UPDATE: For streams, check the comments. Endavant!
Finally, a nearly-full squad is at Pellegrini’s beck and call for the home match against Getafe. Not that it should be easy, as Getafe have managed an away draw with Barcelona and a home 3-1 drubbing of Real Madrid over the last two weeks. They are coming in on a stunning show of form, and are going to be full of motivation, as they sit only four points off of European placement as midseason approaches.
Getafe have a nearly full squad for the match. The most notable injury is that of striker Manu del Moral. It looks like they will also be without defender David Belenguer. Long-term injuries include keeper Oscar Ustari and defender Franck Signorino.
Villarreal and Pellegrini are busy taking a deep breath as almost a full squad returns to health, reinforcing the team as they are approaching an unbelieveable run of matches. Diego Godin, Marcos Senna, Robert Pires, Cani, and Guille Franco are all back for the match. Add to that last week’s return of Nihat, and suddenly the next five matches (Getafe, @Sevilla, Barcelona, @Madrid, @Valencia) are only incredibly daunting, rather than overwhelmingly so.
Even with the return of Franco, American fans will be very happy when they turn on the television and see Jozy Altidore (or, as he is known in Vila-Real, “Toro”) in the starting lineup for the Yellow Submarine. Pellegrini was very impressed with his performance against Recreativo Huelva last week, and has rewarded him with another start. In the last two weeks, Jozy has been told he will be staying with Villarreal (as opposed to being loaned out) for the rest of the season, and he got his first Liga start. This is only a few weeks after he scored his first European goal against Bilbao. Things are looking up for the young American striker, which can only mean good things for his chances on the national squad. Add this to the fact that he will be starting next to American-born Gisueppe Rossi, and the US ties are overflowing in the squad. New Jersey, take pride!
Pellegrini has left Franco, Cygan and Edmilson out of his squad for the match. The called players include:
Keepers: Diego López and Viera.
Defenders: Javi Venta, Ángel, Gonzalo, Godín, Fuentes and Capdevila.
Midfielders: Senna, Bruno, Eguren, Cani, Ibagaza, Cazorla, Matías Fernández and Pires.
Forwards: Rossi, Altidore and Nihat.
I can’t say enough – it is so nice to finally have so many quality players available again. A regular defensive back line, a strong midfield – it just makes you smile. Here is my predicted starting lineup:
Diego López
Ángel – Gonzalo – Godín – Capdevila
Cazorla – Senna – Eguren – Pires
Rossi – Altidore
Prediction: As I posted earlier, I am expecting Villarreal to give Getafe the same type of 3-1 thrashing they gave to Madrid last week. Nihat scored 4 in two matches last year versus Getafe, I am expecting him to continue his form when he comes on with 20 or so minutes left in the match. I can’t wait to watch Jozy get the start from the beginning. Is it time for his second goal? Perhaps. Rossi needs to get back on the scoring sheet so his brief cooldown does not become a problem. Again, the match is on GolTV at 2pm eastern, so enjoy!
Entries (RSS)
stream dude?
Assuming I can find one, I will have it up at the beginning of the match.
you da man. i am at work. i think 2pm i will be done with my work :P
With Champions League qualification assured Pellegrini does not have to consider rotations for Celtic in midweek. So it will be virtually our strongest line up today.
All the league games are important but it’s essential that we return to winning ways at home on a weekend when four of the top five play each other and ahead of our final two games of the year against Seville and Barca.
A choice of streams in both English and Spanish can be found at: http://www.rojadirecta.com/
Kenez beat me to it. Rojadirecta has a number of very nice, very clear streams that do not require P2P (and streams that do, if that is your flavor). Thanks Kenez.
Good news for me that 1 of the Cantonese channel will broadcast this match :D
actually I’m a Chinese living in Hong Kong, and sadly not so many Cantonese sports channel will usually broadcast the La Liga matches.
Hong Kong…….I hear is nice
4-4-2
López
Venta, Gonzalo, Godin, Capdevila
Cazorla, Senna, Eguren , Pires
Jozy, Rossi
@ 10″ Gol de Getafe :eek:
Bad Defending
@ 10 0-1
@ 15″ Godins ‘ Header from Senna’s Corner hits the left top of the goal post.
@ 18″ Gol de Getafe
0-2
@ 30″ Gol de Getafe :eek:
@ 30″ 0-3
PATHTETIC
SEVILLE AND BARCA are next……………
Venta is done……………Injured….seems bad
@ 43″ Angel in for Injured Venta
@ HT Pathectic Villarreal 0 – Getafe 3
TITLE RUN IS OVER@
@ Ht 0-3
0-1
3D http://www.marca.com/marcador/futbol/2008_09/primera/jornada_14/vil_get/114393.html
0-2
3D http://www.marca.com/marcador/futbol/2008_09/primera/jornada_14/vil_get/114396.html
0-3
3D http://www.marca.com/marcador/futbol/2008_09/primera/jornada_14/vil_get/114398.html
.
