A New Mid + A Big Wall = Better Valencia?

By: Martha | January 20th, 2008

Doom. Valencia were crushed by Villarreal yesterday, going down 3-0 to their local rivals. The violent upheaval at the end of the first half of the season doesn’t seem to have changed anything: Valencia sit in seventh place, slipping gradually further from a European spot, and seeing their goal difference — it’s at -10 right now — get worse and worse. But hope springs eternal, and now they’ve got a brand, spanking new midfielder and are building a nice big wall around their training ground — everything will be fine! Right?

Step one to the Brave New World of Hope was last week’s signing of Dutch international Hedwiges Maduro from Ajax. The 22-year-old was named among the best 11 at last summer’s U-21 European Championships, and has been a regular at Ajax for two seasons. In fact, he played played for beleaguered Valencia coach Ronald Koeman at Ajax, so his arrival on a long-term deal could be seen as a vote of confidence for the under-fire gaffer. (On the other hand, of course, the kid’s 22. What does he know?) Marduro is thought to have cost the Spanish side a mere €2 million, and will evidently have the opportunity to take the place in the team of David Albelda who, as you may recalled, isn’t allowed to play anymore.

If Koeman has his way, though, no one will have a chance to see how the newbie is getting along in training, because he’s going to build a huge wall, to keep out prying eyes. No kidding. Now, granted, this report comes from the less-than-reliable Spanish sports media, but whether he hires builders or not, Koeman’s frustration with the press attention is certainly understandable.

Unlike in England, where the press tend to more or less stay out of the hair of managers, apart from regular press conferences, in Spain, as in Italy, the press are everywhere — at training, grilling you when you get out of your car at work, asking why certain players are wearing which bibs in that day’s 11 v 11 practice match. While Koeman surely saw all of that and more during his years playing for Barcelona, he wasn’t then a guy whose team is crashing out of Europe and dropping club icons from the team. At this rate, it wouldn’t surprise anyone to see the Dutchman out there building the fence himself (assume he gets to keep his job).