UPDATE:Villarreal has drawn Belgian side Club Brugge K.V. (watch out for Croatian midfielder Ivan Perisic), Croatian champions NK Dinamo Zagreb, and Greek runners-up PAOK F.C. (who eliminated Fenerbahce) in Group D of the Europa League (h/t to capercat). I’m most concerned about PAOK from Thessaloniki, who have quality and experience in Pablo Garcia, Muslimovic, and Salpigidis, not to mention the rabid Greek home support. But we should aim to win the group and go through comfortably.
The B team gets underway today in Valladolid. As manager Javi Gracia says, the Segunda A is a very tight league, so the details make the difference.
Here is the squad for this season’s curtain-raiser:
GKs: Vicente Flor and Diego Mariño. Ds: Mano, Héctor, Carlos Tomás, Dorian Dervite, Jaume Costa, Ángel Ortega and Diego Jiménez. MFs: Marcos Gullón, Natxo Insa, Nico, Hernán Pérez, Facundo Coria and Torres. Fs: Airam, Iago Falqué and Joselu.
Missing out are Kiko and Mario, who started yesterday’s Europa League match in Belarus. I wouldn’t expect them to play much for Javi Gracia. Injured are striker Gerard Bordas, Brazilian midfielder Tiago Dutra, and defender Joan Truyols. Endavant!
In call-up news, Santi Cazorla is the only non-World Cup winner selected by Vicente del Bosque for Spain’s Euro 2012 qualifier in Liechtenstein and friendly in Argentina. Well deserved. That also means Joan Capdevila and Carlos Marchena continue with La Furia Roja. But no Bruno Soriano, though he’ll get more chances.
Another year, another B teamer with his South American selection. Now it’s Hernán Pérez, traveling to Japan and China with the Paraguayan national team. Congrats.
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.
It’s not quite the £30 million prize for finishing in 4th place in a major European league, but the Europa League playoff is a financially lucrative tie to Villarreal CF (if not the matches themselves). Hope the weather holds out and that fans come to the first official match of the season at El Madrigal. I doubt our rather unknown opponents from the Transmash region will be a big draw, but the show must go on.
With the return leg only three days before the La Liga opener at the Anoeta, Juan Carlos Garrido would like to take a sizable advantage to Belarus and thereby rest some key players. Expect a strong starting XI on Thursday, similar to the squad that started Saturday’s tune-up against Segunda B side Alzira. No Marco Ruben, but Jozy Altidore and Gonzalo Rodríguez are set to keep their squad numbers.
After the infamous 2006 defeat to Slovenia’s NK Maribor that knocked Villarreal out of the Intertoto Cup and Europe altogether, the club is on notice not to underestimate inferior (on paper) opposition. I think this tie will proceed more along the lines of last season’s 1-3, 6-1 drubbings of Dutch side NAC Breda at the same stage.
Expected starting XI: 4-4-2
Diego López
Capdevila Musacchio Marchena Ángel López
Cazorla Bruno Senna Cani
Nilmar Rossi
Prediction: 5-1 to Villarreal. Goals by Cazorla (2), Rossi (2), and Cani. ¡Endavant!
Mogilev finished 3rd in the Belorussian league, earning a spot in the 1st qualifying round. To reach the play-off, they have defeated KF Laci of Albania, Stabaek Fotball of Norway (on away goals), and FC Banik Ostrava of the Czech Republic. Stabaek was in last season’s Champions League qualifiers and lost to Valencia at this stage of the Europa League, so making it this far is a big achievement for Mogilev.
Villarreal will be without its Spanish internationals this week; otherwise the squad should be at full strength (barring injury). The first leg will be at El Madrigal, so hopefully the team can take a comfortable advantage to the Spartak Stadion. The return leg is the week of the La Liga opener, so it would be nice to rest some key players.
At this stage last season, Villarreal defeated NAC Breda 9-2 on aggregate. Will it be the same story this time around?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
First off, this is a pretty awesome video linked by Nick:
Villarreal is challenging their exclusion from Europe, and has already filed paperwork with UEFA to get the process going. Fernando Roig is confident of a positive outcome. He said that UEFA sent him a letter earlier this month, informing him that a seventh-placed finish would qualify the club for the Europa League. The RFEF will be supporting Villarreal’s challenge, which has to be helpful.
Roig also commented on a couple of other things of note.
He said that the officiating seemed partial against Villarreal this season, and that they would look into it further.
