Today, a guest post from Abdul Rahman Al Ze'bi, who thinks Our Beloved Valencia needs a lot of stuff, like a new coach.

Agree? Disagree? Think Emery is over-caffeinated?

Have a read and post your opinions!

Take it away, Abdul ...

What Does Valencia CF need?
This has been the question everyone asks.

Well, I didn't see the match v Racing this past weekend, but from all accounts, it was yet another shit performance from both Unai Emery and his players. Emery tried to play some nice offensive football away in Santander, starting both Tino Costa and Éver Banega in midfield, and within 2 minutes VCF was down 1-0.

It's always nice to know that people read your work, and when they do they take it to heart. Clearly, Pablo Hernández has a good understanding of English and reads The Offside, because just days after I called him rubbish and whatnot, he put on a blinder of a performance against Levante in the Copa del Rey.

I'm back (kind of)! For those who used to visit The Offside but haven't in a while, welcome back. For those who have never visited before, welcome. As Cesar mentioned in the previous post, it's sad that I closed down Loco4LosChe, but I'm very excited to be a part of The Offside team now, as I think it better suits me at this time in my life to write one to two articles a week instead of daily news updates.

Con un secco 3 a 0 il Chelsea si sbarazza del Valencia, nella sesta e ultima giornata del Girone E di Champions League, e conquista la qualificazione agli ottavi (da prima), proprio a spese dei "pipistrelli" di Emery. Nell'altra sfida il Leverkusen pareggia 1 a 1 a Genk, in rimonta, e passa come seconda forzaContinua a leggere .

By Geoff Reid

Group E
Chelsea vs Valencia from Stamford Bridge, London
At some point today, someone is going to go home disappointed with these two teams level on points in joint second place, and one point behind leader Bayer Leverkusen.

"Yeah we gotcha!" was what Benzema was probably singing to himself after he scored a peach of a goal from a cleverly-taken early free kick by Xabi Alonso AS's Alfredo Relano called last night's game vs. Valencia our worst game of the season and though it's easy to contest his statement with even worse Madrid performances so far this season (e.

Roberto Soldado grabbed three first-half goals to help Valencia thrash Genk 7-0 in a crucial result that kept alive the Spaniards' hopes of qualification for the last 16 of the Champions League.

Jonas Goncalves got an early opener before Soldado's solo show gave Valencia a 4-0 lead before the interval.

By Geoff Reid

Group E
Valencia vs Bayer Leverkusen from the Mestalla, Valenica
The home side are in a tough position with only two points taken from three games so far in the group and currently sit in third place four points behind their opponents who sit in second place.

Bate VS Milan | Valencia vs Leverkusen
Arsenal vs Marseille | Plzen vs Barca

Admittedly, there was a time Michael Ballack was a name highly relevant to football. Now, he has been banished to the 'Has Beens' gallery, led by Rivaldo in a cape and feather duster.

I don't know what to think after today's 2-1 loss to Bayer Leverkusen in the UEFA Champions League in Germany.

On the one hand, we started strong, a Jonas goal in the 24th minute just reward for our early dominance.

Our defense looked solid; our offense wasn't scoring but we were getting opportunities and Bayer didn't look dangerous save the last minutes of the first half.

It Was Yet Another Explosion of Goals from Pipita Finally Club Football is Back! Is it because I'm not European or South American that I just don't enjoy these qualifiers or friendlies? I sensed that the Bernabeu crowd last Saturday felt the same way too - because it was a packed Bernabeu last Saturday!

So Ricardo Costa is miffed that he isnt being played. He recently had an interview in Portugal here is the jist of it translated to english.

The Portuguese international, 30, said about a news article about him being offered to Español.

"I didn't want to believe it when I saw it [the story].

Chelsea drew 1-1 last night away at Valencia which on paper looks like a good point. However, but for the performance of the Valencia keeper in the second half, Chelsea could have won this by three or four.
Chelsea's starting eleven saw three changes to the side that played against Swansea at the weekend.