@ 56″ @ Gol Gol Gol de Pires !
Intial Jozy’s header is saved by Pato, ball goes to Cazorla then to Pires for gol
@ 56″ 1-3
Somehow, we managed to come back and draw. Ibagaza played an amazing second half, and Rossi wasn’t bad either. How did Rossi/Altidore not combine in the 90th to win the match? It was probably a penalty, but regardless Altidore should have been there. Numerous times in the match Altidore looked either slow or unwilling to put forth enough effort to put pressure on the ball or get to a loose ball. He did not play poorly, but he was not putting the same effort out there as Rossi does day in and day out. Even though he had a rough first 65 minutes or so, Rossi constantly puts forth 100% effort, and it paid off in the end. After that first half, I will gladly take the point, but it could have been some of the sweetest three points ever if we had pulled it out in the end.
wow……………U are 100% right about Rossi/and Jozy…..Jozy is missing ..the extra stuff ,……which makes the difference.
6 Points dropped due to Crappy Defense…Ibagaza has been playing great….in the last 2 games,,,,I suprised he didn’t get a start.
instead of blaming jozy for not getting the extra step, how about a hint at rossi for shooting instead playing the ball square to altidore who was completely unmarked and looking at an open net? if he works to keep that ball in play its a guaranteed goal and 3 points. but he wanted the glory and took the shot even though he had the keeper committed to his angle AND a defender hanging on his back.
jozy showed why he is there once again in my opinion and he gets better each time he gets out there.
J.A U are full of BS. Maddi comments were 100% correct. Do yourself a favor , stop drinking the Yank Koolaid.
J.A if you want to bash Rossi, then go back to your Yank Hole.
Trust me, I am not trashing Jozy – I am asking more of him. If he gets the start, he has to show up, and today, he was lacking. He had good moments, and displayed some skill, and his header set up the first goal. I expect as much from him, though, as much as I expect from everyone else.\
And Rossi has every right to take the shot – and in fact got a good one, all things considered – he has been with the team for two years and has at times carried the team on his back. He was in a groove at the end of the match, and I can’t blame him for taking the shot – I wish he had scored, but, like I said, he was taken down pretty hard during the midst of his shot.
If it seems more fair to provide criticism across the board, Diego Lopez did nothing worthwhile today, Javi Venta was glaringly at fault for the second goal, and the entire back line continued to underperform. Those things, though, I thought were pretty obvious. Capdevila should have scored that goal – I could have done that.
On top of that, I am really wondering if Pires is starting to bring the team down a bit – it seems that Ibagaza might be the better option as a starter, letting Pires come on and provide a spark off the bench.
Eguren played well in the middle throughout, and was perfect on his goal. Senna did not have his best game by any stretch of the imagination.
2nd half highlights:
@ 56″ @ Gol Gol Gol de Pires !
Jozy’s header is saved by Pato, ball goes to Cazorla then to Pires for gol
@ 56″ 1-3
@ 58″ Yellow Card Gonzalo
@ 64″ Ibagaza in for Pires
Capdevilla misses a great chance for it to go 2-3
+ Just now clear P>k not given (Clear Handball in Box)
@ 70″ Jozy looks like he’s out of gas…
@ 72″ Rossi shot is just wide to left
@ 78″ Nihat in for Senna
@ 82″ Gol Gol Gol de Eguren !
Assist by from F.K
2-3
@ 84″ Gol Gol Gol de Rossi!
@ 84″ 3-3
@ 89″ Oh My Gosh that was close….Rossi shot just goes wide,,,,,with Jozy running in …………………………….to tap in
Angel is better than Venta (Too bad about his injury, doesn’t look good)…………….
Why does Pellerhini start Venta over Angel?
I don’t get it.
http://www.marca.com/marcador/futbol/2008_09/primera/jornada_14/vil_get/114418.html
all gols in 3d
IN DEFENSE ON THE MR. MADDI !
Altidore 4.5 – It’s not entirely his fault that he lacks understanding with his teammates – he has barely been used, after all – but he still lacked timing and accuracy all night long.
The rest @ http://www.goal.com/en-us/news/1614/americans-abroad/2008/12/06/999630/player-ratings-villarreal-3-3-getafe
How could anyone blame Altidore for not putting in 100% effort in this match? It is clear to me that the passes did not come his way today. Obviously, he was wide open,and was ready to win the game for Villarreal but Rossi elected to take the shot instead even though he did not have the right angle. Believe me Altidore would have burry that ball in the net if that ball was passed to him. Unfortunately, when you’re new in a team all kinds of unfair blames will be placed on your shoulder. Remember, this is his first 90 minute game in a long time. In my view, he did give a 100%. Rossi and others have to start recognizing his efforts by pacing a nice ball in front of him as a reward.
