UPDATE: A great result for Villarreal, as they went into north London and stole the show from Champions League-bound Tottenham with a 1-4 victory. Giuseppe Rossi stole the show for the Yellow Submarine with three goals, but as you can see in the comments, the likes of Borja Valero, Jefferson Montero, and Marco Ruben in the second half really gave us something to get excited about.

As Harry Redknapp said after the match, “They’re a great side, I was very impressed with them. We had a good squad out, but they were sharp. They were different class.”

Here are your highlights for those of you like me who did not get to see the match:

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After two successful friendlies against Irish opposition, Villarreal faces its first real test of the preseason on Thursday evening at White Hart Lane. With the Europa League playoff on the horizon, it’s time for new signing Borja Valero to strut his stuff, among others.

Tottenham Hotspur has qualified for the Champions League for the first time since 1962. Congratulations. And the club just returned from two matches in New York City against New York Red Bulls (win) and Sporting Lisbon (draw). If the EPL weren’t so overrun by money, then Tottenham’s success might have been a bigger story. Similar to a smaller Spanish club that we all know and love?

Tottenham has some nice players, including the Croatian trio of Vedran Corluka, Nico Kranjcar, and Luka Modric, along with previously rumored Villarreal targets Adel Taarabt and Roman Pavlyuchenko. And shockingly for an EPL team, they have some talented young Brits: Tom Huddlestone, Jermaine Jenas, and Aaron Lennon. Should be a fun match, though both clubs have an eye on European competition.

Those of you able to watch at 3 pm Eastern Time (airing live in Spain on GolTV), please leave your comments and reactions in the thread. Hope to hear a lot about Montero.

A few things have been popping around lately, and a couple of them fall on the Sickening Scale right up there with the Godin to Atletico rumors.

As capercat pointed out, Jozy could be on his way to Ajax. Apparently they have made an offer to take him on loan for the year, but Villarreal have determined that his future is not with the club and want an offer to purchase. It has been an up and down ride for him with the Yellow Submarine. I hope for his sake that this gets worked out one way or another.

Santi Cazorla has also been linked to Atletico Madrid. Stop it. Seriously, just stop it. These moves should never, ever happen. And I don’t think that the Cazorla thing has much of a chance. But even if we need the money, you can’t tell me that the club couldn’t find at least a similar offer for the likes of Godin or Cazorla elsewhere, where it won’t give firepower to the likes of Atletico. And, just to refresh my recollection, didn’t Cazorla turn down a move to Real Madrid recently?

There are also rumors out there that Barcelona could be looking the way of Bruno, as a couple of bigger-name defensive midfielders, such as Javier Mascherano, have become too expensive. This is the first rumor I have ever seen (I think) for pulling Bruno away from the club. I would be shocked if an offer came in. But if it did and the price offered was 10m euros, I would be even more shocked if both Villarreal and Bruno didn’t jump at it.

And lastly, the Rossi-to-Italy rumors continue, with Inter being the club mentioned this time. The idea is that he would be called in to replace Mario Balotelli. I do not know if the rumor is based in any sort of fact, but I would think that Rossi could not turn down an offer from Inter. Hopefully he’ll stay, but we will see.

(from The Province and Getty Images)

Here’s how the top two flights in Spanish football stack up for next season.

Down to Segunda A: Valladolid, Tenerife, Xerez
Up to Primera: Real Sociedad, Hercules, Levante
Down to Segunda B: Castellon, Real Union de Irun, Murcia, Cadiz
Up to Segunda A: Granada, Ponferradina, Barcelona B, Alcorcon

The Primera loses teams from the north, south, and Canary Islands, while adding two from the Comunitat Valenciana and rekindling the Basque derby.

The Segunda loses our local rivals and our namesake, and we are no longer the only filial in the division. What a year for Alcorcon: humble Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey, then ascend to professional football. A wonderful story.

Now some Villarreal news:

• Europa League decision on Thursday. Fingers crossed (for monetary reasons).
• Will 3 competitions fund another signing? We had a bloated squad last year, and it was a failure, so I’m up for something different.
• Speaking of transfers, is Carlos Marchena worth more than 2 million Euros? Yes: if Godin leaves and to weaken Valencia. No: he’ll be 31 and has only 1 year left on his contract. The verdict: I’d take him at this price.
• More on the B team’s new signings.
• And most importantly, Shakira wants a photo with Capdevila. Who doesn’t?

A lot of this has been mentioned in the previous comments – thanks to everyone for keeping up with things for us here – but Villarreal have gone out and seem to be making a few waves in the transfer market, following the big signing of Borja Valero.

