preseason match report: Aston Villa 0-0 Valencia CF

Valencia played Aston Villa on Friday at Villa Park which ended in a 0-0 draw.

Valencia started with a 4-2-3-1 formation and the starting players were the following: Cezar; Alexis Ruano, Hedwiges Maduro,  Ricardo Costa, Jeremy Mathieu; David Albelda, Manuel Fernandes; Sofiane Feghouli, Isco Alacron, Artiz Aduriz.

The game started slow, with a lot of cross balls, back and forth moving and mostly unimaginative play from both sides. Feghuoli had the best chance when he did a 360 rotation to leave 2 Villa defenders standing behind, than made a great pass towards Aduriz who unfortunately did not collect the ball as he should have had and lost all chance of scoring, even though he did fire a shot at Aston Villa's goal, but it was too little too late.

Aston Villa also had one or two half chances, so did Valencia CF, but the first half ended in a draw.
Second half did not start any better, both sides going back and forth, but never coming close to scoring chances. Mathieu as always has been a great influence going forward and provide a good option in attack, but the back-line didn't cover for him too well. Maybe Albelda needed to drop down deep in defense and cover Mathieu position when he was forward. Anyways there were very few chances on both sides, the most dangerous one coming from a corner kick from Villa in the 90th minute when the free kick taker hit the bar, but the danger stopped right there and the match ended in a 0-0 draw.

I was once again impressed with Cezar Snachez who did a great job saving the goal and its clear he is returning to top form. Positioned well and was quick to respond to any danger, his one on one skills and instincts are top class.
Jeremu Mathieu was great going forward once again, he provides huge support for the attacking trio and is a pretty good crosser. Again his defense needs to improve, but otherwise he is very good.
Ricardo Costa had a great showing, but its clear he will need more time to adopt to the teamplay. Never the less he good and hopefully he can impress when the season starts.
Pablo was once again great when he came in, great determination and constant running from him.
The rest were average, nothing special, but no big mistakes either, Manuel Fernandes was a little bit more than average with some good passes and few shots going forward.

Olympic Marseille 1 - 0 Valencia CF preseason match

Valencia lost their latest preseason match against French champions Olympic Marseille 1-0. This was somewhat to be expected since Valencia CF played the game with Hannover 96 only one day apart.
Valencia CF fielded these first eleven players: Cezar; Ivan Rubio, Maduro, Del Horno, Mathieu; Ever Banega, Albelda, Tino Costa; Pablo, Feghuoli, Aduriz.

The game started in Marseille favor, they took control of the game and were dictating the pace and possession. Valencia had a good chance around the 20th minute but couldn't score. The match continued with Marseille the team in control and Valencia was forced to defend for long periods of time.
The first half ended in a draw. In the second half Valencia coach Unai Emery choose to stick with the same players. After several substitutions later on Marseille finally managed to score a goal.
Valencia's players were clearly tired from the rough preseason and could not muster enough forces to push for a goal. The game ended 1-0 for Marseille.

What is promising is that the team defended very well and was moving around the pitch precisely and unified as a team. Pablo was once again great on the wing, with good dribbling and pace.
The midfield trio performed admirably in defensive duties and looked very determined.
Goalkeeper Cezar Sanchez performed extremely well in this match, even though he was pretty bad in one of the previous preseason matches.

Jeremy Mathieu is doing better and better each time he plays and with his attacking abilities as well as height can be one of the staples in defense.

There is just the problem of fleshing out which formation is Unai Emery going to choose. He has played a 4-4-2, 4-2-3-1, 4-3-3 and 4-4-1-1.
He has almost tried every formation there is, but this needs to go faster. The team needs to gel together under a strong formation and tactics, while we also have the depth to easily transform formation mid game with versatile players.

Hannover 96 1 - 2 Valencia CF preseason match

Valencia CF played their 3rd preseason game on the 31.07 against German Hannover 96.
Valencia fielded the following starting players:
Moya; Alexis, Navarro, Dealbert, Jordi Alba; Joaquin, Fernandes, Topal, Vicente; Isco, Soldado

Valencia started the game in shy and scary fashion, allowing Hannover 96 to control most of the ball and letting it play and dictate the game. Valencia grew more confident as the match went on and a good corner kick saw Soldado head a goal in the opposition net in the 21st minute.
Hannover continued to control the game for most of the time, but a lucky semi-counter attack and a good one-two passing between Joaquin and Soldado made the score 2-0 for Valencia, as Joaquin chipped the ball past the goalkeeper and into the net.

