Valencia won their second game of the season in front of the Mestalla fans.
It was a spectacular game, full of chances, shots and crazy but very interesting moves and mostly from the Valencia players.
The game started very energetically with Valencia immediately having few chances. Mata and Joaquin were combining well on the right side and Valencia had few shots on goal. With that came a great through ball to Aduriz, but Racing goalkeeper was just a millisecond faster to it.
Valencia had most of the play when in the 22nd minute Ever Banega was injured after a challenge. Tino Costa replaced him, but Valencia didn't loose any of its attacking proves.
Racing had two or three chances of their own, but Cezar as always was there to save the day.
Just before the half time whistle, Mata got the ball, made a short move left and unleashed a great cross than found Maduro, who headed the goal in Racing's goal and it was 1-0 for Valencia.
After the break Valencia came out with a furious tempo, Joaquin had several runs on the right side but his final pass was somewhat missing. Than Vicente woke up on the left side and he and Jordi Alba combined well to create couple of scoring opportunities.
One chance in particular was when Jordi put a through ball to Vicente, who than got in the opponents 16th meters and made a great pass to Aduriz who had a clear sight and shot on goal, but instead of shooting with his left foot, he moved a little to set up to shoot with his right and missed the goal.
Racing had one scary chance when a player of their got alone in front of Valencias goal, but Cezar made a miraculous save once again and saved the day, already numerous times in this game alone.
Chori than came in for Mata and he immediately had a huge impact, he dribbled past few opponents and tried to make a pass, but the pass didn't find any Valencia player.
Than Joaquin tried a long range effort, but the Racing goalkeeper saved, but the ball went wild and Chori got a hold of it and he tried another pass to find a Valencia player, but it wasn't to be.
The game finished Valencia 1 - 0 Racing.
Anyways a great game for Valencia, very attacking display and great combinations between the players, their dedication and motivation is huge and all have great physical and fitness level than allowed them to run and never stop and fight for every ball for the entire 90 minutes.
Technical data:
Valencia CF: César, Maduro, Albelda, Joaquín, Mata (Domínguez, min. 70), Aduriz, Vicente (Mathieu, min. 87), Ricardo Costa, Ever (Tino Costa, min. 24), Miguel and Jordi Alba.
Racing: Toño, Henrique, Cisma, Arana (Ariel, min. 67), Colsa, Munitis (Adrián, min. 79), Rosenberg, Francis, Kennedy, Torrejón and Diop.
Goals: 1-0 Min. 46 Maduro
Players ratings:
Cezar - 9: Outstanding performance for the veteran goalkeeper, saved Valencia numerous times in this game.
Miguel - 7: Solid defensively, intercepted few balls and generally marked his man well, also supported Joaquin decently in attack.
Maduro - 6.5: Good performance from Maduro, in his place when he needed to be and worked well with Ricardo Costa.
R. Costa - 6.5: Same as Maduro, had a good game and the defense didn't allow any goals.
Jordi Alba - 8.5: Was all over the field, defense, midfield, attack and performed all his duties admirably. His dedication and motivation was visable throught the match and he impressed me and surely the coach. Was also a menace for Racing when going in attack and had several great combos with Vicente.
Albelda - 7: Same as always, nothing flashy, nothing extraordinary, but kept Racing attacks in check and brake up their play to the best of his ability.
Ever Banega - N/A: Didn't play much at all, only 22 minutes when he was injured and replaced.
Joaquin - 7.5: Once again a great performance, he really is starting to shine this season.
Vicente - 8: Vicente had a great night, although he was pretty annonoumous in the first half, he got way better in the second half. Combined well with Alba and created few chances that should have been goals.
Mata - 6.5: Good performance from Mata, a lot better than his last performance, had a shot and provided the assist for the only goal for Valencia.
Aduriz - 5.5: Poor display from Aduriz, he ran well, got in great positions, but his finishing let him down majorly in this game. If he had scored his chances it could have easily been 3 or 4 goals for Valencia.