First, Villarreal have signed Facundo Coria from Velez Sársfield, who will spend a year in the B team. The club paid 800,000 euros for 50% of his economic rights, and signed him on a five-year deal. Coria is Argentinian, and just turned 23(5/28/1987). This past year he played for Argentinos Juniors on loan from Vélez Sársfield, scoring four goals in 32 appearances. He has been playing at the top level in Argentina for three years now, and should be ready to make the transition to the A team after a year of adjustment to Spanish football.

Thanks to Kenez for the update, Villarreal have now completed seven signings for the B team. These include: Marcos Luis Perez, Joan Truyols, Airam Cabrera, Hector Sanchez, Castellani, and Dervite (French defender from Tottenham, signed on a 3-year deal, I believe).

Villarreal are also reputed to be going after a couple of players from Sao Paulo, Hernanes and Joao Miranda. I know next to nothing about them, other than the fact that Miranda is a center-back, and Hernanes is a midfielder. Anybody with more information, please chime in.

In psuedo-transfer news, Giuseppe Rossi has apparently come to training full of energy and with big plans for the season. He has made a lot of statements suggesting that he is ready to stick out another year on the Spanish coast, and wants to score at least 17 goals for the club this year (you can listen to an interview with Rossi through this link). He is happy with the Valero signing, recognizing his importance to Mallorca. He also said that he hopes Altidore sticks with the club, and indicated that Altidore would be happy to do so.

Finally, in news of players leaving, Ariel Ibagaza has signed with Olympiacos. We all knew he wasn’t sticking around Vila-real, but he was a great player while he was here, and we wish him well.

With the World Cup swirling, club football gets lost in the background. Now that the US has been knocked out, my feet are returning to the ground, and while keeping one eye on South Africa, it is almost time to start looking towards next season.

So far, Villarreal’s players in South Africa have been hit-or-miss. Diego Godin has been a force in the back whenever he has been in. Capdevila has been solid, but not especially involved to this point. Nilmar, unfortunately, is facing the likes of Bastos, Robinho, and Kaka among others, and it has been tough for him to find playing time.

Although there has been a lull in Villarreal off-the-pitch news, it has picked up a bit over the last couple of days.

Most importantly, Villarreal were supposed to learn tomorrow if they are to play in the Europa League next season. Unfortunately, RFEF have apparently avoided the question as to whether Mallorca should be stripped of its license, and has passed the question off to UEFA. It will now be up to the European officials to decide if Mallorca keeps its license. If Mallorca loses it, then Villarreal should be in.

On July 29, Villarreal can look forward to a nice preseason matchup against Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane in London. I believe some other friendlies have been scheduled, and I will get those up here shortly.

Villarreal have placed a 3m euro price tag on veteran midfielder Marcos Senna, as he looks to be less and less in their plans for the future. There is reported interest from clubs in Brazil, Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Turkey. Any deal, apparently, would have to at least be for 2.5m euros. I can see him ending up in Turkey or Brazil, but I am not too sure about the other locales. As of right now, there are no offers, and he plans on reporting to Vila-real on July 12th.

Villarreal are reportedly tracking Dutch keeper Maarten Stekelenburg, who is currently starting for the Netherlands at the World Cup. This is due to the very possible transfer of Diego Lopez in the coming month. It will be interesting to see, if Lopez does go, if Villarreal will be content with Juan Carlos and Xavi Oliva, or if they will go after someone new.

Diego Godin’s strong tournament, on top of his regular good play for Villarreal, is attracting some strong interest, particularly from the city of Milan. Apparently both Internazionale and AC Milan are considering an offer for him. Villarreal have said that they will hold fast to their 20m euro price tag they have for him. I would be shocked if he didn’t end up going, although I would love to see him stay at the club for another year or two.

All the action seems to be in Italy this summer. In one of the crazier rumors I have seen, Jozy Altidore (along with fellow US forward/midfielder Clint Dempsey) has been linked to Napoli. No way that happens. A scenario much more likely would be that he actually stays at Villarreal as a 4th striker (not including Montero).

So far, Villarreal have either sold, loaned or released six players – Llorente (Real Sociedad), Escudero (Boca Juniors), and Marcano (Getafe) to other teams, and Pires, Ibagaza, and Javi Venta set free. A few more could leave over the next month, meaning that we still do not have a great picture of what the club will look like come August.

Marcos Senna is reportedly in the sights of Saudi Arabian side Al-Ahly. The side would be willing to offer him, according to the report, 3 million euros a year, untaxed. Not a bad deal. If this is true, you would have to think that he would consider it. A lot of money and guaranteed playing time on the Arabian peninsula, versus a smaller paycheck and a diminishing amount of time on the pitch in Vila-real. Villarreal would have to consider the leadership he provides, though, especially with so many young players coming through the ranks come August.

