Manchester United and the Spanish side Valencia finished in a 0-0 draw. The red devils hosted the match, which their bus happen to be late arriving to, at Old Trafford. Either side could have taken 3 points, but at the end of the match a draw was what both teams could muster and deservedly so. Valencia in the first half attacked down the left flank with the Guedes and Gaya connection, but wasted plenty of crosses and build up play for the majority of the match.
Manchester United did not have a clear idea when it came to the attack, relying heavily on the long ball. Their most dangerous moments seemed to come via dead ball, whether it be from a corner or free kick. Pogba did what he could to deliver dangerous and effective passes, but the team as a whole seemed out of sync. So much that I forgot Alexis Sanchez was on the pitch.
Neto, the Valencia goalkeeper had a decent night with a few saves for the night. I enjoy the center back pairing between the Argentine, Garay, and the Brazilian, Paulista. I think when fit that is the best defensive pairing for Los Che. Garay was solid winning long balls in the air and putting his body in front of the ball to prevent any Manchester United player shot from reaching his Keeper.
Gaya, the left back, had an excellent game on both ends. Completed his defensive duties as well as timing his runs forward effectively overlapping Guedes where the two seem to play well off one another. Guedes had a mediocre game for his standards. From what I saw last year, this looked like Guedes has some preseason rust on him still, but was the most threatening player on the pitch for both teams when it came to attack in open play.
As a whole the Valencia side were much better in the build up attack and noticeably had a plan on moving the ball forward and attempted to control the midfield via passing than using the long ball approach. But, overall the team was wasteful in the final aspect of the attack. plenty of crosses from beautiful build up wasted. However, this Valencia side looked better than the way they started this season's campaign. If this can build off this performance moving forward they can easily challenge for a spot in the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League tournament. At the end of the day a point at Old Trafford is not a bad result even given how poor the home side's form as been.
Showing posts with label Valencia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Valencia. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 2, 2018
Monday, November 27, 2017
Same place, different time. Valencia-Barcelona recap
Valencia and Barcelona finished their match on Sunday to a 1-1 draw at the Mestalla. Second place Valencia hosted the league leaders Barcelona for a clash of the two best teams in La Liga. The match was a tale of two halves, but before we get into certain specifics lets address the horrendous error by the refereeing officials. In minute 30, Lionel Messi shot the ball straight towards Valencia's goalkeeper who fumbled it into the goal. The ball went over the line. That means it was a goal. Yet, the goal was not awarded.
Barcelona dominated the first half. They were the more threatening and aggressive team by far. The Catalan side had around 70% possession in the first half and finished the half with 8 shots. Valencia defended as a unit, but seemed to play like a small club who respected their opponent too much. Barcelona were very frustrated and disappointed going into the half with no goals. Valencia weren't able to leave their own half for the majority of the first 45 minutes which was due to their poor passing. The valencia team had completed less than half of their passing attempts at the end of the first half. However, the second half saw a completely different Valencia side emerge from the dressing room.
The second half was noticeably better for the home team who came out pressing higher lines and attacking Barcelona's goal. Los che threatened on the counter, especially on the left side where Gaya and Guedes had a great combination to score the first counted goal. Semedo had a rough day defending Barcelona's right side. Valencia went up 1-0 and almost could have extended their lead if a penalty was called on Umtiti's tackle on Guedes inside the box. The call wasn't made and play resumed and Barcelona tied the game with a superb pass from Messi to find Jordi Alba on a perfectly timed run to one time it behind the keeper and into the net.
There were whispers going around that Valencia's Owner, Peter Lim, is going to go speak with Paris Saint-Germain on acquiring Goncalo Guedes on a permanent basis. Guedes is a talented young man who has a bright future where ever he plays his football, but Mr. Lim should also travel to Milan to speak to the Internazionale side on getting Geoffrey Kondogbia to stay in Valencia on a permanent basis as well. The Frenchman demonstrated his strength and capability to read the game from the midfield position. Kondogbia prevented Busquets from effectively passing the ball to Iniesta and Paulinho, disrupting Barcelona's midfield game plan. This lead to Busquest having to play deeper, to the point where he seemed to play as a third centerback in between Umtiti and Vermaelen. In addition to disrupting the opponents midfield, Kondogbia also connected passes that lead to quick counter-attacks. This allowed for Dani Parejo to join the forwards high pressing line. Iniesta was eventually subbed off in the second half by Valverde. Kondogbia accomplished a job where most coaches put two players to prevent Barcelona's midfield from cutting them apart with their precision passing. Kondogbia was a joy to watch from a fan's perspective.
