Villarreal USA - All Posts

Quiniela 36 : 3-way tie at the top

2013-05-24T14:32:39Z

There is a dead heat going into the last 3 quinielas at the top.

Quiniela 36

Standings for the May, Monthly prize

Player	Total May
SalomonJ	11
Jens the dane	10
paella fanatic	9
Magpie	9
marhabal	8
cosa da costa	7
Jose Garcia	4
Athos	4
nielz m	2
maddi	1

Overall Standings after 35 weeks of quiniela!

Player	Total
marhabal	112
paella fanatic	112
Jens the dane	112
Magpie	102
cosa da costa	100
Jose Garcia	86
ravi	71
Boti	63
juananton	60
erlillo8	57
bordearea	55
Sporting Villarreal	55
Athos	54
ThomasM	38
SalomonJ	37
ivanSERBIA	34
klassikmike1	29
RageCZ	29
ali	22
migue	21
Metz	20
nielz m	14
Paul_Lozano	13
zapata	12
Greg	11
maddi	11
spursforever	10
Jörg	9
ketilsan	9
orient1	7
Rövskrubb	7
angarest	6
Maddog2591	6
maltman777	6
Raul Marin	6
shabani18	6
idefix	5
sara	5
vanessa	5
Bogdan	4
Deturn	4
Juli	4
Julián	4
Shehryar	4
Jordi Guia	3
otf	3
Sergio92	3
Andrea_Vila	2
Danilecodosera	2
David	2
Esteban	2
Marimar	2
miguelcabta	2
siempre_riquelme	2
IvanMacias1989	1
Sanchez_5	1
Sebastian Martinez	1
wakesleep	0

Podcast: Big win over Girona

2013-05-23T01:56:59Z

Huge win for Villarreal over Girona. Next up Xerez

Summer Nights in Madrid…and Other Tales of Spain - part 1

2013-05-21T13:32:14Z

Washington to Paris to Barcelona. Thus began a somewhat epic vuelta a España (amidst the Giro d’Italia) by train and bus through Valencia, Madrid, Bilbao, San Sebastián, and Pamplona. And Vila-real, of course.

We arrived in Valencia in time for the hosts’ 4-0 thrashing of Osasuna at Mestalla, but the local taxistas were understandably underwhelmed by Los Che in 2012-13. Interesting to hear the frustration with the club’s transfer policy, losing David Villa, David Silva, and Juan Mata without obtaining adequate replacements over the past few seasons. From an outsider’s perspective, however, you might cast a wider net to blame club mismanagement, the failed Nou Mestalla project, and complicity by Bankia and the provincial government. To each his own.

Villarreal hosted Elche in the noon kickoff on Sunday, so we took the regional train mid-morning to the town of 50,000 inhabitants. Thousands of ilicitano supporters made the trip, so we were outnumbered on the hour-plus ride in the direction of Castellón. But credit the Elche fans for good behavior amidst a raucous post-match celebration. And almost to a man, every Elche supporter expressed a desire to return next season for the same fixture in the Primera: ojalá.

We arrived at the Vila-real train station to a surprise: an impromptu greeting party featuring our loyal supporter Robin and Belgian penya Els Flamencs Grocs, also in town for the match. It was not the last time I would be confused with A-lister Ravi, whom local fans recognized from his appearances on radio announcer Javi Mata’s local show. With spirits buoyed and cobwebs shaken of jetlag, we hopped into Robin’s car for the surprisingly winding ride to El Madrigal.

Vila-real appears a sleepy town on most days, but the pre-match festivities stretch for many blocks. Yellow jerseys abound on the backs of locals, and the grua (municipal towing authority) earns its pay thanks to parking restrictions. We got out in the official lot -- full on Primera match days, but empty when we arrived around 10:30 am -- and sat for a coffee in front of El Madrigal. After a mild spending spree at the club store, we were ready to enjoy the match.

The Agrupación de Penyas (APV) took over from there -- wonderful people. They welcomed us to their club office around the corner from El Madrigal, loaded us up with beverages, and invited us to "sit" in their section for the match. With a boisterous group of horn blowers and drummers in tow, we arrived at El Madrigal just in time for kickoff.

Part 2 on the match to follow.

