Valencia CF 2 - 1 Espanyol Match Report

What a match. Full of surprises and thrills from start to finish. Valencia CF won against Espanyol by 2-1 with all goals scored by Valencia players. It was a bit excruciating to watch towards the end thinking that Valencia lost yet another 2 points in what should have been an easy victory, only for Mata to score a whirlwind of a goal and get Valencia all the 3 points.

Valencia started the better of the two teams and immidiately started dictating the match. Pablo had a few good runs at the start and Joaquin on the right side provided 2 crosses, but no one really could make much of it.
The midfield was working great and Topal after coming from injury and not having played for so long was having a good match as he was always recieving and spreading the ball around, while Maduro acted as a more defensive midfielder.

After a few missed opportunities or scrambled attacks Valencia got a corner. Joaquin was the man who took the corner and managed to found Aduriz who headed the ball past Kameni and it was 1-0 for Valencia CF.
Valencia continued to pretty much dominate the match, but towards the end Luis Garcia passed Mathieu and made a cross only for Ricardo Costa to head the ball into his own net. Guaita wasn't careful as well and the ball easily went into Valencia's net and Espanyol were back in the match.

The Second half started and now Espanyol were a lot more organized and dangerous, probably boosted because of the New Year's gift Ricardo Costa gave them.

As Joaquin was leaving the pitch and Vicente entered, Aduriz made a stupid and irresponsible move and earned a red card and it was not the referee's bad call this time, as the red card was fully deserved. With such an disadvantage it proved hard to attack and Valencia's chances were spare, although Espanyol's defense and goalkeeper made some serious mistakes that Valencia's players couldn't convert into goals.

Towards the end Pablo and Mata had few other small chances, but nothing concrete or dangerous. Injury time started and just as the match was about to end Pablo made a good cross towards Espanyol's penalty area and found Ricardo Costa who headed the ball towards Mata and luckally Mata managed to score in the 2nd minute of the injury time.

Overall an interesting match and one that looked a lot like last years one between these two sides in which Zigic scored a goal exactly in the same way and in the same time as Mata scored tonight.

Technical Details:
Valencia CF (2): Guaita; Miguel (min. 81, Bruno), R. Costa, Stankevicius, Mathieu; Maduro, Topal (min. 70, Banega), Joaquín (min. 58, Vicente), Mata, Pablo; Aduriz.
RCD Espanyol (1): Kameni; Amat, Forlin, Chica, Didac; Verdú, Márquez (min, 66, Dátolo), Baena, Luis García; Callejón (min. 81, S. Garcia) y Osvaldo (min. 15, Alvaro R.).
Goals: 1-0 Aduriz (min. 28). 1-1. R. Costa (o.g. min.45). 2-1 Mata (min. 90).

Player Ratings:
Guaita 6 - Made one good save in the first half and that was the most he had to intervene, but was a bit distracted when Costa headed the ball into his own net and should Guaita have been more concentrated he could have catch the ball.
Miguel 6 - Good defensively and helped out in the midfield, but was limited in his offensive runs.
Stankevicious 8 - His best defensive display and one of the best of any defensive player this season. Made numerous saves and tackles and was rock solid at the back, covering for the shaky Costa.
R. Costa 5 - Would have had a worse mark, but made the assist to Mata that lead to the winning goal. Overall he missed tackled, lost his mark and had an own goal, match to forget for him.
Mathieu 4 - Awful performance from the French. Lost way too many battles and didn't contribute much offensively either. Seems like he lacks the strength and stamina to do anything and still has troubles marking his man.
Joaquin 7 - Not the best display, but he had few good crosses and took the corner kick that led to the first goal.
Topal 6 - Very good performance in the first half and managed the gameplay greatly, but lost a lot of intensity in the second half probably due to low fitness after such a long injury and having not played a match for so long.
Maduro 6 - Put in a more defensive display tonight than Topal and covered for the defense in good and timely fashion, but went off the radar for too much of the match at times.
Pablo 7 - Good display tonight and although he had few sloppy dribbles and seems kinda of slow, he always found himself in dangerous positions and bothered the Espanyol defense a lot.
Mata 7 - Scored the winning goal and even though he seemed to fall a bit too much when touched, he had a few good moments and had few assists that other players couldn't make them count.
Aduriz 6 - Would have had a rating of 8 or 9 this match as he played superbly until his stupid move that got him the red card.
Subs:
Vicente 6 - Slow start for Vicente as he too has not been getting too much playing time, but grew into the match and made couple of good crosses and passes. Defenately brought some danger to the left side.
Banega N/A - Average display, though did not have much time to assert himself into the game.
Bruno N/A - Not enough time

Valencia CF VS Espanyol Match Preview

On Sunday night the most interesting match of this round will start between 4th and 5th place Valencia and Espanyol. Whoever wins this match it will be a big step forward, especially since its the first match in the new year and it decides the 4th place team.

