Helder Postiga - Agreement Reached

Report just came in that Helder Postiga will be a Valencia player this season with an agreement finally reached between the three parties. The negotiations were seemingly deadlocked with Real Zaragoza asking for 4 million euros and Valencia not willing to pay more than 3 million euros. However, now the agreement has been reached for a 3 million euro transfer plus variables (20% more if Postiga scores a certain number of goals). All that's left is deciding the player's wages, undergoing the medical and the player's signature before he is presented at the Mestalla. He will not be joining the squad in the USA but will probably be available for the Orange Trophy match against Greek club Olympiacos. The agreement for the transfer consists of 3 year deal. With the transfer about 98% certain at this point, he will be Valencia's 4th signing after Michel, Oriol Romeu and Javi Fuego.

Well, we mentioned a while ago that Postiga is not worth the money that is being spent on him, be it 3 or 4 million. He is past his prime and 30 years old. So...what is the club thinking signing him for 3 years???!!! However, it seems he will play a role similar to Nelson Valdez. The striker to replace Soldado is yet to be decided though and Braulio is now looking at strikers in Germany and Belgium after the English clubs refused to let loan or sell their strikers. Well, there you have it. We can only hope that he can fulfill his role properly and be worth his money.


AMUNT VALENCIA!!!

Everton FC vs Valencia CF Match Preview

The 5th place match in the ICC Gunniess Championship is tomorrow. Valencia take on the sixth place team of the 2012-2013 Barclays Premier League. Valencia come into this game full of confidence after thrashing Inter Milan 4-0 in what was a great all-round performance from the team. While Everton seems like a step-down from the previous two teams we faced, Inter Milan and AC Milan, they remain a strong team. They eliminated the current Serie A Champions in the first round in a 1-1 draw that they won on penalties. Then they lost to Real Madrid by one goal in a competitive match that ended 1-2.

If we play the same way we did against Inter, I think Everton won't stand a chance. However, most of the team played the full game against Inter, with the exception of Alcacer who was substituted by Jonas at  half-time. Hopefully, we won't see any signs of fatigue on the players since they need to be able to play every 2-3 days when La Liga, Copa del Rey and Europa League take place in the same time interval. However, I won't be surprised to see the coach field a different team since this the point of the pre-season is to give everyone a chance to impress. This game will show if the team can be consistent in its performance. If you haven't seen any of the previous matches, I encourage you to do so (I can provide links if needed).

Match date: Wednesday, August 7th, 2013
Match time: 1:00 GMT
Venue: Sun Life Stadium, Miami, Florida

My Prediction: 
Everton FC 0-2 Valencia CF

You are welcome to post your prediction in the comments below :)

AMUNT VALENCIA!!!!!!!!

Valencia CF 4-0 Inter Milan Match Report

Well, we were talking of a scoring problem this pre-season but there was no shortage of goals tonight. Djukic promised a win this game and so Valencia have won and in style too. Inter Milan were dominated in every area of the pitch. It wasn't a one-player standout performance, each player from Valencia deserves a lot of credit. Valencia pressured Inter Milan, giving them no time and the ball and dominated possession and shots on goal.

The first goal of the game came as early as the 7th minute when Banega, who had just missed a free kick by miles, shot from even further out and scored a screamer from about 30-yards out! The second goal came in the 34th minute when Viera decided to try his luck from far out and found the net with the help of a slight deflection.

The second half featured the only substitution of the match for Valencia with Alcacer coming off for Jonas. The substitution paid off in the 56th minute when a Viera through ball found Jonas who rounded the keeper and a defender and sort of ran the ball into the net. Inter Milan tried desperately to get back into the game with lots of substitutions but to no avail. Just when the game seemed over Valencia bagged another goal. Joao Periera found Feghouli in the box who then laid it off for Jonas's shot which was saved by the substitute keeper only to be slotted in by Viera for his second of the match.

Valencia linked up well everywhere on the field. Pereira and Feghouli worked brilliantly on the right while on the other end Bernat and Viera did just the same. Meanwhile, Banega, Fuego and Michel dominated the midfield possession and sent pinpoint passes every direction. While these players contributed amazingly to the attack, they were quick to stop any Inter Milan chance with everyone getting back. Rami and Costa were rock-like in the center of defense letting almost nothing past them while Diego Alves kept a deserved clean-sheet. Highlights are at the bottom as usual.

* - means subsituted in/out

Valencia CF (4): Alves, Bernat, Costa, Rami, Pereira, Michel, Fuego, Banega, Viera, Feghouli, Alcacer*
Substitutions: Guaita, Lopez, Victor Ruiz, Barragan, Mathieu, Cissokho, Romeu, Parejo, Salva Ruiz, Jonas*, Ibanez.

Inter Milan (0): Handanovic*, Andreolli, Chivu, Juan Jesus, Nagatomo, Guarin*, Cambiasso, Kuzmanovic, Pereira, Palacio*, Belfodil.
Substitutions: Castellazzi*, Carrizo, Icard, Jonathan*, Ranocchia, Mbaye*, Alvarez, Capello, Olsen*, Laxalt.

Well deserved victory for Valencia. If we continue playing this way, we will be tough competitors in the Spanish League, Copa del Rey and Europa League. Djukic proved that we can beat the bigger teams

Match Highlights:
1st Half Highlights
2nd Half Highlights


AMUNT VALENCIA!!!!

Valencia CF vs Inter Milan Match Preview

After the loss in the first round of the ICC Guinness Championship against AC Milan (2-1), Valencia had to play the loser of the Chelsea-Inter Milan game. Thus, tomorrow Valencia will now take on Inter Milan, the local city rivals of AC Milan. Inter Milan come into this match with a loss of 2-0 to Chelsea in a game that they were out-performed by Chelsea in a lot of aspects. Inter Milan finished 9th last season while AC Milan finished 4th. So, in theory this match should be relatively easier.

