Sporting Lisbon 0-3 Valencia CF - Match Report

Valencia CF won its forth match of the preseason against Sporting Lisbon, after being trashed last week by Rapid Wien 4-1, so this was an unexpectedly high victory. I've watched Sporting's last match against Juventus and they absolutely destroyed Juventus in all parts of the field, so either Juventus suck or Valencia are very good.

Personally I don't think we played that well, I mean yes we scored 3 goals, but they were all kind of lucky goals which we wouldn't be able to score against a world class defense. Sporting's defense made many mistakes in this match and should be happy they didn't concede more goals.

But anyways just 2 minutes after the match started Pablo had the first chance of the match when he shot and hit the woodwork. Then just few minutes later Bruno was carrying out the throw-in the Sporting defense all missed the ball, their goalkeeper was late off his line as well and Bernat was speedy and agile enough to go to the ball first and head the ball in the net.

Later on Sporting and Valencia CF will have one shot on goal saved by both goalkeepers. Second goal would come from Soldado after being played on by David Albelda who played Soldado deep with a cross and Soldado managed to get rid of his marker and score.

The third goal came in the 41st minute, 10 minutes after the first goal, this time from the left side. Alba got the ball from an out got lost of his marker and passed the ball to Piatti who made it 3-0.

The second half would be a lot more boring and Sporting would have its own chances to score, but our defense will hold. Emery then changed most of the team until the 75th minute and Valencia CF managed to close out the match 3-0.

Technical Details:
Sporting Lisbon (0): Patricio, Carriço, Onyewu, Evaldo, Schaars, Izmailov, Yannick, Fito Rinaudo, H. Postiga, Diego Rubio and Joao Pereira. Subs: Aguiar, Martins, Marcelo, Diego Capel and Carrillo.

Valencia CF (3): Alves, Bruno, Rami, Topal, Albelda, Soldado, Piatti, J. Alba, Pablo H., R. Costa and Bernat. Subs: Dealbert, Mathieu, Feghouli, Mata, Jonas, Miguel, Maduro, Parejo, Portu and Pardo.

Goals: 4min, 0-1 Bernat, 31min, 0-2 Soldado, 43min, 0-3 Piatti.

Player Ratings:
Diego 5 - Had some good saves and that saves his score, but he was directly involved in endangering the goal twice with his bad passing and shooting.
Bruno 6 - Wasn't beaten once and kept his side safe from danger. Didn't venture forward too much though.
Rami 6 - Finally an overall good performance by Rami. Wasn't at fault for any goalscoring chances and really destroyed any potential chances by timed tackles and fouls. I would actually play him as a DM and see how he does, I feel he could be really good at that position.
Costa 6 - Great performance by Costa, got rid of any threats to the goal and didn't allow any shenanigans in front of goal. Had a good header in Sporting's penalty area.
Alba 6.5 - Good defensively and even better offensively, provided the assist to Piatti for the 3rd goal.
Pablo 5.5 - Had a shot very early in the game that ended up hitting the woodwork, but disappeared after that. He popped here and there, but failed to create any chances.
Topal 4.5 - Lost the ball too many times with needless dribbles and complications. Did great defensivelly, but had too many errors overall.
Albelda 6 - Helped out in defense constantly and was quite active in the passing as well, making a long deep cross that found Soldado for the second goal.
Bernat 6 - Scored the first goal after somehow coming to the ball first and heading it in the goal. Was somewhat dangerous on the left side afterwards as he made few runs.
Piatti 6 - Scored a goal and was very active in the middle and on the left, but his passing was quite bad today and wasn't linking up with the other 3 attacking players.
Soldado 6 - Was a constant menace, provided few great passes that lead to shots and scored a goal himself.
Subs:
Dealbert 6 - Did well tonight, not the most assured performance, but made several good tackles.
Mathieu 5.5 - Was decent in defense and offense. Is slowly but surely falling behind Alba, he needs to really up his performance.
Miguel 5.5 - Not as great defensively as Bruno and wasn't too active in attack also.
Feghuoli 5 - Few touches and passes, lost the ball quite a few times, so not a good performance.
Maduro 5.5 - Improvement over Topal as he was quite solid on the pass and made simple and accurate passes.
Parejo 5 - Lost the ball few too many times and failed to organize play.
Mata 4.5 - Had one shot at goal that went wide and above, but other than that invisible.
Jonas 5 - Exchanged few passes at the front, but was mostly all alone at front with no balls coming his way.
Pardo 5 - Decent in defense, a lot better than last match that is for sure.
Portu 5 - Slotted well in the midfield and provided more depth than Parejo, but largely ineffective as well.

Sergio Canales joins Valencia CF

Sergio Canales has reached an agreement with the club about his pay check and will join Valencia CF on a two year loan deal worth 2 millions euros or 1 million euros per season with an double purchase option. After the two years of loan Valencia CF can choose to purchase the player for 12 million euros and Real Madrid can then purchase the player themselves for a fee of 18 million euros.

The deal says that Sergio Canales can't play against Real Madrid and reportedly this is why Villarreal broke the negotiations for Canales.

Sergio Canales came last season to Real Madrid from Racing Santander for 6 million euros, but has failed to play much at all in Real Madrid under Mourinho and the coach and player have looked to part ways, with Valencia doing a smart move and lending him.

This makes our attacking midfield even more potent and dangerous and increases the competition so much more. Valencia CF is still in the transfer for a central defender and there are few players we have talks at this moment with Mangala transfer coming do a sudden stop.

Sporting Lisbon vs Valencia CF - Match Preview

Ladies and gentleman, boys and girls, Valencia fans, this is going to be the telling match if Valencia CF is good enough to actually fight with Real Madrid and Barcelona or not. I know its still early in the season, but this is the time when Valencia CF must start showing character, determination and good play. I've watched Real Madrid, Barcelona, Malaga and Villarreal and I must say that all except Villarreal look really solid.

Real Madrid have started strong and continued strong through all their matches, Barcelona started slow, but have been improving tremendously through every match and Malaga started kinda slow, but have been in great form ever since. The only team I've watched and performing bad is Villarreal, but I won't count them out yet.

So this is the match where we can see if Valencia CF has made progress or regress in the last few days. I've seen the training session and they seems quite good overall and the players seem happy and confident, so I would expect a great showing tomorrow against Sporting Lisbon.

Sporting Lisbon is a Portuguese club based in the city of Lisbon, the club was founded in 1906 on the 1st of July and has been one of the top 3 clubs in Portugal ever since. Sporting Lisbon rivals are well known and they are Porto and Benfica who might be known a little bit more with their recent success. Whatever the case Sporting has won many national and international titles, including the Uefa Cup in 63/64 and more recently finishing runners up in 2004/05.

I've watched Sporting Lisbon play against Juventus just a few days ago and they absolutely destroyed Juventus. They won 2-1, but the score doesn't relay the great football they played and the struggles Juventus had, it was only Del Piero's magical shot in the last few minutes that gave Juventus a consolidation goal. Sporting don't play defensive football and we can expect them to go out and attack Valencia right from the start and really compete with us.

