Thursday 5 March 2009

So...

I read this a few days ago, and despite the massive rant I had in the comments on there, I guess I just wanted to do one of these myself. Any regular visitors will by now have realised I love Valencia like I love oxygen. Any new visitors, you'll quickly come to realise that fact. They're one of those things I need in my life, I can't explain why or how the obsession got quite this bad, but I'm sure as hell not complaining. They'll end up putting me in hospital one of these days, my heart just cannot take all the drama they bring with them. Former smoker here boys, give it a few years until all the negative effects are out of my system, yes? Having said that, I just can't not watch them. They cause heart attacks on and off the pitch, but I'm willing to risk that. Anyway, as of late, they have basically not been performing to the standards I know they can. There's various reasons for that, but that can go in a whole different post, because quite frankly, I don't have the energy to keep up anymore. Instead, I decided to write my own list of things they can do to improve.

1 - Do not even THINK about selling any key players. I know that'll bring some money in and fix things temporarily. The trouble is, Valencia don't need a temporary fix. They need a permanent one. Selling Dahveed will bring in, what - €40mil? That's not even going to come close to covering the debts. It'll give them the money to pay the players, and continue work on the new stadium, but what happens when that's gone? Do they have to sell another player? Do they have to KEEP selling players? In the end, they're going to end up with all the big names leaving, not even through choice, and that won't fix anything because they'll still have crippling debts. They need to stop worrying about all the money problems, play like I know they can on the pitch and make sure they're in as many competitions as possible. Getting into the CL alone would bring a lot of money.

2 - Give the defence some lessons. Seriously, at first it was kind of amusing. Now it's just getting worrying. The defence have absolutely zero confidence right now, they're leaking goals like they're going out of fashion. Marchena's criticised the manager's style of play, but I don't think that's the issue here. I've said it already, the attacking style of play does not mean the defence can't still do their job at the other end. Leave it to the strikers to score the goals, that's what they're there for. Scoring own goals is not the way to go about restoring confidence. Albiol has had a terrible run lately. Marchena's been too concerned with scoring goals to care about stopping them going in at the other end. Also, last time I checked, you were a defender too Marchena. How about practising what you preach, because for Spain, you're pretty much awesome. For Valencia - no comment. It wasn't too long ago someone described the back 4 as the three clowns and the blond assassin. The sad thing is, I actually agreed. I love them all so motherfucking much, and it hurts watching them play like this. The defence just need to learn how to defend all over again, just one clean sheet will probably help them out a lot. Key players missing through injury has also not helped matters at all, so don't pin it all on the manager. Unai's only mistake is not letting Vicente play more often.

3 - Speaking of which. Play Vicente. I know I am like a broken record on this subject, but come on. Are you honestly telling me that he doesn't deserve the games? Every time he comes on, Valencia look like a different team. They step it up a level in attack, and he absolutely pwns the defenders. After so many years of constant injury problems, he's finally fit and he's still not getting the games. I want to know why the fuck not. Anyone with half a brain can see how much he's needed and how much he loves the team. Let him help. If he fucks up (which I'm 99.9% sure he won't) then you can blame me. Just give him a chance ffs, it's getting tiresome wondering what if he'd been playing from the start.

4 - The transfer rumors need to stop. Jesus, how many times does Dahveed have to say he wants to stay. Why would he sign a contract until 2014 if he wanted to be playing elsewhere? All you rich boys may have money to throw around, but you clearly have no concept of loyalty. Some people just don't care about the money, they care about their families and their teams. If any of them leave, then fine, but it has to be because THEY want to, not because the team is so desperate for money, they'll take any offer made. Transfer rumours do nothing except distract players from what they're supposed to be doing. I'm sick of reading about it. Especially when the transfer window is closed. Like hello geniuses, they're not going to bend the rules for you just because you're rich. You can wait it out until the window opens. And then you can go fuck yourselves if you think I'm letting any of them go without a fight.

5 - Ditto the public news about the money problems. We all know how bad things have gotten. Saying it over and over isn't going to change it or magic up a solution from thin air. Yes, the finances are in a godawful state, yes they need money, and yes it's going to be a hard few years. We know all of this. The players know all this. They're not being paid. And as much as they say this isn't affecting them and that they don't mind, it's all lies. It IS affecting them, they haven't won in god only knows how long, they haven't kept a clean sheet in something ridic like 20 games. It's worrying that the last time they went a game without conceding was November 2008. And nobody ever wants to work for free. It won't be long before they start getting annoyed and take their trade elsewhere. I don't want to see it happen, but if things carry on like this, it's inevitable.

6 - Give them some anger management/team therapy. Especially Marchena for the anger management. Every time I see him, he's yelling. At the ref, at the team, just yelling at thin air. That's hardly the way to motivate people, I'm sure they all know they're underperforming. They don't need you to tell them that. Also, if they're low on confidence, going around saying that maybe people are expecting too much of them is not the way to go about making them play better. Seriously Baraja, don't ever say that again. The team is every bit as good as those around them. Is it wrong for the fans to want to see you win a game once in a while? Because if it is, tough shit, I'm not going to apologise for believing in you all. Maybe you should try it too, it'll work wonders.


7 - Please just win a game. Score a goal, hold onto that lead. It's really not rocket science and it's really not that difficult. Don't make me relive the Koeman era again, I think I'm over the 'slitting my wrists' attitude when it comes to football but don't try and test that theory out. And stop being so over reliant on Veeyah. There are how many world class attacking players in that team? Without Dahveed there to score the goals, sometimes you'd think it was a bunch of amateurs. I know he has that natural goal scoring instinct that all the great strikers have, but that doesn't mean the rest of you can sit back and relax and let him score it all. When he's not there, it shows.