However, we will go into this game with Paco Alcacer and Jonas as the only forwards, following Roberto Soldado's move to Tottenham. Youngster Fede who showed promise against AC Milan as well as Guardado are out with injuries. Hopefully, the win that Valencia deserve for their efforts so far in the pre-season won't elude them. With the lack of firepower, we might struggle again to score a goal. With the move for Helder Postiga not working and likely abandoned, we will not be able to buy a new striker and send him to the USA in time. The only goals so far in the pre-season came from midfield players Viera and Parejo. Hopefully Paco Alcacer along with Jonas will step up their game to make up for that this time.

So far, we have seen Valencia improve gradually game after game but no win despite great play. If we win this game, we will play Everton and if we lose we will play Juventus. However, Inter Milan is still a great club and will be no walk in the park. Djukic proved in the last game against AC Milan that we can compete against big name clubs, now he has to show that we can win against them too.

Match Date: August 4th, 2013
Time: 20:00 GMT
Venue: Metlife Stadium, New York City

AMUNT VALENCIA!!!!!!!

Helder Postiga is a bench warmer at best

Helder Postiga is hailed as the replacement for Roberto Soldado and Valencia CF had reached a personal agreement with him early, in case Soldado left and now that that happened, Postiga is the replacement for Soldado.

Reality is that Helder Postiga is a bench warmer at best, he is really terrible at scoring goals, he is slow, he lacks technique and he is 30 years old, he is certainly not getting any younger and sure as hell hasn't proved that he is of high quality in the past either.

Not only can he not replace Roberto Soldado, but he can't even replace Nelson Valdez and even Paco Alcacer is better than him even this young.

So I don't know what Salvo is thinking or lack thereof, but Postiga is not the kind of replacement that fans want for Soldado. The kind of replacement for Soldado would have to be in him prime at about 25-26 years old, that has scored 10+ goals in a lower level club consistently and each season and has shown quality that he can play at a higher level.

And let me tell you, if Valencia CF does not bring a proper replacement for Soldado than say goodbuy to Europa league playing as well, at best we are going to see Valencia CF competing for positions 8-10. You have to have very strong team to complete at the top, you have to have especially a striker that can score 15-20 or more goals to be able to complete for Champions League spot.

With Sevilla getting Kevin Gameiro from PSG after the sale of Negredo to City they have done good business with the purchase of Kevin Gameiro, Atletico Madrid sold Falcao for over 55 million euros and got David Villa for 4 million euros from Barcelona, amazing business.

Why couldn't Salvo talk and negotiate with Villa who I'm sure would have loved to come back to Valencia CF, especially when Soldado was 95% sure to leave. He would have been an amazing replacement for Soldado at just 4 million euros.

Now Zaragoza are demanding 4 million for Helder Postiga and I'm supposed to believe Villa and Postiga are at the same level? Postiga is worth at most 2 million euros in order to warm the bench.

The reason Soldado left...

As Soldado was waiting for his plane to arrive to take him to England where he will play for Tottenham, he gave an interview which I found interesting. In this interview, Soldado explains vaguely why he left the club. After thanking everyone (fans, teammates, the club, staff) and wishing them luck Soldado said the following:

"The reason for my departure is that I do not trust the project. The president has said many lies, to me personally by phone the times I talked to him. I think there should be normalcy and stability and I have not had. "

Soldado then called the club president, Salvo, a liar and blasted him for "leaking information". Soldado continues by saying:

 "You have published many things. I think it is your fault because you leaked it and that has done much harm to me, my agent, my family ...I'm hurt that you could have done everything as clearly as possible, with sincerity, and he has not told the truth in many things. "

Finally Soldado surprisingly says that he did not want to leave by saying:

"Every time I said I wanted to stay at Valencia I've said so because I believed it at the time, but in football things change from one day to another. I apologize because I committed to fulfill my contract on many occasions but on the way I have crossed a stone (Salvo) in which I do not believe, as you do not believe in something it's best to stay away if possible. "

The club immediately hit back and said that Soldado was upset because the transfer was made more difficult than it should've been but they felt like they were entitled to keep their best player. This doesn't address any of the accusations. The president was not available for response though. 

As to the specific reason, Soldado said:

 "I will not give specific reasons why I'm hurt because no benefit. I do not want to hurt anybody. " Then, however, he added: "I hope I'm wrong and this president will mark an epoch and is the one that wins titles with Valencia, I have to wish good luck to him and to valencianismo because together is very strong and I and my family are going to have this club in my heart. "

So, if you want to blame anyone for Soldado's departure, its the president, according to Soldado. I tried to dig up a specific reason but it could have something to do with a court case Soldado was involved in recently, I'm not too sure though. Anyway, I was quite upset while reading this news. To think that our best player lost faith and left because of the president. It really is a shame.

AMUNT VALENCIA!!!

Official: Roberto Soldado transfers to Tottenham

Its official, Roberto Soldado is now a Tottenham FC player as the club announced on their official website. The deal was brewing for a long time, from last year even when Valencia CF rejected Tottenham's offers, with Soldado content on staying as well, but this year with the difficult financial situation from not being in the Champions League and Tottenham willing to pay the 30 million release clause the deal has been made.

Tottenham had a bit of pressure from Liverpool FC and decided to step up their pursuit of Soldado and meet the release clause of 30 million euros. Roberto Soldado is said to be earning about 5 million euros salary at Tottenham, way more than he was getting at Valencia CF.

I wish him good luck in his new club and hope Valencia CF find the proper and suitable replacement for him.