title="Vicente Rodriguez" src="http://www.armadanaranja.com/wp-content/uploads/vicente011-267x300.jpg" alt=""

width="267" height="300" />

Match @ 13:00 EST, 18:00 GMT, 19:00 CET.

It has been a rough 2009 for

Los Che. After crashing out of the UEFA Cup courtesy of Dynamo Kyiv, Valencia manager Unai Emery had a

heart-to-heart with his players. Hopefully his pep talk will work this Sunday versus Real Valladolid. They

currently sit in 10th place on 30 points, 5 places and 9 points behind Valencia.

At a press confrence on

Saturday, Emery talked about the team’s objectives for the rest of the campaign. “I am convinced that this

plan will lead us to be among the top four and I have full confidence in it. It is true that being eliminated

from the Copa del Rey and UEFA Cup is a disgrace, but now the league should be our greatest objective and we

will make every effort until the end of the season. The players are predisposed with this work. ”

Emery

is also aware of the growing pressues that come with managing a top club. “We are aware that the public is

demanding in Mestalla and hopefully we enlist them in this game because it is very important. Each player will

defend the jersey of Valencia CF with pride and we need to move forward united and regain confidence. Our goal

is to leave the the match with a clean sheet and the team is aware of this. ”

Emery said of Valladolid,

“Valladolid is a team that is capable of the best and the worst. With Mendilíbar, who is a great coach, they

have achieved consistency.”

A big problem for Los Che in this match will be lose of star striker David

Villa, who was sent off against Deportivo la Coruna last weekend. “He is an important player, but the team is

bigger than any one player. Everyone is eager to contribute.”

In regards to recent meeting with club

president Vicente Soriano, Emery said, ” Meetings and fluid communications have always been provided. We are

all united by the same cause with transparency”.

Hopefully all this comradery will pay dividens this

weekend. Niether team is in great form. Valencia has 4 draws and 1 lose in thier last 5 matches, while

Valladolid have had a draw, then 2 wins, then 2 loses.

Along with David Villa being out of the squad,

right back Miguel and defender Alexis have not been included.

Here is the squad for the Valladolid

match:

Goalkeeper: Cesar, Guaita

Defenders: Maduro, Marchena, Albiol, Moretti, Del

Horno

Midfielders: Joaquin, Pablo, Baraja, Albelda, Fernandes, Hugo Viana, Michel,

Vicente

Strikers: Morientes, Silva, Mata.

title="vicente_soriano" src="http://www.armadanaranja.com/wp-content/uploads/vicente_soriano-220x300.jpg"

alt="" width="220" height="300" />Yesterday Vicente Soriano, economic vice president Miguel Zoro, and Chief

Directorate Javier Gomez showed the new contracts with MediaPro (the group that now holds Valencia’s

television rights) and Kappa (our new shirt sponsor) to the captains of the team (Carlos Marchena, Raul Albiol,

Vicente Rodriguez, and David Villa), manager Unai Emery, and to the construction company in charge of building

the Nou Mestalla, in order to establish confidence in Valencia’s current economic situation.

However,

even though Valencia CF has already signed these new contracts, money from these deals will not be avaliable

until July 1, 2009. Soriano also told the staff and players that there is still no time table on when they will

be paid their wages. Valencia still owes 15 million euros to the players and 19 million euros to the

construction company in charge if building the Nou Mestalla.

Soriano said, “We still cannot pay you (the

palyers), nor can we say when you are going to recieve the money, but we guarantee that when we do recieve any

money, that the first people we will pay are you (the playes).”

Soriano told the same thing to the

construction company. He also wants to refinance the payments, making them payable over four years. The bank

will demand guarantees that the club will pay the new interest rates.

Valencia has also taken out an

insurance policy on their television contracts.

Apparently the players and staff have excepted

Soriano’s explanations fo non payment of their wages and fully back Soriano and the club. Soriano has thanked

the playes and staff for their loyalty during this bad economic situation.

title="Juan Mata" src="http://www.armadanaranja.com/wp-content/uploads/mata2-300x194.jpg" alt="" width="300"

height="194" />

Today Valencia playmaker Juan Mata said, “With the negative results we have had,

confidence has been lost, but we are recovering it and good results help.”

Mata tried to reamin upbeat.

He pulled out the old cliche of now we can focus on the league. “The main objective at the start of the season

was to finish in the top four and now we can fight to do that,” he declared.

“There are many points left

to play for and, of the 24 weeks past, we have been in the Champions League places for 23 of them.”

“We

feel bad after the UEFA Cup because we believed that we could qualify. We know what has happened and all we can

do now is focus on the present and do our best to finish in the top four.”

Valencia manager Unai Emery

had a chat with the players before training today.

“That type of chat is to try and get the positive

points out and to try and give us some confidence,” he explained. “The good thing is that from now on we can

focus on the league and we [will] have whole weeks to prepare for our matches.”