Sporting Lisbon is certainly going to be the toughest opponent we've had in preseason yet and apart from Roma the toughest overall, so I expect a great match first and foremost and a real overview of where Valencia CF stands.

Valencia CF on the other hand has had quite a bit of news come out with the transfer of Sergio Canales to Valencia CF on a loan deal from Real Madrid with the option to purchase the player, the news about Standard Liege central defender Mangala which is still up in the air with the blockade being the player himself asking for bigger salary and we have the reserve option of signing Pareja if the signing of Mangala fails.

What is more important though is that Tino Costa has been training normally with the rest of the squad, Ever Banega has also joined the squad and is training with the squad with the only worry right now being Bruno who has an injury.

Valencia CF squad:
Goalkeepers: Guaita, Diego Alves and Adrián.
Defense: Miguel, Bruno, Dealbert, R.Costa, Rami, Pardo, Jordi Alba, Mathieu and Salva Ruiz.
Midfield: Maduro, Tino Costa, Albelda, Topal, Banega, Feghouli, Juan Bernat, Pablo, Portu, Piatti, Mata and Parejo.
Attack: Jonas, Aduriz and Soldado.

Technical Details:
Formation: Most likely 4-2-3-1
Line-up: Guaita; Miguel, Rami, Costa, Alba; Pablo, Topal, Tino, Mata, Parejo; Aduriz
Tactics: mixed passing, high opposing field pressure, 3-way attack and positional changes from the wings.

Sergio Canales to Valencia CF?

Spanish papers are reporting that Valencia CF is on the verge of signing Spanish U-19 and now U-20 player Sergio Canales or at least have him on loan for two years.

Reports have it that Manuel Llorente has been negotiating the trasfer for quite a while now and reports have it that a 2 year loan deal with an option to buy the player is most likely to happen. I've heard reports of fully signing the player, but we'll just have to wait and see is any of this is true.

Real Madrid may choose to sell the player to Villarreal though as they are interested in the player after selling Cazorla and they have the money to make this transfer happen.


Bogus or not?
- Not bogus. Valencia CF president Manuel Llorente and Braulio Vasquez said to expect 1 or 2 players and this is the result. They've been obviously negotiating in secret for the purchase or loan deal of Canales, but having media find out about this may jeopardize the deal and make way for Villarreal to hijack the negotiations and purchase the player themselves. I'm rooting for Valencia CF to sign or loan the player, but we'll have to wait and see if its going to materialize.

Jonas Goncalves profile

Name: Jonas Gonçalves Oliveira
Playing position: Forward, attacking midfield
Previous club: Gremio
Number: 7
Birthday: April 1, 1984 (age 27)
Nationality: Brazilian
Height: 1.83m
Weight: 73kg
Contract ends: 30.06.2015
Player Rating:



Market Value:

Previous clubs:
Guarani, Brazil 2005-2006
Santos, Brazil 2006-2007
Germio Brazil 2007-2011
>Portuguessa, Brazil 2008-2009 loan

2010/11 Statistics
TEAM	Competition	GS	SB	G	A	SH	SG	FC	FS	YC	RC
Valencia	La Liga	8	5	3	3	26	13	15	13	2	0
Valencia	UCL	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0

Glossary

GS: Games Started, SB: Used as Substitute, G: Goals, A: Assists, SH: Shots, SG: Shots on goal, YC: Yellow Cards, RC: Red Cards, FC: Fouls Committed, FS: Fouls Suffered, SV: Saves, OF: Offsides, W: Wins, D: Draws, L: Losses

Eliaquim Mangala set to join Valencia CF

Valencia CF is set to sign Standard Liege central defender Eliaquim Mangala and the deal should be done within 2 days. His price is set to be between 3-4 million euros, but his salary would be very low bellow 1 million.

Eliaquim Mangala (born 13 February 1991) is a French professional football player of Congolese descent who currently plays for Belgian club Standard Liège in the Jupiler Pro League. Mangala is a France youth international and is currently playing with the under-21 team having made his debut on 13 November 2009 against Tunisia.

SK Rapid Wien 4-1 Valencia CF - Match Report

Well the third match didn't turn out as we'd all hoped and expected as Valencia CF was pretty much embarrassed by Rapid Wien and while they are already in their season and I've written that they will be in full form and fitness and for us to expect a tough game, I didn't expect Valencia CF loosing 4-1.


First goal Wien scored was mainly because of a Rami mistake, he marked the same player Costa marked and then Portu failed to mark the player Rami was supposed to cover in the first place. So this was a double fail, although I'm not blaming Portu so much as he isn't a right back in the first place.

Second goal for Wien was a weird one as one of their player tried to cross and ended up being a shot, fooling Diego Alves and ending up in our goal.

In the second half in was a completely different starting 10 with only Diego left on the pitch, but the result did not become any better.
Wien would go on to score 2 goals, before Pablo Hernandez scores a consolidation goal for Valencia CF.

Wien's third goal would come after a counter attack from the right wing and even though the goalscorer was clearly offside the goal would stand.

Forth goal came from a counter attack as well, so this means that someone was loosing the ball too much in the middle of the pitch and there wasn't enough cover for the defense. I'm looking particularity at Maduro and Topal here, but would need to review the match to see exactly who committed the mistakes. Anyways Dealbert set up a nice offside trap only for Pardo to come rushing back and playing the striker onside.

Technical Details:
SK Rapid Viena (4): Novota, Patocka, Schrammel, Sonnleitner, Kulovits, Salihi, Hofmann, Katzer, Prokopic, Trimmel y Alar. También jugaron Gartler, Nuhiu,

Valencia CF (1): Alves, Rami, Albelda, Feghouli, Mata, Aduriz, Piatti, Alba, Parejo, Ricardo Costa y Portu. También jugaron Miguel, Pardo, Dealbert, Mathieu, Pablo, Topal, Maduro, Bernat, Jonas, Soldado.

Goals: 1-0 Min. 23 Alar; 2-0 Min. 41 Schrammel; 3-0 Min. 74 Gartler; 4-0 Min. 83 Gartler; 4-1 Min. 89 Pablo

