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No Wings to Fly

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Updated: October 27, 2011


Going into every new La Liga season, I usually avoid holding high hopes for Valencia, for reasons we all know about. Having said that, this season’s performances have been way below our expectations. We kicked off the season with a typical Valencia scoreline, 4-3, scoring goals freely but also conceding them freely, and when it looked like our defensive problems have been solved with the great pairing of Adil Rami and Victor Ruiz, we surprisingly seem to have a bigger problem on the other side of the pitch. Our inability to score and in most cases even create scoring opportunities has harmed us immensely, and we consequently find ourselves with one foot outside the Champions League. From the 12 matches Valencia has played so far, the team has been able to score more than one goal in two matches only.

It is crystal clear that our poor offensive form is the problem, however, the debate is on where the problem lies specifically. With Soldado’s great goal-conversion rate and with Banega’s brilliant displays, for me there is no debate that the team’s biggest problem lies in the wings. Valencia wingers have been the envy of La Liga and European football for as long as I remember, today this position is the handicap that needs to be addressed and solved urgently. Today’s Los Che wingers are suffering from poor delivery, poor finishing, and lack of innovation.

Pablo Hernandes

Pablo will never fulfill his ‘potential’, we have been waiting for too long, and at 26 years of age, he is as good as he currently is and that is not good enough for a team like Valencia. He has previously put in occasional world-class performances in the 09-10 season, but many players get these stints and only a few players build on it, Pablo is not one of the few players. Credit to the Spanish winger, his efforts on the pitch and work-rate are immense, but he is way too predictable running down the wing, and his delivery and finishing are no where near as good as they should be. When Pablo runs out of ideas, you will just see his head down, dribbling down the wing like a headless chicken until he is dispossessed.

With Feghouli breathing down his neck and no Joaquin to cover up for his inconsistency, Pablo needs to rediscover his form urgently, it’s do-or-die for the winger. Emery has already shown signs of lack of patience towards him by not starting him against Athletic Bilbao and not including him in the squad for the Zaragoza match.

Pablo Piatti

Too early to judge on a new signing, but Piatti has yet to justify a penny of the money Valencia spent on him. Whenever Piatti has the ball, he almost certainly falls, one way or another he will fall, and if he doesn’t fall (somehow), he makes nothing of his opportunities. We have seen speed, but we have not seen proper delivery, passing, dribbling, vision, or even proper shots. We all know that Piatti is capable of doing all that from his Almeria days, but we have seen none of that with Valencia yet.

Feghouli

The potential in the young Frenchman is there for Emery to exploit, but he currently seems lost and out of ideas. It appears like Feghouli is not ready to ‘explode’ into the Valencia scene yet, very immature.

Canales

Canales has not been tested properly down the wing, though his performances in the playmaker role have been decent. Canales will be sidelined on a long-term injury, so it would be pointless discussing him now.

Jonas

Dear Emery, Jonas Gonclaves is not a winger, and he never will be.

Solution?

No excuses this time for Emery, feeling ‘proud’ of the team’s efforts or blaming ‘luck’ for not delivering results will do him no good this time around. With the obvious exception of Barcelona and Real Madrid, the Valencia boss has the most complete squad in La Liga under his command, with the depth to alter tactics and formations that could solve our attacking problems or any other possible problem. Tino Costa and Parejo could be key to any alterations Emery would make, though neither are wingers, both players have good delivery and shot technique, which is what we are in desperate need for. The obvious solution would be for our current wingers to step up, but if they don’t, then it is Emery’s responsibility to find immediate solutions.

A month ago I wouldn’t have imagined myself writing an article on Valencia’s offensive problems. It is hugely disappointing that this problem comes at a time where we seem to have solved our defensive problems, it just feels like we cannot have a complete team with a complete performance. Always good, but never good enough – story of Emery’s teams.

  • Filip

    I totally agree, this is fucking disappointing.. If just Piatti could step up and be as good as he were at Almeria, then problem solved.

