It’s hard to find positive stuff to talk about at the moment but I feel that Mateo Musacchio has to be singled out for praise.  Yes he was part of a backline that conceded 6 but I couldn’t really fault him for any, a few were scored whilst we were playing with a back three. A number of times he dealt very well with Higuain, he seemed calm and composed on the ball in comparison with Marcano. His performance for a debut in the Bernabeu was exceptional in my opinion and I will go ahead and say that I want him and Godin as a partnership for the rest of the year. A new right back is clearly needed, Venta, great servant as he’s been doesn’t have the pace any more. Angel always seems like a bit of a nutcase to me and only ever plays in flashes. We were rumored to be looking at Azpiculeata (sp) from Osasuna who is a tidy up and coming full back so hopefully we will make some moves in the summer. Rafinha is reportedly unsettled at Schalke and he would be a fantastic signing for right back. Back to Mateo, he’s got class, real class.

Jacksons post in the last thread gave me an idea. Since there’s been a lot of doom and gloom around recently I think we should have something to lighten the mood.
Now we have all read the puns relating to our clubs nickname. We are lucky that we have been blessed with such a pun friendly name. Surely the possibilities are endless! I think we can come up with far more than ‘the sub is sinking’. There are a vast array of nautical terms that could be put to good use. In short I think we should all try and come up with a new good pun each week. Just for fun, I for one am sick of the same ones being used in news reports around the web! Be inventive and lets see what we can come up with! Let me know what you think or is this idea just dead in the water? (pun very much intended)

Now on a much more sombre note, I would again like to offer my condolences to the Rossi family. I hope Giuseppe gets through this tough time and comes out a stronger person. We’re all behind you! Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.

Well the squad list hasn’t been announced yet but I’ll go on and write the preview anyway. As far as I’m aware we have no fresh injury concerns following the midweek defeat to Salzburg. Ibagaza is probably still going to be out. We rested several players for that game and they should be back in the fray on Sunday.
Racing come into this game off the back of wins over fellow strugglers Xerez and Espanyol. They are having a bit of an injury crisis and unfortunately for them they won’t have the very talented 18 year old Sergio Canales lining up for them. He played a big part in their win over Espanyol watch. I’m a little disappointed too as I was looking forward to seeing the reason behind their recent resurgence. Munitis and Tchite will form the main attacking threat in his absence, Oscar Serrano’s pace out wide could also cause a few problems. We should be well able to shut them out though.

I expect Valverde to go 4-4-2 at home, as to who will partner Rossi I really can’t say. I’ve no idea which he will choose. Cani and Santi should make up the wings and I hope to see the Senna/Bruno midfield partnership renewed. Marcano should retain his place in defense with Venta, Godin and Capdevila. Lopez of course will be in nets. Xavi Oliva did himself no favors with the goal he conceded against Salzburg but that’s somewhat to be expected of someone who doesn’t get a lot of first team football.

I think we need to settle on a so called ‘best eleven’. Stability is important and I think that would bring us on over the next few weeks. Both Marcano and Bruno have chances to secure places in the team and both have been doing well lately. Personally I like Marcano, tough tackling and strong in the air. He just has small lapses in concentration sometimes which cause problems but if these can be ironed out then he can become a to defender. He was also a solid left back against Salzburg, made several decent incursions forward.
All in all this is a game we should be winning and I would be confident of continuing our rise up the table. I continue to have total faith in Valverde and what he’s trying to do at the club. There are still a few teething problems but I am confident that he is the man to take us forward. I’ll add the squad on when it comes out. Check back tomorrow for the match thread!!

Edit – Squad : No Ibagaza and Gonzalo, Pereira and Fuentes not called and no Kiko either, maybe he picked up a knock midweek.

- Porters: Diego López i Xavi Oliva.
- Defenses: Ángel, Javi Venta, Godín, Marcano i Capdevila.
- Migcampistes: Eguren, Senna, Bruno, Pires, Cani, Santi Cazorla, Escudero i David Fuster.
- Davanters: Nilmar, Llorente i Rossi.

