Let me hear some of you now? What defense, what excuses can you muster up about Valencia's play? We are playing to avoid relegation, don't mistake this. Things will improve once Garay and Rojo arrive, but don't expect miracles. Align your expectations properly and know what this team is and isn't capable of.
I actually know what I'm saying, I have a proven track record that many here seem to forget the instant my views don't align with them. I don't want to sound like a narcissist here, but I'm forced to point at my proven track record of knowing what I'm talking about.
With that out of the way lets analyze the match. From the start it seemed as Valencia CF started slow, compared to our previous match against Las Palmas the energy was lower, the play was slower and determination was lower. That said we had a good opportunity very early on, but that turned out to be a one off, rather than a constant.
Much of the battle was in the midfield and neither team was particularly successful in controlling the ball, with many lost balls and back and forth between both teams. On occasions Valencia CF did have some attacks, though just one sticks out and that is when Moreno was put through on goal, but instead of shooting he chose to pass the ball to the offside Mina and the pass didn't even reach Mina, so it was a ruined chance.
After the first 25 minutes, Eibar started to control more and more of the ball, more and more of the tempo and eventually they seemed like the better team. They didn't have any major chances, but there were certainly scares towards Valencia CF goal as Eibar was able to create several chances by running circles around Cancelo and easily penetrating from the right side. The left side didn't fare much better as Gaya was out of position several times and was lucky the team didn't actually concede a goal in those moments.
The second half saw a more determined Valencia CF out of the gate, we saw more of the ball possession and there was a bit more incentive to move forward, but the play was disorganized, there was no fluidity in the movement, no intelligence in the positioning, it was like watching some random amateur team at times. To make matters worse Eibar's goal put an end to any positivity that was going on in the second half and guess who's fault the goal was? Aymen Abdennour defender amazingly with his hand to block the shot and gave Eibar the penalty. Ryan would step up to the plate and actually save the shot, but the rebound bounced back to Pedro Leon who this time easily slotted the ball into the other side of the net, with pretty much all of Valencia CF players still standing on the line even at that point. So much determination in those players, it choked a stadium full of people. :)
Pako was too late with his substitutions, he was in disbelief of what was happening and you could see on his face he was out of it, probably deciding whether to leave or stay in those moments. Personally I believe he will resign, and I wouldn't blame him if he did so. He was told lies, he was promised things that weren't delivered and he'd be used as a scapegoat if/when the team does bad.
Towards the end he introduced Medran and Bakkali, but this was too little too late. Medran added some drive and energy to the midfield, but he doesn't have any quality player to play with, everyone was like sitting and waiting for everyone else to do something. At least in the previous match where we lost 4-2 the play was actually good, it felt like a team effort, team play, this time it felt dead. That is how I interpret it, everyone I feel felt dead inside, the news, the knowing of Diego Alves leaving, Mustafi leaving, Paco wanting to leave and being close to leaving, I think its hit all of the players.
You can't sell half your team from last season and not think it would affect the other players morals, you can't expect to change half the team and have good results, you can't expect to change half the team and be competitive? We don't have a core group of players, these are all random players who've not played together for more than a month or two. Even the ones who are here for two years haven't been regulars before.
I predicted a loss and I was right, sure we didn't concede 2 or more goals, but this is even worse, conceding a goal and not being able to score back, our play looking terrible. Yes it wasn't all doom and gloom, there were some sparks of greatness, some sparks of life, but its like finding a rain drop in a desert, its too little, too rare for it to have any significance.
The bad part about this is that if we don't play Cancelo we have Montoya who is worse overall, probably a bit better defensively, but overall worse player, for some reason Pako hasn't brought in Lato who I thought was AMAZING in preseason, much better than Gaya, yet we see Gaya and not Lato, meaning Pako makes his decisions politically, not on who is performing better. Gaya is more experienced, so he gets to play, while Lato doesn't because he hasn't been a regular before.
With the arrival of Garay(can't come any sooner) we would have an alternative to the garbage Aymen, who I want to see gone right now, heck just break the contract with him, he is that terrible.
Player Ratings:
Ryan 6.5 - Not troubled too much, dealt with the easy shots at him and stopped the penalty initially.
Cancelo 4 - Terrible defending, I mean at the level of 10yo kids. Was the only one going forward though, but his crosses lacked accuracy while defensively he was garbage.
Santos 6 - I thought he did a good job defensively, covered his position properly, made several interceptions and dealt with the direct threats.
Aymen 0 - Terrible performance, at fault for the goal as he conceded the penalty and made several big mistakes. Get rid of this trash now!
Gaya 2 - Bellow par defensively and not much better offensively. Was caught out of position often at the back and put the team at risk a number of times.
Suarez 3 - Thrust into the action after just barely arriving and it showed, he lacked any sort of understanding with the team and seemed confused as to his role in the team.
Enzo 3 - Ran around like a headless chicken, some defensive contribution, but not much.
Parejo 2 - One of those games where he is completely useless, in fact detrimental to the team. Lost a lot of balls, bad passes, bad positioning, just everything from his was bad.
Nani 4 - Had a decent first half, was clearly playing with lots of motivation, even did some tricks when attacking, but overall he did not provide anything of value.
Moreno 3 - Missed a good chance early on, later on passed to an offside player instead of shooting and generally made the wrong decision every time.
Mina 5 - The only player that actually threatened now and then, had a good scissors shot at goal and generally seemed determined to do something.
Subs:
Medran 6 - Came in and instantly shore up the midfield, provided a much needed energy in the middle, but unfortunately he doesn't have quality players around him to do much.
Bakkali N/A - Okay for his time on the field, but in such a game he had very little time to change things.
