Valencia-Mallorca-Early Season Ass Kicking

By: Jeremy | August 30th, 2008

First I want to apologize for not putting up a preview of this match but I am still catching my breath from all the transfers in and out for our team. I must admit that with all the new players, I am still trying to learn who we have and how they will be used. I guess that is why Manzano gets the big bucks.

Either way, going into this opening game on the road to Valencia, no one, not even the most optimistic fan, could expect points in this match. Mallorca has so many new players and it is going to take some time finding the right combination of players while also waiting for them to emerge so we can actually get some points. It is going to be a painful early start to the season. Valencia on the other hand wants to show their fans that they are perrenial Champions League participants and not relegation fodder who only gets European Foootball by winning the Copa. After solidifying its team and keeping star player Villa, they werent going to lose their opening match in the Mestalla to a team like Mallorca.

Manzano drew names out of a hat and put out a lineup of Moya in Goal, Defeneders Ramis, Nunes, Josemi, and Corralles, Midfielders Jurado, Marti,Arango, and Varela, and strikers Webo ant Trejo.

After some early yellow cards against an overly aggressive Valencia, by halftime it was 2-0 for the home team on goals by Villa in minute 34 and Mata in minute 38.

In the second half Manzano tried to shake things up by bringing in substitutes in the sixty first minute as Aduriz came in for Webo and Santana for Varela. Manzano was hoping for a spark from the new signings and not much happened so he brings in his third substitute in the seventy fifth minute with a tired Trejo being replaced by Castro. The end result is a third goal by Valencia in the 83rd minute by Vicente to make the final 3-0 for the home crowd.

With stars like Villa and Silva playing, the score could have been much worse. Trejo had a shot hit the bar just before halftime but Valencia could have scored more goals. I think Manzano is going to find out quick that if he can hang on to Trejo past Mondays deadline, he will be a great player for us. Aduriz should start from now on as I think he is clearly better then Webo but he was just purchsed so Manzano wanted to see if Webo is worth anything. He isnt. He also needs to check out Keita and Castellon in upcoming games. Jurado also played like crap. While it is great to get players on loan from better teams, there is a reason they get loaned out. They simply cannot provide consistent play. Jurado will show flashes of great play followed by lots of inept wandering. Nunes also showed why he will be an important player for us. It is also clear to me that Marti is not going to help us in midfield. He is simply too old and Sevilla was right to let him go.

Overall you cant read too much into this game and Id rather Manzano be trying to find his lineup while we face big clubs rather then when we are in more evenly matched games. Valencia is better then we are even when we have our lineup solidified so lets hope Manzano is getting a better idea of who needs to play. I think he only has 5-6 places determined and still has another 5-6 where playing time will be split as he hopes some more players will emerge. This is a tough way to begin a season after such a great run last year.

We fans cannot get too upset and must likely deal with a tough early start. We have some good players and Moya, Trejo, Arango, Nunes and Aduriz are who we will look to for performances to win us some games while the likes of Jurardo and others try to find their way. I think Manzano would do well to take a young player like Keita and Castellon, while strikers, could be used in an attacking midfield position to get us to be more of an offensive threat. We are old in the back and Moya and Nunes are going to earn their money this year. With solid players in each part of the formation, things will turn around quickly and I have faith in Manzano to find the right combination. If we could have only kept half of what we lost over the summer, this would be a really exciting team, but instead we are going to deal with a lot of frustration and uncertainty.

With two weeks until the next game, Manzano got to look at some players in a game where we were never going to get points. Home opener in two weeks against Osasuna will tell us how he adjusts. Forget this game. Im still positive. Fans should be too.