Second half the same players were still on the field, first substitutions were Pablo and Feghuoli for Joaquin and Vicente respectively.
Between 73 and 75 minute Unai Emery changed the whole team. Valencia started playing better, especially in the midfield, but once again I didn't like the 2nd half central defenders.
Del Horno played horribly in center defense, Maduro as usual is very unreliable and the right back position is not covered at all. Between youth players and Alexis as a makeshift right back its the weakest point in Valencia team.

Youth team player Isco is showing signs of being a good player, but a lot more testing needs to be done and he needs to prove himself not only in these preseason matches, but under pressure in the official league, if he is being given a chance.

So far in the preseason matches I feel Topal has played great. Very good presence in midfield, excellent in defensive duties, keeps things simple and has been a good passer of the ball.
Jeremy Mathieu has been good, but not so much in the back, but rather when supporting the attack, he has contributed a lot to attack and is always an option to pass the ball to, but what he brings to offense he lacks in defense. I think he needs to work more on defensive skills and he is going to be great.
Soldado is also gaining good ground and he seems to be really incorporating well into the team.
Moya has actually surprised me in the 3 games so far, as he was really bad last season and very unreliable, but so far so good. He might actually be first choice for the next season and if he is reliable may as well stay first choice.
Pablo also seems very lively, his dribbling skills are really great and it seems as he is very motivated to play a huge role in the team. He has been very hard working so far, great dribbling skills and decent passing.

Anyways Hannover managed to get a reconsilation goal in the very last seconds to make the final score Hannover 1 - 2 Valencia.

Next game is against Olympic de Marseille on 01.08.2010. Yes, very strange, since it only gives the players less than 12 hours of rest, but we'll see, it may actually be postponed for a day.

NK Celje vs Valencia CF 2nd preseason match

Valencia played their second preseason match yesterday against NK Celje. After a succesful first preseason match against Al Hilal won 2-0 by Valencia CF they took on Slovenian side NK Celje.


Starting for Valencia were: Cezar; Alexis, Maduro, Dealbert, Jordi Alba; Pablo, Tino Costa, Fernandes, Aaron; Feghuoli, Paco
Unai Emery put 2 youth players in the starting eleven and did try Feghouli in a more advanced position, similar to what Silva role was in Valencia.

The game started pretty slow, both sides contempt to just controlling the ball and defending low in the field. Than on 36 minute Mocic scored for NK Celje. Valencia tried to get things in control, but was semi-successful, as new players Tino Costa and Feghuoli couldn't find that team play and 2 youth players didn't help either.

Just as the first half was about to finish Brezic scored for NK Celje with Valencian defence ready to go to half-time even before the whistle has been whistled. It was now NK Celje 2, Valencia 0.

Unai Emery did 11 changes to the team, first time starters Joaquin and Aduriz were introduced.
Valencia did start to play better after all the changes, it was more solid in defence, had more control in midfield and was at times quite threatening in attack. Vicente did an awesome job on the left wing and Ever Banega along with Topal really controlled the midfield and spread the ball good.
All the changes paid off in the 65th minute when Vicente netted a goal for Valencia. The players were motivated and pushed on to produce a comeback, but the game started slowing down soon and Valencia did not have enough good chances to score another goal and at least finish in a draw.

Overall it was a mixed display from the players and the team overall. Its quite reasonable to say that the second half team was a lot better than the first half and that Alexis can't play in the right back position. Maduro was too slow in defence and Tino Costa seems to have a slow process of adaptation and Jordi Alba sucked at defence. He is probably solely responsible for the two goals conceded.

This is it for now, next game is against German side Hannover 96.

Al Hilal vs Valencia CF first preseason match

Valencias first preseason match against Al Hilal has finished.
Valencia had this starting line-up:
GK: Moya; Def: Ivan Rubio, Navarro, Dealbert, Jeremy Mathieu; Mid: Pablo, Fernandes, Costa, Vicente; Att: Isco, Paco.