By Geoff Reid

Group E
Valencia vs Chelsea from the Estadi de Mestalla, Valencia
The talking point in this one will be the return of former Valencia midfielder Juan Mata to the Mediterranean coast with his current side, Chelsea. Both of these sides are favored to qualify for the knockout phase of the tournament, so the home side expect to win this one, and manager Unai Emery has said as much, and expecting a sold out Mestalla will put the pressure on.

By Chris Wright

"Christ! Is that you again Nando? I told you, not in public!"

Chelsea travel to Spain to take on Valencia in the Champions League tonight, a game that will see, among other things, Juan Mata return to Los Che in Chelsea blue for the first time after spending the last four seasons making his name at Los Che and a healthy dose of 'God knows what?

By Chris Wright

"Christ! Is that you again Nando? I told you, not in public!"

Chelsea travel to Spain to take on Valencia in the Champions League tonight, a game that will see, among other things, Juan Mata return to Los Che in Chelsea blue for the first time after spending the last four seasons making his name at Los Che and a healthy dose of 'God knows what?

Our formation tomorrow against Chelsea? Yes/no/maybe?

What do you think?

Who should the spastic Unai Emery select against Chelsea tomorrow in the Champions League?
Discuss tactics and formations below.

And don't forget to read my take on the match at Forza Futbol.

FC Barcelona and Real Madrid got pulses racing in Spain, thrashing Atlético Madrid and Rayo Vallecano respectively on Saturday night.

David Villa produced a sharp finish to give Barcelona a ninth-minute lead and the game looked to be up for Atlético just six minutes later when Thibaut Courtois saved Lionel Messi's shot, only for the loose ball to cannon into the net off defender Miranda.

In yesterday's pre-match press conference, Valencia manager Unai Emery praised Barcelona by stating that when "they have a good day, you're only choice is to choose how you're going to die." Today, however, the Blaugrana faced one of their toughest away fixtures of the season in a stadium where they have won a Copa del Rey final and lost another.

Will the revolution crumble tonight at the Mestalla? by Dominic Vieira

Valencia is sailing in uncharted waters are they're sitting at the top of La Liga, a position they've struggled to conquer since the glorious Ranieri and Benitez days.

We have a rare midweek slate of matches in La Liga this week, with the highlight being league leaders Valencia hosting Barcelona on Wednesday. That match is just one of 10 midweek matches spread across three days.

A dramatic 4-3 opening day win against Racing Santander, thanks to two goals in the last five minutes, has been followed by successive 1-0 wins against Atletico Madrid and Sporting Gijon as Unai Emery's side moved to the top of the table.

Goles, puntos y crecimiento exponencial. Roberto Soldado se ha convertido en el dueño del gol en 2011. El año está siendo inmejorable para el ariete valenciano y el club se está aprovechando de ello. 19 goles en lo que llevamos de año natural le colocan a la cabeza de los goleadores nacionales junto a Álvaro Negredo.

Firstly, humblest apologies on the scarcity. Exams have been ruining my life for the last two weeks and are set to ruin them for a week more, but then freedom beckons.

Which means of course, that this post is going to be shorter than aaron lennon because the books are calling.

As the title says, a win is a win.

Rumours of various players linked with a move to Mestalla were today confirmed as having substance when it was announced that Victor Ruiz had signed for Los Che from Italian club Napoli.

Now there is never smoke without fire, but really, especially after the first game of the season, no-one with half a head will be surprised that Los Che moved for a new defender.

Valencia CF c. 2011-12 have inspired me to jump back on my soap box and preach to the masses.
And why not? I'm giddy with excitement for the season to start this weekend!

That is, if it starts. The players union may strike. The season may be delayed. We may have to wait to see Our Beloved Valencia CF trot out to defend the colors of the Valencian Community.

After the tortuous rollercoaster of the On-Off transfer of Juan Mata to Arsenal, it seems that Valencia now seem certain that the Spanish midfielder will be staying in Spain for the forseeable future. The Valencia boss Unai Emery made it clear that he believes Mata has decided to refuse a move to the Emirates.

