Unai Emery’s Unhappy Homecoming

Unai Emery dropped Timo Hildebrand and Renan dropped a goal. And Valencia dropped two points and were actually lucky not to have dropped all three. It’s not quite clear where Hildebrand was in the 20th minute but he must have been cackling his head off witnessing the ridiculous performance of his replacement, Renan.

Last week Valencia coach Unai Emery went with Renan because of ‘technical reasons’. This week he decided to relegate Hildebrand to the bench again only for the German goalkeeper to press too hard and force himself off the list altogether. This led to the Brazilian Olympic team goalie’s installation as the number one on Sunday and he replied to his coach’s faith by failing to hold onto an Alvarez shot, conceding a goal that jerked Los Che off their ground.

And what’s more, his antics throughout the match actually typified Valencia’s horrible day at the Mediterraneo. If last week’s convincing 3-0 conquering of potential relegation candidates Real Mallorca planted seeds of optimism in Valencians’ hearts, then Sunday’s 2-2 draw with Almeria scythed them down at the root.

Almeria: Same Old Same Old

Unai Emery’s homecoming at Almeria as Valencia coach was never quite going to be easy. This is a club where he had spent two seasons as a coach, where that he had built a team with the patience of a bricklayer and transmuted it into a giant-killing machine that finished eighth in La Liga last season.

If Emery ever wondered how Almeria would lead life after he left for Valencia in the summer, he must have received his answer on Sunday night: exactly the same way. In fact, it seemed that Emery had never ever left the club, so identical and almost pathologically nostalgic Gonzalo Arconada’s footballing style was against Los Che.

Even under Emery Almeria didn’t quite play the exciting, entertaining football that one anticipates from top flight Spanish sides and against Valencia they didn’t try to either. Emery built Almeria on compactness, shoring up of the defense, not allowing the opposition space or time on the ball and consistently moving the ball around.

On Sunday, Almeria played in exactly the same way, always keeping a different shaped Valencia on the backfoot and taking the game to them as expected from a home side. They forced the Valencia defenders closer to the goal and didn’t fear their more illustrious opposition, always demonstrating a will to win.

Bizarre Tactics

But what was cruelly disconcerting about Valencia was that Emery himself contributed to their downfall. At 36, he is a young and pretty much grooming managerial talent and maybe it was a marriage between youthful exuberance and downright courage that propelled him to alter the formation and shape of Valencia.

Valencia started with lone striker David Villa, who in the absence of his buddy David Silva looked lonely, too. Youngster Juan Mata played as a support for Villa while Joaquin, the €25 million winger, was played in the central hole behind Villa, a decision which hints that Emery either hasn’t watched Joaquin play or wants the former Real Betis star to develop his versatility, which sadly isn’t going to happen.

Understandably the formation and the plot miserably failed. Against Mallorca at the Mestalla last week, Valencia played slick passes with rhythmic movement and understanding among the defence, the midfield and the attack but against Almeria they looked wan and lost. In the absence of David Silva, there was no one to feed the largely wandering and wondering David Villa, who became lively only in the second half when Miguel Angel Angulo and Fernando Morientes had come off the bench to support him.

Lingering Doubts

With Villa running around just to get a slice of the ball, Silva wondering from the medics’ table how Valencia are going to cope without him for the next few weeks, the midfield lacking imagination and creativity, the backfour uncertain and cocky and Timo Hildebrand (allegedly!) laughing himself off at Renan’s misery in front of goal, Valencia didn’t look the championship material that they appeared to be last week.

Which might be a ‘mild exaggeration’ in a sense but the stark, naked truth is that against a decent enough Almeria side, that beat Real Madrid and Sevilla at home and held FC Barcelona to a draw last season, Valencia appeared to have lost their own game and struggled to contain Alvaro Negredo and Pablo Piatti at the back while managing just three shots on target all night.

This is not to suggest at all that Los Che are creeping back into the old pit that was dug for them last season. Four points out of a possible six at the start of the season is considerably good when you consider that Valencia are actually second in the table, one point ahead of Real Madrid and three better off than FC Barcelona.  

What is worrying is the way they performed against Almeria. They severely missed David Silva on the left, Ruben Baraja in central defensive midfield and Carlos Marchena at the back - a subtle attestation of how crucial these players are going to be as the season develops. Or was it because this was an away match for Valencia that they looked somewhat conservative and uninspiring?

And as for Almeria, four points out of a possible six implies a third place (!) in the league table at the moment and denotes a brilliant season up ahead. Last season, they finished eight points off a European spot and understandably they shall try and change that situation this season - with or without Emery.

Subhankar Mondal