He Valencia In just a few months, he will complete 1,500 days without playing a match in European competition, an anomaly in the club’s history as a result of the sporting decline that began after the departure of Mateu Alemany and Marcellin and that lasted until now. Inside the nightmare that is now the Mestalla club, which does not expect winter signings, is heading for a fifth consecutive season without Europe and aimlessly navigates the First Division, Valladolid coach Rubén Baraja the only lighthouse where the novice. can be grabbed.
He appealed the shield in February. He arrived without a good tactical script, after two years without a job after failing to succeed with several teams in the noble side of the Second Division, but he managed to save a Valencia that was more dead than alive in the second round of the last one. season and where his arrival and the emergence of young players were able to save.
However, after renewing at the club and with a preseason ahead of him, the man from Valladolid managed to clear the locker room of players who did not add up and managed to give the team an identity, competing in every game and knowing what base his game on: Be strong at the back, bite the defense and counterpunch as soon as you have space. An identity completed by a tactical script that it did not present last year, which was more demanding, but now it has had time to implement.
step by step, Deck of cards seems to have reconnected with the fan, who returned to the Mestalla, after several years of navigating the desert without really knowing what to expect from his team. Except for the year of Bordalás, the Valencia It went through a kind of lack of meaning that only benefited Meriton Holdings in its attempt to reduce the club’s debt by shrinking it through the sale of assets.
Deck of cards He understands the club as well as the fans because he is one of them and although his daily speech has always been game to game, ensure permanence and nurture the youngsters, in recent times he increased his demands and showed his enthusiasm to face the coming years.
On December 27, during an open-door training session at the Mestalla, Deck of cards He said he was working to “make Valencia a champion again.” Asked on the 30th about his future aspirations at the club, he said he hopes to achieve “the beginning of something positive” for the club, so that Valencia can once again fight for competitions, but he stressed that “it is necessary this truth so that we don’t know if in the future we will live differently.”
“This is what we want,” said Baraja, asked about the possibility of climbing positions in the table and thinking about reaching European competitions. “I hope to create something so that in the future Valencia can fight for competitions that historically have always competed and for this one of the keys is the presence of fans,” stressed the native of Valladolid.
However, he is focused on short-term goals: “I want to start the year with success. I’m not thinking anymore. Play a good game and compete,” said the Valencian legend, who however hinted that there is more “is a long-term hope or desire. But you have to live this reality so you don’t know if you will live another time in the future.”
Although aware of the sporting, economic and social reality of Valencia, Baraja knew he had the opportunity of a lifetime in front of him. He is Meriton’s “lifesaver” and “fire extinguisher” in Valencia, but he is also a fan, because he is just a fan of Valencia.
Source: La Verdad
I am Shawn Partain, a journalist and content creator working for the Today Times Live. I specialize in sports journalism, writing articles that cover major sporting events and news stories. With a passion for storytelling and an eye for detail, I strive to be accurate and insightful in my work.