Obviously, Kondogbia wasn't on his own as Valencia is a well organized team that demonstrated in the second half to be real title contenders. There is still a lot of games left to play, but Marcelino's side revealed that his young Valencia team isn't undefeated by accident and has no plans on easing up any pressure on the league leaders.
Barcelona dominated the first half. They were the more threatening and aggressive team by far. The Catalan side had around 70% possession in the first half and finished the half with 8 shots. Valencia defended as a unit, but seemed to play like a small club who respected their opponent too much. Barcelona were very frustrated and disappointed going into the half with no goals. Valencia weren't able to leave their own half for the majority of the first 45 minutes which was due to their poor passing. The valencia team had completed less than half of their passing attempts at the end of the first half. However, the second half saw a completely different Valencia side emerge from the dressing room.
The second half was noticeably better for the home team who came out pressing higher lines and attacking Barcelona's goal. Los che threatened on the counter, especially on the left side where Gaya and Guedes had a great combination to score the first counted goal. Semedo had a rough day defending Barcelona's right side. Valencia went up 1-0 and almost could have extended their lead if a penalty was called on Umtiti's tackle on Guedes inside the box. The call wasn't made and play resumed and Barcelona tied the game with a superb pass from Messi to find Jordi Alba on a perfectly timed run to one time it behind the keeper and into the net.
There were whispers going around that Valencia's Owner, Peter Lim, is going to go speak with Paris Saint-Germain on acquiring Goncalo Guedes on a permanent basis. Guedes is a talented young man who has a bright future where ever he plays his football, but Mr. Lim should also travel to Milan to speak to the Internazionale side on getting Geoffrey Kondogbia to stay in Valencia on a permanent basis as well. The Frenchman demonstrated his strength and capability to read the game from the midfield position. Kondogbia prevented Busquets from effectively passing the ball to Iniesta and Paulinho, disrupting Barcelona's midfield game plan. This lead to Busquest having to play deeper, to the point where he seemed to play as a third centerback in between Umtiti and Vermaelen. In addition to disrupting the opponents midfield, Kondogbia also connected passes that lead to quick counter-attacks. This allowed for Dani Parejo to join the forwards high pressing line. Iniesta was eventually subbed off in the second half by Valverde. Kondogbia accomplished a job where most coaches put two players to prevent Barcelona's midfield from cutting them apart with their precision passing. Kondogbia was a joy to watch from a fan's perspective.
Obviously, Kondogbia wasn't on his own as Valencia is a well organized team that demonstrated in the second half to be real title contenders. There is still a lot of games left to play, but Marcelino's side revealed that his young Valencia team isn't undefeated by accident and has no plans on easing up any pressure on the league leaders.
Monday, November 20, 2017
La Liga: A Two Horse race ?.....again.
Valencia will host Barcelona at the Mestalla on Sunday November 26. Barcelona is leading the Spanish La Liga with 34 points while Valencia sits in 2nd place with 30 points. It will be an enticing match between first place versus second place.
Valencia hasn't played well in their last two matches. Their opponents were the better aggressors in those matches, yet Valencia were able to win both those matches with a combined score of 5-0. Valencia have had the biggest turn around from any team from last season that was disastrous from the start. A lot of credit should be given to their new manager, Marcelino Garcia Toral, who reorganized the team on the field and changed the locker room mind set. Veteran players were sold and a few new players were brought into the squad. Valencia is well organized and attacks well on the counter. Barcelona will be without Gerard Pique and Luis Suarez due to suspension for accumulating yellow cards. Barcelona's head coach, Valverde, said that the team will appeal to the league to overturn the players' suspensions. Valencia are not immune to suspension as they will be without their head coach due to be seeing sent off on Sunday's match against Espanyol. There was a bit of confusion why the head coach was sent off and the team plans to appeal to the league on overturning their coaches suspensions.
Both teams are undefeated in La Liga heading into Sunday's match and at the moment Valencia seem like the only team that can slow down Barcelona as both Real Madrid and Athletico Madrid are 10 points behind and seem to have currently dipped in form. It is too early to call, but at the moment La liga looks a two horse race between Barcelona and Valencia. However, after Sunday's matchcomes to a conclusion it can either provide the answer to Valencia's title contender credentials or establish that this was truly a one horse race from the start.
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