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 Barcelona new 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.

5 games. 4 losses. 1 point. 10 goals conceded and just 1 goal scored, and the player who scored that goal is now out with a serious injury. This is Valencia’s worst start to a season and looking at their performances this season, you cannot help but wonder is this the same side that finished just outside the European places last season? Valencia look jaded, they look out of ideas, and they look lost, both on and off the football pitch. 

After their loss to Sevilla, Valencia decided to sack their manager Carlos Corberan and their CEO Ron Gourlay in quick succession. There is something about Valencia suffering a defeat to Sevilla, with Corberan being the third manager to be given the sack after Quique Sanchez Flores way back in 2007 and then Nuno Espirito Santo in 2015.

Their new appointment, Oscar Sanchez, is now the 15th managerial appointment ever since Peter Lim took over the club, while Gourlay himself was the sixth CEO in the same time span. Such has been the toxicity surrounding the club, that perpetual caretaker Voro also for once decided against taking the reins, further highlighting the nature of the downward spiral of this once great club.

The club themselves have not shown any sign of ambition or support to strengthen the squad by any means as well. In this window, Valencia spent just €9m (£7.7m), a figure that was below 13 other clubs in total spend. In fact, such has been the sheer paucity of spending that despite raising over €230m in player sales over the last 7 years, they have spent just €70m to replenish their squad.

The resentment of the fans towards owner Peter Lim has reached fever pitch and that is visible every time in the Mestalla. The fans want him gone as they have only seen the club fall to mediocrity under his ownership. While there are a lot of things that are still in the club’s favour, such as the squad strength, the academy quality, and the attendance numbers week to week, they will not count for anything if there is nothing to show for on the pitch. 

Rodri spoke about his comment coming from a view of surprise and sadness. But the big 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 Barcelona, but they have been poor practically every game, and the days that Valencia used to be a force in Spanish football are probably long gone. And that is the sadness that is prevalent, 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, 5 games in, they are already facing a fight to stay in the Spanish top division. While there is still plenty of time and they can yet mount a comeback similar to what they did last season and still have a respectable finish, Valencia’s lurch from bad to worse in this horrible start to their season is just a reminder of how far things have fallen for this mighty club.

Valencia are malismo. 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.