Yet another disappointing result for Los Che. On the

club’s 90th aniversary the Mestalla faithful were looking for a win over Recreativo Huelva. The result was a

1-1 draw at the Mestalla.

Valencia had a good chance within the first couple minutes. Juan Mata, who was

starting up front for the second straight week due to the abcense of David Villa, popped up on the right side

of the penalty box. He cut inside to beat his defender and sent in a curling shot with his preferred left foot,

which didn’t really curl at all. Shot missed wide.

It was a dull first half. One of the few bright

spots for Recre came in the 17th minute. Recre broke from deep within their own half to start a counterattack.

Javier Camunas released Adrian Colunga from the midfield line right before Marchena took him out. It ended with

Colunga being 1 v 2 with Alexis and Albiol. They allowed him to fire in a dangerous curling strike, which an

outstreched Cesar could not get to. The shot banged off of the far post. The referee would find Marchena after

the play and give him a yellow card.

In the 55th minute, Recre would make Valencia pay or their lost

chances. Camunas played a good one-two with Colunga. Camunas charged into the Valencia penalty area and beat

Alexis, Emiliano Moretti, and Cesar to the ball. He poked it by Cesar. Raul Albiol made a mad dash to clear the

ball off the line, but was a step to late. Recre took the lead 1-0.

In the 61st minute Unai Emery

brought on winger/attacking midfielder Pablo for Baraja. Emery also took off Edu in favor of youngster Michel

in the 67th, leaving Albelda as the only true central midfielder.

Pablo made an immediate difference. He

took the ball on the right and raced forward, blowing by his marker. His cross into the box wasn’t the best,

but it managed to find Vicente who had his shot knocked out for a corner.

Seconds later Mata tried to

chip the keeper, but his effort hit the crossbar. Vicente collected the ball and crossed in back to Mata, who

headed it over the bar.

Then Valencia had their best chance of the match. Pablo put Silva through 1 v 1

with the keeper. Silva might have had too much time to think though. He easliy had 40 yards to decided what to

do before he ended up firing a weak shot straight at Asier Riesgo. The commentator literally went, “Aaaawwwwww”

in disappointment at Silva’s shot.

More disaster struck for Valencia. Colunga was running down his

right flank and cut into the middle between Marchena and Albelda. Marchena, already on a yellow card, stuck out

his leg to knock the ball away. Colunga went down and Marchena got his second yellow. The ref flashed the red

card and Marchena was sent off, after much protest from the Che captain. In his defense, it did look like a

dive by Colunga. Marchena should have know better though. Alexis and Michel were both tracking back to cover

him and Albelda. Also, Colunga wasn’t going anywhere. It would have taken a Maradonna style effort to get by

everyone and be a threat to score.

Emery then brought on Fernando Morientes for Vicente in the 75th,

despite Vicente being one of our better players. It was a curious move considering Los Che was down to 3

defenders, and the only true central midfielder on the pitch was Albelda, who had a yellow. Maunel Fernandes

might have been a better choice.

In the 83rd minute, Valencia finally broke through via super-sub Pablo.

Pablo took the ball on the right and accelerated past his marker before unleashing a beautiful chip over

Riesgo. It was an absolutely brillant goal.

In the dying moments Mata put a surgical cross onto the

forehead of Morientes, who headed it just wide of goal.

Colunga could have gotten all 3 points for Recre

at the other end, but his effort curled just wide of Cesar’s post.

That would end up being the last

chance of the match. Booing and whistling could be heard at the end of the match, but not

overwhelmingly.

Valencia had numerous chances in the second half and failed to convert them. They have

only themselves to blame for not getting the full points.

For full match highlights (6:40 long) go to

href="http://loco4losche.com/Valencia-CF-v-Recreativo-Huelva-Highlights.php">Loco 4 Los Che.

href="http://loco4losche.com/blogweb/index.php">

Valencia is, to put it mildly, in trouble. In their

last 9 matches, they only have 6 out of a possible 27 points. That is the worst record in la liga. Numancia

also only has 6 points, but they just beat us, so there you go.

