Santiago Cañizares - A Managerial Journey

August and September 2013

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Fixtures:


Review:
Valencia started the season with some very hard matches against Barcelona and Real Madrid both inside the first month of the season. There were also some easier matches where Cañizares had to pick up points.

And to the surprise of many, Valencia won their match against Barça with 4-2, after being 2-0 behind. This win came after a bland draw against Granada, to make the result even more surprising. But against Real, Valencia was bad again. After 11 minutes, they conceded, and when Rami got a straight red in the 21st minute, things weren’t looking good for Cañizares’ team. In the 37th minute, Cerci had to come of injured as well, at the time Valencia were 3-0 behind. Luckily, Cerci only got an injury for about 2 weeks. The match eventually finished 3-1 because Los Che played a good second half.

The rest of the month was very good for Cañizares, as he got 3 victories from 3 matches. Although these were fairly easy matches, the manner with which the team won, must’ve been very pleasing for all Valencia fans. In these 3 matches, the Mestalla outfit conceded no goals. They also impressed the pundits with their quick, attacking football that was first introduced against Barcelona, where they won 4-2. The team aims to take advantage of mistakes and sluggish play by the opposition, and this has led to many goals.

All in all, Valencia have made a great impression under Cañizares, and the team has changes to a team that really plays together, with quick, attacking football.

Player of the Month(s):
Centre back Nicolás Otamendi has scored a total of 4 goals in the first 7 matches, and this combined with his good defensive work leads to him being player of September.

Priméra Division table:

October 2013

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Fixtures:


Review:
After Valencia’s great start, there was a lot of pressure on Cañizares to continue this level of performance. But Valencia started the month with a hard away game against Atlético, last year’s La Liga champions. Valencia won this match easily, with 3-0, against all predictions before the match. Secondly, they played against Villarreal, a big rival of Valencia. The team won again, this time with 2-0, another clean sheet. Diego Alves, Valencia’s keeper, hasn’t had to pick the ball up from the goal for a staggering 504 minutes now.

In the last two matches of the month, the former team of superstars like David Villa and David Silva won twice. The team played at the Mestalla twice, against Elche and Espanyol. Before the last match, top scorer Jonas got injured for 3 weeks, certainly not the first injury this season for the unlucky Valencia. In these two games, the team didn’t concede a goal, meaning the Valencianistas finished the month unbeaten and without a goal conceded. With this 8-match run of wins, unbeaten games, and not conceding, Cañizares has set 3 new club records.

Player of the Month(s):
New signing Alessio Cerci had a good month, after a rough first month at the club. The right winger has scored 2 goals, and assisted one in September. He has also contributed with nice passes and attacking moves.

Priméra Division table:

November 2013

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Fixtures:


Review:
A short month for Valencia, with only 4 matches. These matches were all winnable for the Spanish team, the hardest match, on paper, was probably the one against Sevilla. November started off with a great victory against Levante, away from home as well. After the first half, the team were already 3-0 in front, through goals by Rami, Feghouli and Cerci. In the second half, after taking a 4-0 lead, Xumetra scored for Levante, meaning that Diego Alves finally conceded, after almost 800 minutes without conceding. Valencia eventually won with 5-1, through 2 Paco Alcácer goals in the second half.

The next match was at home against Rayo, the number 14 of the Liga BBVA. So on paper, an easy match, certainly with the form Valencia are in at the moment. Guardado put the team 1-0 up just before half-time. But things didn’t go so easily, as Rayo scored an offside goal, and they were getting back in the game against a sluggish Valencia, but they managed to win 2-0 in the end. The second to last match, against Sevilla, turned out to be harder than expected, with a fairly disappointing 1-1 draw. After a very long run of wins, Valencia have finally drawn a game. And Real Madrid have taken over the first place from Valencia, by winning 4-1 at Rayo.

Last match of November was against the number 4 of La Liga: Atheltic De Bilbao, at home. Cañizares’ team impressed again, by winning 2-0 against a tough team.

Player of the Month(s):
24-year-old Dani Parejo has impressed from the midfield, not contributing with many goals (only one) or assists (also one), but great passes and build-up play.

