Living next door to the Valencia CF team for ten days in Germany has been incredibly uplifting in many ways. I won’t deny that many people still have doubts about the squad, the manager, the president and, in a way, the whole club. But let me list you ten reasons for being cautiously optimistic about the upcoming season.
1) The physical training for the last ten days. Last year, Valencia’s opening games were lacking for many reasons, but the poorly scheduled physical training in the pre-season was a big stone that dragged the players downwards until December.
2) The Portuguese clan led by Ricardo Costa and Joao Pereira exudes personality and leadership. Something tells me that Albelda won’t be missed that much, at least concerning this issue.
3) Soldado’s replacement. His trade is going to be tough to swallow… but aren’t you intrigued in what player/s will be signed to replace him? Who knows, maybe Braulio knocks this one out of the park…
4) Albel…who? Watching Javi Fuego and Oriol Romeu in action is delightful. They run, knock people over, steal the ball, intimidate, tackle, fight, press and play like champs. The stopper position has been the team’s main weakness for the last few years. These two ‘pitbulls’ may be just the answer to our prayers.
5) Sweet, sweet Viera. ‘Johnny’ Viera wants a rematch. Last season he played little and had even less confidence. Everyone knew he had the moves and the quality, but his performances were lacking and neither Pellegrino nor Valverde gave him the chances to prove himself. Now, he has that gleam in the eye again. He’s having fun playing football, something absolutely necessary for Canarian players to make a differentes in the game.
6) Keep calm and trust this team. They are a closely-knitted squad as they come. Living together these ten days has proven that the spirits are as high as ever amongst the team. Jokes, pranks and lots of laughs were common practices in Speyer.
7) Canales’ ‘eye of the tiger’. He’s working his ass off, day and night, to recover as quickly as he can from a muscle injury he suffered last June. He travelled all the way to Germany just to run, stretch and jump. Only the last few days he was given permission to enjoy himself with the ball. He’s hungry and wants to star in a comeback that will be never forget.
8) Young newcomers. Argentinian Fede Cartabia has been one of the biggest surprises in Germany. He’s brave, skilled and wants to prove himself game after game. He will try and claim a spot on the 25-player final roster.
9) Miroslav Djukic. The manager firmly believes on his success. He expects nothing short of greatness, as he said a couple of days ago to VLC NEWS: “I will succeed if my team fights for winning trophies. I will fail if we finish on the fifth place and people are not happy with the quality displayed”. Bold and ambitious.
10) Because, what the heck, we’re all going to watch game after game anyway. Nothing can replace that adrenaline rush. Enjoying the wins and suffering after losses is the way it goes. Some feelings can’t be removed that easily, even as the Spanish League gets weaker and weaker each year.
Paco Polit (@pacopolit)
VLC NEWS