The squad for the

match:

Goalkeepers: Cesar, Guaita

Defenders: Maduro, Albiol, Alexis, Marchena, Moretti, Del

Horno

Midfielders: Baraja, Edu, Manuel Fernandes, Albelda, Vicente, Pablo, Michel

Strikers:

Silva, Mata, Morientes

Morientes and Silva have been fighting injuries this week, so it is unclear if

Unai Emery will risk them from the start.

David Villa, Joaquin, and Miguel are the most notable

absences. Renan has been training with the squad this week, but still isn’t 100% fit to play. Curro Torres,

Thiago Carleto, and Hugo Viana were left out by Emery via technical decisions

Time is running out for

Los Che if they even want to think about the Champions League next year. They need all the points they can get

after dropping so many the last few weeks.

Recre doesn’t come into the match on great form, but

certainly better than Valencia. Valencia has 1 win, 3 draws and 5 loses in their last 9. Recre has 3 wins, 4

draws, and 2 loses. With a win and certain results going their way, Recre could move up to

10th.

Valencia could in theroy jump up to 5th with a win if Malaga loses to Sevilla, Deportivo loses to

Gijon, and Atletico fall versus Villarreal.

With rumors of players leaving (Villa to Man City, Silva to

Juve, Mata to Inter) and stories of player discontent (Morientes at the press conference the other day,

Fernandes and Vicente going head-to-head in training) Los Che could really use a win. Not just for their own

confidence, but that of the supporters as well.

href="http://www.armadanaranja.com/wp-content/uploads/vee2.jpg">[poll id="2"]

alt="" width="300" height="258" />

Today, our beloved travel to lowly

Numancia for a face-off.
With the team’s morale low, tha bank accounts depleted, this matchh is a must win

for Los Che.

Unfortunately, we will be without our 2 star Davids (Silva and Villa).Both out due to

injury.

It will be imporytant to note that Valencia hasnt kept a clean sheet in 21 games.The last being

the 0-4 thrashing away at Rosenborg in the UEFA cup.

Numancia currently lie 20 in the Liga with 20

points, Valencia are 6th with[poll id="3"] 39

points.

Match

History

Numancia

Numancia 0-2 Real Madrid
Villareal 2-1

Numancia
Numancia 0-1 Mallorca
Osasuna 2-0 Numancia
Numancia 0-1

Deportivo

Valencia

Valencia 1-1 Malaga
Dynamo 1-1 Valencia
Deportivo 1-1

Valencia
Valencia 2-2 Dynamo
Valencia 1-2 Valladolid

title="Javier Gomez and Vicente Soriano"

src="http://www.armadanaranja.com/wp-content/uploads/javier-gomez-and-vicente-soriano-300x205.jpg" alt=""

width="300" height="205" />New Valencia President, Javier Gomez, has said that,”The club is in a very delicate

situation. It has to control spending, grow income and sell assets”.

When asked about possibly selling

star players like David Villa and David Silva, Gomez responded, “Obviously we will consider that type of

action,” he said. “We have to control costs and the biggest cost in a football club is maintaining a

team.”

Gomez added: “Before, we had a plan that was based purely on selling the land, now we need to

seek alternatives. We need to win back credibility with the financial institutions.”

Vicenete Soriano

will continue in his official post, but he denied that he has lost authority on such manners. Soriano also said

that it was him, and not Juan Soler, that decided to put Gomez in charge.

Looks like Valencia can’t

hold on any longer. Star players will move in the summer.

title="Juan Soler and Vicente Soriano"

src="http://www.armadanaranja.com/wp-content/uploads/soler-soriano-300x183.jpg" alt="" width="216" height="132"

/>Owner Juan Soler, President Vicente Soriano, and main creditor Bancaja, have reached an agreement regarding

the power Soriano will hold in the future. They have decided that he will effectively have no power. Soriano is

not being removed from office. He just doesn’t have power anymore.

General Director Javier Gomez will

take over presidential powers. Also, Miguel Zorio, Vicente Soriano’s right hand man, has resigned. Apparently,

his letter of resignation has been on Soriano’s desk since last Friday.

Fernando Gomes will now be in

complete control of player transfers.