He said, referring to del Bosque’s exclusion of Cazorla, Senna, and Diego Lopez: “Para los jugadores es un palo, pero también hay que pensar en la parte positiva y podrán estar más frescos y descansados, aunque creo que deberían haber ido los tres.” For those who would like a rough translation, he thinks that it is unfortunate for the three, and that they should have been included, but that there are some positives for the club, namely that the players will return rested and fresh.
There is going to be some restructuring at the club next week, but nothing unusual. He said as a result, Fernando Roig Nerugules would have more power in the organization.
And lastly, he asked that the fans stay by the club’s side through this time of economic trouble. Sidarth has been working hard on something that we will be putting out on here before long, doing just that.
Philadelphia is none too happy with comments from Bobby Pires, who found that the city was not “charming” enough for him. First off, perhaps he should come play in Charm City for Crystal Palace USA! Plenty of charm in Baltimore! But really, I hope he isn’t serious about retiring, but I understand his not wanting to move his family to a place he isn’t thrilled about at this stage in his career (although Philly really isn’t all that bad, Robert!). Regardless, I would love to see him in the US plying his trade somewhere. And he is a great guy, based on my brief time meeting him – I feel sure he might come down for a VillarrealUSA Penya gathering to watch a match!
I will go ahead and address some news that is well known at this point.
Most importantly, Villarreal have rewarded Juan Carlos Garrido with a one-year extension following the turnaround he brought to the club. In fourteen matches, Garrido has accumulated 26 points – the same number of points Valverde earned in 20 matches. I believe this was an excellent move. We all know that a number of top-level players will be sold, and some B players will be brought up. Garrido knows these players well, and will be excellent at incorporating their strengths into the A team.
Jozy Altidore will write the script for his future this summer. He has not started the lead-in to the World Cup well for himself (or for Villarreal). This past weekend, he stupidly headbutted a player (who obviously deserved it, but you still can’t do that), and has earned himself a loan termination by Hull City. If you ask me, this was a sketchy move by the England side, who is facing relegation and trying to save some money. Poor form by them. Now, we have to hope Jozy has a huge summer. I, unlike my friend Sidarth and a few others, see almost no possibility of Altidore playing here in the future, so we need to see good work out of him to get top dollar. I think we might have to look at his purchase as a total bust.
In other news and notes:
As Villarreal stunningly have yet to have a penalty called in their favor, finally there is at least a little relief. To be 100 percent correct, Sunday’s match against Racing did involve a penalty called in favor of Villarreal. The problem was that it was shockingly taken away by the side judge, who saw a ghost handball by Nilmar. Villarreal can seek solace in the fact that the side judge has been suspended for a match. Want to know the last time a Liga team went an entire year without receiving a penalty? Osasuna in 1993-1994.
Villarreal value Diego Godin. They value him 25 million euros’ worth. That is the price that the club has placed on Godin, as a number of clubs are sure to come calling this summer. I would not be surprised to see him go, but it will be a sad day if it happens. I am sure, by the way, that his value has gone up about 5 million following the recent three-goal outburst!
I know Kenez mentioned it the other week, but has anyone else been paying much attention to the rise of Villarreal C? They are in the Tercera, and currently find themselves in third place in Group 6 (ignore that it says 2009-2010, as it is actually current). The top 4 teams in each group make the promotion playoffs. The most incredible part of this? They have gone unbeaten in 12, and have won 10 of those matches. Wow. If they attained promotion, Villarreal would have a team in the top three divisions in Spain. No one else can even match us now having teams in the top two divisions. This would really be special. Here are the last 12 match scores.
J. 25 Villarreal C 3–0 Ribarroja
J. 26 Villarreal C 3–0 Catarroja
J. 27 Jove Español 0–1 Villarreal C
J. 28 Villarreal C 2–1 Onda
J. 29 Levante B 0-0 Villarreal C
J. 30 Villarreal C 1–0 Torrellano Illice
J. 31 Eldense 0-2 Villarreal C
J. 32 Villarreal C 5–1 Burjassot
J. 33 Alzira 0-2 Villarreal C
J. 34 Villarreal C 2–2 Olímpic Xàtiva
J. 35 Torrevieja 0-1 Villarreal C
J. 36 Villarreal C 2–1 Crevillente Deportivo
I was granted a break from work tomorrow to go to a bar and catch the Barcelona-Inter Milan match, which is sure to be incredible. Unfortunately, I have to head back to work afterward, so no drinking for me! I hope Barcelona are focusing all of their thoughts and energies on this match, and have forgotten about the trip to El Madrigal. This could be a great advantage for Villarreal, especially when you consider Barcelona’s troubles as visitors over the last nine years – they have had only three wins, while falling to five losses.
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.
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