Santiago Cañizares - A Managerial Journey

December 2014

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Fixtures:


Review:
The first match of December was a cup match against 3rd league team Teruel. The first leg was played in Teruel’s stadium, and Valencia won with 5-1. After that was a match in the Champions League against Olympiakos, at the Mestalla. Valencia had already qualified for the next round after winning against Monaco, so Cañizares put out a weaker side than normally. Even with this weaker side, a win was expected, but Valencia didn’t play with the intention to win, and eventually they drew 2-2.

The 3rd match in December was a home match against Real Sporting in the league, at home. Sporting were 17th, and a defeat against Valencia could see them drop into the relegation zone. But although Valencia dominated, they couldn’t score against the Sporting goalie Alberto. And every month, Valencia seem to have a match like this: unnecessary loss of points in a winnable match. Valencia had to recover from this draw quickly, as a couple of days later they already had their next match. They played Teruel in the Copa del Rey. Valencia won, but only with 2-1.

An away match against Atlético was the last match of December, and it was a really hard fixture for Valencia. The match started hectically: Gabi scored after 4 minutes, Alderweireld got sent off after 6 minutes, and Guardado equalised after 7 minutes. The match slowly progressed, until in the 74th minute, Léo scored a goal that could prove to be vital. Just before time, Atlético made sure that Valencia’s title dreams got further away: 3-1 was the final score. Valencia once again dominated, but failed to find the net.

All in all, a bad month for Cañizares’ team, as they didn’t win a single game in the Liga BBVA.

Player of the Month(s):
Defender Jérémy Mathieu has been a rock defensively for Valencia, and offensively he has also contributed something: one goal.

Priméra Division table:


Champions League Group F:

First Half of January 2015

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Fixtures:


Review:
Valencia had to really pick up points this month to not get further behind on the rest of the pack. They had to pick up the first win against last-placed Mallorca. Valencia looked eager to perform, and the team were 3-0 ahead after 45 minutes. In the second half, they weren’t as impressive, but still scored three goals, and that meant the match ended in 6-0. After that, Valencia played Atlético for the second time in three matches, but this meeting was for the Copa del Rey, not the Liga BBVA. Valencia once again showed their form, with a very impressive 5-0 victory.

The 3rd match of 2015 was against Celta de Vigo, in the Liga BBVA. Celta were in a very surprising 6th place, so they certainly weren’t pushovers. Valencia took the lead, but quickly gave it away, and those two goals were the only two goals of the match. Although Valencia once again dominated, they failed to win. After this disappointing draw, Valencia played Atlético at the Vicente Cálderon. The match wasn’t of big importance, as Valencia had won the first leg with 5-0. Making his debut against Atlético was Ghoulam, who returned from an injury he got at his old club Napoli. Los Che played without any form of motivation, and eventually they lost 2-1.

January finished with four more matches: two in La Liga, two in the quarter finals of the Copa del Rey. The first match, in La Liga, was against Málaga at La Rosaleda, and Valencia had to win to keep the fans pleased.

Player of the Month(s):
Another defender is player of the month, this time it’s Argentinian centre back Nicolás Otamendi, who has also scored a goal.

Priméra Division table:

Transfer Update

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This winter’s big signing is left-back Faouzi Ghoulam, who has joined from Napoli. The Algerian has come over for a fee of 6.5 million Euros, and he will be earning 37k per week at the Mestalla. Ghoulam joined Napoli only a year ago, coming over from Saint-Etienne in the winter transfer window of 2013/14. Cañizares was positive about his 6th signing from a Serie A-club: “I think Faouzi is a fine left-back, and because Vilà is unhappy here, I’ve decided to get Ghoulam as his replacement. Eventually he can also take over from Jérémy (Mathieu).”

Unhappy left-back Didac Vilà has left Mestalla, he has joined Rayo Vallecano. The Spanish left-back only joined a year and a half ago, coming over from AC Milan. But the left-back has never been first choice, and when he got a chance to prove himself, he didn’t take it.

Second Half of January 2015

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Fixtures:


Review:
Valencia started off the second half of January with an away match against Villarreal in the quarter-finals of the Copa. The team got themselves into a good position for the match in the Mestalla, by winning 2-1 in the away match. Valencia played Granada at home in La Liga in the next match, a match they really had to win, as there were some hard matches coming up in La Liga (against Barça and Real Madrid). Los Che dominated, and they had already sealed the victory after they were 3-0 in front after 24 minutes. The match eventually finished 3-1, after Granada scored a consolation goal in the 67th minute.

The last two matches were two vital ones: one in the Copa del Rey, to earn a place in the semi-finals, and one in La Liga to knock Real out of the title race. In the first match, Valencia could secure a semi-final place, and the team did: they won 2-1, meaning they progressed with a 4-2 scoreline over two matches. The last match for Cañizares in the tiring month of January, was a home match against reigning champions Real Madrid in the league, who were in a disappointing 5th place at the time. Although Real were fifth, they put up a fight, and after going down 1-0, they came back to 1-1 via an own goal by Otamendi. But after 73 minutes, Guardado, who had just come back from an injury, scored the 2-1, and that was the final score.

Player of the Month(s):
Brazilian striker Jonas has scored 3 goals in four matches, this form has also earned him a call-up to the Brazilian national squad.

Priméra Division table:

Transfer Deadline Day: Big News From Mestalla

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On this season’s transfer deadline day, one of the most important days of the season, Valencia have officially announced two very big transfers. First, the club announced this via their official Twitter account:


Nicolás Otamendi, Valencia’s star defender, joined Valencia for a fee 12 million Euros, from FC Porto. Now it is believed that they have sold the Argentinian centre-back for 30 million Euros to Mourinho’s Chelsea, the current champions of England. Under Cañizares, Otamendi has become one of the best defenders in Europe, also scoring many goals for Los Che: 13 goals in 55 matches.

The 26-year-old player thanked Valencia at his first press conference at Chelsea: “I want to thank my previous club, as they gave me the opportunity to play at such a high level. I also want to mention Santiago (Cañizares), because he has really made me a better player, defensively and offensively.”

Otamendi has played for Vélez Sarsfield in his home country Argentina, before joining FC Porto for 3.9 million. At Porto, he played 3 seasons, playing a total of 69 matches.

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Erik Sviatchenko, his replacement, has joined from Portuguese outfit SC Braga. This 23-year-old central defender is highly regarded in Europe, but due to his contract running out, Valencia have managed to pick him up for a steal: 2 million Euros. This Danish defender, who has formerly played for the likes of FC Midtjylland and Viborg, is expected to immediately go into the first team, playing alongside Ezequiel Muñoz.

Quickly after this rumour was confirmed by several sports websites, Valencia posted this picture on their official Facebook account (ValenciaCFOfficial):


At his first press conference, Sviatchenko had this to say to the press: “I’m very pleased to have sealed this move, I think it’ll be a great step in my career. I want to thank my new coach for giving me this opportunity. I also want to thank my old club Braga, I always felt at home there, and I had a great time. ”