Subs:
Tino Costa - 7: Good replacement for Banega, but he still needs a lot of work. Valencia lost much of the ball and possession with him instead of Banega, but improved as the game wore on.
Chori - 7: Had around 30 minutes to create some chances and that's what he did.Mata place in the first eleven looks more under pressure from every corner.
Mathieu -N/A: Only played 3 minutes plus stoppage time.
Valencia CF football club. News, articles, match previews, match reports, team, squad, lineup, results, transfers, information, statistics for valencia cf los che
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Friday, September 10, 2010
Valencia CF vs Racing preview
Valencia started the season win a solid 3-1 win against Malaga and will be hoping to continue their good form this Saturday, 11th October, on home terrain against Racing Santander.
A lot has happened this week and actually it was all good news.
Ever Banega played 90 minutes for Argentina as they trashed World Cup Champions Spain 4-1.
He had an amazing game and he is surely a standard player for Argentina, if current Argentina coach gets a contract.
Manuel Fernandes played 90 minutes for Portugal in what was a shocking loss for Portugal against Norway. Fernandes played good, but I think he didn't contribute much to the attack.
Juan Mata played for Spain U-21 as Spain-U-21 managed a 1-0 win.
Chori Dominguez is back from injury and is training with the rest of the squad, Bruno also recovered from injury, Mathieu who got a small injury during the Malaga match is fully recovered and most importantly Roberto Soldado has made a good and faster than expected recovery and will be available for selection for the match against Racing.
Valencia also played a friendly match against CD Alcoyano on Tuesday with several youth players called up for the game. Valencia won the game 1-0. Unai Emery used the 4-3-3 system for that game, but as you've heard countless times till now, it didn't work very good.
The best player agains Alcoyano was Joaquin who seems to have rediscovered his old form and hopefully he will have the best form for the whole season.
Unai Emery is probably going to choose the same starting line-up he choose for the Malaga game, with the only obvious choices he will need to make is wheather to play Soldado or Aduriz up front and Vicente or Pablo or Mata on the left.
Its been said that Unai Emery wants to play Mata on the left wing again after few unimpressive games from Mata playing just behind the strikers.
Valencia CF squad:
Goalkeepers: César Sánchez, Vicente Guaita
Defense: Miguel Brito, Ricardo Costa, Ángel Dealbert, Hedwiges Maduro, Jérémy Mathieu, Jordi Alba
Midfield: David Albelda, Éver Banega, Tino Costa, Pablo Hernández, Joaquín Sánchez, Vicente Rodríguez, Juan Mata
Strikers: Chori Domínguez, Aritz Aduriz, Roberto Soldado
Anyways here is the probable starting squad:
Cezar; Miguel, Navarro, Costa, Mathieu; Albelda, Banega, Pablo, Mata, Joaquin; Aduriz
Alternatively Emery can play Mata on the left with Chori just behind the main striker, but with Chori just coming off from a long injury I'm not sure if Emery will risk him.
Result prediction:
Valencia CF 3-1 Racing Santander
A lot has happened this week and actually it was all good news.
He had an amazing game and he is surely a standard player for Argentina, if current Argentina coach gets a contract.
Manuel Fernandes played 90 minutes for Portugal in what was a shocking loss for Portugal against Norway. Fernandes played good, but I think he didn't contribute much to the attack.
Juan Mata played for Spain U-21 as Spain-U-21 managed a 1-0 win.
Chori Dominguez is back from injury and is training with the rest of the squad, Bruno also recovered from injury, Mathieu who got a small injury during the Malaga match is fully recovered and most importantly Roberto Soldado has made a good and faster than expected recovery and will be available for selection for the match against Racing.
The best player agains Alcoyano was Joaquin who seems to have rediscovered his old form and hopefully he will have the best form for the whole season.
Unai Emery is probably going to choose the same starting line-up he choose for the Malaga game, with the only obvious choices he will need to make is wheather to play Soldado or Aduriz up front and Vicente or Pablo or Mata on the left.
