Football Season Guide

Valencia are still in a bad way financially. They have spent several summers in a row now having to sell off their best talents and they could have to sell Jose Gaya and Carlos Soler this summer, even if they’ve managed to keep hold of them for now. They have already lost loanees Omar Alderete, Ilaix Moriba and Bryan Gil, who all became starters in what was a so-so season for Valencia last year. They reached the Copa del Rey final and lost that on penalties, while they came ninth in the table, which could have been better had they not drawn 15 matches, the second-most draws in the division. In the summer, the club changed coach and brought in Gennaro Gattuso, who’d had mixed success in Serie A. He has never worked in LaLiga, not as a player or as a coach, so this is a brand new league and style of football for the Italian, but his fiery style might help get the most out of what is a limited squad. Sadly for Valencia fans, this might be another season spent in mid-table purgatory. They’ll at least hope for another cup run, which was their only source of excitement last year.