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.

Seen here in action against Villarreal

The Espanyol captain was tonight found dead in his hotel room in Italy. It was reported that he suffered a heart attack having trained earlier in the day. I would like to express my condolences on this tragic day for football. He was only 26 years old.

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam

 The Europa League draw happened this morning, and Villarreal have been matched up against NAC Breda, a Dutch side well known for its raucous home atmosphere.  The matches will take place August 20th and 27th, with the first match in The Netherlands. 

Going back to a point made by Kqql last week – NAC supporters are known as the “yellow army,” and yes, the club’s home jerseys are yellow.  It looks like our away kit will come in handy this year after all.

 From wikipedia, here is some background on the club name:

NAC was founded on September 19, 1912, when the two clubs ADVENDO and NOAD merged to one club. NOAD is a Dutch abbreviation for Nooit Opgeven, Altijd Doorzetten (English: never give up, always persevere), while ADVENDO is a Dutch abbreviation for Aangenaam Door Vermaak En Nuttig Door Ontspanning Combinatie (English: Pleasant for its entertainment and useful for its relaxation). The full name of NAC Breda expands to Nooit opgeven altijd doorzetten, Aangenaam door vermaak en nuttig door ontspanning, Combinatie, possibly the longest football club name in the world

I am sure the match will be pleasant for its entertainment and useful for its relaxation.  Speaking of which, I think we should make a concerted effort at interaction with NAC’s English-speaking fans.  The club, interestingly, has a friendly relationship with Celtic.  Sounds familiar.

The full draw can be found here.

PS: I know I am still having problems with the site.  The plan is to correct that this weekend.

I have been meaning to put up a note about fellow international Villarreal fans, Els Flamencs Grocs, the official supporters group for Villarreal CF from Belgium.  They actually have two websites, http://www.elsflamencsgrocs.com, and http://www.villarrealcf.be/.  Els Flamencs Grocs is one of the most active and important Villarreal supporters groups in the world, and regularly have their presence felt at El Madrigal.

Now the meat of the season begins. Four consecutive matches against the top four teams in La Liga. It will not be easy, but Villarreal have to assert themselves and take points if they want to be playing in the Champions League – or even in the Europa – next year.

Sevilla stumble into El Madrigal, losers of four straight, including an embarrassment against Barcelona and giving away the match last weekend against Madrid. They have lost a 9-point lead over 4th position, and are now suddenly in danger of falling out of the Champions League positions.

Villarreal, though, have managed to pull seven points out of a seemingly empty hat (I know, I know, it has been against Valladolid, Recre, and Getafe – not the most impressive crew), and have a little momentum for the first time, it seems, since early October.

Villarreal are still without Marcos Senna, Guille Franco, and of course Santi, and are likely without Javi Venta. They are happy to see Capdevila return to full strength, and will have Angel in the squad thanks to Villarreal getting a yellow card from the match against Getafe overturned.  I am actually going to be away leading up to the match, so what I have below is just a guess – although it shouldn’t be too hard to get right. If someone would like to put Pellegrini’s 18-man squad up in the comments, that would be great.

Keepers: Diego López and Viera.
Defenders: Gonzalo, Fuentes, Cygan, Godin, Capdevila and Ángel.
Midfielders: Eguren, Mati Fernández, Pires, Ibagaza, Cani, Bruno and Jordi Pablo.
Delanteros: Nihat, Rossi and Llorente.

I expect the lineup to look fairly traditional, despite the mid-week lineup theatrics.

Diego López
Ángel – Gonzalo – Godin – Capdevila
Cani – Eguren – Bruno – Pires
Rossi – Llorente

No predictions, but you have to feel that Villarreal are a lot more confident going into this match than they have been for the last couple of months.  It has not been the most dominating seven points we have ever picked up, but two wins in a row feels good.  ENDAVANT!

Now we are starting to the business end of the competition. This first leg of the last 16 clash will be played in El Madrigal tomorrow. We have regained some form and seem to have recovered our playing style that was so successful last season. Players like Rossi, Ibagaza, Cani and Santi have all stepped it up in recent weeks and we are beginning to look like a top four side again. As Maddi pointed out our squad is fairly depleted in the defensive department with Gonzalo and Capdevila missing. Apart from Guille Franco we have a full pick over the rest of the field. 

Our opponents Panathinaikos have also been spluttering their way through their league campaign and they currently sit 12 points behind their rivals Olimpiakos. However they will be no pushover and as most pundits will tell you, there are no easy games in Europe anymore. Panathinaikos finished top of their group and one of their more notable victories was a 0-1 win over Inter Milan in the San Siro. They have a very respected manager in Henk Ten Cate and in former Arsenal man Gilberto Silva they have a wealth of experience. He along with Karagounis will be the anchor men for the Greek side and I expect Pellegrini to line up with Senna and Eguren in order to counter the physical presence of the aforementioned. 

On the other hand he may stick with the formation he used this weekend which saw Cani line up alongside Senna in the middle of the park. This certainly offers a bit more creativity but Cani doesn’t bring the defensive qualities that Eguren can count on. In defense the only real doubt is to who will line up at left back, Bruno or Angel. Fuentes will surely partner Godin with Javi Venta on the right. I think Pires and Santi will be the attacking midfielders with Llorente partnering the inform Giuseppe Rossi upfront. 

                                                    Lopez

                                               Venta – Fuentes – Godin – Bruno/Angel

                                                 Cazorla – Cani/Eguren – Senna -Pires

                                                           Llorente – Rossi

If we have any hope of progressing than a win with a clean sheet is vital here. We do not want to have to go to Greece looking for goals as it will be very very difficult there. We should go out to attack and try and give ourselves a good platform for the second leg. Unfortunately I will miss the game due to Gaelic training but there should be a wide range of streams available. I think that this game is a perfect opportunity for us to re-stamp our claim as potential winners, a good performance tomorrow and we will be right on track. I have a very good feeling about this game and I think it has come at a good time for us. Thats all for now! Endavant!

Just to let you all know, despite the fact that Spanish newspapers are all talking about Gol TV broadcasting Saturday’s match (is it possible that GolTV in Spain and GolTV in the US are two different channels?), all three other Saturday matches – Barcelona, Atletico, Real Madrid – will be broadcast, while Villarreal will once again be left sputtering through in a “live stream”.  Don’t get me wrong – a live stream is better than nothing – but it has been weeks and weeks since we have gotten a match on television.

Villarreal have two days of rest, as they will not return to practice until Tuesday to begin preparation for the match against Deportivo, who fell 0-1 at El Bernabeu today.

In good news for us in the standings, all of our closest rivals (Valencia, Sevilla, Atletico) for Champions League positions (not writing Madrid off, but right now they are well ahead) all lost or drew today (Mallorca 3-1 Valencia; Sevilla 0-2 Racing; Malaga 1-1 Atletico), so Villarreal maintain 5th place, tied on points with Valencia.

An interesting note, it was a weekend for players sloughed off by the “big” teams – Zigic scored for Racing Santander (his second goal in three starts with his old club, after a middling year at Valencia), and Roberto Soldado knocked in a hat trick for Getafe (he has now scored 6 for the Madrid subsidiary, not having scored at all last year for Real Madrid).

Hopefully there will be some news tomorrow, but as of right now, that is all I am seeing.

From here in the States, we welcome a new leader, a new way.  And for some reason I feel like he is much more likely to have an appreciation for soccer than our previous President.

This looks like it is going to be a long one…

Starting lineup:

Diego Lopez, Angel, Gonzalo, Godin, Capdevila, Cazorla, Bruno, Eguren, Ibagaza, Rossi, Llorente