As you can see coach Unai Emery opted to include 3 youth team players in the starting line up.
The game started and Valencia immediately started pushing and it almost immediately paid off, as Jeremy Mathieu scored an early goal in the 4th minute of the match. After the goal the game calmed down a bit and continued with sporadic attacks and chances for both teams.
At half time coach Unai Emery made 11 substitutions

46′Substitution Jérémy Mathieu Asier Del Horno

46′Substitution Pablo Hernández Aarón Ñíguez

46′Substitution Paco Alcácer Soldado

46′Substitution Manuel Fernandes Mehmet Topal

46′Substitution Isco Alejandro Domínguez

46′Substitution Vicente Sofiane Feghouli

46′Substitution Alberto Costa Ever Banega

46′Substitution David Navarro Jordi Alba

46′Substitution Dealbert Alexis

46′Substitution Iván Rubio Hedwiges Maduro

46′Substitution Miguel Ángel Moyá César

Most new players were included with the exception of Aritz Adrius of Mallorca. Few players are still not with Valencia as they've participated in the Fifa world cup and are on vacation.

The second half was played normal also, few chances here and there and mostly half baked counter attacks. The game spiced up towards the final minutes when Ever Banega landed one of his leg in the face of an opposition player and players sprung into argument, physical contact was narrowly avoided and Ever Banega was not given a red card. 

In the duying moments of the game Valencia had a chance, I think Dominguez shot the ball towards the goal, but the goalkeeper deflected the shot and it came right to the legs of Roberto Soldado who calmly slotted the ball in the net. It was 2-0 for Valencia and they won their first preseason game.

It was not an impressive play by any means, but they did the job by winning. There are still some way to go, before the team starts functioning properly, but Valencia has a lot of games left to prepare.

David Albelda surprisingly did not play today and that could be a hint that he is there only as a replacement for injured players. With so many options in the midfield though it would be hard to put the aging Albelda, but he can still contribute with his massive experience to the newer players.

Valencia CF has begun the preseason

Valencia has begun its preseason earlier this week. The start of the preseason was highlighted by the arrival of Valencia president Llorente and new technical secretary Braulio Vazquez. The time of the gathering was at 8am in the morning and some players were clearly not ready to get back from their vacation.

The players met for the first time after a summer vacation and old players met with newly signed players, like Soldado and Mrhmed Topal. Juan Jose Vila was also present in his new role as coaching analysist.

President Llorente gave an opening speech and laid out the expectations for the players in the preseason.
First on the line of business was a through and meticulous medical exam to asses the physical condition of the players. Doctor Candel and his assistants were rigorous in their analysis of each player's muscle mass, weight and general physical shape.

Tests to classify range of movement, strength in individual muscle groups and a biomechanical study involving cardiovascular, dynamic strength and flexibility exercises will be carried out on Tuesday and Wednesday, as well as a nutritional analysis.

Expect training sessions to start light, but progress to more through and difficult ones. First on the agenda is the players muscle tone and fitness, than stamina and strength and finally technical skills.
Valencia will play a total of 8 games in the preseason in order to prepare for the 2010/2011 season.

Mehmed Topal officially presented as new Valencia CF player

Valencia has had the third official presentation of new players in a little more than a week. Valencia has really been busy in the transfer market this summer and with the departures of its top players Villa and Silva they had to bring some cover.
The latest official presentation has been defensive midfield and Turkish international Mehmed Topal. Talking to the journalists Topal admitted he was quite nervous, but said that he already feels like home in Vlaneica CF.
Alongside him were obviously president Fernando Llorente and technical secretary Braulio Vasquez.
Braulio said: when we informed him that Valencia were interested in his signature, he was one of the players to put the most effort into pushing the transfer through. All the players who want to come here have the doors opened to them to participate in the project. Tophal is an important player in Turkey, a young player at 26 and a regular in the national side. We welcome him to the club and are sure that he will continue to grow by our side."

He also had praise for the player saying that "Topal is a defensive midfielder who will suit us to the ground. He can eventually move to playmaker, as he has done for Turkey, and has a magnificent aerial game. His physique gives him presence and he can hit a good shot from outside the box. Part of his game is helping the wingers and center backs, and the best part is that he still has room for improvement. Topal has done a tremendous amount to come here and, without a doubt, will give us a great deal of balance."

Mehmed Topal gave his comments through a translator, since he doesn't know the Spanish language yet, he said "I am very happy to be here and thanks those who have welcomed me so warmly. I hope to go very far with Valencia, who were my preference out of all the offers that I received."
"I know English and don't think that there will be any problems communicating with the players and the coach, especially as I am working on learning Spanish as soon as possible," he concluded, having opened his address with a Valencian "Bon día a tots!"
"I'm fully aware of the great players here; I will have to show that I am at the same level. I will respect their play and earn my place alongside them, which will be difficult because they have already shown that they should play."