Player Ratings:
Diego 4 - Received a weird goal in the first half from a cross, in the second half he looked shaken, but made few saves to redeem himself although it was not a performance to remember anyways.
Portu 3 - We can clearly see today that he isn't a right back. Lost the ball way too often when pushing forward, missed the marking for the first goal, although he wasn't particularly the main falter.
Rami 3.5 - Had a great game before and after the goal, but really screwed up for the 1st goal marking the same man that Costa was marking.
Costa 5 - Had a good showing, didn't make any mistakes which is most important.
Alba 5.5 - Good defensively, not so effective going forward as in the previous friendlies though.
Feghuoli 5 - Had an average game, few too many times afraid to push forward though.
Albelda 5 - Decent game from the veteran, showed good composure and provided good defensive cover.
Parejo 5 - Has great technique and good vision, but was not very influential in the position he was in.
Piatti 5.5 - Had blistering pace as he showed again, less effective since the left wing was crowded too much by Mata and Alba.
Mata 5.5 - Good first match from Mata, showed a bit of leadership and had a constructive game with good movement and passing.
Aduriz 4.5 - Deprived of any balls he was left alone in the penalty area.
Subs:
Miguel 4 - Not particularly good in defense or in attack. Lost several challenges and left frustrated going forward.
Pardo 3 - Helped Wien attackers get onside at least once, I'm 99.9% sure the 3rd goal was offside, but he certainly played onside the Wien attacker for the 4th goal.
Dealbert 4 - Had a debatable action for the 3rd Wien goal, but that should have been an offside, set up a good offside trap for the 4th goal which unfortunately Pardo played onside. Not very convincing either way.
Mathieu 5 - Good defensive showing and was more offensive today, but he needs more consistency.
Pablo 6 - Saved himself until the end to score a wonderful goal after passing 4 players. Didn't do much otherwise.
Topal 5.5 - Did well to pass the ball around and good in his defensive duties.
Maduro 5 - Didn't do much of anything, several touches and passes but seems like he doesn't know what his role should be.
Bernat 4 - Few touches with the ball and that was it, invisible for the large majority of the match.
Jonas 4 - Missed passes, failed to catch passes and his movement was very limited.
Soldado 3 - Came in frustrated and even if the referee didn't show him red card for that challenge I feel like he would have done anything and everything to get dismissed. Way too frustrated.

SK Rapid Wien vs Valencia CF - Match Preview

Two matches, two wins, Valencia CF preseason so far so good. The training has been going on great, the players are working hard and the morale is pretty high. Tomorrow though is another challenge for Valencia CF and we all expect improved play from the previous two matches as Valencia CF has had more training and preparation.

SK Rapid Wien is an Austrian club located in the capital Vienna which is a beautiful city, kind of old looking but grandiose and anyone who can should visit. But more importantly its the club Wien that we are interested in right now since tomorrow its going to take on Valencia CF.

Rapid Wien is the most successful club in Austria and has lifted the national trophy 32 times. Some of the more notable names through their ranks have been Dejan Savicevic, Zlatko Krajncar and Mario Tokic.

SK Rapid Wien season has actually started and they have already played 2 matches and won both matches. They are currently holding first place in their league with 6 points, 4 goals scored and none received.

Valencia CF on the other hand is coming to this match as the big club, the big favorite and is going to serve as an sort of promotional match for Rapid Wien in order to lure as much fans as possible after having quite low attendance no attendance because of a penalty since fans stormed the pitch in their last match of last season and Wien was penalized(thanks to randomrapidfan for pointing that out). For Valencia CF this will be the biggest challenge so far as Rapid Wien have finished their preseason a lot earlier and are towards their 3rd game in the season so they are going to be in in full form and fitness and ready to play 100%.

The weather hasn't been too good the last two day, but the squad has continued training in bad weather conditions even though some more technical training wasn't possible.

Valencia CF squad:
Goalkeepers: Guaita, Diego Alves and Adrián.
Defense: Miguel, Bruno, Dealbert, R.Costa, Rami, Pardo, Jordi Alba, Mathieu and Salva Ruiz.
Midfield: Maduro, Tino Costa, Albelda, Topal, Feghouli, Juan Bernat, Pablo, Portu, Piatti, Mata and Parejo.
Attack: Jonas, Aduriz and Soldado.

Technical Details:
Formation: Most likely 4-2-3-1 in the first half and then change it to 4-4-2 once few players are substituted.
Line-up: Guaita; Bruno, Rami, Costa, Alba; Feghuoli, Topal, Tino, Piatti, Jonas; Aduriz
Tactics: short passing, high opposing field pressure...

Unai Emery: Victory is important

Unai Emery continued his good preseason matches with Valencia CF with a 1-0 win against Leicester City FC and previously a 2-0 win against PSV Eindhoven.

Coach Unai Emery had this to say after the match: "This victory is important, but we can improve a lot more. You've seen during the match in some moments we played really good and in others quite bad."

On the two half's he said: "The first half we were better, in some moments when we were attacking we played 4-4-2 formation which I really liked. We must continue working on it, because we are likely to use of of the two formations against Osasuna."

Emery analyzed the performance on individual players and said: "Jonas and Aduriz played great, this was the first time they played together and up till now they only worked on two trainings together. Today they have shown their knowledge and professionalism.
I also have to praise Pablo Piatti who works very hard, in him we got a great reinforcement. Then there is Daniel Parejo who immediately showed us that he is a big reinforcement for the club."

About the next match against SK Rapid Wien Unai Emery said: "The idea is for the first eleven to play a little bit more minutes and after that to have substitutions. Its very likely that Juan Mata will get his first preseason minutes playing time in the match against SK Rapid Wien."

Leicester City FC 0-1 Valencia CF Match Report

Valencia CF just won its second preseason match 1-0 over Leicester City FC. Valencia CF also won the trophy as this was a sort of mini tournament with 4 teams in it I believe with Bursaspor and PSV.

The match started slowly with both teams trying to control the midfield, but after 5-6 minutes Valencia CF became more comfortable and took the possession and initiative of the match. Maduro was quite good the first 30 minutes of the half time, really controlling the possession and spreading the ball well.
After a lot of pressing Valencia CF scored a goal with Aduriz on the left fooling a Leicester defensive player and crossing the ball to Jonas who hit a perfect volley and scored a goal.

From then on Feghuoli in particular would have more shots on goal, but unfortunately won't manage to score a goal. Schmeichel was actually beaten, but a defensive players managed to save their goal basically from the goal line and keep the score only 1-0 for Valencia.

The second half Unai Emery changed the whole squad again and having his debut this time was Daniel Parejo.

Second half was actually more interesting, but if you are a Leicester City FC fan as they had quite a bit of chances to equalize. While the second half our left side was way better with Alba and Piatti and even Pablo coming left, the defensive midfield and the center defense was worse as Topal and Portu failed to control the play and the Rami had at least 2 blunders and forced Diego Alves to come off his post twice to try and save the day. Dealbert was a bit better, but not very convincing either.

Pablo was really poor on the right and Soldado was once again too slow and rusty to do anything and he even had two good chances to score. Daniel Parejo was a welcome sight and had a very positive debut in which he carried the whole Valencia CF play at times.

Overall it was a good preseason match and this will show Unai Emery where and how to improve and lets not forget that our more creative and influential players like Tino Costa, Juan Mata and Ever Banega are yet to play.

Right now I'm personally really impressed with Miguel, Burno, Pardo, Alba, Feghuoli and Aduriz. This match I was also impressed with Parejo, but we'll see how he performs in the next match.

I'm really disappointed with Rami, Mathieu, Topal, Pablo and Soldado. Its still early though and I think the next match is really going to show the real quality and performance of the players and hopefully we'll also have Tino Costa and Mata ready to play.