UPDATE: Match Highlights

Game to kick off shortly! Be on the lookout for Maddi’s banner, I’ve no idea whereabouts it will be though! There are several different variations of lineups on AS and Marca so I’m not sure which is correct! I have to go get something to eat but I’ll be back shortly!

6′ – Goooooooooool! Nilmar! Great wing play from Escudero and Nilmar heads in his inch perfect start! Great start!

22′ – Rossi gets booked for diving in the box, have to say he deserved it. Nilmar is terrorizing their backline!

26′ – Escudero playing well, just showed some great skill to control and pass on a ball

31′  -  Rossi definitely should have had a penalty there!!!

32′ – The team looks very balanced. Bruno, Escudero and Capdevila on the left and Senna, Pires and Venta on the right. All combining well. We are entrenched in Valladolid territory at the minute

35′ – Been very good so far, second goal before half time would be nice

42′ – Javi Venta comes off injured, don’t know what it was but he signalled to the bench. Angel coming on.

HT – Bit of ping pong in the Valladolid box just there after the keeper made a good save from Nilmar. A Vallodolid counter attack followed but it was stopped by a crunching tackle from Marcano. He’s doing well, Godin and Marcano for first choice?

Also I have to mention the skills of Rossi and Escudero, their close control is wonderful and they’ve had some delgithful little touches. Anyone spot the banner at all? My streams too blurry!

Just thought I’d mention too that Tottenham are winning 8-1 against Wigan! 8-1! Jermaine Defoe with 5 goals!

In some  news relating to ex Villarreal players, Guille Franco scored for West Ham yesterday, Pascal Cygan was sent off for Cartegena today and Mati Fernandez is currently Sporting Lisbon’s top scorer with 3 goals. It goes without saying that Sporting are not having the best of seasons.

47′  - Goooooooooooooooooool! Nilmar again! Long ball over the top, defense asleep and Nilmar heads it over the keeper beautifully!

56′ – 3-0 Rossssssi!!! Sublime link up with Escudero after a huge kick from Lopez, Rossi flicked it down to the latter who then flicked it back over the top to Rossi who blasted it home. We’re in complete control.

60′ – I had to jinx it didn’t I? A poor backpass from Marcano allows Diego Costa to round Lopez and finish well from a tight angle. Unfortunate for Marcano as he’s had a solid game! 3-1

64′ – Ex-Villarreal man Cesar Arzo comes on to a warm reception from the home crowd.

67′ – Fantastic save from Lopez after a powerful half volley from Manucho. Valladolid are playing better at the minute.

68′ – Escudero comes off for Fuster. Two assist’s, not a bad days work from him.

83′ – Games died down a bit, Eguren comes on for Senna

And there we have it, full time. Good team performance. Front two were dangerous, midfield was always on top and the back four were good apart from one lapse of concentration. 3 goals, 3 points! Maddi picked the right game to go see anyway! See you guys later!

I’m sorry but I’m going to have to hijack this post! Ireland just lost to France after extra time. Ireland played the game of the campaign to win 0-1 after normal time. Several Irish players had the game of their lives. Now Thierry Henry dubiously assisted a goal in extra time. I’ve always like Henry until tonight. It wasn’t enough that FIFA had to seed the draws, their referees let Henry get away with this disgrace. Now I know I’m incredibly biased (and gutted) but I hope you guys can make up your own opinion. Thierry Henry, you disgust me.

Cheating in all its glory

I know that it’s pointless, but I needed to have a rant. Also Henry had the cheek to look Irish players in the eye after the game. Words can’t describe.

