing, it was incredible! This is the type of Valencia CF I want to see all the time, fighting for every ball, running up and down the pitch constantly, running channels, overwhelming the opposition. The last 15 minutes of this match should be the model for Valencia CF!
I think this also shows that we don't have defenders who can push the ball forward, apart from defending our central defenders are unable to push the ball forward and we always end up skipping the midfield. With more players willing to move the ball forward and to receive it we were able to dominate for 15 minutes, we were able to win every single ball and to force Atletico Madrid players to make mistakes!
Again the first 60 minute of this match was Atletico Madrid playing and Valencia CF just doing nothing, the occasional counter attack, the occasional good play, but for the most part sitting back, defending and just crossing the ball far, hoping to somehow score! I did not see Valencia CF getting a result, even when we equalized it was an own goal from Stefan and Valencia CF did not look like they were able to score on their own!
This is a positive result, I would have taken a draw even before the match started, but the team has to improve! This 3-3 result can not be a fluke, we need to see initiative, we need to see a fighting spirit, we need to see playing every match like its a final!
Valencia CF showed signs of life last week after managing to beat Villarreal CF and end a terrible streak of 7 matches without a win. Now the team has to continue in a winning manner in order for that result to matter, otherwise we are just back to square one, but unfortunately for Valencia CF it just so happens that their next opponent is Atletico Madrid who have been solid this year and are sitting at 4th position on the table with 22 points. As always Atletico Madrid are a rugged, tough team and are playing physical and aggressive football, focusing on mostly defending and then on occasions hitting the opponents with fast attacks, which is similar to how Valencia CF has played this season, so it would be interesting to see which team has more control of the ball and takes the initiative.
I think Valencia CF can actually get a decent result against Atletico Madrid as long as we fix our leaky defense, because if you look at the statistics we do seem to score reasonable amount of goals, even if we aren't creating a ton of chances and missing some very good ones, statistically speaking we should be getting better results, if not for the terrible defending. Its mostly been individual errors, players just not following their mark close enough and allowing too much space for them to do whatever, so defenders need to be more aggressive, but not overly as to give away needless penalties.
Good news for Valencia CF is that players like Correia, Cheryshev, Racic will be available for this match, though all of them are likely to start from the bench as a precaution, though Carlos Soler is going to be starting the match. Jose Bordalas is likely to reinforce the midfield, similar to the last match as to avoid conceding goals and look for goals on counter attacks, but also beat Atletico's midfield as well and negate them of the ability to start dangerous attacks.
Valencia CF Squad: Cillessen, Correia, Diakhaby, Alderete, Gaya; Helder Costa, Hugo, Soler, Wass, Andre; Guedes
Winning Probability: Valencia CF 25% Draw 50% Atletico Madrid 25%
Result Prediction: Both teams play similar football, though Atletico much more effectively of course and they've been perfecting their play style for close to a decade now, so Atletico Madrid are the slight favorites, but not by much since they also tend to struggle to score goals and their wins are marginal with just one goal difference, usually something like 1-0. So Valencia CF has a good chance to get a positive result, but its going to be very hard of course, so I'm thinking this is most likely going to be a draw. Win would be amazing, it would propel Valencia CF really hard and could potentially put us back in the European competition fight, but a draw would be a decent result as well against a very dangerous and solid opponent!