Valencia has been the better of the teams before the break, coming off a win in La Liga and a draw with Villareal in Copa Del Ray, but in which Valencia played surprisingly good and overplayed Villareal.
The team is suffering with a lot of injuries right now, especially in midfield and Emery will need to be very careful who he chooses. Cezar Sahncez, Miguel Angel Moya, Albelda, Tino Costa. Dominguez and Ever Banega are all suffering from injuries.
Banega has been training with the team, but he still feels some pain in his muscles and even Topal has not been fully healed and has yet to play since returning from injury.
To make matters worse Navarro and Soldado will also miss the match due to suspension and this leaves Valencia with only 1 striker. This is why Emery has called in few youngsters to the squad that may be in the official team to face Espanyol.



Valencia CF squad:
Goalkeepers: Vicente Guaita, Saúl Figueroa
Defenders: Miguel Brito, Bruno Saltor, Ricardo Costa, Marius Stankevičius, Ángel Dealbert, Jérémy Mathieu, Jordi Alba
Midfielders: Mehmet Topal, Hedwiges Maduro, Éver Banega, Joaquín Sánchez, Pablo Hernández, Sofiane Feghouli, Juan Mata, Vicente Rodríguez
Strikers: Aritz Aduriz, Isco Alarcón, Paco Alcácer


Espanyol on the other side are coming to this match in a worse shape than Valencia, after suffering 3 defeats in a row in all competitions. They lost 5-1 to Barcelona and lost 1-0 to Atletico Madrid in the Spanish cup.
Before their bad roll Espanyol was on a high roll in the Spanish league and were 4th on the table and playing some great football, but luckily for Valencia their good roll stopped and are coming to this match after 3 demoralizing defeats. 
Valencia has even more luck as Espanyol's top defender Victor Ruíz, who picked up a red card in a 1-0 loss against Atlético in the Copa del Rey will not be featured for this match.

RCD Espanyol squad:
Goalkeepers: Carlos Kameni, Cristian Álvarez
Defenders: Javi Chica, Dídac Vilà, Juan Forlín, Jordi Amat, Raúl Rodríguez, Víctor Álvarez
Midfielders: Javi Márquez, Raúl Baena, Joan Verdú, Aldo Duscher, Jesús Datolo
Strikers: Pablo Osvaldo, José Callejón, Luis García, Sergio García, Iván Alonso, Álvaro Vázquez


Valencia CF Technical:
Formation: 4-2-3-1
Line up: Guaita; Miguel, Dealbert, R. Costa, Alba; Joaquin, Maduro, Banega, Mata, Isco; Aduriz.
Tactics: Medium frequency crosses from the wings, positional changes from the 3 attacking midfielders, high defensive line, high opposing field pressure, doubling down in the penalty area.

Valencia will surely play mostly standard in this match as it has been all season so far, but I suspect Isco will be included in the squad due to Soldado being suspended and will start just behind Aduriz. He and Mata will double down in the Espanyol penalty area on all occasions they can and effectively creating 3 strikers in the penalty area. Joaquin, Mata and Isco are likely to change positions from the left wing, center to right wing and often times Isco helping out in the wings.

Result prediction:
Valencia CF 2-0 Espanyol
Valencia are coming to this match as the better side and from a mini series of good results, while Espanyol are coming demoralized ti this match after a streak of 3 defeats. If the pitch is decent enough to play on it I can't see Valencia not taking this match, although Espanyol will surely prove to be a tough opposition.

Valencia Mid season awards

Valencia has ended the mid season in 4th place in the Spanish premier league and is still in the Uefa Champions League ready to face German Schalke, with Copa Del Ray progress still up for grabs.

