Villarreal Faces Defensive Crisis as La Liga return looms

Ramiro Funes Mori has torn a tendon that will keep him out for at least the rest of the season. Now, like many of you, I do not rate Ramiro particularly high as a defender, but seeing the absolute travesty that was Sofian Chakla in the Copa Del Rey, I’m also keenly aware that Ramiro is significantly better than any likely alternative.

La Liga is set to return June 11th. From that point, games will come rapidly, as the league tries to resolve itself in a timely enough fashion to allow next season to begin. A lot of this is being done to secure television revenues that the clubs need to survive, and there has been talk from our own Sr. Roig about using five substitutions a match to aid player safety. Those extra substitutions will do us no good with no depth at CB. Here’s are current situation. With no Ramiro Funes Mori, we’ll be asking Pau Torres and 34 year old Raul Albiol to play every single match possible at CB. Mario Gaspar becomes the main rotation option, which, he’s okay, but he is also not a true CB.

Simply put, with this CB situation I am very doubtful this team will be able to make a significant push up the table as this season closes. We will all be excited when La Liga returns but perhaps we should approach things with very tempered expectations. Only having two true first team CBs for the remainder of the schedule is a tragic blow to our chances of making Europe.