Vicente Rodríguez: "The fanbase always get behind the team and they have shown it with their support"

VCF legend and Club ambassador, Vicente Rodríguez, analyses the team's performance in 2023 on VCF Media Radio.

Season 2023-24

"The team are being more reliable and the results are there. We are in a comfortable area of the table and we are not suffering like last season. Defensively, the team is being very reliable. We've built a very compact unit and apart from the game at the Bernabéu, the other games have been very even and the team has defended very well. They have conceded very little and the offensive aspect is where we need to improve".

Performance

"The team compete well. It's a young squad, but it also has a mix of experienced players and the youngsters are more than ready. Mosquera is at a spectacular level, Javi Guerra, Fran Pérez, Diego López, Jesús Vázquez... they are competing and are ready to compete at this level".

Team

"Baraja has the team 'switched on'. Hugo Guillamón is an example of a player who hasn't played for practically the whole of the first half of the season and who will have worked as hard as anyone. He has earned it and the other day, apart from the goal, he played a very good game.

Sergi Canós is the same, he wasn't playing in the XI or he was in and out, and the other day he came on as a starter and scored a goal. They are players who are training well, they are professionals and they are waiting for their chance and when they have it, they are taking advantage of it. That's what it's all about, that the team are competitive and the more players that perform the better, the more competitive it will be and the more complicated it will be for the coach to put together a line-up".

Victory away to Rayo Vallecano

"Maybe that's what was missing. The home team was being very reliable. They conceded very little, although we were lacking that extra gear offensively, but away from home, we were missing the finishing touch. Winning a game and gaining confidence and seeing that away from home you can go and win and have a very good second half, that's the way forward and that's why the team is in a comfortable position".

Baraja

"Rubén has found a very good group. The work is going very well. We would all like to have more alternatives, but he has adapted very well and the work is proving to be fundamental. He has put together an important unit and defensively he is giving very good results and offensively perhaps there is still room for improvement, but like all teams. The work is impressive. The coach is the visible head and in difficult moments he is the one who has to be the first to help and, of course, he does. He is with the team and for the players to feel the support of the coach gives them more confidence and that is important".

Youngsters 

"They are proud of wearing the shirt and that gives you even more strength and courage. They are capable, very prepared to play for Valencia CF and they have shown it. They have quality they can play in the top flight and I hope they continue developing.  

The fanbase and Mestalla

"As always, they get behind the team through thick and thin, and that will continue to be the case. The Valencia CF faithful are loyal, they want to see their team and the proof is that in difficult moments they have been showing their support, filling up the Mestalla stands and we have one of the best fanbases in Spain".