Its been said that Unai Emery wants to play Mata on the left wing again after few unimpressive games from Mata playing just behind the strikers.
Valencia CF squad:
Goalkeepers: César Sánchez, Vicente Guaita
Defense: Miguel Brito, Ricardo Costa, Ángel Dealbert, Hedwiges Maduro, Jérémy Mathieu, Jordi Alba
Midfield: David Albelda, Éver Banega, Tino Costa, Pablo Hernández, Joaquín Sánchez, Vicente Rodríguez, Juan Mata
Strikers: Chori Domínguez, Aritz Aduriz, Roberto Soldado
Anyways here is the probable starting squad:
Cezar; Miguel, Navarro, Costa, Mathieu; Albelda, Banega, Pablo, Mata, Joaquin; Aduriz
Alternatively Emery can play Mata on the left with Chori just behind the main striker, but with Chori just coming off from a long injury I'm not sure if Emery will risk him.
Result prediction:
Valencia CF 3-1 Racing Santander
Monday, September 6, 2010
Valencia CF short view for the weekend
Just five more days until we see Valencia play again against Racing. I'm looking forward to Saturday night and hoping that Valencia can impress again.
These points against smaller teams in the beginning of the season are of utmost importance that will allow us to go more confident into bigger matches and also keep track with Barcelona.
I think that this year we have the most complete squad, a squad that can play offensively and defensively depending on the game. While last year we had Villa and Silva, we depended too much on them and players often relied only on them to do miracles and win games.
This year however all that is changed, players have no more cover and with the arrivals of the new ambitious players there is fight for starting place at each position.
I think our attack is the most scary thing we have this year. Between Soldado, Aduriz, Chori, Mata, Joaquin, Pablo, Vicente and even Jordi Alba and Feghuoli we have tons of options and great talents.
With the arrival of Marius we've also strengthen our defense, and although many will say Marius is only a bench player to cover for an already bench player, I think differently. Firstly he adds more depth to the defense in pure numbers, secondly he is a very physical player so he can just push away most opposition attackers that lack the necessary agility and speed. So he may not be the best defender, but he can provide great cover especially when injuries start to occur.
Next up is Manuel Fernandes. He was almost set to leave for Malaga, but he refused to go there and I'm glad he stayed. While his staying will give Unai Emery many headaches as to who to play in midfield with so many options available to him, Fernandes can give Tino Costa a run for his money and this will create a fierce competition between the two that will enable them to improve.
With some places still up for grabs, it creates a healthy atmosphere of friendly competition that will only serve to strengthen Valencia as a team and we all want a strong and competitive Valencia that can bring some happiness to our life's. Having said all that we should not loose our sight and objectives, Valencia president Llorente is right when he says our primary objective is to finish into Champions League spot. If Valencia manage to be La Liga champions that would be great, but Valencia must set its objectives right and work towards them. Anything more would be a big plus.
So there you have it, in the following days there will be articles about how our Valencia players did on international duty. I'm hoping to see Banega start for Argentina vs Spain.
These points against smaller teams in the beginning of the season are of utmost importance that will allow us to go more confident into bigger matches and also keep track with Barcelona.
I think that this year we have the most complete squad, a squad that can play offensively and defensively depending on the game. While last year we had Villa and Silva, we depended too much on them and players often relied only on them to do miracles and win games.
This year however all that is changed, players have no more cover and with the arrivals of the new ambitious players there is fight for starting place at each position.
I think our attack is the most scary thing we have this year. Between Soldado, Aduriz, Chori, Mata, Joaquin, Pablo, Vicente and even Jordi Alba and Feghuoli we have tons of options and great talents.
With the arrival of Marius we've also strengthen our defense, and although many will say Marius is only a bench player to cover for an already bench player, I think differently. Firstly he adds more depth to the defense in pure numbers, secondly he is a very physical player so he can just push away most opposition attackers that lack the necessary agility and speed. So he may not be the best defender, but he can provide great cover especially when injuries start to occur.
