1-0: Great header, but what was the GK doing? Our corners will improve with Borja. 2-0: Cani loves that pass (a saucer in ice hockey). World-class finish by Santi. 3-0: Very unselfish by Cani. I wish he’d be more assertive in general, though. 4-0: Great overlapping movement from the front six, leading to an easy finish for Cani. 5-0: Powerful strike from Nilmar. He’s not lacking in confidence. Not quite: Nice save on Jozy; great skill from Montero. Both should start in Belarus.
And it asks Sr. Roig and Juan Carlos Garrido a very important question: what is Jozy’s future with Villarreal CF? El Periódico Mediterráneo rightfully highlighted Jefferson Montero, but the club site noted that Jozy was “very active in the game’s final minutes.” The game swung when Jozy came on for David Fuster in the 55th minute.
The contrasts are clear: Marco Ruben and David Fuster lack his strength, and Nilmar cannot match his pace. Jozy would fill Llorente’s void, though Rossi will generally feature at center forward. But should Villarreal stunt his long-term development with spotty playing time at age 20? Not to mention his transfer value after South Africa.
Altidore looks to be motivated, fit, and battle-tested after the EPL and World Cup. His technical ability and attitude must improve, but with his raw talent, the sky’s the limit. Another loan deal makes sense, waiting for Rossi or Nilmar to leave next summer, but an option to buy may push him out the door for good. Montero at winger means that David Fuster is Jozy’s competition for the fourth striker position. So I’m hoping for a Fuster loan deal (Levante? Hércules?) or for Garrido to carry 5 forwards.
If Jozy stays, he will begin as a change of pace substitute. However, if he cannot crack this season’s roster, both sides may wish to part. The club should recoup most (if not all) of his $10 million transfer fee, and Altidore needs to grow before Brazil 2014. Logic says that he should stay, but money and squad size disagree. What do you think?
Winners from yesterday:
Jozy Altidore. Has a role as a true center forward. Poacher’s goal.
Rubén Cani. A goal, an assist, and lots of fouls received. Doing his job.
Jefferson Montero. Explosive. Brilliant assist, laying Cani’s volley on a platter.
Losers:
David Fuster. Creates? Yes. Finishes? No. Has a role on the team? Maybe.
Carlos Marchena. 10% out of form. Just a post-South Africa layoff? I think so.
Nilmar. Also a bit off. May need Rossi to be comfortable.
On the tenth day, I rested. But I didn’t miss the matches. Quick recaps:
Slovakia 0-2 Paraguay: Paraguay was in control from start to finish. An impressive showing by a team that should top its group.
Italy 1-1 New Zealand: Another shock by the Kiwis. In the worst officiated match so far (and that’s saying something), Italy converted a dubious penalty and was fouled 25 times to New Zealand’s 11. Shots were 23-3 to the Azzurri, but all 3 nearly beat backup Federico Marchetti (otf broke a lamp on a near-miss). Still all to play for in Group F.
Brazil 3-1 Cote d’Ivoire: This match was closer than the final score, but the selecao definitely displayed the jogo bonito. Lille’s Gervinho was a sparkplug for the Elephants; too bad he only came on at 2:0.
Villarreal watch: Nilmar did not play in Brazil’s 3-1 win, but with Kaka’s red card and the resulting one-match suspension, he should get a chance against Portugal on Friday.
As a disclaimer, Group E is my least favorite of the 8. Holland is going to win it, and it makes no difference who comes in second, as they have no chance of advancing past the Group F winner in the round of 16.
Netherlands 2-0 Denmark: I know I’m posting this after the match has ended, but we all knew what the outcome would be. No opening match shock for a darkhorse to win it all.
Japan 1-0 Cameroon: Could be interesting, but who cares. The lone point of intrigue for me is how Samuel Eto’o interacts with his teammates after threatening to walk out on them.
Italy 1-1 Paraguay: Finally a real match. I expect big things of the Paraguayans in South Africa, even though they left out Hernan Perez (I’m joking). Can the isolationist Italians (no Rossi due to a Serie A only policy) reach anywhere near the heights of Germany 2006? For the sake of football, let’s hope not.
And finally, a quick highlight from Numancia 1-0 Villarreal B:
UEFA has confirmed that Villarreal’s 7th-place finish in La Liga does not merit a Europe League berth. Our faint European dreams now depend on Mallorca’s insolvency. The Spanish league (LFP) already affirmed Mallorca’s presence in Europe, financial difficulties and all, but we know how much such promises are worth. Stay tuned.
The B team put up a valiant effort but lost 2-1 away to leaders Real Sociedad. Sociedad took the lead, completely against the run of play, on an awful penalty call against Catala. Though Marco Ruben leveled the score from the spot, we never fully recovered. And Montero wreaked havoc again for the 6th-place team in Segunda. Not bad.
Add another reason to root against Spain: Joan Capdevila may not be in Vicente del Bosque’s starting XI. His replacement: Real Madrid center back Alvaro Arbeloa. Hopefully Mati Fernandez will give him fits.
