Another Tango in Paris for 'Dodgy' ValdesThree Champions League and five league titles and still there are question marks over Victor Valdes. Is he any good? And is he being disloyal by eyeing a new path?
Last Updated: 01/04/13 at 12:47
There are certain aspects of Víctor Valdés upon which most people can agree. The first is the universal truth that the Barcelona goalkeeper has a bit of a short temper, a huge potty mouth and that his back four could probably live without the furious rants and insults that are regularly hurled in their direction.
The keeper's teammates could also probably do without his 50-yard, eye-bulging charges out of goal to berate the referee. Valdés is currently enduring a four-match ban in Spain after the recent league clash with Real Madrid, having shared his thoughts on the referee's performance after the defeat at the Santiago Bernabéu. It's not just that Barça are left without the side's first-choice goalkeeper for the past decade, but that José Pinto is left between the sticks and he's a footballer not convincing too many culés.
Indeed, the immense grumpiness and surliness of Valdés was thought to be the main reason why the goalkeeper didn't win his first international cap until 2010 and it's true that Valdés is unlikely to ever take to the stage with a mic and host a World Cup winning party like Pepe Reina. Although the competition with Iker Casillas has always been around, the preference had been for 'anyone but Valdés' for Spain's squads since the goalkeeper made his club debut eight years previously.
The main squabbling point over Víctor Valdés though, is whether the goalkeeper is any good or not. On paper, it's a nonsensical discussion for trolls as the Barça number on''s honours include three Champions League titles, five league titles, and five la Liga 'Zamora' best goalkeeper trophies. Crucial saves in two of those European finals, numerous acrobatic efforts to help shield a Barça defence over the past ten years and even last Tuesday's world-class performance against France in goal for Spain, should produce a unanimous verdict in world football that Víctor Valdés fits the description of being a very good goalkeeper. At least.
However, Valdés will still be seen for some as the pre-2008 goalkeeper, a player who was too impetuous, too often prone to gaffes and perhaps too concerned with a fine, bouffant quiff. But, for the past five years the Barça footballer has played a vital role in the dominance of his club, not just through his reflexes but the keeper's ability to play as an extra defender, with exquisite distribution.
True, this has caused the odd blunder from time to time, with passes to opposition strikers, but anyone who has to perform the roles of Lothar Matthäus and Iker Casillas at the same time would have the odd moment. 'The attacking football of Barça and Tito Vilanova begins at the hands and feet of Víctor Valdés,' wrote Francesc Aguilar in 'Mundo Deportivo' when the news was broken mid-January that the Barça keeper was planning to leave the Camp Nou at the end of his current contract in June 2014.
The reaction to the news in the Catalan capital was a mixture of anger and panic, a testament to how crucial the 31-year-old is to the team, perhaps without everyone realising this before. The anger came from those who feel Valdés has betrayed the club that gave him such glory. 'It's ungrateful, he's an opportunist who wants to go for money,' fumed Josep Maria Casanovas in 'Sport'. The panic arrived with front cover stories immediately detailing the possible replacements to fix an issue that won't arise in theory for another 18 months, as well as the questions that are still being put to Barça president Sandro Rosell about Valdés changing his mind.
The explanation from the man himself was the reasonable notion that the footballer fancied new challenges and that plenty of notice has been given. Indeed, before the announcement over the future of Valdés was made, Sandro Rosell joked that "it is often said that the three most difficult things in the world are to be Pope, President of the USA and goalkeeper for Barcelona".
Despite the situation over his contract renewal that is always going to be in the background, as well as speculation over a move in the summer, everything is pretty rosy in the garden of Víctor Valdés these days. On Tuesday, the goalkeeper returns to Paris a week after a match-saving display for his national side with the chance of many more to come, seeing as Iker Casillas is going to have trouble getting a club game from now on. José Mourinho is set to stick with Diego López potentially until the end of the season saying on Saturday that it was "difficult" to consider dropping him. Paris was also the scene of the goalkeeper's first Champions League victory in 2006 after a 2-1 win against Arsenal.
A fourth Champions League title is now the only priority for Barcelona with the league title as good as won. They may have been the tiniest bit of hope for a bit of tension in the last nine matches with Barça picking up a sloppy 2-2 draw at struggling Celta Vigo, but Real Madrid could only manage a 1-1 at Zaragoza and missed the chance to cut the gap to 11 points. Indeed, Atlético Madrid in third also missed out with a 1-1 draw against Valencia in the Vicente Calderón.
Although PSG and their Swedish forward, who is as permanently angry as Valdés, will be tough opponents over two legs, the confidence boost from the comeback against AC Milan and possible return to the bench of Tito Vilanova should see Barcelona through to the semi-finals. It will be one step nearer another Champions League title for the Catalan club, a record that is even more impressive for an outfit who supposedly have a bottling forward up front who probably couldn't score away at Stoke, and an ill-tempered, unreliable dodgy keeper between the sticks.
Round 29 Results
Rayo Vallecano 1-3 Málaga
Celta Vigo 2-2 Barcelona
Zaragoza 1-1 Real Madrid
Levante 1-0 Sevilla
Real Valladolid 1-3 Osasuna
Mallorca 2-3 Deportivo
Espanyol 2-2 Real Sociedad
Atlético Madrid 1-1 Valencia
Athletic Bilbao v Granada (Monday)
Betis v Getafe (Monday)
Tim Stannard
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