Juan Antonio Pizzi rejects Valencia CF

Argentinian press reports than San Lorenzo coach Juan Antonio Pizzi had rejected Valencia CF offer to become their new coach saying he wishes to stay with San Lorenzo right now and isn't ready to move.

Juan Antonio Pizzi was one of the coaches Valencia CF had on their short list as he would come rather cheaply compared to other coaches and has achieved good success recently, but now that he is out of the running its said that Valencia CF are going to look to Marcelo Bielsa who is free after he was sacked from Athletic Bilbao the beginning of this season.

Personally I'm not a big fan of Marcelo Bielsa, he just doesn't have the results to back-up his reputation.

Good news is that Roberto Fabián Ayala is coming to Valencia CF and he is going to become the new sporting manager, while Rufete becomes the new general manager.

What is next for Valencia CF?

Now that Miroslav Djukic has been sacked, the team can move forward, but only if a good, solid coach is found who is able to get the max out of the players and who is a really great psychologist who can instill some self confidence and belief in this battered team.

I hate to say it, but I was was right again, just like I always am, I said that Djukic had to go at least 6-7 matches ago, I knew that the team wouldn't improve with Djukic at the helm. I made my research, my analysis, looked at some of the missed matches I couldn't bare to watch at the time and knew 100% that the team can't improve with Djukic, the coach was just incapable of making this team work, so if my advice would have been taken in time, the team would have had time to actually improve with another coach and maybe, just maybe have better results right now and be in a better position.

What Miroslav Djukic did was turn the team from at least a top 6 finisher, to a mediocre, middle of the table team with no aspiration and quality for anything else. Some small club coaches excel when given the opportunity to work with bigger team, but Djukic choked on the opportunity and was unable to rise up to the occasion. His false bravado, his false confidence didn't help things out either, sometimes you have to admit that you are doing bad, that you are doing things wrong so you can learn from it and do things the right way, to improve. Miroslav Djukic didn't want to admit he was wrong, he didn't want to admit that he was doing things bad and thus he didn't improve and couldn't have improved.

I'm glad even Salvo, so far one of the worst presidents ever, managed to realize this, even though it took him this long. I wouldn't want him to manage my laundry, let alone a club like Valencia, being unable to make the right decisions and needing for all hell to break lose in order to act. I mean the mark of a great manager/CEO is being able to analyze things clearly and make timely informed decisions that are for the good of the club/business you manage. If you are unable to do so, then you are not made out for that type of work. Either way the decision was finally made to sack Miroslav Djukic and now the question is who will replace him?

This is a crucial moment for Valencia CF, hiring another failed coach can literally ruin and destroy the club and after that I don't know how this Valencia CF can come back, hundreds of millions in debt, low income, no investments, 3 different major owners of the club right now between the bank, the Valencia government and the Valencia foundation, all on their own in major financial trouble.

There were talks and reports about Bankia wanting to sell Valencia CF and Salvo after initially rejecting the idea came around, as he hopefully realized that there is not other way out for the club. At this point the club has to be sold, otherwise I don't see a long term future for the club, at least not how we expect Valencia CF to perform. I expect this team to always finish in the top 4, to be competitive, to play in the Champions League, to create and discover super talented players like Aimar, Ayala, Marchena, Silva, Villa, etc... and at the same time have a great play, which doesn't actually have to be possession based. When I started supporting Valencia CF they didn't have much possession, they were playing this really fast, really pacy wing play where 3 players in a type of triangle would move on both wings and cause havoc for the opposing team, while the midfield was held with solid defensive midfielders who knew how to position and defend and mark opposing players and be a great support for the defense.

Back to my points though, the club has to be sold for a long term future and obviously the buyer has to be serious and a fan or at least informed and knowledgeable about the club and its history. Second the new coach is extremely important and has to be a fit, has to work. Another failed coach just can't happen. This is probably one of the biggest decisions for Valencia in recent times.

Andre Villas-Boas was recently sacked from Tottenham, so he is available and after such a failed stint in England, I think he would be willing to take a serious pay cut and work for Valencia CF. I think it would be a personal mistake for him to demand the same type of salary that he earned in England and hold himself to a job in England once again. So he could be a choice, but is it a good choice for Valencia CF? Will he improve this Valencia team, is he a good fit, will he fail in Valencia CF like he failed in England in Chelsea and Tottenham?

