Don’t look now, but FC Barcelona is back up to fifth in the La Liga table. Ronald Koeman is hoping that his team continues to climb and his old team doesn’t remind him of just how bad things can get in La Liga.
From November 5th, 2007 to April 21, 2008, Koeman’s time in charge of Valencia was tumultuous to say the least. Major disagreements with important players and a lack of results painted his short tenure as a failure. Barcelona is a different job and he’s a different coach now (maybe), but this season Culers can try to be comforted by the fact that they aren’t Valencia.
While Culers were licking the wounds of a disastrous summer that included the 8-2 loss to Bayern Munich and the Messi saga, Valencia made a strong argument for the worst summer of any team in La Liga. Peter Lim’s management of his club has been under tons of scrutiny – and that was prior to selling most of his best players over the summer. That list included selling Rodrigo (Leeds United), Ferran Torres (Man City), Geoffrey Kondogbia (Atlético), and Francis Coquelin (Villarreal), plus watching captain Dani Parejo leave on a free transfer. Meanwhile, not a single signing was brought in from outside the club. All transfer activity was either returning loans or academy promotions.
Valencia are fortunate to be 13th in the La Liga table at the moment, and they have some academy products to thank for that. 23-year-old Carlos Soler is already in his fifth season with the first team, and he has been the driving force for many of their positive results. Six goals and four assists between La Liga and the Copa del Rey lead the team in both categories.
On paper, most would think Soler’s help was coming from Gonçalo Guedes, who is still just 24 even though he feels like he’s been around top flight football for much longer. However, Guedes has looked like a shell of the player that looked so bright at Benfica and PSG a few seasons ago.
Instead, the help is coming from Manu Vallejo, who was on loan at Getafe last season, plus academy products Kang-in Lee and Yunus Musah. Lee has matched Soler’s three assists while Vallejo is second on the team with four goals. Musah recently turned 18-years-old and has locked down the left midfield spot of Javi Gracia’s 4-4-2. Eligible to play for the United States, England, Italy, or Nigeria, Musah’s stock has risen as much as any teenager in La Liga this season not named Ansu Fati, Pedri, Bryan Gil, or Sergiño Dest.
Gracia has also been relying on some familiar faces in La Liga including Maxi Gómez, Gabriel Paulista, and Daniel Wass to stay afloat. Against Barcelona, the biggest question will be at left-back. Captain José Gayà is nursing an injury and isn’t expected back in time while back-up Toni Lato could be absent due to the virus. Without those two, the options appear to be moving back-up right-back Thierry Correia, who hasn’t impressed on his natural side, over to the left, or 17-year-old Jesús Vázquez, who was hot and cold against Terrassa FC in the Copa del Rey midweek.
Regardless of who Gracia has at left-back, it is a spot that Koeman should look to exploit. Unfortunately with Ansu Fati and Ousmane Dembélé out and Konrad de la Fuente not yet picked for primetime, there is no natural left winger to do such a job. Based on recent performances though, Koeman would do a lot worse than Pedri.
After sitting midweek against Real Sociedad, the expectations should be that Philippe Coutinho returns to the starting XI, even if his recent showings have brought in to question whether or not he’s earned it. After his misses against La Real, maybe it’s Antoine Griezmann’s turn for a rest.
Expect Sergio Busquets and Clement Lenglet, who have been mainstays in La Liga competitions this season, to start alongside the other regulars.
Barcelona (4-2-3-1): ter Stegen; Alba, Lenglet, Araújo, Dest; de Jong, Busquets; Pedri, Coutinho, Messi; Braithwaite
Valencia (4-4-2): Doménech; Vázquez, Diakhaby, Paulista, Wass; Musah, Soler, Racic, Guedes; Gómez, Vallejo
Dan Hilton is an American journalist, broadcaster, and current Editor-in-Chief of BarcaBlog. Extensive work as a play-by-play broadcaster, producer behind the scenes, and quite average player in his younger years has given him a well-rounded and informative perspective on the sport. Alongside BarcaBlog founder Francesc, Dan started The Barcelona Podcast in 2017