Villarreal crush Girona 4-1 at a rocking El Madrigal

2013-05-19T22:33:48Z

Wow. What a game in El Madrigal. Villarreal defeated Girona 4-1, and in doing so are now joint second with Almeria (who defeated Elche 2-1 this morning). It was not as easy as the scoreline might suggest, and though Villarreal were clearly the better side on the day, full praise to Girona for playing some excellent football themselves.

Resumen de Villarreal CF (4-1) Girona CF - HD by jorgellorens

Teams:

Villarreal CF: Juan Carlos; Mario, Musacchio, Mellberg, Jaume Costa; Aquino (Jonathan Pereira, 69’), Bruno, Tito Canteros (Manu Trigueros, 67’), Cani; Uche and Perbet (Joan Oriol, 83’).

Girona FC: Dani Mallo; Jose, Richy, Chus Herrero, David García (Juanlu, 73’); Toni Moral, Luso, Tébar, Migue (Moisés, 13’), Felipe (Eloi, 81’); and Acuña.

The first half was somewhat similar to that against Elche. Villarreal scored an early goal, but though clearly superior weren't able to add any more before the half ended. Whatever intentions Girona might have had to sit back and defend, knowing Villarreal had to win and they could be content with a draw, ended within four minutes. Villarreal broke forward with Aquino sliding the ball forward to Canteros, and his one-touch pass released Uche past the Girona defense. Goalkeeper Dani Mallo tried to come and snuff out the danger but too late, and the Nigerian's finish was perfectly placed. 1-0 to Villarreal, and the crowd was expecting more.

But although Villarreal were controlling play, they were not finding it easy to create much, though Perbet should have done better than to shoot straight at the keeper when receiving a quick pass (from Uche) at the top of the box in space. I felt a 1-0 lead at the break was just about right, though we did create a couple of chances near the end of the half. Girona's best opportunity came from a freekick that Juan Carlos barely saw--Mario Musacchio inexplicably ducking as the ball came toward him--but punched away to safety.

The referee (Eduardo Prieto) was poor, as so often happens, failing to give yellow cards for obvious pullbacks of our attacks. Aquino was again the victim of much of this, but Cani, Bruno and Perbet were each repeatedly fouled with little punishment. The half ended with Villarreal preparing to take a corner, and there were plenty of whistles around El Madrigal as the officiating crew left the pitch. But hey, the sun was shining, and we were ahead.

HT Villarreal 1-0 Girona

The seocnd half began much as the one against Elche. I don't know what happens at halftime in the visiting locker room at our ground, but Girona came out the same way Elche did--with turbochargers. It was as if they had decided the best defense was to attack, and they immediately focused, as teams have done all season, on our right. Luso and Tebar were important, but the real star was Toni Moral.

In the 51st minute Girona came forward, Moral with the ball in midfield, and Mellberg got caught upfield--his attempt to block the attack simply caromed back off the attacker, and left our defense in full retreat. Moral came forward and chipped Juan Carlos from outside the area, and the Girona fans went crazy. It seemed like the Elche match all over again, especially since for the next five minutes or so Villarreal were at sea. First Girona had a 2-on-1 but Juan Carlos was able to smother the final ball when Acuna couldn't control it, then Moral slipped a pass past Mellberg and into the path of Acuna (I think) and Juan Carlos tipped his shot or cross away at the post and then Musaachio cleared it off the line.

Maybe that was the turning point, because after that Villarreal regained their composure. Uche made an excellent cross that Perbet just couldn't get to in time, and then we should have had a penalty when Moises Hurtado stuck his leg out to stop Jeremy from progressing around him, and then wrestled him down in the area. But no call. We came close from another corner, I remember Cani whistling a shot over the top that the keeper never saw at some point in here, and there was another not-so-legal blocking off of Perbet in the area from a cross but again the referee saw nothing.

By now ( 65 minutes in) the game was going crazy. Action at both ends, high pace, the Submarine players were like ball-seeking torpedoes or something, trying to break up Girona attacks before they could trouble Juan Carlos, and the Girona players were speeding forward as quickly as they could whenever they got the ball. It was wide open action with nary an offside trap to be seen. Mallo made a key save on Uche when he was in all alone, and surely this wasn't going to end 1-1.