  • Martijn

    Well at times we have the winger pair of Almeria last year on the pitch, they didnt score too much and got relegated. Especially in the case of feghouli i really doubt wether hes good enough.
    As for Pablo, he usually gets sufficient goals and assist in each season, its just that he either does something brilliant of not much at all, hes that kind of flashy player but i do think hes good enough at this moment.
    I think however that we do have a problem in the conversion rate, yes Soldado scores plenty (though he also misses quite often). But except Soldado, who else is gonna get us goals? I meant seriously, who???
    Jonas misses by the bucketloads and easy stuff barely 2 meters away, Banegas shots are never on target, Feghouli has the carreer average of Albalda, Piatti hasnt been on it yet and Pablo is hugely inconsistent when it comes to scoring. Our second top scorer is a defender called Rami, and he only made 2! Its way to easy to defend like that cause if a team gets Soldado out of the match properly we got a huge problem…
    Im going to say something very controversial here: Try and play Tino and bench Banega. Not because Banega hasnt been playing good but because we need more people on the pitch that can actually score and because Tino can drag defenders too him as they need to make sure he doesnt fire any long range missiles. That would make our game a bit less predictable. Banega might be playing good but hes not what this team needs at this moment.

    • argies

      @martijn I m argentinian. i totally disagree with u. Using tino to replace banega? What a joke. Tino is not even 50% of banega. U must banega’s hater!

      • Martijn

        Im not a Banega hater, i even said he plays good at the moment. But the team needs goals and Tino can score them, Banega cant. The issue is noone scores and we need to change that, maybe with tino we will score easier.

        Offcourse Banega is a better passer, but the issue is not passing the issue is we have next to noone to finish that pass. If we were Barca or Real Banega would be a far better player to have for our team then Tino. But we are not real or barca and we need people that can finish at this moment and Tino might be able to help with that.

        So i say its worth trying at least.

        • argies

          U r wrong. A holding midfielder or playmaker’s role is not to score goals, but to organize the midfield and create chances. Do u watch   every valencia’s matches? I watch almost every matches of valencia. Actually, in almost every matches, there are many opportunities for valencia to score but they kept misssing the chances.

          The problem with valencia is that the players keep wasting chances (like yesterday against zaragoza, there are many chances, but can’t convert them), but not lack of chances in scoring goals. U must understand tis.

        • argies

          In addition,  tino is a midfielder not a striker. How many goals can he score. 10, 15 or 20? The problem is not with banega. The problem is with the person who is responsible to score, but not the person who is not responsible to socre.  

          • Martijn

            I have to disagree with the playmaking argument, Baraja scored plenty for us and even got topscorer one season so it really does help a lot when someone in that position can score and force something every now and then. You can actually see Banega trying it as well taking a lot of shots, too bad that unlike Tino’s they are never on target and lack power. So yes in that position its your job to score too.
             
            But you have to reread my argument: The point is that because noone else scores and players are wasting goalscoring opportunities Tinos ability to score himself is more valuable.
            If the rest of the team is playing well Banega is actually a lot more usefull because many of his nice passes are being converted into goals. The point is they are not being converted and thus it might be more usefull to have someone that just shoots it in himself thus reducing our dependency on the rest of the attack for conversion. 
            Im not saying it will work out i just saying its worth a try.

        • argies

          @ martijn
          First of all, r u tino costa?

          Second, if tino costa replaces banega, the situation is even worse, coz the chances to score will reduce dramatically. Banega is a natural classic playmaker who can create many chances. Ya,Tino costa can shoot better, so wat? I afraid if Tino plays, he can’t even have a chance to shoot and score, coz the chances to score will be reduced dramatically without banega. With tino himself, i m not sure how may chances he can create like banega. Ur idea will lead to even worse outcome, becoz now valencia will find hard to have a scoring chance.

          • marwan

            Heres a concept that works: Play 4-3-1-2/4-1-2-1-2, whatever you call it. Focus play on the center. Play with Topal as holding, Tino and Banega in the center, Jonas #10, and Soldado+Aduriz or even Piatti up front. Problem solved.

  • Mansouri

    Maybe Bernat can fly

  • rko_49

    We have to play with TWO attackers!!
    Soldado — Aduriz
     
    Emery, TRY IT PLZ!

    • Martijn

      Jonas is an attacker so essentially we are already playing with 2 strikers. The problem is our second striker doesnt score any.

