Cañizares takes over from Pizzi
Legendary former goalkeeper of Valencia, Santiago Cañizares, has taken over from Juan Antonio Pizzi at the Mestalla. The Argentinian led Valencia to the 8th place after taking over from fired manager Miroslav Dukic. Valencia used to be part of the big three: Barça, Real and Valencia. But now, Atlético have taken over the final spot from the Valencian outfit. The reason Valencia have slipped down the table recently, are the massive debts they club has. Because of these debts, they have to sell their best players every year. For example: Juan Mata, David Silva, David Villa, Roberto Soldado, and many more played for Valencia before joining other clubs.
Last year however, there were signs of Valencia climbing up again. Although the club finished 8th in the league, they reached the semi-finals of the Europa League. This year they want to continue this upraise with a good finish in La Liga, and they can fully focus on getting a good finish, as they haven’t qualified for the Europa League this year, due to their 8th finish last season.
There was a big press conference at the soon to be replaced Éstadio Mestalla, with tons of Spanish press, club owner Amadeo Silva, and of course new manager Santiago Cañizares. Silva was very pleased with the new manager: “I’m very happy to have such a Valencia legend on board, he has helped the club to victories as a player, and we hope he can also do that as our manager. I have full faith in him, as I know him really well, he’s a great man.”
The Spanish ex-international also added something before the press got to ask some questions to the manager: “I’m very happy to be back at this great club where I achieved such successes, and I want to thank all the managers that let me play for Valencia. They have also given me the opportunity to earn me a place in the national team of Spain.”
Next, it was question time for the new manager. When a reporter asked him what he was aiming for in his first season, he said: “We’re aiming for the top 5 this year: we really need continental football to progress as a club.” Another journalist asked what Cañizares had to spend this first transfer window: “Well, at Valencia, we are in a tough financial situation, so I don’t have a lot to spend, but we might sell some players to get others in.”
It is reported that Cañizares is also looking to sell some players, including French left-back Cissokho, who earns a lot, but is not Valencia’s first choice. “I’m looking to sell some players who are making a lot of money at the club. I think I can replace these players fairly easily with other players.” Cañizares said. Also, in shock news, star player Éver Banega is looking to move on, and bids have already been accepted for him. These bids are believed to be in the region of 25 million euros.
2013/2014 Kit Presentation
New kit manufacturers Adidas have chosen for a classical white-black-orange design on the home kit, but with a unique pattern on the front. The away kit is black, but it has been made more interesting with the orange strip running horizontally over the kit.
Notes
I have decided to write a story about Valencia getting back to the old days, the days of Cañizares, Silva, Villa, and all those other legends.And one more thing, I’m actually sticking to this story: I’ve already written ahead. The match updates will be monthly, and not per match, but just a quick recap. The emphasis is on the transfer windows. So you could say it’s a bit like how Griffo is doing his Truro story at the moment.
I’m using a combination of pr0’s and Steve85’s database updates.
Good pre-season, but not really any tests, march on the season!