So who was the best summer signing for Valencia CF and how do we come to such a conclusion!? Do you look at the official statistics, personal ratings, overall skill, team work all of the above or a mix of some.

Well I'll be looking at the official statistics, my own ratings I give to the players and just generally assesing who did better with the amount of playing time he got.

The three runners for the award are: Roberto Soldado, Aritz Aduriz and Tino Costa.

Roberto Soldado has scored 5 goals and provided 2 assists in La Liga, but he has not played as much as Aduriz. He works hard and has good shooting ability and good speed as well as heading ability, but lacks pace and explosiveness, he isn't very agile and looses his cool way too much as we have witnessed in few matches.

Aritz Aduriz has score 6 goals and has provided 1 assist in La Liga and has played the most of any Valencia player. He is a very hard working player and his headers are superb, but his shooting abilities not so much and in fact he has missed quite a few opportunities due to bad shooting. Aduriz is also slow and while he has strength he lacks agility and technique.

Tino Costa started slowly only featuring after Banega was injured, but has come off strong in recent weeks. He has scored 2 goals, but has no assists and has 6 yellow cards so far. Tino Costa lacks the possession ability where he can spread and dictate the match, but he is good in defending and tracking the ball as well as linking up with the attackers when really offensive. He also has great shooting ability as seen vs Bursaspor, but he lacks in other areas such as dribbling, pace and long passing.

Judging by my own ratings Tino Costa comes first, than Aduriz and than Soldado, but it must be noted that Tino has a lot less playing time and he has been left frustrated and unable to do anything on several occasions.

 The best summer signing for Valencia is Aritz Aduriz.
- He came in for 5 millions if I'm not mistaken, 5 million less than Soldado and 1 million less than Tino Costa, but has had the most playing time, has scored the most goals and has been very hard working. He does not loose his cool easily and fights to the very end for the team. He has scored some crucial goals for Valencia and if he keeps up the good work, he may become an important Valencia player.
Right now he is the best summer signing for Valencia.





Best Valencia player overall
The three runners are: Cezar Sanchez, Jordi Alba and Joaquin Sanchez.

Cezar Sanchez has been a rock, no a mountain on Valencia's goal and if we look at it statistically he is the third best goalkeeper in Spain at the moment. Since Valencia has conceeded more goal than R. Madrid and Barcelona due to the poor defense he could easily be the best goalkeeper in Spain. He has single-handedly saved Valencia on numerous occasions and has been the most consistent player.

Jordi Alba hasn't played too much and one may say the matches he has played in have been easier, but that is just not the case. Every opportunity he has been given he has used it to the fullest and not being a natural left back he has slotted perfectly in that position with good defensive displays and great offensive displays.
He has also been more consistent than Mathieu and has often contributed more to the attack.

Joaquin Sanchez has been reinvented this year and this may well be his best season in a Valencia shirt since coming here from Betis. He has scored 2 goals, provided 2 assists and more often than not provided real threat on the right wing. Pablo may have taken this place if he hasn't been playing so badly for the last month, after a very good start. Joaquin has provided a lot of pace on the right wing and on his day he is the best player in Europe, if not the world.

The best Valencia player overall is: Cezar Sanchez
-Cezar has been so influential since coming to Valencia that its hard to imagine the success Valencia has achieved without him. He has been responsible for so many good results Valencia has achieved that its really even amazing. Recently he has been struggling with injuries, but when fit he is just top class. He has also been influential on the younger players and has helped Valencia immensely.

Valencia CF player ratings

Here are the players rankings for Valencia so far in the season. I've ranked the players in 17 matches and regretably missed to watch 5 matches and were unable to rate them in additional two with my internet being down.

The best rated player as you can see is Cezar Sanchez and rightfully so as he is one of the best goalkeepers in La Liga statistically speaking with more saves than any other goalkeeper based on minutes played and saves made.

Second player may surprise someone, but its Feghouli because he has only played one match with enough minutes that he can be ranked and he played good in that match, earning him a rating of 7. So you will want to watch the cumulative points also as it determines how many matches they've played and their rating.

Realistically the picture would be: Cezar, Vicente, Alba, Pablo and Joaquin.

I know Pablo hasn't been playing well for a month, but I've failed to rate him in the last 4 or 5 matches he played, and he was getting good ratings at the beginning of the season.