  • Valencian

    Couldn’t agree more on this arcticle. The thing which angers me the most is that we’ve sold Joaquin to Malaga for only 4 mio. Not only that we lost experienced captain, fast and skillfull player, with Joaquin we lost Pablo Hernandez too. Pablo doesn’t have any real competition, with Joaquin he was working hard to play in first 11 but now he doesn’t. I’m glad Emery left him on the bench against Bilbao and didn’t put him in the team against Zaragoza. Perhaps he’ll start working harder. Its funny though, last year we had such problems in defence but this year we have problems in attack. I was way too much optimistic about our “new” wingers after Mata and Joaquin departure but now, I’m starting to miss them. I don’t know what Emery will to, I wish him the best but if it was up to me I would try with 4-2-2-2, with Soldado and Aduriz upfront. Last season they showed that they are pretty good together. I remember that Aduriz scored a lot of goals from Soldado passes. Perhaps this would be a solution? Or we can pray that our wingers wakes up and start to shine. We have a big problems in the middle also. Topal isn’t the same player as he was before the injury, Banega is awesome but he plays too much and I think he can’t play on such high level the whole season. Albelda is old but still a great captain, Maduro (no comment), Dani Parejo has shown practically nothing and I dont know where Tino Costa is? I miss his shots from long distance and his outstanding sharp passes. @Martijn, I have to disagree with you about Banega. Actually he is the one who can start something so we can pull of a chance. He has great ball control and he can more defenders on him, this leaves an open space for a pass and voila, chance created. Anyhow, I wish Emery the best, hope he can motivate the players and find some new tactics so we can go back on winning routes. AMUNT!

    • Valencian

      drag*

      • Jiwonsi

        You’re expecting too much from the players. Piatti and Canales have just arrived, Jonas hasn’t even been there a year, and influential players like Mata and Joaquin have left.

  • Adil

    A great article and it highlights our biggest problem this year : lack of goals.

    Personally I would try the 4-4-2 with Soldado and Adruiz up front, it worked last season with Pablo on the right wing..because what we’re doing now isnt working.

  • truth

    I totally agree with this article. I watch every matches of valencia. Almosty in every matches, valencia’s wingers can’t do propper delivery. Really miss joaquin. Maybe valencia should consider to buy new wingers.

  • mohanad

    If jonas scores from the chances he get, we shud be fine. His finishing is absolutely terrible. Soldado scores 1 from 10. We shud buy a forward or get milos krasic

    • Stanley

      Quite honestly, I think you’re being a little harsh on Soldado. You have to realize he probably gets a little tired from playing the lone striker role every single match. Also remember that most of his goals last year were from crosses and that the wingers haven’t been getting him that many this year and he’s still scored a fair amount. I’d like Milos Krasic as much as you would, but there’s no way we can afford him, let alone his massive salary.

  • Jiwonsi

    Who needs wingers? Whenever a cross gets played into the box there is only Soldado jumping for it, and heading isn’t his strong suit. In fact Valencia didn’t play much with winger last season, either- Mata was in the center more often than not, and Pablo was switched to the left, from where he can cut in and shoot with his right foot. Anyway who needs wingers when you have a leftback like Jordi Alba?

    • marwan

      A wingers job isn’t only to cross, you know that right?

  • kat

    we miss silva.. he was a playmaker.. that vision only ever has.. but ever is more a pirlo type deep lying playmaker.. and he is stepping up this season..extremely motivated..
     
    apart from him feghouli and piatti are very much average and you are.. soldado is no villa.. lacks that finese, but still a decent striker..

    last season our attack wasnt great.. but mata improved a lot and during the later half moved into the silva’s role but still lacked the vision.. one of the reasons for me to believe his move to chelsea came a season too soon.. for us as well as him..

    If you carefully look.. our attack has clicked when two lb’s have played together.. or in other words people with some experiene of what unai expects..
     
    feghouli is a bit ahead of piatti but as of now piatti is a little lost.. 
    as a player he is more interested in scoring goals which is good.. but there is the same amout of importance as creating it as well as bringing the ball forward.. piatti instead of bringing the ball front likes to go front and  press the defense and wait for crosses which imo is not his strong point.. from what i have seen it’s his dribbling which has been good.. he played good against bilbao but was disappointing against zaragoza..
    In general it’s tough for the manager as well when so many new players are there..
    we complained a lot about unai’s defensive stratagies last season.. but we are doing pretty well this season.. but we still haven’t improved on closing out games against german teams or in general teams that are very motivated to fight back.. UCL is like that..  
    I think we will improve.. but might not qualify for the second round.. also some players need to gel..
    I still dont think it’s the right thing to fire the coach..

