Valencia have undergone some incredibly turbulent form in La Liga in the past few seasons. Since the 2014/15 season, Los Murciélagos have managed to finish inside the top four on three separate occasions. However, they have finished in the bottom half of the table three times too, subsidised by one...
Yunus Musah has been one of the biggest surprises so far in La Liga. This 18-year-old midfielder has played 78% of Valencia's minutes so far and is starting to attract interest. He has represented England from U15 to U19 levels but made his senior USMNT debut last month in a...
Despite Manchester City still fighting for the UEFA Champions League, two new signings for the first team already arrived after the Premier League had ended. Last week's analysis featured Nathan Aké and how he could fit Pep Guardiola’s team and tactics. This week, the following tactical analysis addresses what Ferran Torres can...
For the first time in many years, 4-4-2 has returned as La Liga's formation of choice in 2019/20. After years of domination from 4-3-3, which is still the case in the big teams like Barcelona and Real Madrid, only two La Liga sides did not use 4-4-2 as one of...
Teams with a defensive identity succeed far more than a side that does not employ well-thought-out tactics to win the ball back and prevent a goal from being scored. Defending is an often difficult area of the match that teams will not train as much because, in order to win,...
Who Is Ferran Torres? There's no shortage of super talents in modern football. In fact, a new one emerges every now and then, and people are often guilty of using superlatives that only make their development that much more challenging. For that reason, a plethora of “new Lionel Messi” or...
Valencia hosted Chelsea at the Mestalla for matchday five of the UEFA Champions League group stage. Both Albert Celades and Frank Lampard were hoping their team could secure qualification into the round of 16. In an open, attacking and exciting match, the score ended 2-2. This tactical analysis will investigate...
The second leg of the Europa League semi-finals between Valencia and Arsenal was poised brilliantly. Arsenal had a two-goal lead but with the recent comebacks of Liverpool and Tottenham against Barcelona and Ajax respectively, it would have been premature to write them off. The fact that Valencia had defeated Huesca...
Following three back-to-back defeats in the Premier League, the hopes for ensuring top four are hanging by a thread for Arsenal. The Europa League is their only other alternative to ensure they bring Champions League football back to the Emirates. Hence, the semi-final tie against Valencia was of utmost importance...
The first leg of this Europa League semi-final will come as a welcome distraction to Arsenal and Valencia who are both struggling in the race for a Champions League spot in their respective domestic leagues. This tactical preview will look at some of the potentially key tactical battles and areas...
Some of the greatest players do indeed only come around once every four years but that is quite literally the case for Valencia’s Ferran Torres. Born 29 February, therefore celebrating his true birthday every leap year, the Valencian native broke into the senior team in the second half of the 2017/18...
Marcelino took charge of Valencia last summer and led them back to the Champions League in his first season. Los Murciélagos are one of the biggest clubs in Spain, but after some disastrous managerial spells, García Toral has managed to turn the club around. The Spanish coach's method has been...
Marco Asensio took the football world by storm. In his debut for Real Madrid, he scored twice against Sevilla. Since 2016, he's developed into a national player for Spain and is likely to replace Cristiano Ronaldo. However, there is one talent in Spain which gets compared regularly to Asensio. His...
This La Liga season offered a lot of surprises. First of all, no one would have expected that Real Madrid would have so many problems. Especially, in the first half of the season, they struggled to get the win regularly. Therefore, Barcelona only had Atletico Madrid as a real opponent...