Best overall player, best summer signing and who should Valencia buy article will come shortly.

Valencia Transfer Rummors

As the end of the year nears and the winter market ready to open, so to come the speculations about player transfers.

Lets first start with the non-player department as this is a new development. With Rafael Benitez sacked from Inter there has been a lot of speculation where he will end up and several reports say that Valencia is the most likely destination for Rafa Benitez.
I will disagree with this based on 2 grounds: Rafa paycheck nowdays is really big and unless he gets something like 4-5 million per season its unlikely he will sign a contract and Valencia just don't have the financial material to sign him and secondly there is no way Valencia president Llorente and the board would sack Emery at mid season. If they change the coach it will be in the summer.

Next we transfer to the players department and there has been a lot of speculation here. First is that Sofiane Feghuoli will move to Lorient a league 1 team as their key player Kevin Gameiro has expressed his desire to leave the club.

Second we have reports of Valencia purchasing French international defender Adil Rami and some reports make this sound like a done deal. I wouldn't be surprised if Valencia sign this players as he seems to be good, but his 6 million price tag may be a bit too much for Valencia to swallow, especially if they don't sell some players.
The reported transfer budget for next season is 18 million euros, if Valencia manage to go far in the Champions League, so unless Valencia wins the Champions League its more likely Valencia will spend 14 to 16 million euros on players.
One reason this transfer might actually happen is because Valencia's defense has been really so far, with only Ricardo Costa being consistent, but even that doesn't speak much. He is definitely a player I would like to see though, as I've had enough of Navarro and makeshift Maduro keeping our defense.

Next up is the speculation of Valencia exercise the option to sign Sampdoria defender Marius Stankevicious on permanent dead. This will cost Valencia 1.5 million euros and is the most likely option for Valencia.
Personally I do not agree with this one bit as Stankevicious has been mediocre at best and hasn't really strengthen Valencia's defense.

Be sure to check back very soon to find out my picks for Valencia's best summer signing, best player overall and who should Valencia buy or sell in the winter transfer market.

Valencia CF 0-0 Villareal CF Match Report

The Copa Del Rey match between Valencia and Villareal at the Mestalla finished in a goalless draw in what was a pretty exciting match for Valencia fans and not so much for Villareal fans. Even though Valencia only managed to draw with Villareal, the players were playing great most of time time with the exception of our striker Aduriz who managed to screw several cahances.

The match started with Valencia being the dominant side even though from the formation Emery did you would think Valencia would be too defensive. That was not the case and Valencia started attacking from the first minute. The first chance for Valencia was in the 6th minute and quickly after that followed several opportunities mainly involving Mata, Pablo and Aduriz, but they couldn't be converted.



Later in the match Pablo had a brilliant chance as he was one on one with the Villareal goalkeeper, but Pablo seemed to panic and shot wide of the goal.
In the meantime Aduriz had several opportunities, but each and every time he chose the wrong option, header instead of calming the ball and shooting, calming the ball instead of shooting and all kind of bad calls that could have been goals.

In the second half Valencia were dominating once again, with the rare forays forward from Nilmar and just a few dangerous chances for Villareal.
With the 60th minute coming up and the result 0-0 Valencia coach Unai Emery decided to make some changed and introduced Joaquin for Pablo, which to me was the wrong option and he should have removed a defender and placed Joaquin.

Until the end Valencia had numerous chances that Pablo, Mata, Aduriz and later on the substitutions Joaquin and Soldado managed to miss. There was no doubt that Valencia was the better team, but with so much misses up front it was clear Valencia wouldn't be able to win.

Technical Details:
Valencia CF (0): Guaita; Mathieu (Jordi Alba, min. 79), Stankevicius, Dealbert, R. Costa, Miguel; Maduro, Albelda, Pablo (Joaquín, min. 59), Mata; Aduriz (Soldado, min. 65).