Mir - Our other striker now that Paco is on his way. Does anyone believe he can make a difference? What a joke!
I actually know what I'm saying, I have a proven track record that many here seem to forget the instant my views don't align with them. I don't want to sound like a narcissist here, but I'm forced to point at my proven track record of knowing what I'm talking about.
With that out of the way lets analyze the match. From the start it seemed as Valencia CF started slow, compared to our previous match against Las Palmas the energy was lower, the play was slower and determination was lower. That said we had a good opportunity very early on, but that turned out to be a one off, rather than a constant.
Much of the battle was in the midfield and neither team was particularly successful in controlling the ball, with many lost balls and back and forth between both teams. On occasions Valencia CF did have some attacks, though just one sticks out and that is when Moreno was put through on goal, but instead of shooting he chose to pass the ball to the offside Mina and the pass didn't even reach Mina, so it was a ruined chance.
After the first 25 minutes, Eibar started to control more and more of the ball, more and more of the tempo and eventually they seemed like the better team. They didn't have any major chances, but there were certainly scares towards Valencia CF goal as Eibar was able to create several chances by running circles around Cancelo and easily penetrating from the right side. The left side didn't fare much better as Gaya was out of position several times and was lucky the team didn't actually concede a goal in those moments.
The second half saw a more determined Valencia CF out of the gate, we saw more of the ball possession and there was a bit more incentive to move forward, but the play was disorganized, there was no fluidity in the movement, no intelligence in the positioning, it was like watching some random amateur team at times. To make matters worse Eibar's goal put an end to any positivity that was going on in the second half and guess who's fault the goal was? Aymen Abdennour defender amazingly with his hand to block the shot and gave Eibar the penalty. Ryan would step up to the plate and actually save the shot, but the rebound bounced back to Pedro Leon who this time easily slotted the ball into the other side of the net, with pretty much all of Valencia CF players still standing on the line even at that point. So much determination in those players, it choked a stadium full of people. :)
Pako was too late with his substitutions, he was in disbelief of what was happening and you could see on his face he was out of it, probably deciding whether to leave or stay in those moments. Personally I believe he will resign, and I wouldn't blame him if he did so. He was told lies, he was promised things that weren't delivered and he'd be used as a scapegoat if/when the team does bad.
Towards the end he introduced Medran and Bakkali, but this was too little too late. Medran added some drive and energy to the midfield, but he doesn't have any quality player to play with, everyone was like sitting and waiting for everyone else to do something. At least in the previous match where we lost 4-2 the play was actually good, it felt like a team effort, team play, this time it felt dead. That is how I interpret it, everyone I feel felt dead inside, the news, the knowing of Diego Alves leaving, Mustafi leaving, Paco wanting to leave and being close to leaving, I think its hit all of the players.
You can't sell half your team from last season and not think it would affect the other players morals, you can't expect to change half the team and have good results, you can't expect to change half the team and be competitive? We don't have a core group of players, these are all random players who've not played together for more than a month or two. Even the ones who are here for two years haven't been regulars before.
I predicted a loss and I was right, sure we didn't concede 2 or more goals, but this is even worse, conceding a goal and not being able to score back, our play looking terrible. Yes it wasn't all doom and gloom, there were some sparks of greatness, some sparks of life, but its like finding a rain drop in a desert, its too little, too rare for it to have any significance.
The bad part about this is that if we don't play Cancelo we have Montoya who is worse overall, probably a bit better defensively, but overall worse player, for some reason Pako hasn't brought in Lato who I thought was AMAZING in preseason, much better than Gaya, yet we see Gaya and not Lato, meaning Pako makes his decisions politically, not on who is performing better. Gaya is more experienced, so he gets to play, while Lato doesn't because he hasn't been a regular before.
With the arrival of Garay(can't come any sooner) we would have an alternative to the garbage Aymen, who I want to see gone right now, heck just break the contract with him, he is that terrible.
Player Ratings:
Ryan 6.5 - Not troubled too much, dealt with the easy shots at him and stopped the penalty initially.
Cancelo 4 - Terrible defending, I mean at the level of 10yo kids. Was the only one going forward though, but his crosses lacked accuracy while defensively he was garbage.
Santos 6 - I thought he did a good job defensively, covered his position properly, made several interceptions and dealt with the direct threats.
Aymen 0 - Terrible performance, at fault for the goal as he conceded the penalty and made several big mistakes. Get rid of this trash now!
Gaya 2 - Bellow par defensively and not much better offensively. Was caught out of position often at the back and put the team at risk a number of times.
Suarez 3 - Thrust into the action after just barely arriving and it showed, he lacked any sort of understanding with the team and seemed confused as to his role in the team.
Enzo 3 - Ran around like a headless chicken, some defensive contribution, but not much.
Parejo 2 - One of those games where he is completely useless, in fact detrimental to the team. Lost a lot of balls, bad passes, bad positioning, just everything from his was bad.
Nani 4 - Had a decent first half, was clearly playing with lots of motivation, even did some tricks when attacking, but overall he did not provide anything of value.
Moreno 3 - Missed a good chance early on, later on passed to an offside player instead of shooting and generally made the wrong decision every time.
Mina 5 - The only player that actually threatened now and then, had a good scissors shot at goal and generally seemed determined to do something.
Subs:
Medran 6 - Came in and instantly shore up the midfield, provided a much needed energy in the middle, but unfortunately he doesn't have quality players around him to do much.
Bakkali N/A - Okay for his time on the field, but in such a game he had very little time to change things.
Mir - Our other striker now that Paco is on his way. Does anyone believe he can make a difference? What a joke!