Next up is Manuel Fernandes. He was almost set to leave for Malaga, but he refused to go there and I'm glad he stayed. While his staying will give Unai Emery many headaches as to who to play in midfield with so many options available to him, Fernandes can give Tino Costa a run for his money and this will create a fierce competition between the two that will enable them to improve.
With some places still up for grabs, it creates a healthy atmosphere of friendly competition that will only serve to strengthen Valencia as a team and we all want a strong and competitive Valencia that can bring some happiness to our life's. Having said all that we should not loose our sight and objectives, Valencia president Llorente is right when he says our primary objective is to finish into Champions League spot. If Valencia manage to be La Liga champions that would be great, but Valencia must set its objectives right and work towards them. Anything more would be a big plus.
So there you have it, in the following days there will be articles about how our Valencia players did on international duty. I'm hoping to see Banega start for Argentina vs Spain.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Official: Marius Stankevicius Joins Valencia On Loan From Sampdoria
A statement on the Italian club's official website reads:
"U.C Sampdoria S.p.a communicates to have loaned Marius Stakevicius to Valencia who have the option to buy him."
Marius Stankevivius can play in the Champions League for Valencia and this means we have good defensive cover for all competitions.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Official: Hugo Viana transfers to Sporting Braga
After much speculation about Hugo Viana transferring to Braga, its now official.
He played last year on loan at Braga and Viana seems to have impressed their coach enough to get signed.
Braga are in the Champions League group stage after they defeated Sevilla and Hugo Viana will transfer for free, after he has deemed surplus to Valencia squad.
This is a great thing, as Hugo Viana hasn't played for Valencia the last two seasons even one match and overall he has played just over several games.
With Alexis, Del Horno, Nacho and now Viana gone, the wages have been reduced significantly and also opens a possibility for a new signing when the new transfer market opens in January.
He played last year on loan at Braga and Viana seems to have impressed their coach enough to get signed.
Braga are in the Champions League group stage after they defeated Sevilla and Hugo Viana will transfer for free, after he has deemed surplus to Valencia squad.
This is a great thing, as Hugo Viana hasn't played for Valencia the last two seasons even one match and overall he has played just over several games.
With Alexis, Del Horno, Nacho and now Viana gone, the wages have been reduced significantly and also opens a possibility for a new signing when the new transfer market opens in January.
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Malaga CF 1-3 Valencia CF
Malaga CF vs Valencia CF: 1-3 score. Valencia CF has won its first season match against Malaga.
Valencia CF started its La Liga campaign in the best possible way, with a 1-3 win against the host Malaga with a goal from Aduriz and two goals from Joaquin, who looked on fire.
Valencia started the game with more confidence and control and for the first 15 minutes were the only team playing. The first goal actually came in the 10th minute after a corner kick from Banega. Aduriz outjumped the Malaga defense and headed the ball into goal.
Malaga grew more in confidence as the game went on, they even had a few chances to draw, but ultimately it looked like Valencia will hold until the 44th minute. Fernandez had a try at goal from a free kick and headed the ball to the goal.
The second half started pretty much as the first with Valencia more in control, but things changed fast and Malaga started pushing towards Valencia's goal. The backline almost surcomed to the pressure and started allowing Malaga attacking players too much space.
After several shots from Malaga and a briliant save from Cezar to keep Valencia in play, things started looking better for us as Pablo came in for Vicente and than after Jordi Alba for Mathieu.
In the 70th minute after a great run from Joaquin he fired a powerful shot towards Malaga goal, which took deflection from a Malaga defender and it was goal for Valencia.
Joaquin was catching fire, he started moving positions with Pablo, running everywhere and causing all kind of problems for Malaga. He would score his second goal in the 74th minute after a good cross from Alba to Aduriz, who put the ball down and towards the oncoming Joaquin who fired a stunner into Malagas goal and the keeper had no chance to catch it, it was 3-1 for Valencia.
