Welcome to Valencia, Javier Aguirre: An injury crisis, LaLiga's worst attack and Chris Smalling links await

It was his exploits with Mexico which reminded the world of the character that is Vasco Aguirre.

One moment in their defeat to England in the round of 16 captured the hearts of many: a foul-mouthed remark and a chuckle shared with Barcelona’s Anthony Gordon.

"I’ll ask Gordon to sign the photo for my children,” Aguirre stated of the incident in his unveiling at Mestalla.

Valencia face Barcelona at Camp Nou at the end of January, and all eyes will be on the visiting dugout if the Englishman is on the pitch.

Whilst leading his country to the World Cup knockouts saw Aguirre ride a wave of positivity, with Mexico City and the Azteca Stadium home to some of the best celebrations and party atmospheres of the entire tournament, his next job could not be more different.

Aguirre heads to Mestalla to coach Valencia, a club in crisis desperately looking to find some stability in a sea of chaos. The Mexican becomes their seventh permanent manager since Marcelino’s shock dismissal in 2019.

Under the ownership of Peter Lim, stability and success have been scarce at Mestalla. Valencia have not qualified for Europe in seven years, their longest drought in history.

Only the last two coaches, Ruben Baraja and Carlos Corberan, have lasted more than one season in charge in that time.

Valencia have been in steady decline under Lim: poor decisions at executive level translated to performances on the pitch. The best players were sold for pennies, or in the case of captain Dani Parejo, forced out to a local rival.

People with no sporting experience were hired as directors. Managers who were well out of their depth were thrown into the hot seat in a cauldron of toxicity at Mestalla.

Although there have been bad moments throughout this period, Valencia have hit a new low this season. It took over five hours of football for Los Che to score a single goal at home, with youngster Aaron Mayo’s sensational strike against Real Sociedad their first of the season at Mestalla.

Valencia are in serious danger of relegation. There have been scares in the past, but previous squads had more firepower, creativity and character than the current one has shown. 

On an individual level, Valencia possess what is arguably the worst attacking roster in LaLiga: there are very few wingers, the strikers cannot score, and there is very little connection between the forwards and the midfield.

This was a problem Corberan tried to resolve by focusing on defence, but his 5-3-2 proved deeply unpopular, and his negative approach only increased focus on his own shortcomings as manager.

Now, Aguirre inherits a squad with three injured centre-backs and an attack incapable of scoring goals.

The free agent market has already linked Valencia with shock moves for Chris Smalling and Joselu, but the solutions may have to come from within.

Aguirre will hope that summer signing Harvey Elliott can get up to speed quickly, with the international break perhaps coming at the perfect time for the Liverpool loanee.

Whilst his attitude has appeared positive in his words to the media, there are reported concerns over Elliott’s fitness and match-sharpness after a year out in the cold under Unai Emery.

The universal concept of a ‘new manager bounce’ did not escape Valencia, who secured their first win and first home goal in the two games which followed Corberan’s dismissal, and Aguirre’s infectious personality may be ideal in sparking a further uplift in their first few games under him.

Aguirre’s first game in charge comes at El Sardinero in a Sunday night trip to face Racing Santander.

Although this may have been a nightmare fixture two months ago, Valencia will come up against the most porous defence in LaLiga, at a team short of confidence: if they cannot score against a side which conceded 12 goals in their last two games, they should be very worried.

Home games against two attacking, but under-pressure managers will follow as Valencia face Athletic Club and Villarreal.

This is where Aguirre’s approach will be tested: does he revert to Corberan-ball in the hope of stealing a point, or does he aim to attack two defences which have been exposed at times this season?

Reports indicate that Aguirre wants to switch to a 4-2-3-1 formation, which is perhaps a welcome attacking change, but the injury crisis at the back may prevent this from happening for a while.

Pepelu is seen by Aguirre as someone who can partner Guido Rodriguez in a pivot, but he has been filling in at centre-back given the lack of other options.

We may not see Aguirre's tactical vision until he has more defenders available, but he will need to make an immediate impact despite this crisis at the back. Could Smalling be the solution? We'll have to wait and see...