Arsenal appear to have blown their chances of signing Juan Mata for a reasonable price after Valencia coach Unai Emery said they would not sell their Spain starlet.

Last week the Gunners were in talks to sign the highly-rated young playmaker, who had a £22 million release clause in his contract that has since expired, meaning any club wanting him may now have to pay significantly more.

Valencia president rules out sale of reported Arsenal & Liverpool target Juan Mata and says no bid has come in

The Spanish team's chief believes the club will be able to hold on to the Spain international, although coach Unai Emery is wary that a big bid could lead to a sale

View the full story here: Goal

A news article on 2011-07-25 16:47:00 from: Goal

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

Valencia have said they will sell midfielder Juan Mata this summer.

Mata has been linked with a move to Arsenal and Valencia coach Unai Emery recently said the club may sell the player to help ease their debts.

However, Mata himself has said he wants to stay at Valencia and now president Manuel Llorente has dealt a further blow to Arsenal's aspirations of signing the player.

A sign of things to come? I hope so.

Valencia wrapped up a comfortable victory against big-spending and ambitious English second division team Leicester City in Austria some hours ago. In doing so Los Che won the Cup Kärnten as they continued preparations for the new season. They won the best of four competition that also featured PSV and Bursaspor.

Rising Spanish striker Bojan Krkic is on his way to Roma. For at least the next two years anyway.

The Serie A club landed the 20-year-old forward on a €12 million deal from Barcelona, but the defending European champions put a buy-back clause in his contract, meaning they have the option to bring him back to Camp Nou after the 2012-2013 season for a €13 million fee.

Spurs have been linked with Spanish ace Juan Mata for some time now and a decision over the player's future could be imminent with reports from his club Valencia suggesting that they could see him leave.

While the Spanish side are keen for him to stay, their head coach Unai Emery had this to say about the situation:
"Valencia has to be prepared for a footballer having to leave, either because is he is not wanted or because some big club wants to sign him," Emery said.

Arsenal target Juan Mata insists he is content at Valencia & plays down Premier League talk

The 23-year-old claims he has never asked to leave the Spanish club this summer, after boss Unai Emery admitted the side would consider offers for the English-linked player

View the full story here: Goal

A news article on 2011-07-21 16:54:00 from: Goal

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

Emery Mata could go

Unai Emery admits Valencia will struggle to retain Juan Mata if the club receive a big-money offer.

View the full story here: Sky Sports

A news article on 2011-07-21 11:20:25 from: Sky Sports

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

But first.

Asier del Horno left Valencia today. And thank God. I was so surprised this morning at seeing the news. The fact that he even still WAS at Valencia completely escaped my mind.

He had a year left on his contract but it was terminated early today, and for good reason. Del Horno has had a poor 5 years at Valencia.

Ladies and Gents I have returned to the world, and I'm sure it is clear that I have had a lot of catching up to do. I will do my best summarise the current and recent news of Valencia. Apologies for any repetition or old news. So...

Are we clever with our transfers, or do we splash cash and suffer financially later?

Unai Emery, entrenador del Valencia y Javier Aguirre, del Real Zaragoza, han sido los preparadores más eficientes de la Primera División del Fútbol español, según un estudio de la Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha que coloca a José Mourinho, del Real Madrid, en el puesto ocho y a Pep Guardiola, del Barcelona, por detrás, en el once.

Two coaching moves by Valencia and Real Sociedad this week.

Valencia announced that they had extended coach Unai Emery's contract by one year until the end of June 2012 after he guided Valencia nto next season's Champions League.

"Unai has demonstrated his worth and qualifying directly for the Champions League has great merit for all," the club's president, Manuel Llorent, said on their website.

(apologies for the plain old URL. Despite me FINALLY (praise the Lord) being given an account, the speed of the accounts is still successfully matching evolution as the slowest thing in existence, so slow that some folks (and that goes for evolution too) can't see it moving and so don't believe that it moves at all.