Personally I don’t feel changing the manager will make a huge amount of difference at the moment. I’m not a fan of the cut throat industry where managers are chopped and changed by the month it seems. Perhaps that’s because I’m so used to the stability that we had over the past few seasons, which in a country of potty presidents is very rare.  Also, most managers have fee’s attached to their contract should they be sacked. I know that Liverpool’s Rafa Benitez has a £22 million pound clause on his. The club can’t afford to sack him, literally! I’m sure Valverde’s is no where near that large but it is something to be taken into account.

However I can see that things are not working and more than likely Valverde will not finish the season in El Madrigal. So who is available should we decide to replace him? Thanks for the info in the previous comments! Feel free to add anyone who I’ve left out

• Luciano Spalleti – Several good seasons with Roma, known for his tight defenses. Likes to play 4-5-1
• Michael Laudrup – Supposedly turned down the Atleti job, did great things at Getafe and was one of the best midfielders of all time.
• Bernd Schuster – Again did great things with little Getafe before taking Madrid to the league title. He went a little nuts during his second season and resigned.
• Juande Ramos – Yes please. Played some of the nicest football you will ever see with Seville.  Had a bad time of it in England, came back to Spain to take over at Real Madrid following Schuster’s departure and won the league. He was then sacked.
• Marco van Basten – Another awesome footballer. Managed the Netherlands in Euro 2008 and brought them to the quartefinals. Had a disappointing time with Ajax following that and I’d see him as an unlikely choice.
• Roberto Mancini – Yes another top manager, one that might be outside our price range I fear. Was hugely successful at Inter before being replaced by the special one. Kenez mentioned that he was wanted by Notts County, they have a lot of money behind them at the moment. I’d like Mancini but I think he’d be out of our reach at the moment.

They’re all I can think of really, my knowledge of Spanish managers wouldn’t be as strong. Laudrup seems the top choice out of the group. I really hope Valverde succeeds though. If we can win our next three league games against Tenerife, Sevilla and Valladolid then I think we will be alright. Opinions?

Oh and also well done to the B team, that 3-1 win over nearby rivals Castellon must have been very sweet. They played some very nice football too. Not a bad weekend then!

Just a small jumble of Villarreal related info that I have come across lately

Remember Tiago Dutra who is on loan at Maccabi Haifa? Well he got some game time in their 1-0 loss to Juventus in the Champions League this evening. Unfortunately he didn’t make a very good impression, here’s his rating courtesy of goal.com

Dutra – 1: Went onto the pitch with no other aim but to apparently break an opponent’s legs. Should have seen red for the foul that put Melo out of the game, and was finally dismissed for his leg-breaker on Chiellini.

Hmm not very impressive from our young Brazilian. Still he’s young and can learn and least he’s playing in the Champions League which seems very far away from us at the moment.

Robert Pires’ spat got a mention in Tim Stannard’s excellent La Liga Loca column (see recommended sites), as always he made light of the situation! Finally Jefferson Montero got a mention in another column that I read, this one being Tim Vickery’s (Link) and I quote

Jefferson Montero, with his ability to drift past his marker on either flank, is a potential genius.

Sounds promising? Unfortunately Ecuador wont be going to the World Cup so he’ll miss out on that. Maybe we will see him get the nod for the first team sooner rather than later.

That’s all I stumbled upon lately that and endless headlines making use of the words ‘submarine’ and ‘sunk/torpedoed/etc..’ We really must beat Lazio, a team that I somewhat admire and it will be no easy task. However maybe better opposition will force us to lift our game and we’ve already thumped one Italian side this season. That 4-0 over Juventus and the promise it showed seems a long time ago! Still we must be positive! Onwards and upwards!

We travel to the heart of Spain’s Basque country this weekend, Bilbao, home to the Guggenheim museum of modern art and the slightly less cultured stylings of Athletic Club Bilbao.