For a great comeback, maybe you have to defend poorly first. Cazorla took over the match after the opening half-hour (hope Vicente del Bosque was watching), while Godin was the most culpable for the deficit. And what a pass by Ibagaza on the first goal! Villarreal goal of the year, in my book.
As Garrido said, the match was a microcosm of the season. If Sevilla do us a favor on Wednesday, I will be content with the year.
News and notes:
As noted, a Sevilla win in Wednesday’s Copa del Rey final gets us into Europe.
The players’ final day of training is Thursday, but our 9 internationals are gone.
And the B team pulled another point out of the fire, drawing 2-2 in Murcia. A Marco Ruben PK and late Joan Tomas header earned them a share of the points.
Now all that’s left is to watch the battle for relegation and the La Liga title. Can Xerez somehow beat the drop? I say yes.
Nice win, but it may ring hollow at season’s end. Of note: Ibagaza should stick around next season, and Cani may be the most improved player in the Garrido era.
The B team lost 2-5 to Las Palmas after Juan Carlos was sent off in 9′. Only their second home loss all season. Game recaps from the club website and Marca.
Scenarios to make Europe:
Beat Getafe’s result (away to Atletico) next weekend. In this case, we would finish in 6th place. This is the simplest and most likely scenario (even if rather unlikely).
To qualify as the 7th-place finisher, Sevilla would have to finish 5th in La Liga, win the Copa del Rey, and Fulham would have to win the Europa League. Sounds rather arcane, but essentially Atletico needs to finish outside of Europe and Mallorca must qualify for the Champions League. This scenario may be moot by midweek.
It will be a long summer if Villarreal fails to qualify for Europe. Player sales and budget cuts are coming, so it would be nice to end the season on a positive note. At a minimum, we need to do our part next weekend in Zaragoza (without Llorente and Capdevila).
Missed the match, but it’s a disappointing result. I did warn you it was a tough place to play, recalling last year when Senna and Cazorla were injured between Champions League quarterfinal matches against Arsenal. Two bad breaks for Musacchio: an awful deflection off Javi Venta on the 1:0 and no choice but to take down Piatti and earn a straight red shortly thereafter. A little gamesmanship on both red cards, however. Nice to see Marcano (after two months in the doghouse) and Ibagaza on the scoresheet, but it was too little, too late. We need more from our strikers against Valencia.
Barcelona’s Sergi Busquets admits he is a horrible person. Not quite, but he is.
The history of Villarreal-Valencia bodes well: 6-2-2 in 10 matches at El Madrigal.
And Bruno thinks it’s a good time to play Valencia. They don’t have anything to play for, right? Except for the chance to ruin our season, which they would relish.
The B team will have Joan Oriol against Las Palmas. Streams of the islanders often are available, so you might get a Villarreal doubleheader on Saturday afternoon.
1-4 is a bit misleading: Nilmar squandered two golden opportunities before Messi opened the scoring, and these highlights did not show another Valdes error that we failed to convert on. Bad luck on Barca’s first goal, as Godin made a great block but the ball ricocheted past Diego Lopez. Some questions about Diego Lopez’s positioning on Xavi’s free kick, though, along with horrific defending by Gonzalo on Bojan’s tally.
Wonder if Llorente had a knock, as Garrido spoke of playing the same formation in both halves (before Joseba entered as a substitute). But no harm done in the standings: Getafe drew and Athletic lost. So we remain in 6th place with 3 rounds to go.
Wonderful win for the B team against a promotion candidate. Elche fought back after going two goals and a man down, but Jefferson Montero immediately scored his brace to seal the result. For that, he got a slap in the face from an Elche player. Stay classy.
Some news and notes:
Llorente predicted Athletic would beat Mallorca. Good thing he was wrong.
And now we find out that Llorente, not Busquets, received a yellow card late in Saturday’s match. Initially it seemed that Busquets received a second yellow and then was substituted off. Maletines, anyone? But we would have lost anyhow.
Capdevila will miss Tuesday’s game in Almeria due to his 5th yellow card of the season. 6 other players (Cani, Gonzalo, Ibagaza, Javi Venta, Marcano, and Pires) are one yellow away from suspension.
From the club website: recaps of the Barcelona and Elche matches.
Great win for the A team. Cazorla made a huge impact– now that he seems to be fit. And Godin is scoring striker-quality goals consistently now: what has gotten into him? Good to see the depth of our squad: Cazorla, Escudero, and Fuster were the 3 substitutes.
Great win for the B team as well. Playing with a man less for 85 minutes, due to the very strange sending-off of Catala, they avenged the A team’s Copa del Rey exit with a double over the Galicians. Jefferson Montero was the difference, as always.
Welcome fellow fans of Villarreal CF, especially those in the United States! This is the website of VillarrealUSA, the official United States penya (supporters group) for Villarreal. The penya is primarily based in the US, but incorporates views, and welcomes members, from around the world.
You can contact the authors on this site by email: maddi - maddi [at] villarrealusa [dot] org, nick - noc [at] villarrealusa [dot] org, or sidarth - sidarth [at] villarrealusa [dot] org.
VillarrealUSA.org is proud to announce a new partnership with the NewsNow website.
Check out NewsNow for easy access to English-language news on Villarreal C.F.
Entries (RSS)