UPDATE- Highlights from YouTube:
There is dissension in the ranks! At least around here there is! :) Considering it is early in the season, I will take a horrible-form win any day of the week no matter who we are going up against. That being said, the match against Zagreb was a real problem, and we can't expect to stroll through to the knockout rounds of the Europa Leage with our hands and feet bound.
Tomorrow's match should be the first to really give a good idea of where this team is. So far, the match against promoted Real Sociedad in San Sebastian and the home match against promoted Levante really haven't given us much of a clue as to where things stand, in my opinion. Against the Basques, we traveled to a difficult place to play on the first day of the season against a just-promoted team with a lot of history - I expect the return leg to look quite different. With Levante, you felt that the players were hardly interested in the match, playing against what was on paper a to-be-relegated team. The Espanyol match had the possibility of explaining where things were this season, but I don't think anyone watching that could honestly say whether that performance could be repeated, or, if it was, if Villarreal would even pull a victory out of it, much less, win by four.
The match against Deportivo La Coruna, though, will give us a better idea. Depor has not had a stellar start to the season, taking until the third match to notch a single goal - and even then, only on two penalties. But they haven't been defeated yet, and that is saying something, having played Sevilla and Getafe. I expect Depor to end up somewhere around 8 or 9 in the standings, and based on that, they should be a good measuring stick.
Villarreal are in a tight stretch of games at the moment, playing midweek ties last week, in addition to this and next week. They will finally get a break after their 10/3 match against Racing, three Liga matches and one more Europa tie later. With such a full schedule, they have to start resting the likes of Senna, and begin pulling people off the bench a little faster when players get noticeably tired.
The squad for tomorrow:
Keepers: Diego López and Juan Carlos.
Defenders: Ángel, Capdevila, Marchena, Gonzalo, Musacchio and Catalá.
Midfielders: Senna, Bruno, Borja Valero, Cani, Cazorla and Jefferson Montero.
Forwards: Nilmar, Rossi, Marco Ruben and Altidore
I am going along with some of the comments in the previous post, and suggesting a 4-3-3. Playing at home, the club should be a little more relaxed, and should be able to push forward with some offensive firepower. My starting lineup:
Lopez
Angel - Gonzalo - Marchena - Capdevila
Cani - Bruno - Cazorla
Nilmar - Ruben - Rossi
That lineup gives Valero and Senna a break. I would want to see Valero and Montero ready to come in, and possibly Altidore, depending on how things are going.
Last year ended in 1-0 results for the home team each match, and the last five matches between the two have not ended in draws. In fact, there has been one team held scoreless in each of those matches (Villarreal with three wins, two losses). I think tomorrow will be a strong match for Villarreal, coming up a bit on the naysayers both near and far. Logic tells me to go with a 2-0 result, but I am going with my gut instead. Predicted result: 3-0. Endavant!