VUSA Pod #98: Allen and Sid assess Villarreal under Setién

Sidarth and I got together (finally!) to discuss the state of Villarreal, the transfer market, etc. And somehow we ended up talking a lot about the relegation zone and Valencia—go figure.

Interesting to hear some of our discussion in light of today’s events, namely:

(1) Villarreal apparently aren’t willing to spend money on bringing in another keeper or striker, even on loan. With Champions League qualification not that far away, that seems very curious, even more so after watching our substitute keeper today and seeing how we fizzle when Gerard is not on song.

(2) I know we warm the cockles of Zach’s heart when we talk about xG, as we did here. Today, Villarreal 1.2 to Rayo’s 0.8. But Baena’s shot that produced a worldie save was rated as 0.02 xG, so make of it what you will.

(3) Gattuso gone at Valencia and even more chaos, plus they have not done anything this window while Sevilla have.

Please enjoy! Also, be aware we’ll be making some changes in the podcast in upcoming weeks — maybe a new platform, hoping to do some different stuff than we have done in terms of content. Watch this space, as they say.

A very tough loss today, but Endavant Villarreal!!