Player Ratings:
Cezar - 8: Made several standard saves and that came a crucial save to keep Valencia at 1-1.
Miguel - 6.5: Secure defensively, marked his man well and did well to support Joaquin in attack.
Navarro - 7: Very secure performance for the veteran, had couple of shots and passes blocked and will be happy with his performance.
R. Costa - 5.5: A shaky performance from the Portugal international, had several bad moments that could have cost Valencia the game. Maybe its because its first official game for Valencia or that he hasn't played with Navarro before, but he would like to improve after tonight's game.
Mathieu - 6: Very solid defensively and just when I thought he's done great, he made a mistake and instead of shooting the ball away and out of danger he lost it and could have easily cost Valencia the game.
Joaquin - 8.5: Man of the match. Had a great evening with good passing, smart through balls and finished it off with two well taken goals.
Albelda - 7: Assured performance from Albelda as always, covered well, but surprisingly didn't break up Malaga's play too much, maybe he had less of a support from Banega.
Banega - 7: Great play from Banega in attack, had several shots that he created for himself, few great passes, but failed a bit in supporting the defense and didn't link up well with Albelda.
Vicente - 6: After a superb preseason for Vicente he just couldn't keep the momentum going and its just too bad, I had high hopes for him in this game. Its looking as he may have lost his starting place to Pablo.
Mata - 5: Terrible performance from the "underpaid" player. It seemed as everything he did was terrible. He could not control the ball at all, did not contribute in attack in any way and had several opportunities he missed. A Spanish international and a great player would have not missed those chances and would have opened more opportunities for his team mates.
Aduriz - 7.5: Great start to the season from Aduriz who came in because of the injured Soldado. He scored on his first official game for Valencia, had few headers and shots on goal and made the assist for Joaquin's second goal. Could make Emery question who to be the lead striker this season.
Subs:
Pablo - 6.5: Didn't have a terrible amount of time, but the game immediately went if favor of Valencia after his arrival on the field. The left side became much more threatening with him around instead of Vicente and really he just made more space for his team mates as more defenders needed to keep him at bay.
Alba - 6.5: Didn't have much time, but it was his cross that started the chance for the third Valencia goal.
Tino - N/A
Valencia started the game with more confidence and control and for the first 15 minutes were the only team playing. The first goal actually came in the 10th minute after a corner kick from Banega. Aduriz outjumped the Malaga defense and headed the ball into goal.
Malaga grew more in confidence as the game went on, they even had a few chances to draw, but ultimately it looked like Valencia will hold until the 44th minute. Fernandez had a try at goal from a free kick and headed the ball to the goal.
The second half started pretty much as the first with Valencia more in control, but things changed fast and Malaga started pushing towards Valencia's goal. The backline almost surcomed to the pressure and started allowing Malaga attacking players too much space.
After several shots from Malaga and a briliant save from Cezar to keep Valencia in play, things started looking better for us as Pablo came in for Vicente and than after Jordi Alba for Mathieu.
In the 70th minute after a great run from Joaquin he fired a powerful shot towards Malaga goal, which took deflection from a Malaga defender and it was goal for Valencia.
Joaquin was catching fire, he started moving positions with Pablo, running everywhere and causing all kind of problems for Malaga. He would score his second goal in the 74th minute after a good cross from Alba to Aduriz, who put the ball down and towards the oncoming Joaquin who fired a stunner into Malagas goal and the keeper had no chance to catch it, it was 3-1 for Valencia.
Player Ratings:
Cezar - 8: Made several standard saves and that came a crucial save to keep Valencia at 1-1.
Miguel - 6.5: Secure defensively, marked his man well and did well to support Joaquin in attack.
Navarro - 7: Very secure performance for the veteran, had couple of shots and passes blocked and will be happy with his performance.
R. Costa - 5.5: A shaky performance from the Portugal international, had several bad moments that could have cost Valencia the game. Maybe its because its first official game for Valencia or that he hasn't played with Navarro before, but he would like to improve after tonight's game.
