Valencia lurch from bad to worse in horrible start to the season.
“This lot are very weak, eh? Very weak, mate. Very bad.”
These were new Barcelona signing Rodri’s words about Valencia as his side strolled to a 5–0 victory over them recently. And while he has since apologised for it, saying that he did not mean it, you cannot help but wonder that he is actually telling the truth about the sorry state of affairs at Valencia.
Five games. Four losses. One point. Ten goals conceded. Just one goal scored. And the player who scored that goal is now out with a serious injury. This is Valencia’s worst start to a league campaign ever, and looking at their performances this season, one cannot help but wonder how this is the same side that finished just outside the European places last season. Valencia look jaded, out of ideas, and lost both on and off the pitch.
After their loss to Sevilla on Saturday, Valencia decided to sack their head coach Carlos Corberán and CEO Ron Gourlay in quick succession. There is something about Valencia suffering a defeat to Sevilla, with Corberán being the third manager to be given the sack after losing to Los Nervionenses after Quique Sánchez Flores back in 2007 and Nuno Espírito Santo in 2015.
Their interim coach, Óscar Sánchez, is the 15th managerial appointment ever since Peter Lim took over the club in 2014, with Gourlay being the sixth CEO in that time span. Such has been the toxicity surrounding the club, that perpetual caretaker Voro also seems reluctant to take over the reins again, further highlighting the nature of the downward spiral of this once great club.
The club themselves have not shown any sign of ambition. In the recent transfer window, Valencia spent just €9 million, a figure that was below 13 other LaLiga clubs in total spend. In fact, such has been the sheer paucity of spending that, despite raising over €230 million in player sales over the last seven years, they have spent just €70 million to replenish their squad.
The resentment of the fans towards club owner Peter Lim has reached fever pitch, and that is visible every time at the Mestalla. Fans want Lim gone, having seen the club fall into mediocrity under his ownership. While there are a lot of things that are still in the club’s favour, such as squad strength, academy quality, and week-to-week attendance numbers, they’ll not count for anything if there is nothing to show for their efforts on the pitch.
Rodri spoke about his comment coming from a view of surprise and sadness. But the fact remains that Valencia being bad is no longer a surprise to anyone. It could have been considered an aberration if they were poor only in their defeat against Barça, but they have been poor practically every game this season, and the days when Valencia used to be a force in Spanish football are long gone. And that is the sadness that is prevalent, over a great institution being reduced to a shadow of its proud self.
When Rodri left Spain for England to join Man City, Valencia were a club in the Champions League. Since then, they have not reached that competition again. Now, five games into the new season, they are already facing a fight to stay in the Spanish top division. While there is still plenty of time for them to mount a comeback, similar to what they did last season, Valencia’s lurch from going bad to worse is just a reminder of how far this once mighty club have fallen.
Valencia are, as Rodri said, malísimo. And if the present is any indication of things to come, they might be like that for quite a while, and that does not bode well for anyone of a Valencia persuasion.