Then you have Roberto Di Matteo who lead Chelsea to a champions league final win, but he doesn't have much experience other than that. His experience is limited to basically two clubs, working for only 3 years, is he the kind of coach that we need or want? I'm really skeptical about Roberto Di Matteo, especially since he isn't familiar with the Spanish league.

Marcelo Bielsa is free and an experienced manager, he also has a possession type play style, so he could fit in, but I got to say I wasn't too impressed with Athletic Bilbao under him. You got to look at the results and position he achieved and it wasn't really good. So, I'm kind of against this choice as well.

Other than these free coaches, I don't know who else is there who is decent. I mean Juande Ramos can probably come as he is working with a lower level Ukrainian team, but I'm not sure Valencia would want to pay anything more than they would absolutely have to, plus he hasn't coached in Spain in a long time.

Pepe Mel is free and could surprise, but again this is an unproven coach and we'll have to take a risk with this appointment. So, there aren't too many good choices, other alternatives are basically former Valencia CF players to coach the team, but after the two recent failures I don't think that is a good idea either.

So hopefully you guys/gals have some suggestions and thoughts and if so please share them in the comments.

Official: Miroslav Djukic Sacked!!!!

Well, it's been coming for a while now. Valencia has been struggling against opposition in every competition and the match against Atletico Madrid was the last straw for the Valencia management.

Despite announcing that he supports Djukic completely and insisting that he will stay till the end of the season, President Salvo announced the dismissal of Djukic today. Djukic has really failed to live up to what was expected of him. He leaves Valencia sitting at 9th in the table with 20 points and managed 6 wins, 2 draws and 8 losses from the 16 league games he has been in charge. While the loss against Atletico was expected, it demonstrated that Valencia cannot compete with its rivals anymore and that they don't seem to be improving. Anyone who watched the previous couple of games in all competitions will tell you that there is no sense of direction when Valencia play and you just feel like the potential of this squad isn't being utilized.

Anyways, the management have also announced that Valencia B coach, Nico Estevez will take over as interim manager. This will be Valencia's 5th change in managers in the past two years (Emery, Pellegrino, Valverde, and the sacked Djukic).

Now the issue remains on who will take over after Estevez. Andre Villas Boas recently become available after Tottenham lost 0-5 to Liverpool. There is also Roberto Di Matteo whom Valencia were linked with last year before signing Valverde. I prefer the latter.

Please feel free to let us know how you feel about Djukic's firing and who YOU think should be next coach and why.
AMUNT VALENCIA!!!

Valencia CF 2-2 Valladolid Match Report

Well I knew it, I knew that after last week's win against Getafe the team will screw things up in the next match and they did it, not surprising at all. In fact I expected this, I was even leaning on a loss, but we did play at home in the Mestalla, so that would really have been abhorrent.

I have no words for this match. Same terrible defending as this whole season, Mathieu can't defend even if his whole family lives depended on it. Just sell him in the winter transfer market, bring in some of the B team defenders to replace him, we also purchased a new CD so he will join us in the winter and play Ruiz and Ruben Vezo as the center backs.

As far as left back goes, I just don't see Bernat being very effective either, he is average in defense and doesn't contribute anything in attack. He is not the biggest problem, but its obvious he isn't a great defender. I'd much rather Guardado play there, or bring Gaya from the B team, since for no reason we left Aly Cissokho go to Liverpool. I mean just ridiculous, this team is going down more and more day by day. We don't have any left backs, Mathieu can barely walk he is so bad and we let got of Aly. Now we play Bernat there, wasting his talent, wasting his development, we have no width at the left wing and yet you'd think we'd have 80% possession with all the central play, but that is not the case either.

And where is Michel? I mean he was probably the best player for Levante last year and Djukic doesn't even bench him. Why doesn't he play him behind the striker in an attacking midfielder role where he is best. Put Fuego and Parejo/Banega in the center or maybe Fuego and Romeu, since our defense is so bad.

I just don't trust Djukic, I don't trust him at all, I think he is ruining the team and this president is so blind and bad its unbelievable. They are literally destroying the club.

Valencia CF is tier 3 club, we are relegation zone weakling, not worthy to play in La Liga. I just hope something goes right, because the club is speeding down the road and at the end there is a hole.

Official: Valencia sign teenager Ruben Vezo

Second piece of official news today. I wonder which came first, the signing of Vezo or the sacking of Braulio.

