David Villa speaks about Valencia

Barcelona striker David Villa payed tribute to former club Valencia for making him the footballer that he is today and helping him develop as a player.
David Villa has been Valencia's best goalscorer for five consecutive seasons, always scoring more than 20 goals and even having something like 14 assists in the 2007 campaign where he was La Liga top assistant.

David Villa and Barcelona will face Valencia in two weeks time at the Camp Nou. David Villa said: "I took my first steps at Sporting, then Zaragoza, but everything I have achieved in football, Valencia have given me. In the five years I played with them, I played in the Champions League, I fought for many titles, and there is no doubt that those years were the most important of my life. Thanks to them, I’m now with this club [Barcelona].


I will try to score against Valencia when we face them, because I am a professional, like I did against Sporting. But I have much love for Valencia and respect for all the people who have made me better, so I would not celebrate.

“Their team is doing fine. They are a big team that does not suffer when it loses one or two players. Their signings have been very good, and already the players are at a high level.”

Valencia CF goalkeeper Cezar rank so far - Player Ratings

Valencia CF Goalkeeper Cezar being unbeatable as always

This is just for fun while we wait two weeks for the next match against Barcelona. I'll do an overall ranking for all players that have started and played more than 3 games. I'll start with Cezar first and probably do one ranking each day. Note that I did not watch the game against Athletico Madrid and have no rating for that game, so I'll just skip it.
I'll also do an overall rank of all players when the first half of the season ends and see which player has performed the best, this will also serve to see if players have played better in the first half of the season or the second and show us which players need to go and what positions need strengthening.

Player rank:
vs Bilbao; Cezar 6
vs Man. Utd.; Cezar 8
vs Sporting Gijon; Cezar 7
vs Hercules; Cezar 8.5
vs Bursaspot; Cezar 6
vs Racing Santander; Cezar 9
vs Malaga; Cezar 8
Overall score: 7.5
Cezar gets an overall score of 7.5 and will probably be one of the highest scores of any player after 7 rated games. He has been great so far, with only the last game making one big error that let Bilbao score a late goal from freekick, otherwise a great display from the veteran in all games.

Juan Mata to sign a contract extension

Valencia winger Juan Mata is set to receive a contract extension with increased salary and bonuses. The contract extension was originally planned for last year, but with the grim financial situation and loss of form for Mata the negotiations stopped, but they have now resumed and a contract extension is surely to happen in few days.
Juan Mata manager is his father Juan senior who has been very vocal about improving Mata's current contract, but president Llorente has stood firm that the contract can only be improved in Q3 2010.

Reports suggest that Mata will receive 4 million euros per season, more than 300% increase over his previous contract. I expect a more realistic salary, considering our sporting and financial situation of around 3 million euros per season.

Mata has been up and down since the season started and I have been very critical of some of his performances. Here are my ratings of Mata since the beginning of the season:
vs Atletico Bilbao; Mata 6
vs Man. United; Mata 2
vs Sporting Gijon; Mata 6
vs Hercules; Mata 6
vs Bursaspor; Mata 6
vs Racing Santander; Mata 6.5
vs Malaga; Mata 5
Overall mark: 5.3

Pablo and Aduriz called to Spain squad for Euro 2012 qualifiers

Well something had to give after my explosion why we only have 1 international. Torres and Pedro got injured in their last matches, that coupled with the injuries of Xavi, Fabregas and Jesus Navas has forced Vicente Del Bosque to make last minute additions and call Aduriz and Pablo to the Spanish squad for the Euro 2012 qualifications.

Del Bosque has added Villarreal CF midfielders Bruno Soriano and Borja Valero, who is uncapped, to his squad while Valencia CF's Pablo Hernández and Aritz Aduriz – another yet to make his senior debut – have also received calls. Spain began the defence of their UEFA European Football Championship crown with a 4-0 victory in Liechtenstein last month.

Vicente said in his press conference that Soldado is baked for international duty also and he will surely play in some of the future matches.

Maduro is supposed to be injured, but he was listed in the Holland squad, so maybe he recovered or maybe the Holland coach will make last minute change, we'll see.

Valencia players called(not called)for international duty

Valencia has had a superb start this season, leading the table with 16 points and only loosing 2 points in the draw vs Atletico Madrid. With the great results and form the players have been, you'd think we'll see more players called for international duty, but no. Valencia has only 1 player called for international duty, okay technically two and that is Maduro for Holland and Mata for Spain U21 squad.
Miguel Brito has retired from the Portugal national team as he wanted to focus on Valencia and Ever Banega was injured for almost 4 weeks and was not called up for Argentina.