Technical Details:
Leicester City FC (0):City: Schmeichel; Peltier (Oakley 46), Bamba (St. Ledger 61), Mills, Konchesky (46 Ball); Abe, Wellens (c), King (79 Moussa); Gallagher (61 Waghorn), Vassell (78 Howard), Schlupp (60 Dyer).
Valencia CF (1): Guaita(45 Diego), Bruno(45 Miguel), Costa(45 Rami), Pardo(45 Dealbert), Mathieu(45 Alba), Feghuoli(45 Pablo), Maduro(45 Topal), Albelda(45 Portu), Bernat(45 Piatti), Jonas(45 Parejo), Aduriz(45 Soldado)
Goals: 27min, 1-0 Jonas.

Player Ratings:
Guaita 5.5 - Had few decent mini-saves
Bruno 6 - Great in defense, won all his tackles and very good in attack as well.
Costa 5  - Pretty good, had some good challenges
Pardo 5 - Quite good at the beginning, very comfortable with the ball at his feet and feeds the midfield nice.
Mathieu 5 - Decent defending, few runs forward, but nothing standing out.
Feghuoli 6 - Very active around the pitch, had 3 shots towards Leicester goal and good showing overall.
Maduro 5.5 - Great for around 25 minutes with good passing and keeping possession and then went missing.
Albelda 4.5 - Helped out in defense, had a few forward passes but that's about it.
Bernat 4 - Invisible for the whole match.
Jonas 6 - Decent performance, scored a goal, but failed to link up play in the final 3rd.
Aduriz 6.5 - Great performance from Aduriz impressing once again with an assist to Jonas. Also had a shot on goal and won few crucial headers.
Subs:
Diego 5.5 - Got off the line to clear a ball with a header, then had to do it again but the second time missed the ball with his foot and Leicester almost scored.
Miguel 5.5 - Very good in defense,  was not troubled at all, but did not go forward too much.
Rami 4 - Poor performance by Rami, lost his man on two occasions on the first occasion he was just outrun and on the second he missed the ball and failed to clear it, forcing the goalkeeper to come off his line twice.
Dealbert 5 - Managed to cover for one Rami mistake early on, but as Rami didn't look too comfortable.
Alba 6.5 - Just fantastic, good in defense and great in attack. His forward moves were always threatening and linked up quite well with everyone ahead of him.
Pablo 5 -Had one or two good moves, run a lot, but he is not creating any chances or making dangerous through passes.
Topal 5 - Great helping hand in defense, but fails to move the ball forward.
Portu 5.5 - More active than Topal and pushed forward more, but he as Topal fail to keep possession, spread the ball around or move the ball forward.
Piatti 5.5 - Had a few good runs on the left side, linked up few times with Alba, but falls to the ground too easily.
Parejo 6 - Really impressive debut from Parejo, great ball control, went down deep to move the ball forward, always open to receive a pass and along with Alba they share man of the match performance.
Soldado 5 - Very rusty, had two good chances, but in one he missed the ball and the other chance he shot straight in the goalkeeper.

Leicester City vs Valencia CF Match Preview

Just few days ago Valencia CF played its first match of the preseason against PSV Eindhoven in which Valencia CF won 2-0 with goals from Piatti and Aduriz. Tomorrow is the next challenge in Austria and this time Valencia CF meets Leicester City FC.

Leicester City FC is an English club based in obviously the same named city Leicester and playing in "the Championship" league. The championship league was formerly known as second division, but the FA thought that better names would give it more importance and exposure.

The most known name in the club is Sven-Goran Ericsson, some know him because he has the name of the mobile phone company Ericsson and now as Sony-Ericsson which is almost an exact match, but some will also know him as the English national team manager.
He is considered by the FA as the second best English national team manager in the history of England.

Leicseter City FC has already had a great preseason and went on an unbeaten tour in Sweden. They also played 0-0 with Bursaspor(the club that VCF destroyed in the champions league) on July 20th and tomorrow they will face Valencia CF.  They will also face Real Madrid on 30th this month and is going to be a nice measurement of sort to see how Valencia CF stacks up to Real Madrid, even though Real is with an advantage with playing more games so far and will be with an even better advantage until they get to play Leicester City FC.

The coaches of both clubs have gotten to know each other and already seem like best buddies having so much fun playing table mini football or whatever is called in English.

Leicester City squad:
TBA

Valencia CF as you already know started the preseason very well, you can read my previous match preview to check how the training sessions went and my match report on how the match against PSV went. Suffice to say the preseason has been going well and with the added bonus of Juan Mata coming to Austria and joining the squad.

The training sessions the last 3 days have been very positive with a mix of stamina and physical workout and tactical training. The team I believe practiced few tactical movements in attack.

Emery played with a 4-2-3-1 formation last match, we'll see how he sets it up tomorrow, maybe he'll experiment and maybe not, we'll just have to wait and see.

Valencia CF squad:
Goalkeepers: Guaita, Diego Alves and Adrián.
Defense: Miguel, Bruno, Dealbert, R.Costa, Rami, Pardo, Jordi Alba, Mathieu and Salva Ruiz.
Midfield: Maduro, Tino Costa, Albelda, Nacho González, Topal, Feghouli, Juan Bernat, Pablo, Portu, Piatti, Mata and Parejo.
Attack: Jonas, Aduriz and Soldado.

Technical details:
Formation: Most likely 4-2-3-1 once again, but everything is possible at this point.
Line-up:  Guaita; Miguel, Rami, R.Costa, Alba; Topal, Albelda, Pablo, Piatti; Jonas, Parejo, Aduriz Soldado.
Tactics: Have no idea.

Juan Mata stay to depend on economic situation

This is breaking news ladies and gentlemen. Juan Mata stay with Valencia CF will depend purely on economic results. Things are looking really bad and right now chances are that Juan Mata will be sold if an good offer comes along.

With less than 30.000 season tickets sold so far and only 2 days left and with no shirt sponsor and low chances of finding a good one, its very likely that Juan Mata will be sold in order to balance the sheets.

Even though Valencia CF has reduced the expenditures by more than 15 million just by cutting and/or reducing salaries its balance sheet depends mostly on season tickets sold. While the club can go even several months without a shirt sponsor, season tickets have been the major income for Valencia CF for so many years.

I really hope there will be at least 35.000 season tickets sold, but its really hard to tell right now. Reports have it that there were about 1000 people purchasing tickets today, but even that isn't much.

If Valencia CF doesn't have stability through season tickets and shirt sponsor expect Juan Mata to be sold if an offer of around 30 million euros comes along.

PSV Eindhoven 0-2 Valencia CF Match Report

Great game to watch, not the most entertaining, but considering it was the first match after last season it was pretty good. Valencia CF also won the match 2-0 and considering that PSV has started their preseason sooner and has already played few matches its looking good.

First half was decent we didn't have some beautiful play and the chances were rare, but the defense seems very good with all of the players performing admirably, even though it wasn't like they were tested too much or too hard. I like Bruno and Alba defending, I think Rami was a bit nervous and Pardo did actually very well.

Topal did well especially defensivelly, but Maduro was nowhere to be seen and he was the worst player on the field today.

Anyways the first half ended 0-0 with similar possession and chances for both teams.