The major undoing of Soriano was his repeated failure to sell the

land that the Mestalla sits on, and his repeated failures to obtain new loans in order to pay the players and

construction workers building the Nou Mestalla.

href="http://valenciacf.lasprovincias.es/noticias/2009-03-04/soriano-cede-poder-valencia-20090304.html">Full

Las Provincias story.

title="Renan" src="http://www.armadanaranja.com/wp-content/uploads/renan-300x195.jpg" alt="" width="216"

height="141" />

Benicio del Toro look-a-like Renan Brito and his transfer from Brazilian side Inter is

in the news.

Yesterday, Inter vice president Mario Sergio Martins sent an e-mail to Valencia asking for

bank account information in regards to the Renan transfer. The final 2 million euros were supposed to be paid.

Valencia responded… well they actually DIDN’T respond.

Martins then essentially said that if Valencia

doesn’t pay up in the next few days then he would get the lawyers involved.

There is a clause in the

contract of Renan that states if the payment isn’t made, then on July 1 Renan could possibly return to Inter.

Inter doen not wish for this to happen, nor does Renan.

title="Raul Albiol" src="http://www.armadanaranja.com/wp-content/uploads/albiol.jpg" alt="" width="281"

height="172" />Rafael Benitez is interested in signing up Valencia defender Rual Albiol. The Spainsh

international has been linked with Liverpool, Arsenal, and Real Madrid, but the ex-Valencia skipper appears

ready to make a seriuos offer.

While Albiol’s release clause is €60 million, the word around the

campfire is that he can be had for €15 million. The 24 year old has 2 years remaining on his current

deal.

Valencia’s sporting director Fernando Gomez has admitted the club would have to consider any

reasonable offers, and also confirmed they were aware of scouts from Liverpool tracking Albiol.

“Today

it is necessary to study each offer that we receive and after that we would decide,” he told

skysports.com.

“The money situation is complicated at the club, but formally nobody has spoken

with us about Abiol.

“But we are aware that the Reds have been scouting around here in recent months.”

title="Vicente Soriano" src="http://www.armadanaranja.com/wp-content/uploads/soriano.jpg" alt="" width="174"

height="136" /> Vicente Soriano has made yet another promise, “Everything is going to be solved”. He is of

course referring to Valencia’s ever worsening financial situation.

On Wednesday there will be a board

meeting, in which Soriano will have to explain his proposed course of action to the board members. Some of the

board members have threatened to resign if they don’t like what they hear.

Benjamin Munoz said, “I

expect a clear explanation and a radical shift in how to proceed, because otherwise I will submit my

resignation because I do not want to be part of the council that ended Valencia CF”.

Recent attempts at

obtaining 15 million euros from Spanish banks has failed, and with the current Mestalla’s land not being sold,

there is no money available to pay the players or construction workers building the Nou Mestalla.

While

Valencia’s immediate debt is €400 million, their overall debt is around €800 million.

title="Valencia captain Carlos Marchena"

src="http://www.armadanaranja.com/wp-content/uploads/marchena_tenemos_retocar_sistema.jpg" alt="" width="280"

height="280" />Valencia captain Carlos Marchena today has come out and said that Manager Unai Emery’s tactics

are not working, and that Valencia has to change stratigies.

“We concede a lot of goals nowadays because

we also score a lot,” he was quoted as saying by AS.

“This team has adopted a very bold and

attacking-minded style and because of that, our opponents tend to score a lot against us.

“It is a

mentality that we must change. We know the problem and we know the solution, which is to improve our defensive

concepts and that does not only involve the back line, but the entire team.

“He [Emery] has different

ideas from what we are accustomed to. He is much more offensive and he likes taking risks and having a lot of

ball possession,” the captain divulged.

“It was a system that we were happy with, but now that we are

struggling to win, I believe it is time to reassess it and maybe make some minor alterations, but nothing

huge.

“A radical change would not benefit us either, because it would only create a bigger headache for

the players. All we need is to correct some fine details, like looking at what worked for us

before.

“But this is the coach’s job and I know that he is working hard to rediscover the dynamics that

we had before.”

Valencia’s last clean sheet was November 27th against Rosenborg in the UEFA Cup.

Watch if you must. Here are the first 2 goals, both by

Valladolid…

Here is the goal by Marchena…