     

  • Djela

    Realy @ Martijn? Tino Costa for Banega?? Wauw!! if You watch Valencia its more than obvious to see dat everything goes true Banega! Every dangerous attack starts with Banega! Tino COsta can shoot but nothing more! He is very bad on the ball slow in handeling and is not a good enough play maker what a joke! And yess Baraja scored but BAraja was a legend and Baraja had Aimar in front off him and VIcente and Rufete on da wings plenty of support! Banega needs supports in front of him to connect! With Mata gone almost all the attacking weight lays on his shoulders cause Piatti Feghouli Pablo dont really have the playmakers vision they are more direct footballers! Feghouli in my eyes not good enough and Piatti I see more as a second striker like he played in pre-season but all the sudden Emery puts him on the wing! Bernat who did very well only played against Racing and never again? Emery is a good coach but his squad management is very bad! Parejo one match as a starter and the next he doesnt even gets a call up?? And we really need a striker a Villa Gameiro like striker to complent Soldado and who can also connect with Banega!

    • Martijn

      I agree Banega plays well but good plays dont help if noone converts them. Thats the issue so i think Tinos worth a shot, but like i said its a controversial thought to put one of the teams best players on the bench but if this doesnt work one has to think freely about these things.
      And i disagree about Tino not being an adequate playmaker: he proved he was last season. He can pass and set up as well (though not as good as Banega) and has the long range shot. Both are different types of players for the same position where Tino is a bit more of a box to box midfielder and Banega more of a pure playmaker.
       

  • Stian

    sorry for not giving a good critism, but: JONAS IS SHIT! 
    In Norway, Silva is seen as the best player in PL, and Mata the best buy in PL this year. And Villa do great in Barca. I miss them.. :(

  • B.G

    Jonas is useless, no matter where he plays, when he gets the ball, he stresses, doesn’t know what to do, and just either passes it to an even more pressured team mate, or to an opponent..

    Now without Canales we’ll really struggle I think :(
    Banega is the only player in our team playing like a star now, can’t believe you say we have to use Tino instead of him, would rather use Tino further up as the attacking midfielder, don’t have to throw Banega out of the team to get Tino in..
    Piatti needs to get better, Soldado needs to find that deadly form he had at the end of the last season, and Pablo has to stop messing around..

    And why not try a game without wingers?

                Soldado – Aduriz
                        Piatti

                  Tino      Banega          
    Jordi                                 Miguel
                Ruiz – Topal – Rami 
                       Guaita 

    This could work, or we could just get Bernat up from Mestalla and try him again, he was brilliant in the pre-season, even against big teams, I guess the first game in La Liga for him just was a bit too big for him, a lot of pressure, but i’m sure he’d be good for us, and he can only get better, still very young, if he played well for us now and just kept on improving we could have the future best winger in the world in our team :)  

    • marwan

      try Topal as defensive midfielder instead of CB and we’ll be fine.

  • don

    I think its a bit obvious that we need more than on striker, Valencia’s attacking prowess was feared in the past so normally we face stiff defenses but would still score due to the genius of mata, joquain, silva, villa. I think the midfielders need another target to aim a pass for. Soldado can hold up the ball for another striker the problem with aduriz from last season was that he missed alot, its like he can only score headers. Selling isco was a mistake. Piatti hasnt settled yet and Pablo not having competition has shown to be true but i like Sofiane, or tempo increases when he plays. Yes he’s immature but he’s gifted and runs all night. He’ll get it together i say play guaita-miguel-ruiz-rami-alba-mathieu-ever-topal-sofiane(pablo)-aduriz(piatti), soldado. Ive ruled out canales because he seems out of the picture for most of the season

    • Kat

      you do know we didnt sell isco..malaga payed his buyout clause.. and he went.. he was pretty stupid to do that..

  • Samuel

    A few considerations here: to me, a big problem is that we are letting go that much experience. I don’t mind not having Joaquín on the pitch. For those of you that do, I wonder if you already have forgotten about his passing and decision-making, which was worse than Pablo’s has been at any point. However, he would have been a big influence in the dressing room, as would be Vicente. We have an attacking line where our most veteran players are 26 years old and neither Pablo nor Jonás have that much experience. Who will be there to help kids like Piatti and Feghouli improve? That’s my biggest concern here and I’m not even all that surprised that a team which lacks experience and leadership has trouble performing at the top of their ability.
     