The second half was a whole new starting eleven with new player Piatti starting for the first time. The second half was much more dynamic and interesting with good chances on both sides. Piatti was causing all sorts of troubles on the left for the PSV defense and he was really standing out. The first goal also came from Piatti after an Aduriz assist.

Feghuoli was playing quite poorly for much of the match, but then in the 78th minute he made a great move to get away from a defender and cross the ball to Aduriz who headed the ball into the net. It was 2-0 for Valencia CF.

Overall it was an encouraging first preseason match which we won 2-0 against a difficult opponent. Pablo Piatti really impressed me, Jordi Alba and Miguel Brito also impressed me, as did Pardo who looked really assured in defense. The players that really disappointed me were Pablo Hernandez and Hedwiges Maduro.

Technical Details:
PSV (0): Isaksson, Manolev, Marcelo, Strootman, Toivonen, Engelaar, Wijnaldum, Lens, Mertens, Tamata, Labyad.

Valencia CF (2): Diego(45min Guaita), Bruno(45min Burno), Rami(45min Costa), Pardo(45min Dealbert), Alba(45min Mathieu); Topal(45min Albelda), Maduro(45min Pardo); Pablo(45min Feghuoli), Jonas(45min Nacho), Bernat(45min Piatti); Soldado(45min Aduriz).

Goals: 68th min. 1-0, Pablo Piatti; 78th min. 2-0, Aritz Aduriz.

Player Ratings:
Diego 5 - Had absolutelly nothing to do.
Bruno 5.5 - Made few decent runs forward and solid defensivelly.
Rami 5 - Was a bit reserved, but its his first match so no big deal.
Pardo 5.5 - Did a good job defensively, very active.
Alba 5.5 - Had a very good save in the middle of the first half, not much going forward though.
Topal 5 - Not very influential in the middle, provided good cover back though.
Maduro 4 - Apart from 3-4 touches with the ball nowhere to be seen.
Pablo 5 - Few runs on the right and the left, had a shot on goal but way off target, didn't acomplish much.
Jonas 5 - Made a wonderful assist to Soldado, made himself available, but could not dictate the game.
Bernat 5 - Had a few runs on the left, but nothing really worthy. 
Soldado 5 - Had one shot at goal from a Jonas assist, but failed to covert in into goal. Had one or two more runs, but was not threatening.
Subs:
Guaita 5.5 - Made a few minor saves, very focused.
Miguel 6 - Great game by Miguel, amazing attacking play and defended very well.
Costa 5 - Wasn't challenged much, kept things simple.
Dealbert 5.5 - Quite confident in his passing and made a few good tackles.
Mathieu 5 - Decent performance.
Albelda 5 - Wasn't very influential, mostly defended.
Portu 5 - Better than Maduro, but often times keeps the ball too long and looses it.
Feghuoli 6 - Player poorly until that amazing cross to Aduriz for the second goal. Had one more decent pass after that.
Nacho 5.5 - Quite active in the beginning and had a shot just wide off goal, went missing in the later stages.
Piatti 6.5 - Very good first match for Piatti, lightning fast on the left, caused much trouble to the PSV defenders and scored a goal.
Aduriz 7 - Had an assist for the first goal, although it was more of a lucky rebound actually, but then scored a goal from a Feghuoli cross.

PSV Eindhoven vs Valencia CF match preview

Valencia CF first preseason match starts tomorrow - 19.July.2011 at 18:30pm in Austria and will be against Dutch 3rd place finisher from last season PSV Eindhoven.
Both clubs have started the training sessions at similar times, although PSV started their preseason matches earlier and have already played some matches and are likely more sharp.

PSV Eindhoven is a club with rich history and while its usually overshadowed by the likes of Ajax its one of the best teams in the Dutch league and has produced a lot of great footballing names like Jaap Stam, Phillip Cocu, Ruud Van Nistelroy, Mark Van Bommel, Ajren Robben and so on... The team has got a very long and rich history, it was founded in 31 August 1913.

Last season PSV finished 3rd behind the likes of FC Twente and AFC Ajax, but this allows them to be in the Europa League play-offs. More recently PSV played a friendly against Turkish team Bursaspor (the team that Valencia CF destroyed last season in the champions league) and managed a 1-1 draw with them. Before that PSV had a narrow 2-1 win over FC Eindhoven.

PSV Eindhoven squad:
Isaksson, Cássio Ramos, Sinouh, Manolev, Bouma, Marcelo, Pieters, Strootman, Toivonen, Engelaar, Wijnaldum, Lens, Mertens, Ibrahim, Tamata, Zeefuik, Labyad, Ojo, Bakkal, Ritzmaier, Mokhtar, Najah and Addo. Bourdouxhe is doubtful for the trip to Austria.

Valencia CF is a club with rich history as well, but I'm not going to talk about that here. Valencia CF has started the preseason very well. The first training session consisted of very light workouts and mini medical exam, it was basically a nice way to warm up for the real deal. After few training sessions twice in a day the squad was fully medically tested from cardiovascular testing to physical testing, it was all there.

Since then the team has had more double training sessions a day in order for the players to recover their fitness and form quickly. There has also been some fun training sessions like going out to the beach and kayaking.

The last few days the team has also been working real hard on the defense. Valencia CF coach Unai Emery has been implementing new defending techniques and tactics in the hopes that this season the defense will be drastically improved.

This is going to be Valencia's first match in the preseason and the first chance for all the fans to see the new and old players in action. In case you miss the match or can't watch it, don't worry as I'll be writing reviews of all the preseason matches.

The only absences from the team right now are Juan Mata and Ever Banega as Juan Mata has an extended vacation due to being with the Spain U-21 squad, while Banega is still in Argentina, although they didn't go through to the semi-final, he is going to still have an extended vacation because he participated in the Copa America. Juan Mata is going to join the team on the 22nd this month though.

Valencia CF squad:
Goalkeepers: Guaita, Diego Alves and Adrián.
Defense: Miguel, Bruno, Dealbert, R.Costa, Rami, Pardo, Jordi Alba, Mathieu and Salva Ruiz.
Midfield: Maduro, Tino Costa, Albelda, Nacho González, Topal, Feghouli, Juan Bernat, Pablo, Portu, Piatti and Parejo.
Attack: Jonas, Aduriz and Soldado.

Technical Details:
Formation: Have no idea, this is the first match and we'll see how Emery goes with this, if I had to make an educated guess I think he is going to start with a 4-3-3 formation and see how it goes from there.
Line-up: Diego; Bruno, Rami, Dealbert, Alba; Topal. Tino, Feghuoli, Piatti, Jonas; Aduriz.
Tactics: We'll see how the new defensive tactics Emery has been teaching work out.

Valencia CF in financial trouble

Ladies and gentlemen Valencia CF is in a world of hurt with only 24.000 season tickets sold in 6 weeks and with only 6 days remaining till the season ticket sales close its looking very grim for Valencia CF.

Last year Valencia CF sold 42.500 season tickets and the plan for Llorente was to sell just as much this season, but that number is now like a dream.