Mathieu - 6: Very solid defensively and just when I thought he's done great, he made a mistake and instead of shooting the ball away and out of danger he lost it and could have easily cost Valencia the game.
Joaquin - 8.5: Man of the match. Had a great evening with good passing, smart through balls and finished it off with two well taken goals.
Albelda - 7: Assured performance from Albelda as always, covered well, but surprisingly didn't break up Malaga's play too much, maybe he had less of a support from Banega.
Banega - 7: Great play from Banega in attack, had several shots that he created for himself, few great passes, but failed a bit in supporting the defense and didn't link up well with Albelda.
Vicente - 6: After a superb preseason for Vicente he just couldn't keep the momentum going and its just too bad, I had high hopes for him in this game. Its looking as he may have lost his starting place to Pablo.
Mata - 5: Terrible performance from the "underpaid" player. It seemed as everything he did was terrible. He could not control the ball at all, did not contribute in attack in any way and had several opportunities he missed. A Spanish international and a great player would have not missed those chances and would have opened more opportunities for his team mates.
Aduriz - 7.5: Great start to the season from Aduriz who came in because of the injured Soldado. He scored on his first official game for Valencia, had few headers and shots on goal and made the assist for Joaquin's second goal. Could make Emery question who to be the lead striker this season.
Subs:
Pablo - 6.5: Didn't have a terrible amount of time, but the game immediately went if favor of Valencia after his arrival on the field. The left side became much more threatening with him around instead of Vicente and really he just made more space for his team mates as more defenders needed to keep him at bay.
Alba - 6.5: Didn't have much time, but it was his cross that started the chance for the third Valencia goal.
Tino - N/A
Valencia CF squad vs Malaga CF
Valencia CF players will travel today for their first league season match against Malaga and coach Unai Emery has chosen the Valencia CF squad to travel to Malaga this Saturday.
The game against Malaga starts at 20.00 CET.
Goalkeepers: César Sánchez, Miguel Ángel Moyà
Defense: Bruno Saltor, Miguel Brito, David Navarro, Hedwiges Maduro, Ricardo Costa, Jérémy Mathieu, Jordi Alba
Midfield: David Albelda, Mehmet Topal, Éver Banega, Tino Costa, Joaquín Sánchez, Pablo Hernández, Juan Mata, Vicente Rodríguez
Strikers: Aritz Aduriz
Missing in the squad due to injury are Roberto Soldado, Chori Dominguez and Angel Dealbert.
Surprisingly Manuel Fernandes has been left out in favor of Tino Costa and Memhet Topal. Feghuoli has also been left out of the squad and will have to patiently wait for the Copa Del Ray to start to get some playing time.
Valencia's starting formation will be 4-2-3-1 and the supposed line-up is the following:
Cezar; Miguel, Navarro, R.Costa, Mathieu; Joaquin, Albelda, Banega, Vicente, Mata; Aduriz.
The game against Malaga starts at 20.00 CET.
Goalkeepers: César Sánchez, Miguel Ángel Moyà
Defense: Bruno Saltor, Miguel Brito, David Navarro, Hedwiges Maduro, Ricardo Costa, Jérémy Mathieu, Jordi Alba
Midfield: David Albelda, Mehmet Topal, Éver Banega, Tino Costa, Joaquín Sánchez, Pablo Hernández, Juan Mata, Vicente Rodríguez
Strikers: Aritz Aduriz
Missing in the squad due to injury are Roberto Soldado, Chori Dominguez and Angel Dealbert.
Surprisingly Manuel Fernandes has been left out in favor of Tino Costa and Memhet Topal. Feghuoli has also been left out of the squad and will have to patiently wait for the Copa Del Ray to start to get some playing time.
Valencia's starting formation will be 4-2-3-1 and the supposed line-up is the following:
Cezar; Miguel, Navarro, R.Costa, Mathieu; Joaquin, Albelda, Banega, Vicente, Mata; Aduriz.
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