Is there anyone else interested in a Villareal thread? The more I see this team play the more I like them.
You might check under the Valencia Sub-Forum. I think it was intended to include both Villareal and Levante. Q
Didn't see anything there. Did anyone else see today's game against Athletic. 3-1 Villareal. Villareal looks very good. 3 very good goals. 2 for Jose Mari and another one for Forlan. He can't be far behind Eto'o at this point. He almost had another one at the end but caught the post. Will Villareal keep Riquelme next year? I heard Barcelona wants to unload his contract.
I'm all for a Villareal thread. Ever since I saw their first match in 2005 against Barcelona my respect for them started growing. Their playing is really accomplished and fun to watch. I hope they work out the loan contracts they have with several of their star players (Riquelme, Forlan) and build on this team in the future. Who knows, a push for next season's title is certainly not out of the question and in the mean time let's support them in their UEFA Cup hunt. Villareal, The pride of Castellon...
As bad as Villarreal played yesterday, they still managed a point in La Coruã. Hopefully, they can get their momentum back for this week's UEFA match. They are Spain's last representative in Europe this season.
Here's a Betis supporter routing for you guys on Thursday in the UEFA match, so you can make it to the semi's. Would like to see Villareal put it off in 90 minutes but if it takes 120 for a Villareal victory that would be great too, Villareal in the semi's and one tired team on Sunday which would make it a little easier for my Betis team to snatch those 3 points and remain in the hunt for a CL slot! viva er beti manque lopera! Pichi
Thanks for the support for Thursday. Hopefully, we can pull it off and then also be ready for Betis on Sunday. That would show we're genuinely transitioning to one of the top squads. After all, the “big” teams have to do this all the time. Betis does worry me. They have a good squad and I like Oliveira a lot.
Re: Villarreal We should have won the last two games. We completely dominated Betis on Sunday and Aikmar on Thursday, but only came away with ties. We need to get back to our form from January to March when we were scoring regularly. This weekend is a defining game for Villarreal against Real Madrid. We can beat them. Their defense is highly suspect. Without Casillas it would be almost nothing.
Another blown game (against Madrid). We had this game. If Riquelme converts his breakaway game over. After that, it was just self-destruction. This is not the same team as from January-March. Both Madrid goals came from stupid mistakes. We've got to stop relying on Riquelme all the time. He's a great player, but we have other options.
i AM a Villareal fan. Congrats on your Champions League ticket. I have tried looking for a thread on the team before. But found none. Hopefully with some new found fame. We can discuss them more. chau
The Yellow Submarines are a fun team to watch. I wish them well this year starting in Week 2. They've done well the last two years in Europe as well, so I would expect big things from them in the Champions League. Q
I'm on the Villarreal bandwagon as well I've really enjoyed watching them play for the last two years and I'm cheering them on in La Liga this year. And watch out for them in the CL as well. If they can stay healthy they can beat anybody in Europe. And it wouldn't be surprising to see them grace the Stade de France on May 17th.
Can knowledgeable villarreal fan tell me why Villarreal is signing another goalie? I thought Barbosa was good? Is this Viera going to be a back-up or competition for the starting job?
From wht I saw of Barbosa on Sunday I think it's a good idea to sign Viera(although I know absolutely nothing about him). Barbosa wasn't at fault for either goal but he kept hitting long balls which totally bypassed Riquelme. Doesn't he realize that hitting long balls doesn't fit this team's style? It also wouldn't hurt Villarreal to sign another defender because their backline was pretty bad against Osasuna.
I agree completely. Forlan nor Figueroa both do very well off Riquelme's setups. They're not exactly the types who get a play going (from a goalie's longpass), they're you're classic finish uppers. I would like to see Tacchinardi play more along with Riquelme. This could take some of the heat off of Roman as the entire key to Villarreal's attack. Good to see somebody else posting here. I having done so in months as I thought I was basically talking to myself.
Glad to see the post. I really like that team with Riquelme and I plan to use two in our CL fantasy league. I am worried about the back line. Any thoughts?
I am also worried about the backline. While Gonzalo Rodriguez and Quique Alvarez played well last year, most errors were covered for by Reina. Reina is a much better goalkeeper than most realize. I place him as # 2 in Spain behind Casillas. This is why a lot is going to depend on Barbosa (or Viera) coming up with great stops as Reina did on a regular basis last season. This was apparent against Osasuna. Barbosa played fine, but did not make the spectacular save on either goal. Another factor here is Tacchinardi. It's my understanding he was good both on offense and defense at Juve. Maybe he can help out the defenders and on offense act as a sort of trailer behind Riquelme (similar to Deco with Barça). We'll see how things go. If the situation is still the same by January, then I think we definitely will need some help back there.
Today's starters were: Viera Kromkamp Gonzalo Alvarez Arruabarrena ( replaced by Sorín, m.46) Cazorla Josico (replaced by Figueroa, m.68) Tacchinardi Riquelme (injured and replaced by Héctor Font, m.28) Jose Mari Forlán. This is not set in stone. Often Figueroa and Sorin start, as does Marcos Senna. Did anyone see today's match? I missed it and Marca says that Sevilla completely outplayed Villarreal and we were lucky to get a tie. True?
I wrote off Villareal's performance to looking ahead to the CL game. They need practice at juggling league and Europe. They were not settled at all.
Didn't see yesterday's game, but I'm getting very worried. If we don't turn it around soon, we could be looking at the bottom instead of the top like I hoped.
Yesterday against Mallorca Villarreal finally showed the form they had last year. With Riquelme healthy now they need to keep winning if they want to finish in the top four again.
I agree. I didn't see yesterday's match, but the Marca report says Villarreal got a little bit of a gift from the referee (though a sign of a good club is that you take advantage of any “gifts”). Anyway, important match against Atletico this Sunday. The way La Liga is shaping up, anyone could take the title this year. Why not Villarreal?