Valencia will host

Valladolid on Sunday.

title="Spain Soccer UEFA CUP" src="http://www.armadanaranja.com/wp-content/uploads/dynamo-300x231.jpg" alt=""

width="300" height="231" />It was not a good day to be a supporter of Valencia CF. Valencia drew 2-2 with

Dynamo Kyiv, which knocked them out of the competition on the away goals rule.

Dynamo took the lead in

the 34th minute courtesy of Artem Kravets.

In the 45th minute Manuel Fernandes sent a free kick into the

Dynamo box which captain Carlos Marchena got on the end of and sent it into the goal. At halftime the score was

1-1.

In the 54th, Fernandes again sent a free kick into the Dynamo penalty area, which wasn’t properly

cleared, and Asier Del Horno was able to shoot it into the net. 2-1 Valencia.

But in the 73rd minute,

Kravets popped up again to give the visitors an equalising goal.

At full time the score was 2-2, meaning

that Dynamo Kyiv advanced on the away goals rule.

title="uefa-cup" src="http://www.armadanaranja.com/wp-content/uploads/uefa-cup-221x300.jpg" alt="" width="93"

height="126" />Thursday @ Mestalla 3:30 pm EST, 9:30 pm CET.

It would appear that coming into this match

that Los Che are the favorites to advance, but with Valencia these days, you never know. The 1st leg was a

decent result for us, ending 1-1. Dynamo looked the better team though in the 2nd half…with 10 men.

Ugh…

I think it is important that we understand our opponet, so here is some background info on

Dynamo:

• Dynamo currently leads the Ukraine Premier League by 6 points.
• The

  UPL season runs from mid-July to mid-June, with a 3 month winter break from early December to early March. The

  only competitive match Dynamo has played recently is us in Kiev.

• Out of the top 10 scorers

  in the UPL, Dynamo has 4, including Ismael Bangoura (12 goals in 17 UPL games, 16 goals in 27 games in all

  competitions).

• Except for 2nd place Metalist (our possible next opponet if we advance) and

  Shaktar, Dynamo has twice as many goals scored in the UPL than any other team.

2nd leading

scorer Artem Milevsky shouldn’t be a problem for Valencia considering his red card in Kiev. Speaking of red

cards, considering David Villa got one versus Depor at the weekend, I would think Emery would start

him.

Valencia has a few players out for the match. Renan, Edu, and Thiago Carleto are all out through

injury. David Albelda is out through suspension.

Valencia has not had a clean sheet in 19 matches.

Considering that a 1-1 draw would send the 2nd leg into extra time, it looks like Valencia will have to get a

clear cut win in this match to advance to the quarter finals.

Squad for Valencia:

Goalkeepers:

Cesar, Guaita

Defense: Curro Torres, Maduro, Alexis, Albiol, Marchena, Del Horno,

Moretti

Midfield: Joaquin, Manuel Fernandes, Baraja, Pablo, Mata, Vicente

Forwards: David Villa,

David Silva, Morientes

src="http://media.epi.es/www.superdeporte.com/media/fotos/noticias/318x200/2009-03-04_IMG_2009-02-25_20:07:14_4

3_1_42_130.jpg" alt="" width="318" height="218" />

Of course everybody knows Valencia has more

debt than the current American economic stimulance plan is costing, but it doesn’t stop our club executives

from doing their job, thankfully! Fernando Gómez was in Bordeaux last week trying some great wines while

visiting the YOOEFA Cup match Girondines Bordeaux – Galatasaray. The Turkish side had one player which appeared

to have been added to our (bucket) list, the defensive midfielder Mehmet Topal. Topal, turning 23 next march,

is a Turkish international player already undisputed for his Istanbul-based team, but the recent change of

coach and the possibility of not playing Champions League next season has set his mind on leaving the club.

Valencia, the good warm club that it is, has heard his calling and opened its arms for the defensive

midfielder, seeing him as a economical and suitable addition in the summer market.

Next to Topal, a few

other players have drawn the interest of Fernando during this match, namely Yoann Gourcuff, Arda Turan and

Baris Özbek. The former one seems to be the most admired of them all, being loaned out to Bordeaux until June

30th, with his club AC Milan demanding a fee of at least 15 million and some European topclubs eager to add him

to their squads. Though a great addition, Fernando seems not to get too excited due to his high pricetag and

therefor keeps an eye on more realistic purchases like Topal.

src="http://www.elmundodeportivo.es/gif/20070510/rbaraja6.jpg" alt="" width="265" height="204" />Senior squad

member Ruben “I’m-87-but-still-young” Baraja has hit out at recent critics for being too harsh on Valencia

after the brilliant season opening and the recent and first downfall from the Champions League spots. Ruben,

who isn’t affected by our financial crisis due to his pension fund, claims critics having expected to much

from our squad after the season’s opening in which our team also got on a cloud nine it seems. He compares

Valencia to clubs like Villarreal which don’t lose their cool in difficult situations – Villarreal also

suffering from a recent drop of form – and if they keep it cool so should we. There is still a long way to go

and although it seems this negative line was expected by the fans, Baraja believes we should keep the faith but

also keep the expectations under control.