Villarreal CF (0): Juan Carlos; Ángel, Musacchio, Gonzalo, Capdevila; Cani (Senna, min. 46 (Altidore, min. 71), Borja Valero (Mario, min. 90), Bruno, Cazorla; Nilmar и Rossi.
Referee: Delgado Ferreiro

Player Ratings:
Guaita 6.5 - Not much to do, but did made one great save and was always alert.
Miguel 7 - Great night for Miguel, ran all night up and down the field and his crosses were great.
Stankevicious 6.5 - Did not have much to do, but made 2 important interceptions and often moved forward to help the middle.
Dealbert 6 - Did not have too much to do, caught out of position twice, but overall good.
R. Costa 6 - Made two crucial tackles and did a good job overall.
Mathieu 6.5 - Was good in his offensive runs especially in the first half, but a bit unsure defensively.
Pablo 7 - He did a great job and was involved in most Valencia attacks, though missed a perfect opportunity to score.
Albelda 5.5 - Lost too much balls and his passing was not very good, did not bring anything offensively.
Maduro 6 - Great in the first half, but faded out in the second.
Mata 7 - Involved in most of the attacks, combined well with all players and had few chances, but it wasn't to be.
Aduriz 5 - Missed a lot of chances and did not present a threat at all.
Subs:
Joaquin 6 - Replaced Pablo, but wasn't better than him and could not make an impact.
Soldado 6 - Replaced Aduriz, but wasn't much better than him.
Alba N/A - Not enough time.

Valencia CF vs Villareal CF Match Preview

Valencia host Villareal for the first Copa Del Rey match from the 16th finals. The series are expected to be very entertaining, but also very tough for both sides as both sides are playing food football at the moment.
Villareal are small favorites to go through to the next round, but Valencia showed that they can cope with Villareal even away from home. Valencia will thus want to win in this first encounter and than probably defend like they already did when they face Villareal on the away trip and achieve that way a positive result.

Valencia had not played too good the last 2 matches, one they didn't have luck at all and the last against Real Sociedad they really had luck to pull of a victory from the hands of draw.

Valencia has a bit of a problem with goalkeeper Cezar Sanchez and his age finally started to show as he has not been able to stay fit and stable for more than a month now and as soon as he recovers he gets another injury. Luckally Guaita has been doing quite well, though he needs to iron out some mistakes and will need more experience.

Valencia CF squad:  
Goalkeepers: Vicente Guaita, Saúl Figueroa
Defenders: Miguel Brito, Bruno Saltor, Ricardo Costa, Marius Stankevičius, Ángel Dealbert, Jordi Alba, Jérémy Mathieu
Midfielders: Hedwiges Madruo, Mehmet Topal, David Albelda, Pablo Hernández, Joaquín Sánchez, Vicente Rodríguez, Juan Mata
Strikers: Artiz Aduriz, Roberto Soldado


Villareal CF on the other side are coming off from a 3-1 win over Mallorca and are showing week in, week out that they are a force to be reckoned with. They are currently the only team that is able to even slightly keep up with Real Madrid and Barcelona and are in the poll position for a 3rd place finish at the end of the season.
Valencia has a big mountain to climb with Villareal and its almost mission impossible, but if they manage to conquer this mountain they will come out stronger.

Villareal CF squad: 
Goalkeepers: Diego López, Juan Carlos
Defenders: Ángel López, Joan Capdevila, Gonzalo Rodríguez, Mateo Musacchio, José Catalá, Mario
Midfielders: Marco Senna, Bruno Soriano, Borja Valero, Cani, Santo Cazorla, Jefferson Montero
Strikers: Giuseppe Rossi, Nilmar, Marco Ruben, Jozy Altidore


Valencia CF Technical:
Formation: 4-2-3-1
Line up: Guaita; Miguel, Maduro, R. Costa, Alba; Joaquin, Albelda, Banega, Mata, Dominguez; Aduriz.
Tactics: Medium frequency crosses from the wings, positional changes from the 3 attacking midfielders, medium defensive line, high opposing field pressure, long shots.

Valencia play the first match at home and only a victory will guarantee a calm second match so Emery will want to achieve a victory, but with Villareal dangerous attack he is not going to risk it with a full out 4-4-2 formation and will probably play 4-2-3-1 formation that should give Valencia more control of the midfield.

Result prediction:
Valencia CF 2-1 Villareal CF
Valencia need to play calm and control the midfield in order to win, if the players are up to the challenge I can see Valencia scoring two goals, but as usual our defence always finds a way to let at least one goal in, so its going to be a tight match with Valencia just edging Villareal by 2 to 1.