8 - PLAY VICENTE!!! Yeah, this is so important, I had to mention it twice. Mata is a brilliant player. He had a great start to the season, but he's only young, and playing this many games is starting to take it's toll on him. He's not looking as sharp as he was at the start. Give him a few games rest, Vicente is more than capable of covering for him. I don't understand why he's not playing as many games as his body can handle. He started off playing in all the cups, but then towards the end, he didn't even start those games. He's more than a good substitute. He's a starter, so start him. It saddens me that one of the greatest left wingers of his time is left to waste away on the bench, and has been reduced to nothing more than an impact player to come on when the opposition are tired. 20 or 30 minutes are not enough for him to show what he can do. Seriously, he may be a genius, but even he can't perform miracles of the kind Valencia need right now in 20/30 minutes.

I'm sure there's a lot more I could say on the subject, but I'll spare you. I'm just going to go back and watch the games from the start of the season when they were defending and scoring and winning. And top of the table, rather than 6th.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the link :)

I would click on the 'off' but I'm at college and I don't think I'd be able to handle those pics again.

Right.
1. Don't sell the players would be a good place to start. I agree but with all the attention on the boardroom and not the team, its difficult for them to be able to think about winning when every match build up is about the finances. Take this week for instance, where has there been talk about matches? Everything has been about the board.

2.Ah yes, the defending is nothing short of craptastic. And Marchena should take a look in the mirror before he comes out with all this about defence not working. And I'm happy for him netting goals, I really am, but if he can't stop them going into the net he's supposed to be protecting then they mean fuck all. I'm sure he's a bright lad, he's just not good at showing it.

And then of course the Vicente point needs to be hammered home.

3. Vicente again. Has to play, he's the only one who can make something.

4. Amen. That's got to be a factor in the losing/drawing because everytime something new comes out about the financial situation (see how it keeps coming up?) other clubs circle like vultures. Well if the players aren't playing, how the fuck are the scouts supposed to see which ones to buy??? Think people. On the other hand, do one and leave us alone.

5. Its bad. And the worst that could happen is the club disappearing and doing a Leeds except when it was Leeds I couldn't give a crap. But this has happened before. Read so on Wiki.

6.Marchena must be the anti-hope. And as a captain (don't you want to kill anyone who saw one match wonder as a suitable leader? I would have thought the lack of adequate knowledge for defending would have disqualified him from the running immediately). Yelling at players he should be leading will only lead into in fighting and we really don't need that. Oh and drop the 'it wasn't me' act. We know you're prone to red cards, so try and grow up for once. Referree's decision is final and you have no jurisdiction over him.

7. Ack. The whole 'settle for a point' crap. And amen to the point about them being a bunch of amateurs when Villa isn't there. I don't get how he scores for the team but they just sit back and watch the show. When he's gone like he was on Sunday, Valencia couldn't tell their arse from their elbow. Marchena scored. Says it all really.

8. LOL. Didn't hammer it home as much as I did. :P And he can make a difference if he starts.

Gina Villamelon said...

I think they're all photobucket pics, so if you're at college, you should be safe because of the block.

1. This week has made me want to curl up in a ball and cry. Make the mess then leave everyone else to deal with it. Yeah, way to go people...

2. I'm happy about his goals too. I mean, if I'm going to take one for the team, I want to see results. Sure, it was meant to help improve his defending, but ok, scoring goals will do for now.

3. I actually feel like a parrot, the number of times those words have come out of my mouth lately. Jesus Unai, do us all a favour and listen to me, yes? Contrary to popular belief, us women DO know what we're talking about sometimes.

4. It kind of makes me wish they all played like total shite for a few weeks and then nobody would be interested. Oh no wait, Rafa and Arsene would. Well, if 3 OGs in as many weeks doesn't put them off...

5. I didn't give a shit when it was Leeds either, but now this is happening to a team I love and DO care about, it's awful. I don't want them going down that road any more than the rest of the world does. Except maybe people who know nothing about football and think that teams like Man City are the shit just because they have money to throw around.

6. I always thought a leader was someone who could change a game in a good way, and motivate people without having to resort to yelling. The 4 captains at the club are Marchena, Albiol, Dahveed and Vicente. Well, we know what I think of Marchena's leadership. Albiol scores too many OGs, I don't want people thinking that's a good idea. Vicente never gets to play. So give the effing armband to Dahveed. No I don't care if strikers are never really captains. He's one of the more senior players, he commands a lot of respect and he's clearly a leader, because the rest of them don't know what to do without him showing them how to score a goal. Failing that - Albelda was a good captain...

7. Pft, settle for a point. If they do that again this weekend after inevitably conceding a goal, I will hit them. For real.

8. No I didn't, but everyone knows how I feel on the subject anyway. He needs to play. End of.

Anonymous said...

Well thanks for the block.

1. Rats. Sinking. Ship. Chances are they'll be begging for a way back when they do eventually sort this out.

2. LOL!! It's working wonders on his goal scoring ability. But he is a defender by trade not a centre forward. In fact I think that if he was a CF then we'd be waving goodbye to La Liga.

3.Yes we do!

4. I am guessing that Wenger and Benitez watched Albiol in a Spain shirt and not a Valencia one. Not recently anyway.

5. Man City and Chelsea will get their just desserts soon enough. Chelsea are already having the 2nd course...its only a matter of time.

6. Anyone's better than Carlos. A chimp could take the armband and command properly. He's not up to the job and when he has his own defensive crap to deal with I don't think he needs to be in charge as well.

7. I think I might cry. And I don't know yet if I can watch the match this weekend.

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