Football Season Guide

Valencia had a really disappointing 2019/20 and, rather than get better during the off-season, they seem to have gotten even worse. After finishing down in ninth last year, Valencia have sold several of their best players because they need the money. Ezequiel Garay, Francis Coquelin, Dani Parejo, Ferran Torres and Rodrigo have all left. Not only were these five players starters, but they were some of the very best players in last year’s squad. It’s going to be very tough for Valencia in 2020/21, then. They have a new coach too in the form of Javi Gracia, who has had some success in LaLiga before with Malaga. Yet, the size of the task that faces him is huge. It’s difficult to find strengths in this Valencia team given that they have suffered important personnel losses throughout the spine of the team. They do seem to have kept last year’s top scorer Maxi Gomez, so that’s at least one minor victory. The weaknesses, though, are significant. They’ve lost solidity and creativity, as well as experience. This is now a very young squad and they might not be ready to compete at the highest level every week. They’ll be expected to compete, though, purely because of the stature and history of the club.