Anyways, Ruben Vezo is 19 year old Portuguese center back currently playing for Vitoria FC in the Portuguese League. Following the departure of Rami, it was deemed fit by the management to bring in a center back. Starting January 1st, Valencia will have Costa, Ruiz, Mathieu, and Vezo as center backs.  The signing is reportedly for about 1.5 million euros and it is a full transfer. The deal is for four years with Vitoria FC able to get 25% off any future sale/loan of the player.

I don't have any idea of the quality of this player (first time seeing his name or his club). However, according to FIFA he is a player with lots of strength and jumping ability. The way our center backs are playing now is, and most of you will agree, awful. I'd even say that the defense is the most obvious of Valencia's many weaknesses. I hope this new signing will be able to improve the defense. However, as was stated in a previous articles, Ruiz should be given his chance since he earned it. My only point of criticism with this signing is that I would have preferred to see on the B-team center-backs promoted. That way, the transition would be instant. The management must have thought they weren't good enough or something. As it stands, however, there are only three center-backs and since Djukic insists on playing Costa and Mathieu with no improvement what-so-ever it will be another two months to endure. Anyway, good luck to the new signing when he arrives and I hope he does well.

As always, feel free to let us know what you think!!!

AMUNT VALENCIA!!!

Official: Braulio Vazquez Sacked!!!

Well, I can't say anything other than he got what was coming to him. The fans made it clear after the game against Almeria that they want Braulio gone and the President got it done. Braulio really hasn't done his job all that well and in my opinion deserved to go. If you recall I wrote a post a while back when the transfer market was open about the number of signings that Valencia was close to but were given up to weaker teams or to rival teams. While you may say that Valencia can't expect to get every player they set their sights on, or that they are riddled with financial difficulties, that would all be true. However, he let some really good deals go (Giovanni dos Santos, Vicente Iborra and even David Villa). As was said in an earlier post, he is like "a headless chicken" in the transfer market. So good riddance.

As always, feel free to let us know what you think!!!

AMUNT VALENCIA!!!

Getafe CF vs Valencia CF Match Preview

Getafe CF vs Valencia CF

Stadium:  Coliseum Alfonso Pérez

Date: 03:11:2013; 12:00 CET

12th matchday, La Liga

Coaches: Luis García Plaza and Miroslav Djikic

This is going to be an interesting match, but not because of how equally matched both teams are or because of the prestige of the match, no, because it will decide Miroslav Djukic future at Valencia CF or lack thereof. That in itself will decide the future of Valencia CF as well, whether the team will continue fighting in the middle of the table or whether the team is going to once again assert its place among the best teams in Spain and a regular Champions League club.


Personally I wouldn't mind if Valencia CF lost this match, because I know that Djukic will be gone and finally we may, just may start seeing the team play well and achieve good results with a different coach. I mean it would be really bad if the team lost, Valencia would probably fall to 16th to 17th position on the table which is basically relegation level, but at least it will be the final call for Salvo to sack the coach.

On the other hand if Valencia CF win, I have a feeling that its going to be just a continuation of the same terrible play and same bad results for longer, and most likely wreck the club and lose even Europa League. I mean I wish I'm wrong, I wish the team comes out today and just absolutely destroys Getafe with amazing play and a solid 3-0 win, or at least 2-0 win and actually change my view on the situation and prove that they can come back and at the very least reach the Europa League spots with Djukic in charge, but the reality is that is not going to happen.

Most of Valencia's wins this season have also been lucky, I mean it could have easily been more defeats and draws, and Ricardo Costa is our key striker basically, that is just bad. I mean you would want to get those types of goals as well, but your main wins should be because you outplayed your opponents and not because of lucky goals.

And I'm sorry I sound so negative, but I'd rather give everyone the hard truth, rather than a convenient lie and exert fake optimism just for the sake of it. I want Valencia CF to be top team again like 1999 when I started following the club or 2000 or 2002 or 2004 or at the very least of 2009 when we were able to reach 3rd place. Even 4th place would be good, I just don't want a Valencia CF that is mediocre and finishes on places where no one cares that it finished on that place.

Who do I think would win if I analyze the match and provided my educated opinion? Getafe is going to win, if not for anything else, because this team doesn't play well when in this type of situation, in fact I'd say it actually plays worse. So right now Getafe are in a better form, have the better defense, have a more stable midfield and a more robust attack and Valencia CF has potential on paper, but in reality we have a weak defense that is leaking goals, we have an inconsistent midfield and non functioning attack that only relies on some individual brilliance or a lucky goal.

So I expect at least a 2-0 victory for Getafe.