At one point (back when we had the lead) Senna had been warming up, but now when we needed goals, Marcelino went first to Manu Trigueros in place of Tito Canteros, and then in the 69th minute took off Aquino and brought on Jony Pereira. It seemed somewhat odd at first, but almost immediately paid dividends.

Cani played a ball that at first looked like it had been mishit--had he played it to Jony's left, he would have been in on goal, but he played it to his right. However, the Girona defender didn't try to clear the ball, and Jony took two touches--the first to give him an angle to center the ball, the second to center it--and Jeremy Perbet arrived at the near post and did the rest. You can see a view from the stands here.

That time the Girona defenders had hung out their keeper to dry, but just seven minutes later Mallo, who has a reputation for being a bit wayward at times, gave up a key goal on a hard Perbet shot after Cani released him into the box again. It was struck quickly and hard, and Mallo got his hands to it, but the ball went in nevertheless. Looking at the replay, it didn't seem as though the keeper got much love afterward from his beleaguered defenders.

Perbet came off shortly afterward for Joan Oriol, and Girona threw everyone forward in an attempt to get back into it, but it was more a case of clearing the bouncing ball than making spectacular saves--at least, that's what I remember now! And in injury time Villarreal scored what could yet prove to be a vital goal, Uche steaming forward and putting a shot right between the keeper's legs to make it 4-1 and win the tiebreak should the two clubs finish tied. Who could have asked for more?

FT Villarreal 4-1 Girona

In his comments afterward, Marcelino praised the fans and the atmosphere in El Madrigal--did I mention how loud it was?--and said that given how the first half went he didn't expect Girona to tie, but we were able to regroup and were clearly superior in the end. Three "finals" are left!

My men of the match: Juan Carlos, Cani, Uche, Perbet (no particular order)

ENDAVANT VILLARREAL!!

Villarreal USA T-shirts are available!

2013-05-19T21:26:00Z

If you don't think you're going to win the remaining monthly quiniela competition, you can still have a Villarreal USA T-shirt. If you go to the VUSA homepage, at the top there is a "more" heading. And if you mouse over it or whatever, you'll see "store" . Click on that and you see your choices--white or yellow.

For now that's all we've got, but maybe we can get more creative over the summer.

Enjoy!

Villarreal host Girona: only a win will do for the Submarine

2013-05-17T18:59:29Z

The town of Vila-real is busy celebrating the feast day of Saint Pasqual, the patron saint of Eucharitic congresses according to wikipedia, who died on May 17 1592 and is buried in Vila-real. It's a big event, with parades, midnight open-air barbecues on the streets, and so on, and sounds like a great time.

And on Saturday, Villarreal hosts Girona in a match that holds the key to our automatic promotion chances. With the festival going on and given the importance of the game, the club is trying its best to ensure a large crowd behind the Submarine on Saturday, with perhaps as many as 20,000 expected at the game.

Our opponents: Girona have surprised all season. Certainly not being picked as promotion candidates when the season started (they finished fifteenth last year, and hadn't come in the top of half of the table since joining the Segunda in 2008), they have made the most of a €4.5 million budget.

They have largely avoided losing streaks: they did lose back-to-back matches to Elche and Alcorcon in December, and had only one win in eight games in a stretch in January and February. (Incidentally, the first three of those matches were against the three teams they have to play yet after Villarreal).

But they are 8-1-3 in their last twelve matches, though only 2-1-2 on the road, and are coming off a rare home loss. They are definitely a better attacking team than defending team. They have allowed 33 goals on the road in 19 games, which is one of the poorer records in the division. But, they have scored 25 away too: only Almeria and Barcelona B have done better.

Carlos Acuña is their danger man: he has 15 goals this season. He's strong in the air, and Felipe and Jofre have both been good at putting crosses in for him. They'll set up in a 4-2-3-1 with Luso and Tebar in the middle, looking to create quick attacks (that's assuming Tebar is able to play; he missed last week's match).

Goalkeeper Dani Mallo said this is a big game, but not a "final" for Girona--if they lose, they will be a point behind with three matches left. But for Villarreal, it is a must-win situation, because a loss would put them five points back (effectively, six) with three to play, and a draw would leave Girona two points up and in possession of the tiebreak. So win it must be, then.

