“I know Gattuso’s mentality. When he came here he found a team that was pretty scared to play, but they changed their minds. There are very good players with a good foot. We hope to see a good Valencia,” Samu Castillejo said at the end of the first game and what was seen on the pitch proves him right.
The first preparation match for the Valencia CFin addition to a 1-3 victory against Borussia Dortmund, confirmed that, as he had advanced, coach Gennaro Gattuso’s initial bet is for a 1-4-3-3 system and also that the Italian plans to keep Hugo Guilamón in midfield defense and sees Yunus Musah also in this central area.
Already in his presentation, the new Valencia coach assured that the four-man defense was not negotiable, but not the rest of the draw. In this case, the first ‘eleven’ had the great novelty of young Cristhian Mosquera with Gabriel Paulista in the center of defense (who led the Spanish-Brazilian on the left side). In the rest of the team’s full back, Giorgi Mamardashvili remained in charge under the sticks and Thierry Correia and José Luis Gayà on the wings.
Midfielder
Gennaro designed a 1-4-3-3 in his Valencia CF’s first starting XI. He formed a creative trivote where Yunus and Soler generated football under the protection of Hugo Guillamón as a squire. The coach prioritizes ball management as a maxim and this formation is the one that best suits the idea of the game the coach wants to implement.
In the absence of the signing of a defensive midfielder, one of the positions for which the club is seeking reinforcements, Guillamón has remained in the position in which coach José Bordalás placed him last pre-season. . Gattuso’s bet to get the ball under control works in favor of the former centre-back.
Samu Castillejo: “When he arrived here, he found a team that was quite scared to play but the idea has changed. There are very good players with good footing. We hope to see a good Valencia”
Next to him, Carlos Soler remained in the central line and Musah joined him, who had alternated him last season with a position closer to the boards although he has always defended that he is more at the comfortable at center and playing inside with the USA team. .
In attack, the big surprise was the presence of Marcos André as the starting ‘nine’ and the Brazilian scored a goal. Alongside, the newcomer Samu Castillejo he made his debut directly in the ‘eleven’ and the big star was once again the Portuguese Gonçalo Guedes with his two goals.
Valencia CF’s change from the previous season is huge. The idea that the team transmits is very different since they have sought to be the protagonist with the ball from the start,
Gattuso’s style of play
Valencia CF’s change from the previous season is huge. The idea that the team transmits is very different since they have sought to be the protagonist with the ball from the beginning, a very advanced defense, depth, intensity in the pressure, open wingers who play with a changed leg and favor the width of the wings. The change is radical compared to the Valencia CF of Bordalás.
This is how some analysts see Gattuso’s Valencia
In short, the first pre-season game, with very interesting things…
➕ possession, internal associations, width/depth of TL,…
❌ Errors that are in time to be corrected. My doubts now go very high in the non-possession phase.But work is a process. pic.twitter.com/Yt9rqptR0h
— Javi M (@iojavime) July 19, 2022
Sudden change in vcf compared to previous temp, advanced defense, exit with the ball from behind, extreme inside, 3 in the center of the field, aggressive and courageous in the pressure, very deep full-backs, this is only the beginning but I like the radical change of my team.
— Santaf Street (@Santaf Street) July 18, 2022