Match Preview/Thread/Result: Valencia 4-1 Villarreal
Posted by maddi in Gonzalo Rodríguez, Kiko Olivas, Marcos Gullón, Match Previews, Match Thread, ResultsWell, we are all understandably down after three extremely lackluster matches (@Celta 1-1, Almeria 1-1, Celta 0-1). The season is in serious jeopardy after the Copa bow-out, and Villarreal’s momentum is in the red at the moment. But Villarreal cannot hang their heads too low. The match against Valencia is both vital for regional supremacy, and for the points that are available. Valencia has been playing better than they have in years this season, but are definitely not invincible, and a draw or better is a possibility.
Perhaps the best thing going for Villarreal tomorrow is the fact that the match is away. Some cold weather has kept the crowds at El Madrigal to embarrassingly thin levels, and it should be good for the morale to go into a hostile environment like the Mestalla. Plus, it will give them a chance to wash away Tuesday’s nightmare on the Villarreal pitch.
Valencia have been just fierce lately, winning 8 of 12, the only loss being against Real Madrid. They have surged into third in the table, and will be looking to solidify that standing tomorrow with the win over the regional upstarts from the north.
Despite Valencia’s recent run of form, Villarreal have some history in their favor, having consistently played Valencia well over the last few years. Last year, Villarreal managed a 3-3 draw in Valencia, and a 3-1 win at home. The year before that, it was a pair of 3-nil victories for the Yellow Submarine. In 2006-2007, the teams traded away victories. and in 2005-2006, Villarreal took a 1-0 victory at home and managed a 1-1 draw at home. Thus, over the last four years, Villarreal have won five, lost one, and drawn two. Not too bad for some minnows, against the storied likes of “big team” Valencia, eh?
Villarreal recover Gonzalo for the match, but lose Marcano because of his disastrous red card, and Javi Venta due to the injury suffered against Celta. Good news, though, Senor Valverde has been reading our blog, and has brought in a couple of B-teamers for the match. ;) Kiko and Marcos Gullón have been called into the traveling squad. Jony Pereira (who announced he is seeking a winter transfer) and Eguren are left out by technical decision.
Keepers: Diego López and Oliva.
Defenders: Gonzalo, Ángel, Godin, Capdevila and Kiko.
Midfielders: Bruno, Senna, Cani, Cazorla, Pires, Escudero, Fuster, Ibagaza and Marcos Gullón.
Forwards: Rossi, Nilmar and Llorente.
As now-departed Kqql would be quick to point out, Valverde is likely to go with the 4-5-1/4-2-3-1 on the road, with Fuster playing the withdrawn striker. My guess is that it will be Rossi up front, but I would like to see Llorente get the start ahead of him. I would also not mind seeing pairing of Kiko/Godin in the back, but I doubt that will happen on the road; expect to see Gonzalo back on the pitch for the first time in a while. Hopefully he can manage to stay on the field for the full 90. Let’s see if we can pull off the surprise here. Prediction: 1-1. ENDAVANT!
And, although it is completely irrelevant to Villarreal football, my Baltimore Ravens are taking on the Indianapolis Colts tonight. GO RAVENS!
EDIT: Match thread here. There should be plenty of streams on Rojadirecta. Let’s hope for a great game of football.
EDIT 2: The Villarreal starting XI– DIEGO LÓPEZ; ÁNGEL, KIKO, GODÍN, CAPDEVILA; BRUNO, SENNA; CAZORLA, FUSTER, CANI; NILMAR.
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Hopefully the 4-5-1 will have more success than it did against Vigo, I think it was a very conservative decision that backfired. Valencia will play nice attacking football, we can beat teams who play that sort of football. The way we played against Barca needs to return, high octane almost Premiership style football.
It’s a vital game, must win if we have any European ambitions. I would be a bit unsure about throwing Kiko in against David Villa (Best striker in the world IMO) but then again Gonzalo will be out of match practice. We need our attacking midfielders to perform, they have to provide more ammunition for the strikers.
We can analyse all we want but foremost we are supporters and want all the players and the manager to do well! Endavant Villarreal!!
Posted a big comment last night but it must have been lost! Anyway, vital game, one which I think we can win. Midfield has to up it’s game big time. I’d be nervous about Kiko vs Villa. Still can’t wait for the game, biggest of the season so far!!
Ravens game was ugly, but what did you expect? The Colts just own the Ravens. Now if Baltimore could’ve gotten the #5 seed and played San Diego this round…
On this game, I’m glad Valverde finally has called up some B teamers. But now it remains to be seen if they will play. If Eguren is not in the squad, the logical replacement is Matilla, not Marcos Gullon, but Matilla is irreplaceable for the B team. Also Gonzalo has said that he can’t go the full 90, so I’d expect him to start and be replaced by Kiko at some point. If he’s still on the pitch, that is.
I think it’s worth noting that for the first time Eguren has been left out of the squad for decision of the trainer. He may well have lost his place because he told Valverde that he was not a central defender. http://www.elperiodicomediterraneo.com/noticias/noticia.asp?pkid=523726
Will he now take the place in the doghouse left by Fuentes.