AC Milan is apparently interested in Gonzalo. That would be shocking to me. My thought is that most likely, the reporter screwed up, heard that AC Milan was interested in Godin, and got confused with two many Gs. It happens to the best of us.

There are rumors out there that Villarreal could go after Barcelona’s Brazilian youngster Kerrison, who has recently been loaned out to Fiorentina. He made ten appearances since the loan to Fiorentina began in January, scoring two goals.

We are also rumored to be interested in Totenham Hotspur midfielder Adel Tarrabt.

It is basically official now, that Joseba Llorente has moved on to Real Sociedad. The club got 2.5m euros for him, and will save 1m per year on his salary, through the last two years of his contract. Joseba was a great guy and a gutsy player. I wish him well.

Villarreal will find out by next Friday whether the Spanish football federation RFEF will revoke Mallorca’s ticket to the Europa League, in which case Villarreal would be the beneficiary. Hopefully we will have this settled soon, so the club can better plan for the summer. As of right now, the club is set to be in Ireland in July, and Oliva for the month of August. Schedules could change if the club were put into early Europa action.

Ssome Villarreal news: According to the always-reliable (that should be obvious sarcasm…) tribalfootball.com, Giuseppe Rossi and Nilmar have “agreed to stay” with Villarreal for another year. Now, obviously that would be great (assuming we could afford their salaries), but I have no idea how it just so happened that they have both decided this, and it just so happens to be reported in one “article”, considering the fact that Giuseppe is enjoying a summer off, and Nilmar is a bit busy down in South Africa. Nevertheless, I would be remiss not to at least mention it.

As for former Villarreal players, in a shocking move, Juan Roman Riquelme is apparently going to sign for West Ham United. Talk about news that makes basically no sense. Riquelme, one of the neediest and choosiest players you will ever meet, hates to be away from his family, and has never shown any real desire to play in England that I know of, seems an odd fit for the Hammers. But hey, who knows, maybe it could work for him.

Villarreal watch: Nilmar made a 12-minute cameo in the selecao’s 2-1 win over North Korea. Kaka (whom he replaced), Luis Fabiano, and Robinho were Dunga’s preferred triumvirate up front.

As for the World Cup: Tomorrow should be a sparkling day in South Africa, with some teams sporting offensive firepower getting started. It is also the beginning of the second round of the Group Stage.

A couple of interesting matches today, as host nation South Africa takes on Mexico in what should be an entertaining match. The vuvuzelas will be going strong for the Bafana Bafana as the represent Africa in the continent’s first ever World Cup. Mexico has high hopes of escaping the group, which will probably necessitate a victory tomorrow.

In the second match, there is a bit of Yellow flavor coming from South America, as Villarreal boys, past and present, represent the submarine. Diego Godin is one of the few Villarreal players that actually ended up making a WC squad, and he is set to shine (and potentially grab enough attention to ensure that Villarreal no longer has Uruguayan first team representation). The other projected Uruguay starters from Villarreal-past include the unpredictable Diego Forlan, and the reliable Sebastian Eguren. Both players are missed by many loyalists, myself included, and I can’t help but continue to cheer for their success. It will be a lot easier with Forlan when he moves on from Atletico, though. Uruguay is my dark horse to make a serious run, perhaps into the Quarters.

Villarreal:

There is some club news, including the ever-present possibility of Europe. The Yellow Submarine has not given up hope for a European adventure next term, and it looks like it will take continued woes for Mallorca to make it happen. According to El Periodico Mediterraneo, UEFA could shortly cancel Mallorca’s paperwork. Were that to happen, Villarreal would almost certainly be assured a spot in the Europa League. The money would be great for the club, as would the European experience for the youngsters.

Villarreal has made a formal offer, which is expected to be accepted, for 22-year-old Argentinean midfielder Gonzalo Pablo Castellani, who currently plays for Ferrocarril Oeste, which I believe is in the Argentinian second division. You can expect him to play for Villarreal B next season.

And you should know, you support a great club. Villarreal has announced continued efforts to support the fan, providing free and reduced-price tickets for fans who do not have work. Overall, ticket prices are being reduced. The club’s goal is to maintain 18,000 season ticket holders. Not many other clubs would work at maintaining their base in this fashion.

The rest of the news is generally in the realm of departures.

As noted by previous comments, Ivan Marcano has been loaned out to Getafe, with the option to purchase. I am not sure he will ever recover the trust of the Villarreal faithful, but I am not so sure about loaning him to a team that we have to admit, at least for a year or two, is a direct rival. If he turns things around next season having put another year of experience under his belt, we could really regret this move.