Ricardo Costa has not been called for Portugal, even after showing some good performances for Valencia and players such as Mathieu, Fernandes, Topal and Pablo who have played great have also not been called up.

I think that France coach Laurent needs to call Mathieu and give him a chance and Pablo certainly deserves to be in the Spanish squad, especially since Xavi and Fabregas are injured, so there is a place for him.
Mata is also out of Spain squad as he plays for the Spain U21 squad now.

Valencia CF 2-1 Atletico Bilbao

First of all my result prediction came absolutely true and hopefully they will be true all season and Valencia will keep winning. Now to the game...

Valencia needed to bounce back from the loss to Manchester United and it had an opportunity to do it at home against Atletico Bilbao and the team did not disapoint.
Valencia started the game furiously, you can see the desire to win in the players eyes and it didn't take long for Valencia to threaten Bilbao's goal. Few crosses in the 16 meters, but no one could head the ball to the net, until the 11th minute which started from a superb back pass from Pablo to the oncoming Soldado, who got rid of one defender and crossed the ball to Aduriz who calmly headed the ball in the net, it was 1-0 for Valencia.
In the 20th minute Aduriz headed the ball just wide after a good cross, mere minute later Mathieu dribbled his way into the opposition lines but could not put a final pass. Than we had a chance in the 36th minute when Aduriz had a clear chance on goal, after being released by Mata but could only shoot wide. It was a terrific chance and would have put Valencia into a comfortable lead.
In the final minute of the first half Pablo crosses towards Aduriz, but he misses again.

In the second half Atletico Bilbao were far more dangerous and had more control of the ball, essentially the first half belonged to Valencia, while the second to Bilbao.

In the 50th minute Llorente had a good chance and he shot towards the goal, but it wasn't to be, that just two minutes later Bilbao created another chance and shot towards Ceraz's goal again, but couldn't get the ball into the net.
In the 55th minute Topal had a good cross from the left side, but Aduriz missed the cross, only to find its way to Soldado who shot wide.
Several runs and decent chances on both sides for about 10 minutes and Vicente came in for Mata.
66th Minute Pablo had a good opportunity as he shot at goal, but it was a weak shot and Bilbao's goalkeeper caught the ball. Minutes later there was a big mess in Valencias defensive field and Bilbao had 3 shots towards Cezar blocked and luckily we did not receive a goal.
There were many chances still on both sides and in the meantime Chori came in for the frustrated Soldado and than Feghuoli for Pablo.

While the game seemed set to finish 1-0 for Valencia Chori Dominguez and Vicente had other plans. Chori got the ball, run on the right side, managed to pass 2 defenders and assisted Vicente, who made a false move to negate two defenders and than calmly slotted the ball into the net with his right foot.
But the game did not end there, no all Valencia fans had to endure a huge scare after Atletico Bilbao managed to score a goal from a free kick less than a minute after Vicente scored the goal.
After additional 2 minutes of scares and mess in front of Valencia's goal the referee stopped the game and Valencia won 2-1.

Player Ratings:
Cezar 6: While usually he is a calming presence, he wasn't at his best in this match, clearly wasn't ready for the free kick as he was still positioning himself when the shot was taken.
Bruno 6.5: Good display in both defense and attack, linked well with Pablo.
Navarro 7: Good defending, managed to overcome the threat of Llorente.
R. Costa 7: Also a good performance from Costa, made several tackles and denied Bilbao from scoring.
Mathiey 7: One of the more complete performances from Mathieu, he did great in defense and attack.
Pablo 8.5: The liveliest player on the field and the most dangerous one, made the pass to soldado leading to the first goal, had 2 shots at goal and created many chances for his team mates.
Fernandes 7: Controlled the game greatly in the first half, but as Bilbao pushed out in the second he lost that control, though he did great still.
Topal 7: You could not see him do anything, but his positioning and covering for the defenders is great and although usually overlooked, I'm noticing it and he gave a good performance.
Mata 6: While he provided few dangerous passes, he is the player that one minute can play a superb pass and open up the field and the next 15 minutes you see nothing of him. Must be more active and must penetrate the left side more.
Soldado 5.5: Missed numerous chances that he should have converted into goals. Had the assist to Aduriz though.
Aduriz 6: Would have scored better if he also didn't miss so many chances. Took his goal nicely, but missed a stunner chance in the 36th minute, than missed several more.
Substitutions:
Vicente 7: Good performance from Vicente, didn't have many runs on the left, but got deep in defense to help out and calmly slotted the second goal for Valencia.
Chori 7: Provided the assist to Vicente's goal and also returned deep into defense to help out.
Feghuoli NA: Not enough time, though he did provide the pass to Chori and also defended well.

