Villarreal 1-1 Herculés: preseason begins with a yawner

Villarreal began its preseason preparations in front of about 2,000 fans at the Mini Estadi today with a 1-1 draw against Herculés. This was the team’s first chance to do anything other than some stretching and running so I would not read very much into the result—it was good to see Santi Cazorla get onto the pitch in the second half, though he’s not match fit yet; our new signings got a runout, and just like in ‘real life’, Alvaro Gonzalez picked up a yellow card. Santiago Caceres made his debut, as did Funes Mori, Gerard and Pedraza.

The Villarreal goal came from Gerard Moreno, with an assist form Miguelón; the visitors, whose trip from Alicante was enlivened by a flat tire on their bus as they entered Vila-real, equalized fairly late.

Maybe the biggest news was who wasn’t in the squad—Roberto Soriano ,Nicola Sansone, and Alfred N’Diaye, all apparently on their way somewhere soon.

Next match—Olympique Marseille—should offer a better test and be taken a bit more seriously as far as assessing players is concerned.