This is a terrible fact considering that Valencia CF reduced the season tickets prices for this season and spend a lot of money on advertising campaigns to get people to buy the tickets. So far it seems nothing has worked and its looking very unlikely that Valencia CF will reach 40.000 season tickets.

For those unfamiliar with the situation, basically Spain is bankrupt and in big financial troubles, with protests and strikes every day. Years of government corruption and stealing in Spain has lead slowly but surely to the financial collapse of the country. Hopefully the people will get their country back, prosecute the criminals and fix their financial troubles.

Dealbert last year with Valencia CF

Angel Dealbert had a press conference in the City of Paterna and talked about the coming 2011/12 season. He said this season is very important to him.

For me it is a very important year. I continue in Valencia CF and what I have to do is compete, fight, work hard and be there when the coach requires. It's my last year and it really is a very important year for me. I need to get it right, play as much as possible and must be both mentally and physically ready when required by the coach" he commented.

Dealbert also said "we should not think individually," as he believes that if Valencia is doing well, its going to be well for him also, "If targets are achieved, it will be fine for me too," he added.

He said that Unai Emery's objective this season is to improve over the previous season and be competiting and fighting really hard in all 3 competitions.

Dealbert said that the most important thing for him is to do well in the upcoming friendly matches and follow the tactics the coach has set in place in the training sessions.

He also spoke about the new arrivals and his defensive partner Adil Rami: "Adil Rami is different. He is new, coming off from a victory in the French league and Lille and has to adapt quickly, as this is another league," said Dealbert, who added that Rami is "a guy with a good sense of humor, something that is fundamental."

Nice interview by Dealbert, he seems humble, but ready to work hard and impress this season. I like his attitude.

Official Valencia CF preseason squad

Valencia CF coach Unai Emery after the last training session in Valencia announced which players will travel to Austria and there are a few surprises here, positive if I may so so.

The only two players that are missing are Juan Mata who has an extended vacation duo playing in the U-21 and Ever Banega who is currently in Argentina for the Copa America. Juan Mata will join the team on 22.07.2011.

The positive and surprising inclusions are the youth players who now count to 5 and Nacho Gonzales.

Valencia CF squad:
Goalkeepers: Guaita, Diego Alves and Adrián.
Defense: Miguel, Bruno, Dealbert, R.Costa, Rami, Pardo, Jordi Alba, Mathieu and Salva Ruiz.
Midfield: Maduro, Tino Costa, Albelda, Nacho González, Topal, Feghouli, Juan Bernat, Pablo, Portu, Piatti and Parejo.
Attack: Jonas, Aduriz and Soldado.

Tino Costa interview

Valencia has become a routine after yesterday's day of leisure on the beach, the team has again been divided into two groups, different from other days, who have done the same training session with more than one hour apart.

The players of Valencia have spent an hour in the gym, after which they have come on the field and have practiced, divided between offense and defense drills and output pressure of the ball.

Unai Emery, Valencia coach, has had all players available for the first team, in addition to the four homegrown players in the preseason and regular with the presence of a third goalkeeper, goalkeeper Adrian Junior B Lluna.

The group will train this afternoon, at 19.15 at the Ciudad Deportiva de Paterna, in the penultimate training session before being moved to concentration in Austria.

Tino Costa, Valencia's Argentine footballer, has stressed that, after achieving the goal of the third in the league last season, "the results will help Unai Emery feel more confident and try more things."

"Keep on the same line of work, I still want to progress every day, the objective remains the same. We continue with the same confidence, last year was very good and now we have more mutual respect. " he detailed.

Tino Costa who has recently returned to training with the group after taking several days recovering from a sore ankle, acknowledged a sprain injury but said, "it was nothing serious."

"Every year I get different objectives to keep improving and progressing in my career. I have returned to pre-season looking forward, with the same self or stronger than last year, the club and myself demand more this season, "said the player.

Costa has described last season, his first season at the club as "year of adaptation to different football," but stressed that he has working hard "every training" to improve "details" that saved him.

The player has stated that upon arrival to the team a year ago, he was told "that he had been one of the two best players," something that has been used to emphasize that "the players who came with great desire" and that the team " is working well, calm and with clear objectives."

Tino Costa admitted that the team "needs to improve a lot" from last season, and has recollected the knockout in the second round of the Champions League against Schalke 04 in Germany.

"The team the way that played against Schalke is something that needs to be improved in order to fight" in full "in all competitions," he stressed.

Valencia has reviewed the situation of some of his countrymen to the side, as the newcomer Pablo Piatti,  on who he said that "its very clear where he arrived and he knows that the demands are more than in Almeria."

On Ever Banega, who currently plays in Copa America with Argentina, Tino Costa stated his desire for Ever to remain at the club, but admitted that "if he has to go," I will support him.

"We became good friends on and off the pitch and I would like him to stay because we are friends, but if he has to go, I'll be with him to support him and wish him good luck," he said.

"I speak every day with and him is very quiet, he had to leave in the worst moment, the team of Colombia for example was more difficult than that of Costa Rica."

Tino Costa also pointed to 'Chori' Dominguez, the player who has left Valencia to play on loan at River Plate in a "personal decision" that Valencia accepted because Chori Dominguez "wants to feel important and add minutes" and be "big in Argentina."

Valencia CF fun summer training session

As I've reported a lot of times I really like these summer training sessions where the players get to do some interesting and out of the ordinary stuff, all the while while training. For example previously Unai Emery has taken the team on a snowy mountain resort to ski and stuff in the winter and in the summer he has taken the team in mountains hiking, bike riding and other fun activities, he has also lead the team on the beach few times.

No wonder why Valencia CF have really started the last 3 seasons very strongly in the beginning, even though their form drops after 6-7 matches.

Ever Banega to transfer to Inter?

Like in a great horror movie that's how Copa America has been for Ever Banega. He made a huge mistake in his first match in which he failed to stop a slow moving ball and that resulted in Argentina chasing a goal, which they ultimately found, but no thanks to Ever Banega.

Second match he was better, at least he didn't allow a silly goal, but again he was too slow and too static. This lead to him being ousted from the first team by Gago who actually showed great skill in the two times he played.

Inter have been interested in Ever Banega and they have been tracking him seriously, but this begs the question has the Copa America increased the transfer value of Banega or reduced it? In my article how much are VCF players worth I have Ever Banega valued at 18 million euros. He is talented, young at just 23 years old, had one amazing season to show his potential and had been pretty good even when out of shape, drinking and smoking. He is also one of a kind in Valencia, he is the only ball holder.
 After the performances in Copa America though there is a serious risk no one would value him that high, even though Argentina have still to play and if Ever starts and plays amazing it can up his value, chances of that happening are slim.

Right now Inter have agreed a 40 million transfer deal with Manchester United for the transfer of Westley Sneijder. If the deal is completed and that is looking very likely Inter are going to have 40 million euros to spend, but how much are they going to offer for Banega?

Reality is that if Valencia CF does not get a substantial offer that is above 16 million euros its very unlikely that the president is going to sell Ever Banega, especially since we don't have any cover for him and the current squad numbers are a bit thin.