Gonzalo has only resumed full training in the past few days so I expect that Kiko will start in a what is becomimg a familiar 4-4-1-1 formation.
Diego López.
Ángel, Godin, Kiko, Capdevila.
Cani, Senna, Bruno, Cazorla (or Pires),
Fuster,
Nilmar.
Despite being third in the league Valencia do struggle at home sometimes, played 8, won 3, drawn 4 and lost 1. However I think they are overdue a win over Villarreal in the Mestella.
Also, in a continuing parallel, two weeks after the A and B teams played the league leaders (Barcelona and Real Sociedad, respectively), this week it is the #3 teams (Valencia and Numancia).
HT 0-0 Villarreal B-Numancia. Tightly contested game with few clear-cut chances. Let’s see the second half kids come out and steal 3 points.
Hernan Perez in for Joan Tomas at halftime. And Marco Ruben failed to convert a 1v1, the clearest chance of the game.
Even better chance for Cristobal, set up by Hernan Perez. But the score remains 0-0, as the man of the match has been Numancia’s goalkeeper.
GOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLLLL! 1-0, 88′. Musacchio scores on a header off a cross from Gerard Bordas. And the cardiac kids do it again…now they just need to hold on.
4′ of stoppage time.
Yes!!! Musacchio scores in the 87th minute 1-0
FT 1-0! Great, great victory. Numancia had forward Goiria sent off right before our goal, for the record.
The B team is in 6th place, 8-6-6 for 30 points. That’s only 3 points from the last promotion spot and 10 from relegation. We have a serious team on our hands.
maddi, I hope we have a better game today than your Ravens did last night. The good news is I have Monday off so I don’t have to see one of the secretaries parading around in her Peyton Manning jersey.
Great result for the B team. Hoping for a similar result today at The Mestalla.
Starting XI:
DIEGO LÓPEZ; ÁNGEL, KIKO, GODÍN, CAPDEVILA; BRUNO, SENNA; CAZORLA, FUSTER, CANI; NILMAR
As I feared, Villa skins Kiko, ball ends up with Banega who scores a screamer
Diego Lopez is going to be a busy boy today.
Godin is gonna have to pick up Villa, Kiko can’t get near him
I can’t really blame Kiko though, he has no experience and Villa is just fantastic, his movement is out of this world
That foul was outside the box, 100& outside the box disgraceful. Still the problem with Kiko struck again. 60 minutes to go.
Valverde Sucks & so does British style Football
GO VALENCIA !
Horror day for Kiko.
The midfield can’t get going because they’re too involved in trying to shut Valencia’s front 4 down. That front 4 are lethal. I can’t really see anyway back. We can’t afford to bring on another striker, maybe Pires and Ibagaza to come on. Damage limitation unfortunately
HT 2-0. Kiko has done this before, so I’m not shocked. But the red + penalty was absurd. More worrisome is the absolute lack of punch at the offensive end. I’ve only seen Cazorla; nothing from Nilmar, Cani, or Fuster. Senna’s free kick, which wasn’t really that close, was our best chance of the half.
It can’t get worse, can it? I’d say that was the worst half of the season. Hope Marcos Gullon gets a chance.
@Nick: We can come back, but it takes belief in our system. And we don’t have that right now.
We need to bring on Eguren, oh no we’ve not brought him.
Fuster is not really involved I would bring Ibagaza or Pires.
We need someone to get on the ball and just slow it down, Senna isn’t doing it so yes maybe Ibagaza for Fuster would do the job
Valverde must be on his iphone in the dressing room reading the site! haha Ibagaza for Fuster
Much better start to the second half! Come on!!
3-0 Silva
Ah well, bad mistake from Capdevila, very disappointing
Senna out, Gonzalo the red card magnet in.
3-1 Nilmar courtesy of a brain fart by Alexis.
Fabulous finish from Nilmar!!haha Now will Valencia get nervy?
Just got in front of a screen to watch the match, in time to see Silva’s goal. Things are looking bad. Nice to get Nilmar’s goal back, but this could definitely still get worse.
The scoreline would be much much worse if it wasn’t for Diego and the crossbar.
Was Gonzalo trying to get a red card with that? He did evverything he could, the ref just swallowed his whistle.
ohhhhhhh rossi!
maddi: makeup call for that earlier PK and sending off that was a wrong call.
Diego Lopez is putting in one hell of a performance today.
Well, that’s that.
and it’s over. 4-1
hey look whos goin to replace villa at valencia
http://www.goal.com/en/news/12/spain/2010/01/18/1749975/valencia-favoured-villarreal-striker-nilmar-as-david-villa
gues the wonderful goal he scored had valencia really impressed.
Today is officially the most depressing day of the year. Psychologist Cliff Arnall, from the University’s Cardiff Centre for Lifelong Learning and an expert in seasonal disorders, has designated January 18 as “Blue Monday”.
I’m sure we can all agree with that.
valvarde is incapable manager!
da vcf is sinking sub. da ugly soccer is o.k if da vcf is wining. but u da valverde da sub plays da ugly football & is losing. suprise some in da penya even defend da valverde.
fact r facts da sub is sinking .
will da vcf board have courage is save it, or will be to stuborn to admit it hired a incapable ugly playing soccer coach.
let’s see what vcf is made of?
