Is this the same old wonderful Valencia

So contrasting emotions for the die-hard fans of Valencia. The Veterans’ team of Valencia is demolishing opponents with big scores in Veterans’ Football Tournament but the present crop of Valencia players in Dhivehi league are finding it difficult to stay in the first division. That is the bleak status of present Valencia. They rot at the bottom of the table with paltry 7 points from 12 games. Going back 15 years down the line when some of the Veterans were at their peak, illuminating Galholhu Stadium with their sparkling display, it is hard to imagine that this is same club Valencia now hooked on ventilator.

Just before the transfer period club coach announced they will plug the leak, that they will do this and that during transfer window. The subtle message was new players will come and they will consolidate their team. That they will reinstate Valencia’s credentials as one of the top four clubs of the country. Yet the resumption of the league churns out the same old story, the same morale-shattering drubbing. The promise has not at all shaped up in the slightest the way Valencia supporters had wanted. It has been anything but rapid slide down.

Valencia’s assistant coach Ahmed Nashid has already given up hope of a comeback. They are more than sure they cannot salvage the club from the slippery slope they are currently sliding down. Relegation is what they are talking of now. An unacceptable message that will have already permeated to players subconscious mind when they step on the pitch for the reminder of the season – don’t be too hard on yourself to win a match from now on, we have to get ready for the relegation, so work on that and keep that in mind.

One wishes to know what the club management had in mind at the start of this new season, what was tabulated for their target. True, you may have any number of guidelines and methods to reach your target but that doesn’t mean every time you will safely reach there without any hiccup. But Valencia in earnest cannot claim they did what they could have done within the ambit of what they have in terms of fund.

By the look of the composition of the team, from the delay and wasted time in announcing they will get good players it is understandable Valencia was wishing to Lady Luck to rescue them in league. If they were so serious they should have read the might of Victory or New Radiant among others like a strong Maziya and Eagles entering the fray. They were in the tournament for just the heck of it.

If this is the sort of Valencia we are going to see year after year – permitting they win the relegation on the basis of current standing – then this is a disservice to our football and the loyal Valencia supporters. A huge dent on the prestigious name of a club once took the Galholhu stadium by their stylish and exciting football. An unforgivable act of sloppiness on the part of a club who once gave a name and fame to so many exciting talents.

Who can ever forget those one-to-one moments of Lachchay against Andarey in mid-90s where Valencia’s 14 more often than not prevail, Kuda Heena’s dribbling from almost non-existent inches of space, Bodu Jada’s appearance out of nowhere to tap-in simple but a precious goal. That was the best of Valencia when they held the length and breadth of Male’ in the abiding spell of their magic.

A far cry from the present dismal Valencia. Valencia of today resemble a piece of invention that have expired its warranty and rapidly losing its parts to decay and disuse with no guarantee to sustain any longer and edging towards a slow death after a heady decade flamboyance and showmanship. The question is not when will they replicate that heady concoction of pragmatic and stylish football but will they ever?