And in what is a sadder move, although it hasn’t been finalized, there are serious rumors that Joseba Llorente could be moving on after two seasons with the club. Admittedly he went through his cold spells, but rarely do you ever come across a guy with more heart. The current rumor is that he could be sold to Basque side Real Sociedad, the club of his hometown. Kenez pointed out that we purchased him for about 5.5m euros, and the current deal looks to be about 3m. I think if the economy was a bit better we might be able to pull another million out of a deal like this, especially assuming that Real Sociedad holds on to its promotion spot, but I think it could be a good deal for everyone involved.

It also seems assured that Damien Escudero will be moving on. I do not believe it has been finalized yet, but (and this is a bit stale, I know) he has been linked with Boca Juniors. Whether he ends up there or not, it seems the stars did not align for his time on the Mediterranean.

A couple of Italian clubs, including Palermo and AC Milan, have been linked to Villarreal loanee Bruno Renan, the Brazilian midfielder. We signed him, I believe it was two years ago, and if we sell him, it should be at a profit.

Estimado Sr. Roig,

We, the members of the VillarrealUSA penya, are true fans of the club. I learned of the club through the exploits of Juan Román Riquelme and Diego Forlán, relished in the two Champions League runs and subcampeonato in La Liga, and have lived through this season of turmoil, both on (the tenure of Ernesto Valverde) and off the pitch (player departures and economic struggles). As fans of a provincial club half a world away, know that you always can count on our support.

We write today about the recent reports of financial problems at Villarreal CF. The media has written about issues of accounting, mounting debt, and difficulties in paying players. We believe your past statements that the club’s finances are OK. But if there are financial issues, we support any efforts to balance the books as soon as possible.

As a credit to your transfer policies, a number of A team players would be very attractive to the top teams in Europe. It will hurt to sell great players and see them take the pitch in another club’s colors, but we understand that, in order to balance the books, selling some of our squad may be necessary.

Villarreal CF is a model for smaller European clubs for two main reasons: the academy system and the ability to make good business deals. That the B team is the only filial in Segunda A is very impressive, and it is great to see C team players joining the ranks of Paco Herrera’s side. With this experience, a number of these players are ready for the Primera today, and many others are close behind. Next season could be high time for them to make the jump. We would be fully behind this changing of the guard at the club.

We know that you may take a beating in the press. Some will say that Villarreal’s glory is past. That the club is on its way back to the Tercera Regional. That fans will stop coming to El Madrigal. That the team cannot survive without its core players.

But these same naysayers thought a filial could not succeed in the Segunda. That Real Madrid and Barcelona always would finish 1-2 in La Liga. That a smaller club could not make the Champions League semifinals. That such a club could not have worldwide support. Villarreal CF has proven the prognosticators wrong every time.

Thank you for listening to our ideas. Know that we will stick with the club in good times and bad. Now and forever: Endavant Villarreal!

Atentamente,

–sidarth, VillarrealUSA penya

Juan Carlos Garrido, having secured at least one more year at the helm of Villarreal, has announced that he will be pulling nine players up into the first team for Villarreal. This will reshape the face of the club, and could write our future for many years to come.

Goalkeeper: Juan Carlos;
Defenders: Mario, Joan Oriol, Catalá and Musacchio;
Midfielders: Matilla and Cristobal;
Strikers: Marco Ruben and Jefferson Montero.

That is most of a team right there. Throw in a few seasoned veterans, including the likes of Capdevila, Gonzalo, Cazorla, Cani, and Llorente, and the club should be in good shape. A lot more to come on the new additions as we head into the summer.

And in related news, José Manuel Catalá has signed a three year renewal with the first team, so his call-up should be permanent. He will be a long-term replacement for Capdevila.

Villarreal is not wholly out of Europe just yet. Mallorca’s money troubles are still chasing them, and they could yet be denied European competition in the fall if they fall into bankruptcy, as UEFA has the right to cancel their license. That would open up the position for Villarreal coming in from seventh. Not that we would have really deserved it, but I’ll take it!

Former Villarreal hard man Guillermo Franco is moving on from West Ham after helping them avoid relegation this past term. He made 23 appearances, scoring 5 goals, which is his best year in a while. I hope he is rewarded with a quality contract either somewhere he will enjoy in Europe, or back in Mexico. He has the opportunity this summer with the national side to improve his worth even more.

A couple of interesting rumors have been in this press. And these are mentioned not because they will actually happen, but they are still fun to think about.

- Villarreal’s star Giuseppe Rossi is in the headlights of Liverpool. First of all, I really don’t like Liverpool. But seriously – can you imagine putting him and Fernando Torres together? That would be a pretty amazing duo.

- And the second part of the rumor is that Liverpool would offer Albert Riera in return. This is of course highly unlikely, as Villarreal need money, and do not want to take on high salaries such as Riera would demand.

- Villarreal have been linked to Barcelona’s Rafa Marquez. a) Why would we want him anyway? b) Again, no chance of us taking on that kind of salary.