This article was first published on footballromance.com (a predecessor to this website) in August 2016.
Line-ups
There were three changes to the Eibar side which started the 2-1 defeat to Deportivo on the opening weekend of the season – Antonio Luna came in for David Junca at left back, Gonzalo Escalante joined skipper Dani Garcia in front of the back four and on-loan playmaker Jota Peleteiro replaced Adrian.
For Valencia, Joao Cancelo switched to right back to replace Martin Montoya, the only casualty from the defence which conceded four goals in the home defeat to Las Palmas last weekend. Former Atletico Madrid man Mario Suarez came into midfield for his debut, with Alvaro Medran dropping to the bench. Neither Shkodran Mustafi nor Paco Alcacer, both subject of intense transfer speculation and who have since left the club, featured in the squad.
Eibar fade after early pressure
The hosts began the contest as had been expected, pressing their opponents high up the pitch in an attempt to unnerve them early on. This tactic worked on occasion, as numerous visiting players were guilty of giving away possession as a result of hurried clearances, although Jose Luis Mendilibar’s men were ultimately unable to take full advantage.
Valencia’s left-wing attacks lead to chances
In the opening stages of the contest, either side were at their most dangerous attacking down their left flank. After only two minutes, Los Che carved out a guilt-edged opening when Dani Parejo’s slide-rule pass picked out Jose Gaya, who wasn’t tracked by Pedro Leon and sneaked round the blind side of Ander Capa to cross for Rodrigo, who prodded wide at the back post. Towards the end of the half, a near-identical move again caught Capa ball-watching and Leon upfield, with Gaya’s cut-back this time fired past the post by Santi Mina.
Nani, who alternated between coming inside to leave space for Gaya and hugging the touchline, very nearly managed to get in behind Capa on several occasions, while Rodrigo, starting on the right, also had some joy when he ventured over to the opposite flank. The Brazilian-born Spain international drifted across the line of the home defence and spun in behind, his unselfish pass to Mina taking Armeros stopper Asier Riesgo out of the game but cleared by the covering Luna at the crucial moment. Rodrigo also hung out on the left after a corner and found plenty of space to fire across goal, but the luckless Mina, who showed some nice touches in Valencia’s build-up play, somehow blazed over from close range; it is fair to say that the away side should had at least a couple of goals to show for their first-half efforts.
As for the Basque outfit, Bebe looked to be their main danger man in the early exchanges but he, like the rest of his teammates, faded after a lively start. A pass down the line from Luna found Cancelo badly out of position and set the winger away, while Luna himself easily ghosted past Cancelo and into a dangerous position moments later; neither was able to provide an accurate ball into the box.
Los Che’s midfield trio in (close) control
The visitors’ first-half domination was made possible by the control they exerted in midfield, something which dissipated as the second period progressed. Mario Suarez, Enzo Perez and Dani Parejo stayed very close to one another throughout and in the opening 45 minutes constantly rotated and linked up. Parejo was particularly influential, patrolling the centre of the field and very often the man Suarez and Perez looked to pass to, while no player made more passes of his own (54 – of which 44 were successful, according to FourFourTwo StatsZone).
The fact that the three were often so close together wasn’t a problem at this stage due to the fact that the hosts’ pressing, which had been impressive early on, became much less frequent and wasn’t deployed nearly as well when they did attempt it. Additionally, they outnumbered Eibar’s central midfield duo of Escalante and Garcia, who struggled to get the ball (Escalante made only 17 passes in 93 minutes, an incredibly low number for a central midfield player).
Jota Peleteiro could have taken advantage of the space left by Valencia in midfield and did have a flurry of activity just past the mid-point of the half, but both his and his teammates’ final ball as they looked to find him lacked the precision required. Alternatively, had he dropped deeper into midfield (he wasn’t involved in a single noteworthy incident in his own half in the first period), he could have helped his team gain more of a foothold.
A new half, a new Eibar
Valencia would be made to pay for their profligacy as Eibar came out for the second period with a new determination to make life awkward for their opponents, as they had done at the start of the match. This time, however, they were able to sustain it for almost the entirety of the half.
Escalante, so passive before the interval, made a key interception seconds after the restart and it was he who won possession in midfield in the build-up to the penalty, which led to the game’s only goal for Leon.
Garcia was much more involved than his midfield partner in general but also adopted a considerably more aggressive approach in the second half – he made four successful tackles compared to one, one of which led to a breakaway squandered by Jota’s greediness. A similar incident saw Mina give away possession inside his own half under pressure, with Kike Garcia shooting just wide from the edge of the area.
Valencia centre-backs Aderlan Santos and Aymen Abdennour, who proved in the first half how uncomfortable they were with the ball at their feet, were forced back to goalkeeper Matt Ryan on a number of occasions (Abdennour’s 10 passes to Ryan was the second highest combination between any two players), while Eibar’s high pressing prevented the Australian stopper from playing short passes out to feet, however ill-advised that might have been.
Eibar close out the game with few problems
After Leon’s opener, there were precious few opportunities for Pako Ayestaran’s men to salvage at least a draw. Their most promising moves came via Rodrigo and Parejo, who were able to isolate left-back Luna a couple of times but were ultimately let down by poorly-weighted passes as they looked to get in behind.
The decision to swap Nani and Mina had a negative impact, while Cancelo, who had shown plenty of adventure in the first half, didn’t get forward at all in the first 20 minutes of the second. As the final whistle approached and Los Che threw more men forward, his runs were diligently tracked by substitute Ruben Peña, who put in a busy and brilliantly disciplined display as Bebe’s replacement.
The introduction of Zakaria Bakkali offered Valencia some extra width, pace and encouragement and Parejo predictably managed to smuggle the ball out to him several times in the final 15 minutes. A first dangerous cross served as a warning to Eibar, who proceeded to crowd him out thereafter, although Bakkali would have found himself clean through on goal in stoppage time had fellow sub Alvaro Medran’s pass not been slightly overhit.
A desperate 40-yard free kick from Santos was the away team’s only effort on target in the closing stages, which saw Los Armeros throw on a second striker in an effort to close the game out. Strange as it may seem, Sergi Enrich’s presence alongside Kike allowed Eibar to have an extra target to hit in forward areas, with the hold-up play and willingness of both players to chase down any ball upfield working to good effect, preventing Valencia from playing the ball forward in as controlled a manner as they would have wished.
What next?
Mendilibar’s side were very fortunate not to have found themselves behind at the interval and the Armeros boss could well use his team’s first-half performance as a warning. If they can show the same aggression and commitment as they did in the second half, however, there is no reason as to why they cannot continue punching above their weight this season.
Valencia sit bottom of the table, yet they have created a vast number of clear-cut opportunities in their opening two games. With Alcacer having moved on, Ayestaran will be desperate to find a prolific striker to fill the void, while nervy displays from his centre-backs means he should also be on the lookout for defensive reinforcements.