The strikeforce has recovered a bit leading up to this weekend's clash with Deportivo. Guille Franco looks to have recovered from his knee inflamation, and could be ready to go on Sunday. Rossi has not fully recovered, but hopes to be able to play; even if unable to come in on Sunday, though, he will be ready for the match at Old Trafford against the defending European champions. At the moment, both Rossi and Pires are held out of the group training.
Their recoveries are good for Villarreal, but less so for Jozy, who hopes to get his first playing time this weekend. If Villarreal takes control of the game early and gets a decent lead (which, of course, is not the easiest thing when your injury problems are with you strikers), Jozy definitely could be the man in the second half, to give Guille and Rossi added recovery time and assure their health for the 17th and United. For American viewers, GolTV has confirmed the match will be shown live at 11am eastern, so this will be our first true chance to see the Yellow Submarine play this season (and perhaps Altidore, if we are lucky). For those without access to GolTV, I will try to link a stream here, and either Nick or I will handle some liveblogging for the match.
Speaking of Altidore, Goal.com had a nice piece on him and his attempts to pick up playing time with Villarreal. The article did serve to remind me, though, about the trouble with the name "Yellow Submarine" - we have set ourselves up for commentators to talk about the Submarine "springing leaks", "going down" and "sinking". I guess things could be worse!
Villarreal should have three starters in tonight's matchup between Spain and Armenia. In addition to regular starters Senna and Capdevila, Cazorla is expected to get the call from Del Bosque, based on the lack of offensive effectiveness against Bosnia over the weekend.
Finally, Villarreal are set for an impressive home opener from a front-office perspective. In addition to the summer renovations which will be officially opened today, allowing a total of 25,000 spectators, Villarreal is less than 200 away from the goal of 20,000 season ticket holders.