Still despite their lack of finesse they currently sit on 6 points with wins over Espanyol and Xerez. They also beat Austria Vienna 3-0 during the week. La Liga Loca’s Tim Stannard described them aptly as ‘determined’. The match will be played in San Mames, the oldest and probably the most intimidating stadium in Spain. Even more so than Pamplona, the fans are very close to the pitch and are amazingly vocal. We are most certainly in for a game on Sunday. In defense they have Amorebieta and Iraola, Javi Martinez will play as a holding midfielder, you may remember the screamer he scored in this fixture last year? In attack Bilbao will be relying on Fran Yeste and Mikael Susaeta to provide the ammunition to the powerful Fernando Llorente and the diminutive yet eternal Joseba Etxeberria.

From our point of view, well we haven’t got out of second gear yet, Mallorca were saved by the rain and we were unlucky not to beat Osasuna. Levski took a while to break down but importantly we got our first win and are still unbeaten. Valverde left out Bruno, Fuentes and Escudero again whilst Marcos Senna is injured. I agree with Kenez and expect to see this lineup : 

                Diego Lopez,
               Angel, Gonzalo, Godin, Capdevila;
                 Cani, Eguren, Ibagaza, Cazorla;
                 Rossi  Nilmar

Eguren will need  to be on form to try and get us a decent amount of possession in and around the middle. There’s more than enough class in that attacking four to take Bilbao apart. Nilmar can expect to be kicked around so we will have to take advantage of set pieces. We have to try and isolate their back four so we can use the pace of the two lads. I’d be a bit nervous going into this game, if they get on top they will be very hard to breakdown. Their Llorente is a strong centre forward and is a current Spanish international. Godin will have to pick him up with Gonzalo sweeping in behind. A win here is very important and we will have to show a bit of grit. A win would be a real morale booster and would set us up well for next Wednesdays game against Real Money! Check back here tomorrow for streams etc. Vamos!!

Oh, I almost forgot. Tomorrow is All Ireland (Gaelic) Football Final day and it’s the biggest day in the Irish sporting calendar. It throws in half an hour before the Villarreal game. I would strongly recommend anyone to either take a trip down to their local Irish bar or have a gander at www.rte.ie where there is always a stream for the Irish diaspora! To put it into context it’s like the equivalent of the  Superbowl but it’s an amateur sport yet it still will have the attention of the whole country. It’s a really wonderful spectacle and some of you might find it interesting!

Just a quick note on where and against whom our internationals will be this weekend and during the week. 

Lopez, Capdevila, Cazorla and Senna join up with the Spain squad to face Belgium and Estonia. 

Meanwhile Marcos Gullon, Kiko and Matilla have been selected for the Spanish U-21 side to play Poland and Liechtenstein.

Giuseppe Rossi should see action for Italy against Georgia and Bulgaria. The rest of our internationals head across the Atlantic. Nilmar will be pushing for a starting spot against Argentina in a massive game in Rosario. If Argentina lose then their World Cup ambitions will hang by a thread. Former Villarreal star Juan Roman Riquelme will not be featuring for Argentina due to his falling out with Maradona a few months back. Brazil will then take on high flying Chile who currently hold second place in the group. A certain Matias Fernandez will be pulling the strings.

Diego Godin and Seba Eguren will see game time against Peru and Colombia whilst Jefferson Montero (possibly the only player in the Segunda playing International football) is expected to start for Ecuador against Colmbia and Bolivia. After the tough journey to Medellin ,Montero will have to travel to La Paz to play Bolivia at very high altitude. Hopefully he is not too fatigued on his return. The same goes for all our stars, an injury free break would be very nice! Best of luck to them all! (Except Rossi, hopefully Italy stumble against Georgia and draw with Bulgaria leaving us with a great chance of topping the group)

Juan Carlos Garrido is still looking for another centre back to make up his squad for the forthcoming season. It seems that his ideal candidate would be 19 year old Mateo Musacchio. The young Argentine is currently on the books of River Plate and we are very interested in bringing him to Spain. He made his first team debut aged just 16 and he has also been involved in the Argentine youth setup.