Priméra Division table:

December 2013

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Fixtures:


Review:
December marked the start of the Copa Del Rey for Valencia, they faced 3rd division side Gimnàstic de Tarragona. Valencia put out a strong squad, this made it a very easy match, as expected beforehand. In the match where Källström finally made his debut, Valencia eventually won with 6-1, due to 3 goals by an outstanding Cerci.

In between the first leg and second leg of the Copa, Valencia had a match against Real Sociedad, which they won impressively: 5-0. It was the match of Jonas and Guardado, who both scored a double. Next up was the second leg of the Copa Del Rey, against Gimnástic. Because of the 6-1 lead the team already had, Cañizares put out a weakened side, with various youth players. Eventually, one of the most unnecessary matches in Spanish football finished 2-0, through goals by Gil and Piatti.

The last match of December, and thus the last match of 2013 for Valencia, was a tricky away game at Getafe, because the club are in a surprising 7th place. But Valencia had no problems with Cosmin Contra’s side, winning 2-0 with total domination of the play.

Player of the Month(s):
Left-back Jérémy Mathieu has been doing really well these past few games, although he has only got himself one scorer point (one assist), he has been a rock defensively.

Priméra Division table:

Winter Transfer Update

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During the first half of the season, Valencia signed up Kim Källström on a free transfer, as a back-up to Diamé and Parejo, together with Javi Fuego. Källström has signed a contract until 2016, and will earn 20.5k per week.

The Swede formerly played for Arsenal, Spartak Moscow, Lyon, Stade Rennes, Djurgarden and Häcken. His longest spell has at Olympique Lyon, where he spent 6 seasons, after joining the club for 6 million Euros from Rennes.

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Also before the actual transfer window, Vicente Guaita indicated he wanted to leave the club, so Valencia listed him up, and Olympiakos bought him for a fee of 3.8 million. The 26-year-old Spaniard was back-up to Diego Alves, who has always been the number one in goal. Guaita came through Valencia’s youth ranks, and this is the first time he makes a transfer.

As his replacement, Valencia have signed Andrea Consigli from Italian outfit Atalanta. The Italian goalie is also 26 years old, the same age as Guaita. Consigli is a youth product of Atalanta, who made his first transfer. The keeper joins for 4.5 million Euros, on 30.5k per week.

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Veteran centre-back Ricardo Costa has also been sold. The 32-year-old has joined Genoa for 250k. The Portuguese former international has played for big clubs in his career, including Wolfsburg, Porto and LOSC Lille. In the past years, Costa played almost all matches for Los Che, but this year he has mainly been a back-up to the central duo Otamendi-Rami.

Adil Rami has also left the club, joining AC Milan in the January transfer window. His place has been taken over by 23-year-old Argentinian Ezequiel Muñoz, who joins the Mestalla outfit from Italian Serie A club Palermo.

Muñoz has cost the club 5.5 million Euros, and that makes Muñoz one of the two big signings of this transfer window, along with Consigli. It is expected the Argentinian centre back will immediately be put into the first team, alongside star player Nicolás Otamendi.

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The next old, unneeded player going out is 3rd striker Hélder Postiga, who joins Portuguese side SC Braga for free, after Valencia offered him to clubs for free. The 31-year-old joined the club last summer for 2.5 million, but Cañizares felt the need to sell him. His explanation: “Hélder is a good player, but he wasn’t needed for the club, as we have Jonas and Paco (Alcácer).” Another journalist asked who would replace Postiga as back-up striker: “Well, we’ve got good youth players to take over, and I think that Araújo will take Hélder’s spot.”

Also, back-up attacking mid Míchel Herrero has joined Guaita at Olympiakos for 500k, after making only 1 appearance in Valencia’s first time in the first half of the season. The reason that Cañizares has sold the Spaniard for only 500k, is the same as Postiga’s reason: wages. Herrero was earning 26.5k per week, something Valencia can’t afford for a back-up.

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Valencia high earner Pablo Piatti has joined Lazio on loan, with 90% of the wages covered by Lazio. The club has the option to buy Piatti for 2 million Euros. Piatti is a back-up to Feghouli, but still earns 49k per week, something the financially troubled club can’t afford. The Argentinian 24-year-old joined Valencia for 7.5 million Euros from Almería back in 2011. Piatti has only played 7 times this year, not scoring any goals.

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Valencia had quite a busy transfer summer, and we’ve put together this list which will show you all of the club’s transfers:

Note: these also include the summer transfers