Erronous post

Sorry about the last post. Lost in translation. The article has been deleted.

Pablo Hernandez interview

Pablo Hernandez was interviewed by Spanish media today in the training session. Now that Joaquin has left, Pablo is the main player for the right wing position.

On the departure of Joaquin he said: "I have always worked to feel important. I have enjoyed three years with Joaquin. I've learned a lot from him and I had to do the best."

About the team he said: "The team looks good, we are working very hard on the training sessions and each day we get better. I'm expecting an exciting season, we had few good arrivals at the club and I'm excited that next year we'll be even stronger. Our goal is to play in the Champions League, but also try and catch up to Real Madrid and Barcelona."

He agreed with Unai emery that this season is going to be tougher: "It was a success to finish third the last two seasons. Malaga is now doing a big project, but do not forget Athletic and I would also include Getafe. Of course the teams that always aspire high positions are Villarreal, Atletico and Sevilla."

When asked about the arrival of Piatti, Pablo said: "There is going to be a strong competition between me and him, but its going to be a healthy competition for both of us. Last season I was competing with Joaquin, so I know its going to be a tough competition, and I know what to expect.

Pablo Hernandez also confirmed that next season he is going to wear the number 19 shirt and not the number 7 shirt as many have predicted. He said he feels the number 19 shirt brings him luck.

Valencia CF news

Let me start with the latest news and that is that Renan Brito has transferred to Internacional as written on the official Valencia cf website. This was known for weeks basically and the contract was rescinded some time ago as you can see in the transfers page.

Renan Brito spend the last season on loan at Internacional where he started the majority of the games, he goes to Internacional as a free agent, although Valencia CF essentially reached an agreement with Internacional to forgive the 1 million we owed them for Renan.


Next up is the news that Aaron Niguez has rescinded his contract with Valencia CF as well and was snapped up by Almeria as a free agent. Aaron was once regarded as a great talent, but injuries put a stop on his career in Valencia CF and was loaned out to many teams: Recreativo Huelva, Celta Vigo, Glasgow RangerS, Iraklis, and Xerez.

I've already written about Isco and have it in the transfers page, but in case you haven't noticed his transfer to Malaga has been officially announced and he was even presented as a new Malaga player.

Last but not least is that the training sessions are going great, the players are enthusiastic and practicing hard, the medical exams have finished and a special report on each player individually is made about eating regime and training regime. Unai Emery has also made the training sessions open to public for just the first 15 minutes to the public and media, in a bit to remove distractions.

What is the new Valencia CF formation?

Hallo ladies and gentlemen, as you know last season Valencia CF coach Unai Emery was trying to set-up a 4-3-3 formation, but after some poor performance with that formation he reverted to the more conventional 4-2-3-1 formation in order to get results.

He is going to try the 4-3-3 formation once again this preseason, this time convinced more than ever that it is the right formation for Valencia CF and with the few new arrivals he is really going to commit and try to establish it as the basic formation Valencia CF plays.

Last year the problem was in the midfield, it was too crowded and the players were left not knowing how, where and when to move. This year though the players have had more experience and tactical education and are more flexible to formation changes and tactic changes, but they will still need a lot of practice to get it right.

I'm going to examine the options for the 4-3-3 formation in this article with the players Valencia CF currently has at hand and I'm not going to go into potential new arrivals or departures, while after the preseason end I will write another article about which formation is best for Valencia CF according to me.

Lets look at an image of a 4-3-3 formation and the player options for each position. Players that can play on several different positions will feature on more positions, they are represented as replacements if a player is injured or fatigued.

This is essentially the form of the 4-3-3 formation that is likely to be used, same as the Barcelona style with a defensive midfielder in the middle of the center field to cover for the defense, a positions that will be covered mostly by Topal, but Albelda will get some playing time and if both are injured or rested, Maduro can fill that position as well.

The upper center side will be filled by a more creative attacking midfield players and we have Tino Costa who is most likely going to be the starter and then we have Parejo who is likely to be a reserve option at that position. These two players will serve to really help out in the attack and on occasions go in the penalty area and create +1 man advantage.

The bottom center side is reserved for a holding midfielder and someone who can keep position, again Emery is likely looking at the best team with this formation - Barca and trying to emulate their tactics and placement.
This position is going to be covered by Ever Banega who can keep possession and spread the ball accurately to the attacking players. There isn't a real cover for Banega in this position, but Feghuoli and Maduro could fit in this position if Ever is injured. Even someone from Topal or Albelda can cover depending who doesn't start as a defensive midfield from them.

Then we have the attack and here there are more options to be had, but if we go with the classic 4-3-3 formula and a wider attack span then the outer positions in the forward line will be held by wingers who not only can dribble and cross, but should and will cut inside the penalty area.

The left wing is going to be held by Juan Mata, he has shown that he has a sense for goal, is a pretty good dribbler, can cut inside and is able to assist quite a bit, so he is the undisputed choice here. His cover will be Pablo Piatti who is more of a direct runner, amazing dribbler with high pace, but can't quite assist or pass as well. Of course we also have Alba who is to be pretty much cemented as a left back, but if needed he can play on the wing as well and can be a 3rd cover. Pablo Piatti on the other hand can play on the right wing and with Feghuoli able to take the Banega position there are possibilities for a lot of position changes.

The right wing is going to be covered by Pablo Hernandez, he may have had a drop in form in one period last season, but judging by my ratings he was one of the best players on average for Valencia CF, even better than Mata or Soldado. No, the ratings don't show it all and are not a real representation of skill, but its still a good measurement. Anyways cover for Pablo will be Feghuoli who is likely to stay at Valencia CF this time and be part of the squad. As said previously Piatti can also play here if there is ever the need and the possibility of positional changed is really big, especially knowing that Pablo can also play on the left wing and Mata can even slot somewhere in the middle if there is a need.

The classic striker role will for certain be taken by Roberto Soldado who is undoubtedly the most profilic striker Valencia CF has and he is the undisputed choice at this position. Waiting on their chances will be Aritz Adrriz and Jonas who are to replace Soldado if he is injured or rested.
Don't forget that Aduriz is a physical and tall player and his best attribute is the headers, so he can completely change the concept of the attack from say a direct short passing game to more crosses and long passing game. This also allows Emery to change the formation on the fly from 4-3-3 to 4-2-3-1 or combinations of 4-3-3 in order to chase a result for example.
Jonas is likely to be the third choice for the striker position, but remember that Jonas can play really well as an attacking midfielder and even on the left wing, so the possibilities for him playing are quite high and he really adds depth to the squad.

Looking at this we can conclude that ultimately the team is well covered with good squad depth and judging by this formation the weak links are for added depth to the central defender position and someone to really be able to cover for Banega in the "Xavi" position.

I would say the 4-3-3 formation has a good chance for debuting this year and looks pretty good on paper, but as we've seen from last season nothing is given and we'll have to just wait and see when the preseason starts how things develop.

Official: Del Horno rescinds contract with Valencia CF

Del Horno has officially rescinded his contract with Valencia CF as announced at the official Valencia website.