Technical details:
Valencia CF 2: César; Bruno, David Navarro, Ricardo Costa, Mathieu; Topal, Fernandes; Pablo (Feghouli, min. 82), Mata (Vicente, min. 65); Aduriz and Soldado (Domínguez, min. 75).
 
Athletic Club 1: Iraizoz; Iraola, San José, Aitor Ocio, Aurtenetxe; Orbaiz (Susaeta, min. 46), Javi Martínez (Muniaín, min. 69); Gurpegi, Gabilondo; Igor Martínez (Toquero, min. 58) and Llorente

Goals: 1-0 Aduriz (min. 10), 2-0 Vicente (min. 91), 2-1 Gabilondo (min. 93)

Valencia CF vs Atletico Bilbao match preview

Valencia is going to meet Atletico Bilbao at the Mestalla and will be hoping to bounce back after a demoralizing loss to a weka Manchester United side.
Valencia dominated possession and play for most of the game and committed to full attack without thinking about the consequences. United’s young Mexican striker Javier Hernández found the only goal, with Sir Alex Ferguson’s side securing a robbed win.
Valencia currently lies top of the La Liga table with 13 points after five games; a point ahead of Barcelona and Villarreal. A win now and they will continue to lead the table and it will be a nice morale and confidence boost.

Even though Valencia lost they at least played good football, but I was not impressed with few of the players namely Tino Costa, Mata and Chori. They were the players one would expect to take the initiative and step up in order to bring Valencia the victory, but they all failed to do so. Mata was too scared to do anything and returned every ball back to the defense, Tino Costa was virtual spectator for the whole time he was in and Chori really didn't do much of anything, apart from passing few balls.

That said Joaquin looks more and more as a leader on the pitch and one of our best players so far, and having said that, hopefully he doesn't go to his old bad ways just to counter what I say.
It also shows how good Banega really is and how important he can be for us with his ability to control the game and spread the ball. His assists and vision are a great plus and he has recovered and is training with the squad as normal, though he probably would not be risked in this match.
Going back to Joaquin he still hasn't recovered and will miss out this match. Sofiane Feghuoli will be taken in the squad as cover and will probably start from the bench.

Valencia CF squad:
Goalkeepers: César Sánchez, Miguel Ángel Moyà
Defense: Marius Stankevičius, Bruno Costa, David Navarro, Ricardo Costa, Jérémy Mathieu, Jordi Alba
Midfield: Mehmet Topal, Manuel Fernandes, Tino Costa, Sofaine Feghouli, Pablo Hernández, Juan Mata, Vicente Rodríguez
Strikers: Aritz Aduriz, Roberto Soldado, Chori Domínguez

Atletico Bilbao are coming off of from a loss to Barcelona at home and apart from home their away record is quite poor, but they are a quality side, a very physical one and are always dangerous. Lets hope that their poor away history continues and Valencia goes on to win the game.
The biggest names and the biggest threats are going to come from their striker Fernando Llorente and midfielder Javi Martinez. If they are neutralized than Valencia is going to have a calmer game.

This game will finally be broadcasted on a channel and I can watch it in full quality and not a crappy internet stream.

Athletic Bilbao squad:
Goalkeepers: Gorka Iraizoz, Raúl Fernández
Defense: Mikel San José, Andoni Iraola, Mikel Balenziaga, Aitor Ocio, Jon Aurtenetxe
Midfield: David López, Igor Gabilondo, Markel Susaeta, Pablo Orbaiz, Carlos Gurpegi, Javi Martínez, Igor Martínez
Strikers: Gaizka Toquero, Fernando Llorente, Iker Muniain, Ibai Gómez

Valencia probable line-up:
Cezar; Bruno, Navarro, R.Costa, Alba; Pablo, Topal, Tino Costa, Mata; Aduriz, Soldado

Result prediction:
Valencia CF 2-1 Atletico Bilbao