I see that Jony Pereira has been sold to Real Betis for 3 million euros with a 5 million buyback clause. Money not confirmed yet, but it should be later today.
http://villarrealcf.es/principal_n.php?nombreModulo=noticiasDetalle&idnoticia=9347&idseccion=7&idmenu=90&idsubmenu=125
I’m not sure I understand the sale, but times are tough. Keep in mind that he is only 22 and has played 2 seasons in the Primera with Racing. Maybe he leads Betis up…
I’m not sure I understand the sale
@ sid. nothing to understand, it’s da sinking sub sinking further.
He wasn’t getting any playing time, being behind Rossi, Nilmar and Llorente is tough and he wasn’t even being looked at for match squads. Good luck to him! Hopefully he can do well for Betis even though it is a shockingly run club. The question is where will that three million go? A centre half? A centre mid? A playmaker? (Nicolas Lodeiro would be awesome, youtube him) or will we just invest it back into the club.
I think a signing would be a much needed boost.
A centre half!
@nick. da fuster got da job of Pereira. a new signing? u make me laugh, da sinking sub will do no such thing.
i hear da vcf owner was mad @ da players. he should be mad @ himself, as he hire d da incapbable fool. vcf board wanted to be da english isle club. ha ha ha.
I’m glad to see Jony sold if he wasn’t going to get any playing time with us. There is no need to stifle a young player’s career. Best of luck, Jony.
Jackson: Are you a Villarreal fan or just someone who enjoys coming in here to laugh at the club? Were you a fan of Villarreal during Pellegrini’s first year in charge? I’m not a big proponent of changing a coach midway through the season, primarily because not many good coaches are actually available (unless you would like to see Juande Ramos with his weird play people out of position lineups and WTF substitutions or perhaps Luis Aragones will come out of retirement?)
I’m not 100% certain that Valverde is the man for us, that remains to be seen. Not all of his results have been disastrous, remember? In the meantime, I remain 100% behind every man who wears yellow. Call me a cheerleader if you want, but without support, there is nothing. Only rats (and gloryhunters) desert a sinking ship. I believe we’re submerging temporarily, but we’ll be back.
Ahora mas que nunca, estamos con vosotros!
@trixie. facts r facts da yellow sub is sinking.
is da site scared of different opionions or da facts or is da usa penya 4 da english /usa fans who love english soccer, &
r finally happy 2 see incapbable fool coach conver t vcf into ugly playing fan.
facts r facts u/pellegrini win or lose da club played beautiful soccer
To be quite honest, I’m as confused about what is happening to this club as everyone else is. I’d love for Valverde to undo whatever it is he changed and make us play like we did under Pellegrini (or shall I say “like we did the last four years under Pellegrini” because this season is remarkably similar to Pellegrini’s first one).
BTW, not all of us who live in the USA love English football. Debates are food for thought, as long as they’re constructive and not just insults. I, for one, would love to see us play that 4-4-2 again with Llorente and Rossi up front, Cazorla-Senna-Eguren-Cani (or Ibagaza) in the middle. We have the players to regain lost ground, and although they must bear some of the responsibility for bad results, ultimately it does rest squarely on Valverde’s shoulders. This has gone on a little too long to just be due to a change of coach, even if it’s a change from a long-serving one.
I don’t even know what to say anymore. All I know is I will never give up on these boys, I love them too much too. You can’t just pack your bags and change your loyalties when they are loosing…that is not what a true fan would do.
Also as Trixie said not everyone that lives in the USA loves the PL. I for one support AC Milan and Palermo besides Villarreal, now maybe it’s because I’m Italian…but still.
And now Eguren wants out.
http://www.elperiodicomediterraneo.com/noticias/noticia.asp?pkid=524649
thats understandable.he is a good player.but he is in the dog house.he knew really well what happened to fuentes when he was in the dog house.
@ trixie. i just state da facts, that da vcf is sinking sub u/da incapbable fool da vcf board hired.
but looks like u got upset & said i am a troll. da jackson is not insulting anyone or troll, i am just stating the facts.
who started da doghouse story, i guess deserves credit, since it sad to c but true. i think the doghouse situation is cauing locker problem w/da players. da players were tight, so feel da pain of otheres.
i hear da pieria say that da velverde only sw him 2 times in 5 months. that is not good.
Oh Eguren! :(
I don’t understand why he would go from starting to being told you’re not needed anymore and to find another team. Valverde is starting to pi*s me off!
—————————Sorry to break in from the no Comment break —————————
————————-BUT TO ALL VILLARREAL PLAYERS ———————
————————————Beware of the Doghouse of Valverdeer !!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Twivg7GkYts
Valverdeer 1-0 Fuentus
Valverdeer 2-0 Jony
in process Valverdeer 3-0 Eguren
In process Valverdeer 4-0 Escudero
In Process Valverdeer 5-0 Llorente
O.k back to no comment zone …ciao ciao …adios Y’all