Rony, wow sounds like you been drinking the Yank Kool Aid too.
Altidore 4.5 – It’s not entirely his fault that he lacks understanding with his teammates – he has barely been used, after all – but he still lacked timing and accuracy all night long.
Javi Venta plays offensively while Angel plays defensively. If the team has guaranteed high pocession(at least 60? for me) for the 2 side backs to do overlapping run, Venta will be a better option. If not so, choosing Angel is wiser.
Getafe did well on the interception(plus Villarreal’s passing wasnt really accurate as their normal performance too) that the team can’t control the ball easily. Also, Getafe’s counter attacks were critical, which resulted in 3 goals scored in the 1st half.
Just see 2 matches against Man UTD this year, Angel was the starter at Old Traffold that the opposition seldom created chances at his side(Pellegrini obviously wanted the team to defend full time for a 0-0 result and finally he succeeded). At El Madrigal, Venta replaces Angel and he co-operated quite well with Cazorla at the right side and provide dangers to Man UTD.
Also check the 05-06 UCL quater final against Arsenal at El madrigal, he was obviously beat by Henry and the sole goal conceded for the whole 180mins was also due to his fault.
It’s incommensurable between them as they’re totally different style of RB.
MLS should should be thankful, Villarreal over estimated Jozy’s value and paid $10 Million transfer fee for Jozy.
So far I don’t think Jozy has shown he was worth anything close the his $10 Million transfer fee.
I think Jozy did fine, he just needs to be a bit cleverer on the ball, centre halves in La Liga are very wily and he needs to learn how to deal with him. I think he did perfectly well yesterday and he is clearly a fan favourite already. It will take time but I’m sure he can make it.
On the fullback issue I think it’s something that needs to be dealt with, we are far to open to counterattacks and thats why were conceding so much. We cant have Venta/Angel and Capdevila so far up the pitch at the same time, one has to stay back and cover because Godin and Gonzalo are being left without any support out wide which leads them out of position. See Gavilans goal yesterday.
all in all, Angel’s overlappings are done better now, that allows him to be more aggressive. With his defence is better than Venta, he may become a top-class side back if his timing about when to push fowars and when to stay back is accurate(and that’s why I think Capdevila is a really good left back as he rarely makes faults and concedes goals at his left side, while he can also provide really good support for the midfield, no matter he plays for Espanyol or Villarreal).
Well, I had heard in Hong Kong that Jose Mourinho had placed Mario Balotelli in youth squad, does it implies he will probably leave soon?
Gaarykan….Inter say that Balotelli isn’t for sale, but I think he still could be loaned out.
……….
Nick…I think Jozy did o.k to so-so..he definatley needs to improve his Fitness, because he was out of gas by 70″…….and was sluggish a lot of times…..
I don’t understand one thing…..about Jozy runs……
why was he overlapping Rossi?……..a lot of times he would end up were Rossi was on the pitch, ………
He definatley lacks understanding w/Spanish speaking team mates
I wouldn’t mind a loan deal for Balotelli, but our chances of signing him would be very low. In any case both Marco Ruben and Jonathan are doing very well for their respective loan clubs. One of them will probably come back next season.
Villarreal definitely needs to improve their defense if the want to stay at the top of the table. Imagine how many points they would have had right now if they did not concede so many goals. The front line and the mid field are ok; although I am concerned about Pires. He seems to be too slow.
I would like to know the value of this point system from goal.com. Even though Altidore had a great game two week ago they only gave him a 5.0 which seems to be somewhat suspicious.
Rony
I think the main problem about defence is the 2 SBs can’t push too foward if Villarreal can’t dominate pocession. Both Senna and 2Gs did not really bad.
I managed to miss most of the match due to some other commitments, but I turned it on in time for Rossi’s goal. I can’t comment on Jozy’s play, but some of the highlights I saw made him look sluggish… but you guys can’t get aggro on a player for 1 game.
Anyway, my only real comment is on the Rossi/Altidore opportunity at the end of the match. My first thought (right when I saw it) was “What the $%*!, Jozy just held up instead of running through…” meaning, I think he thought Rossi’s ball was going in… which is no excuse in my opinion. That’s just lazy play. After watching it a couple of times over, I was then thinking about his fitness.. he doesn’t seem *bad*, but when you are at the level of these guys, you can’t be mediocre, clearly. Rossi is like a firecracker ..
Anyway, this was a pointless post.