Villarreal: Coach Marcelino isn't giving anything away, as he had practice behind closed doors just as the team did before Alcorcon. So no insights from our friend Robin Harris as to what took place, unfortunately! We do however have the team list:

Goalkeepers: Juan Carlos, Mariño.

Defenders: Mario, Joan Oriol, Jaume Costa, Mellberg, Pablo Íñiguez, Musacchio

Midfielders: Bruno, Tito Canteros, Manu Trigueros, Marcos Senna, Cani, Aquino.

Strikers: Uche, Perbet, Gerard Moreno, Jonathan Pereira.

Still no Chechu Dorado or Farinós, and in spite of rumors to the contrary, no Hernán Pérez, either. And no spot for Moi Gomez, with four strikers named to the squad instead. I expect to see the same XI as against Alcorcon with the exception of Musacchio for Iñiguez.

Not much else to say, really. More than 1800 Girona fans will make the three and-a-half hour trip, and there could be as many as 20,000 in the ground tomorrow for this one. Let's win it.

ENDAVANT VILLARREAL, SEMPRE ENDAVANT.

Girona president thinks Villarreal had something to do with Xerez winning last week

2013-05-17T15:36:22Z

Yes, I know it is the time of year when the conspiracy theorists, of whom there are always a number in Spain, have a field day---and certainly there are lots of stories of suitcases stuffed with money and cigars mysteriously appearing in dressing rooms, etc. that are probably true--but I had to laugh at Girona's club president, Joaquim Boadas de Quintana I believe it is, suggesting Villarreal had something to do with Xerez's win over them last week.

Perhaps he thought Villarreal's decision to release Marquitos and Lucas Porcar last year was nothing more than a clever plot, as we were confident they would score goals against our direct rivals late in the 2012-13 season? Or maybe he's just trying to deflect blame away from his own club, as well as put Xerez on notice he will be watching when they play us to see if they play with the same commitment. (As was pointed out on our podcast, they have actually taken the lead in many games, but have been unable to hold it).

But speaking of Xerez, how motivated can you be when you arrive at your training ground and see this--crosses with your name on them and threats? Something strange going on in Xerez, to be sure. (Note: their training pitch looks to be in a lot better shape than their potato field in their stadium, doesn't it? Hmmm.....)

Sr. Roif tried to remain above the fray in an interview, saying Villarreal certainly played fairly and there were many others who did not:

“El presidente del Villarreal está muy tranquilo. Somos abanderados en la defensa del juego limpio y no todo el mundo puede decir lo mismo. Otros no pueden estar igual de tranquilos, pero al final saldrán a la luz las cosas mal hechas”, vaticinó en Ràdio Vila-real.

At least Sr. Roig learned from the Uche incident last year and included a clause in Gerard Bordas's loan agreement that prevents him from playing against us. I am sure the Girona presi is upset about that, too.

Quiniela #35

2013-05-17T06:46:44Z

May Standings

Player	Total May
SalomonJ	10
marhabal	7
Jens the dane	6
paella fanatic	5
Magpie	5
Athos	3
Jose Garcia	2
nielz m	2
cosa da costa	1
maddi	1

Overall Standings

Player	Total
marhabal	111
paella fanatic	108
Jens the dane	108
Magpie	98
cosa da costa	94
Jose Garcia	84
ravi	71
Boti	63
juananton	60
erlillo8	57
bordearea	55
Sporting Villarreal	55
Athos	53
ThomasM	38
SalomonJ	36
ivanSERBIA	34
klassikmike1	29
RageCZ	29
ali	22
migue	21
Metz	20
nielz m	14
Paul_Lozano	13
zapata	12
Greg	11
maddi	11
spursforever	10
Jörg	9
ketilsan	9
orient1	7
Rövskrubb	7
angarest	6
Maddog2591	6
maltman777	6
Raul Marin	6
shabani18	6
idefix	5
sara	5
vanessa	5
Bogdan	4
Deturn	4
Juli	4
Julián	4
Shehryar	4
Jordi Guia	3
otf	3
Sergio92	3
Andrea_Vila	2
Danilecodosera	2
David	2
Esteban	2
Marimar	2
miguelcabta	2
siempre_riquelme	2
IvanMacias1989	1
Sanchez_5	1
Sebastian Martinez	1
wakesleep	0