For the moment no price has been mentioned but according to the article (link) he has called his former team mate Robert Flores to ask him what things are like in Vila-real. Flores gave him a good recommendation. His current coach Nestor Gorosito has also acknowledged the possibility of Mateo playing in the Segunda next season. Importantly he already holds an Italian passport which means he can go straight into the B squad. The two non EU places having been taken by Montero and Renan. Hopefully the deal can go through in the next few days, he would be a good replacement for Fuentes in the next few seasons leaving us with 4 solid centre backs.

On the subject on non EU players, Thiago Dutra has had his contract cancelled, he returned to Brazil without permission from the club. Such is the risk of taking youngsters out of their comfort zone and it’s unfortunate for the young lad. Hopefully he does well in the future

EDIT : Ah a good win, now Ibagaza’s goal was a really delightful one. He was a good 30 yards out directly in front of the goals. The goalkeeper was lining his wall up from the left hand post. Ibagaza just dinked the ball into the far corner. Sounds ok, it’s been done before. Now the problem I would have if I was a Breda fan was that the referee seemed to clearly say wait for the whistle. In a clip shown after the goal, it shows Ibagaza placing the ball with Cani and Senna standing beside him. The ref can clearly be seen brandishing his whistle as if to say wait until I blow it. Directly after he does that Ibagaza curls the ball into the net. The ref signals a goal and that’s that. However I would feel seriously aggrieved if I was playing for the team in yellow tonight!

Ibagaza goal

Games kicked off, pitch is absolutely soaking wet as are all the players. Rain looks to have stopped now though. Lineup is per maddi’s prediction except that Nilmar starts instead of Joseba.
We look weird in black!

12′ We have had a lot of possesion. Nilmar looks sharp, Santi has just won a freekick in a good area

14′ 0-1 Rosssssssssi!!!!!!!!

16′ 1-1 Bad defending on our part!

27′ Godin has a header saved after good work from Ibagaza.

28′ Senna sends a piledriver narrowly wide!

33′ Nilmar draws another foul and a yellow card for the Dutch.

41′ Senna forces a great save from the opposition goalkeeper

43′ Angel joins Senna on a yellow card

44′ Tempers flare! Disgraceful stuff from the Breda 10, pushes Gonzalo and goes down holding his face!

45′ Another incident I think involving the same number 10 sees Cani on the ground holding his face

The referee blows for half time. We are by far the better side but they can still pose the odd problem. WE MUST KEEP CALM! Senna and Angel are right on the edge and we cannot afford to get involved in a scrap. Ibagaza is running the show and Nilmar is causing real problems along with Rossi. We should leave here with a win.

46′ Second half begins

47′ GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL!!!! IBAGAZAZAZAZZA!!!! He curls in a freekick whilst the keeper is setting up the wall ! Genius!!!!

51′ I’m off now! But I have seen something that will make Ibagaza’s goal extremely controversial! I’ll update later tonight!

_______

UPDATE: This is maddi.  I’ll take over the updates, but being at work, I am limited pretty much to goals and yellow cards.  Anyone watching is invited to provide more info in the comments.  59′, still 1-2.

59′ Cazorla picks up a yellow card.  This is a lot of yellow for the first European match of the season.

66′ Substitution:  Giuseppe Rossi off for Llorente.

67′ Substitution NAC: Martijn Reuser off, Donny Gorter on.

75′ Nilmar is replaced by Robert Pires.  Score is still 1-2.

77′ Edwin de Graaf is taken off, Fouad Idabdelhay is on.

80′ Our last substitution: David Fuster replaces Ariel Ibagaza.  That is some faith shown in the youngster by Valverde.

85′ Five minutes from full time, with a one-goal lead.

87′ Tim Gilissen is off, Rob Penders is on for NAC.

90+3′ LLORENTE!!  No idea about the circumstances of the goal, but 1-3 after the first leg is AMAZING!

And that is fulltime.  What a way to start the season!  That’s all from me – I’ll leave the rest to Nick, and his investigation into Ibagaza’s goal!