The club wished his good luck and thanked him for his service to Valencia.

Del Horno came to Valencia CF in 2006 from Chelsea for 8 million, but since his first season in the club to his last day he has been unable to provide the kind of performances he had with Chelsea.
Del Horno's new destination may be Levante with whom he was on loan last season, though some other team may show some interest for him.

Isco transfers to Malaga

Well after ton of speculation for over a month it turns out that Isco has lied to the media and fans about his intentions to stay in Valencia CF, I mean he could have at least been honest from the start and not lie about it and say that he is greedy or wants to go to his home town of Malaga or just be honest admit its for the money and go to Malaga CF.

He has signed a 6 years deal with Malaga CF and he is reportedly from sources close to Malaga going to earn about 1.1 million euros per season, which is actually not very good if he was smart enough, because if he does get better its not like he can ask for improved contract because he is bound for six years with the same exact salary. 

The fact that any player would choose Malaga over Valencia is just unimaginable, I mean players most of them want to progress in their careers and want to achieve something and Isco has made the biggest mistake in his life.

Valencia CF is the third best club in Spain, it has the third largest fan base, the third largest attendance rate and it can actually compete with that of Real Madrid if we had a bigger stadium. Valencia CF has the history and prestige, the quality and tradition and with all rescept to Malaga CF fans out there, but comparing Malaga CF to Valencia CF is like comparing Stoke City to Manchester United.

And some will argue that Malaga CF now have money and can succeed, but remember even if Malaga finished 1st to 6th they still wouldn't be able to play in the European Championship if they spend more than they earn. So they practically can't even use all the money of their new owner so its not like Malaga all of a sudden will compete with the best 6 teams. I mean look at Manchester City, two years spending hundreds of millions of dollars and they still can't even catch up to the likes of Chelsea and Manchester United and Manchester City are traditionally in England a big club, they are certainly not the Malaga of Spain type of club.

The truth about Isco is that he is a decent player with huge hype, and I've watched all of his matches from the ones with Valencia CF and all of his matches in the various Spanish youth sides and he is not that great. He has good vision and good dribbling skills, but he is quite slow, has a slow pace, his shot is weak, his long passing is way off and he has been playing with good players around him in the Mestalla, Valencia and Spanish youth team against opponents of same or weaker caliber.

So I think Isco Alarcon will be forgot very soon and I don't think he will become anything more that a mediocre player. What he had going for him is big hype and living up to that hype is what always gets these youngsters who jump clubs like this. I mean there are so many examples of players being touted as the hairs to some of the best players that have played like Maradona, Ronaldo, Zidane, etc... and massively flopped.


So this is my opinion, you may agree or disagree with it, you have the comment section to share your thoughts if you feel like you have anything to say about Isco or about this article.

Michel joins Hercules on a loan deal

Miguel A. Herrero Javaloyas "Michel" has become the new reinforcement for the 2011/12 season for Hercules CF. The player will be revealed today at 12am in the press room of Hercules CF.

Last season Michel was send on loan at Deportivo La Coruna and before that he features for the Mestalla team.

This leaves just Sunny, Chori and Aaron on the immediate chopping block.

Valencia CF first training 2011/12

Today was Valencia CF first training after last season ended. The training was at 8 O'clock this morning and the players were met by Valencia CF president Manuel Llorente who greeted the players and laid out his expectations of them. From then the players proceeded to minor medical tests and lightweight training sessions.

The training consisted mainly of warming up and light workouts, coupled with running and a little bit of ball workout.

At todays first training there were 19 players available, with 4 players coming from the youth team with Juan Mata and Daniel Parejo having few more days of vacation after their U-21 world cup winning, Pablo Piatti is yet to join the squad and Ever Banega is playing at the Copa America. The players who were at the training were Diego Alves, Vicente Guiata, Miguel Brito, Bruno, Ricardo. Costa, Adil Rami, Dealbert, Jeremy Mathieu, Jordi Alba, Pablo Hernandez, Hedwiges Maduro, Tino Costa, Mehmet Topal, David Albelda, Jonas Conglavies, Roberto Soldado, Aritz Aduriz, Sofiane Fghuoli and from the youth team José Antonio Pardo, Juan Bernat, Cristian Portu and Salva Ruiz.

From today until the start of the season the players will have 2 trainings every day, the first training will be from 8am, while for other players 08.30am and the second training will be from 18.30pm
 In Friday and Saturday all the players will undergo a full medical test from cardiovascular to physical assessment, similar as last season and then the players get get tailored made training regimes to get them in the best possible physical shape.

Diego Alves official presentation

Diego Alves was officially presented today as new Valencia CF player at sunrise in Gandia at the marina.

A whole range of Valencia CF technical staff were there, including the usual suspects, president Llorente and technical secretary Vazquez.

Diego Alves transferred from Almeria UD to Valencia CF for 3 million euros and now along with Piatti the two best players of Almeria UD are with Valencia CF.

Daniel Parejo Profile

Name: Daniel Parejo Muñoz
Playing position: Attacking midfielder
Previous club: Getafe CF
Number: 21
Birth day: 16 April 1989, (23 years old)
Nationality: Spanish
Height: 1.80m
Weight: 73kg
Contract ends: 30 June, 2016
Player rating:



Market Value:

Previous clubs:
Real Madrid ‘C’ Spain 2006-2007
Real Madrid Spain 2007-2008
Queens Park Rangers England 2008 (loan)
Real Madrid Spain 2008-2009
Getafe Spain 2009- 2011

2011/12 Statistics
TEAM	Competition	GS	SB	G	A	SH	SG	FC	FS	YC	RC
Spain U21	UEFA U21	0	4	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
Season Totals		0	4	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0

2010/11 Statistics
TEAM	Competition	GS	SB	G	A	SH	SG	FC	FS	YC	RC
Getafe	Europa	2	1	0	0	2	0	0	3	0	0
Getafe	La Liga	28	8	3	4	54	16	28	69	8	0
Season Totals		30	9	3	4	56	16	28	72	8	0

2009/10 Statistics
TEAM	Competition	GS	SB	G	A	SH	SG	FC	FS	YC	RC
Spain	WC U20	4	0	1	0	3	2	7	4	1	0
Getafe	Esp Cup	5	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Getafe	La Liga	16	12	6	4	34	17	31	19	5	0
Season Totals		25	12	8	4	37	19	38	23	6	0

2008/09 Statistics
TEAM	Competition	GS	SB	G	A	SH	SG	FC	FS	YC	RC
Spain	UEFA U19	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
Real Madrid	La Liga	0	5	0	0	3	2	2	2	1	0
Queens Park Rangers	CC	4	0	0	1	3	2	4	4	0	0
Queens Park Rangers	LC	10	4	0	1	16	6	8	17	2	0

Glossary

GS: Games Started, SB: Used as Substitute, G: Goals, A: Assists, SH: Shots, SG: Shots on goal, YC: Yellow Cards, RC: Red Cards, FC: Fouls Committed, FS: Fouls Suffered, SV: Saves, OF: Offsides, W: Wins, D: Draws, L: Losses