After only one win (against Almeria) in the last 6 matches,

it is clear Valencia isn’t on the hot streak they were back in September, and more and more fans become

impatient and unhappy with the current events. Baraja relativezes the high number of conceeded goals, claiming

they are doing everything they can to prevent them (except substituting Marchena) without losing their

attacking force. Furthermore he states there is much talk about the non-sportive matters concerning Los Che and

with the recent storm of critizism, the only thing the team can do is focus on their goals and only think how

to do best on the pitch. Well thank you Ruben, let’s hope these words will be put into actions when we play

Dynamo Kiev again tomorrow!

By the way, for any of you that want some good music in these dark Valencian

times, Alive 2007 from french-based Daft Punk, awesome set! – JW

width="252" height="252" />Construction on the Nou Mestalla has now completely stopped due to non payment.

Valencia CF, FCC, and Bertolin have all agreed to halt construction. There is no scheduled date for the

resumption of work on the stadium. It is also worth noting that the land that the Nou Mestalla sits on is still

owned by the Municipality of Valencia, and not Valencia CF. Only a partial payment has been made on the

land.

The overall cost of the land is €45 million. Valencia CF has paid €28 million, leaving €17 left to

be paid. In regards to the stadium and the construction workers, Valencia CF owes €14 million, and after

February 28 will owe an additional €5 million, bringing the total cost to €19 million.

Vicente Soriano

is still adamant that the land on which the old Mestalla sits will be sold soon. He is hoping to get up to €315

million.

The club is also adamant in the fact that the Nou Mestalla will be ready for the start of the

2010-2011 campaign.

title="old-tv" src="http://www.armadanaranja.com/wp-content/uploads/old-tv.jpg" alt="" width="149" height="128"

/>Today vice president Miguel Zorio announced that a television contract will be signed in the next few weeks

that will be the biggest in club history. It will reportedly be the third biggest tv contract for teams in la

liga, behind Barcelona and Real Madrid.

He also said that there were soon going to be, “new contracts

and new sources of revenue at the club”.

Valencia has also signed a new shirt deal with Kappa, but due

to it’s current contract with Nike (that ends in June), nothing official has been announced. “Next year

Valencia will remain a global brand for clothing with a major contract”, he stated.

Zurio also said that

the managment at Valencia would appreciate a little breathing space and that they are working as hard as they

can to resolve the club economic crisis.

Valencia has been, uuummmm, struggling recently let’s

say. Well, the trend continued on Sunday with a 1-1 draw versus Depotivo. There were a few surprises

surrounding the match:

1. Alexis was not only in the squad, but started. He came back from

   injury about a month early. It wasn’t the plan, but it worked out alright.

2. Thiago Carleto was

   left out of the squad. Considering our only other real option at left back is injured (Emiliano Moretti), Emery

   decided to leave the young Brazilian out. AS said it was a coach’s decision, but I read today that he had a

   little bit of a back problem. Hhhmmmm… I think it is safe to say that Emery had the same feeling about

   Carleto as the rest of us after the Malaga match, not impressed. Can you blame him? 20 pass attempts, 8 good,

   12 bad. Yikes.

3. Our defense wasn’t the biggest problem with Los Che, it was the offense. 1 shot on

   goal the entire match, and that was David Villa’s goal. Mata, Silva, Villa, and Joaquin were all invisible

   yesterday, except for Villa’s strike obviously. Here are some stats:

class="MsoTableLightListAccent6" style="border-collapse: collapse; mso-table-layout-alt: fixed; mso-border-alt:

solid #F79646 1.0pt; mso-border-themecolor: accent6; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1056; mso-padding-alt: 0in 5.4pt 0in

5.4pt;" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0">

style="mso-yfti-irow: 0;">

style="mso-yfti-irow: 2;">

style="mso-yfti-irow: 4;">

style="mso-yfti-irow: 6;">

style="mso-yfti-irow: 8;">

What

sticks out? Our entire left side of the pitch was rubbish. All defenders had a passing percentage of 96% or

higher, except for Del Horno, who was at 55%!?!?! Besides Villa (he’s a striker, passing isn’t his strongest

asset, even though I’d prefer he pass better than Oven Man Del Horno) our worst passers were Silva and Mata.

Worse than Baraja! Even though Joaquin only had 1 bad pass, he really didn’t do much. The offense looked just

plain bad. Depor had 16 shots total to our 7, and they had 7 shots on target to our 1.

Full

match highlights. In Portuguese!