    Second is that I think the view on wingers here still is optimistic. The comment about Jonás, who is not a winger and never will be, holds equally true for Canales. He has been invisible in the few matches he played on the left wing and he has performed very well in the center. I don’t think Feghouli is a winger either. He simply lacks speed and is limited with his action radius. He seems good at combination play and he can shoot, so he would probably perform better in the center as well. Piatti, I don’t know what position he should play in. We try to dominate possession which means there is relatively few space and Piatti can’t make use of his speed. He has been so far below his ability at Valencia that I don’t want to evaluate him yet. That leaves us with only Pablo Hernandez as a true winger, although he is like Alba in that he can play at the full-back position too.
    As much as I love the wing play that has made us great, it seems that the tactic is simply unsuited for our squad. Since Soldado seems to be having some trouble playing as a lone striker (which is no surprise because he is simply not Villa), a tactic with two strikers and a central attacking midfielder makes sense. 4-1-2-1-2 with a diamond-shape midfield is the first thing that comes to my mind. Still, we might also need to make one or two purchases to make up for the lack of experience in this squad.

  • http://loco4losche.com Asker

    You’re all overseeing the most important point: the fullbacks.

    How can Pablo H, Piatti or Feghouli perform well on the right flank, with useless trashload like Miguel or (at least hard-working) Bruno beside them?

    The left flank does well, especially with Alba/Mathieu. Give Piatti some time, he will be good.

    But an attack, starts in the defence. Buy a proper right back, give Piatti, Jonás and Feghouli some more time to get used to the team – and we will se more goals. 

  • Jairon

    Feghouli sucks…………. so does Pablo H. Parejo, Bruno and Miguel are useless.

    Jonas is shit.. Aduriz is not a good. Topal is low and Albelda should retire soon. Dealbert is an amatur. Piatti needs to wake up

    The only players that is really good.

    EVER, Canales, Rami, D.Alvez, Ruiz, Soldado and maybe also T.Costa    

  • jesper

    we just have ton use Banega, Tino Costa, Canales as a central midtfielder instead of using Topal and Albelda. that will give Valencia the fast we need to be a contra team again
     

  • VBF

    i agree with some of the replies but i think emery should really find a way to put Tino and Banega together although banega is doing a great effort in the midfield but he cant shoot will and every team need a midfielder who can shoot in case other team defenders blocks all the ways to score by short passes or crosses and i don’t know why emery don’t add Paco Alacer to some games he’s a young player with great potential so emery please try to put him i’m affraid in that way we will lose him the same way we lose Isco to Malaga      

    • kat

      I think tino wasn’t a good buy.. don’t get me wrong.. I think he is a very good player..but the way we line up, i mean there is just no starting spot for him..
      his skill set is a strong foot, man to man marking and running a lot..
      his weaknesses:poor ball control(very heavy first touch), on occasions passing and the most important lacks the constant threat to the opposition with creativity like ever.. Though he runs a lot, ever is almost good in almost most of the things.. 
      So in general he wasn’t made out for us..
      you could see why emery was toying with a 3 man midfield.. to incorporate tino and banega with a DM..  

      Just a case in point regarding tino’s play.. against barcelona.. though he ran a lot and man marked messi it just opened up space for xavi.. i dont remember who passed the ball to cesc for the second goal but it wasn’t messi.. there is a tactical shift when tino plays..

      also with the latest developments it’s tougher for him to fight back.. emery needs to work with his players skills.. he is just too stubborn..
      I am fine with not forgiving mistakes(pablo and costa both faced it, migue chori deserved it) but I think it isolates a lot of players.. and some players dont deserve it..

      • kat

        my bad.. it was messi.. but the general idea is it opened space for the other player in the middle.. 

  • don

    Its important to note that the side has gone thru a lot of changes. Emery is doing a brilliant job given he has to sell big players to keep valencia afloat. I’ll wait till January before I recommend any serious changes.

    • don

      HA, My Sofiane prediction came thru, told u guys he was pure gold.