Aguirre says Valencia have no strikers: 2 goals, 2 points from 5 Mestalla games

By the Data Desk · Published 19 OCT 07:30

First reported by Paco Lloret, Levante-EMV · 19 OCT 05:00

With four minutes left of Saturday's 0-0 against Athletic Club, a fan in the Tribuna shouted "Aguirre, ¡saca delanteros!" and Javier Aguirre turned round and answered "¡No hay!", COPE Valencia reported. It was his first home game in charge, and it left Valencia with no win, 2 goals and 2 points from five LaLiga games at Mestalla this season.

• Valencia's home results: 0-0 v Celta, 0-1 v Betis, 0-5 v Barcelona, 2-3 v Real Sociedad and 0-0 v Athletic. That is 2 goals for, 9 against and 2 points out of 15 (ESPN).
• Only one of the two goals came from a Valencia player, Aaron Mayol against Real Sociedad; the other was an own goal by Luken Beitia. Valencia took 65 shots in those five games.
• Valencia are 19th with 6 points and 6 goals from nine games. Villarreal come to Mestalla on Saturday, 24 October, at 16:30 UTC.

COPE Valencia's account, published on Sunday morning, puts the exchange in the 86th minute, with Valencia crossing into the box and no recognised number nine on the pitch: Hugo Duro had gone off and Arnaut Danjuma had moved into the middle. A second shout, "¡Saca a Aimar!", asked for the 20-year-old academy striker Aimar Blázquez, and Aguirre raised an arm with his back to the stand. Blázquez had not even warmed up. Aguirre's last changes were defender Jesús Vázquez and midfielder Filip Ugrinic.

After the game Aguirre explained, again, why he trusts older players: "Danjuma, Raba y Rioja han marcado goles en muchos años", and "cuando el equipo está mal, no puedes tirar a los jóvenes a los leones" (when the team is struggling, you cannot throw the kids to the lions). Lloret's column on Sunday blamed the summer planning, not the coach. The claim about 92 seasons is his; we have not checked the full historical record ourselves.

Aguirre, 67, was announced on 23 September, ten days after the club dismissed Carlos Corberán with 1 point from five games. Under Corberán and interim coach Óscar Sánchez, Valencia took 4 points from seven games, scoring 4 and conceding 13; under Aguirre they have 2 points from two, with 2 goals for and 2 against after a 2-2 at Racing Santander on 11 October. Of Valencia's six league goals, one has come from a centre-forward: Umar Sadiq's at Riazor on 30 August, and Sadiq has not played in the league since. Hugo Duro has played in all nine games without a goal.

What happens next: Villarreal, 12th with 9 points, play at Liverpool in the Champions League on Tuesday and then visit Mestalla on Saturday, 24 October, at 16:30 UTC. They have one win in five away league games this season, 3-1 at Málaga. After that, Valencia's next home games are Real Madrid on 7 November and Osasuna on 29 November.