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The fact that La Liga giants Valencia are currently enduring a terrible run of form in La Liga is not something new with their manager Gary Neville under immense pressure.

Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini favourite to fill Gary Neville's Valencia job

It seems that the Valencia management prefers the experience of Manchester City Manuel Pellegrini next season. Valencia are very much interested in bringing the Chilean to the Mestalla with the Manchester City manager set to leave the Etihad at the end of the season.

It has been confirmed that Guardiola will be replacing Pellegrini at the Etihad and with the Chilean out of contract, it seems Valencia want the former Real Madrid manager to stabilize the current issues prevailing at the club. They have made the former Villareal coach their top priority in terms of the managerial hot seat.

Valencia have been going through a rough patch with their heaviest humbling being at the hands of the La Liga champions Barcelona in the Copa Del Rey. Present manager Gary Neville, who was only instilled till the end of the season, will surely not be at the helm from next season.

The experience of Pellegrini in La Liga with the likes of Real Madrid, Malaga and Villareal has surely been looked into by Valencia and would come in handy if Valencia go for the Chilean. However, the club would have to move fast given the fact that the likes of Chelsea are also considering Pellegrini.

Following the departure of Nuno as head coach of Valencia CF on 30th November, 2015, former Manchester United right back Gary Neville has been appointed as head coach of the Spanish club until the end of the 2015-2016 La Liga season.

Gary Neville has been appointed as head coach of Valencia CF

Club officials reported, Neville will take over the first team from 6th December, 2015, while his first game will be the 2015-2016 UEFA Champions League match against Lyon on 9th December.

Delighted to hear about his appointment, Gary Neville said,“I am absolutely thrilled to be given this opportunity with Valencia. Valencia are a huge football club of immense standing and I know from my time as a player the passion and dedication of the Valencia fans."

 He added about what he feels about the players at Valencia by saying,“I am really looking forward to working with the club’s talented group of players and am excited about the challenge ahead.”

Gary Neville will team up again with brother Phil Neville who is currently assisting interim Valencia coach Voro.

This was confirmed by England national team manager Roy Hodgson that Gary Neville will continue to be a part of the England setup preparing for the 2016 Euro's. Hodgson said: “I'm delighted that Gary has decided to take this excellent opportunity. It's the right moment in time for him and I'm 100 per cent behind his decision to join Valencia as the new head coach."

Barcelona have addressed their weakness in the defensive department, with the Catalan club bringing in French centre-back Jeremy Mathieu from Valencia for a fee of £16 million. Mathieu becomes the third summer signing of the club, with Marc Andre ter Stegen and Luis Suarez being brought in to the club before him.

Barcelona have addressed their defensive issues by signing Jeremy Mathieu

Strengths

Mathieu is a centre-back who is experienced in the Spanish league, having made a total of 129 appearances for Valencia before signing with Barcelona. Not only is Mathieu experienced in La Liga, he has also played plenty of matches in the Europa League with Valencia against some tough opponents, and he has also represented his international country France twice. His experience will be vital for a relatively young and inexperienced Barcelona defense.

Mathieu's passing is one of the biggest positives of his game, as he is comfortable on the ball and will seamlessly fit in to a side whose style is heavily based around the retention of possession. Last season, Mathieu's pass success rate was 83%, which is significantly lower than Javier Mascherano's 89% or Gerard Pique's 90%, but we must also keep in mind that he wasn't playing alongside the likes of Andres Iniesta, Sergio Busquests or Xavi Hernandez.

Jeremy Mathieu averaged around 10 defensive actions per game last season with Valencia, bettering Gerard Pique's and Marc Bartra's averages from last season. The stats prove that he is a fine defender, and one that Barcelona have been crying out for a couple of seasons now.

Weaknesses

Mathieu's age is a certainly a worrying prospect for Barcelona fans, as the French international is currently 30 years old, meaning he won't be at Camp Nou for as long as they would've hoped. 

A weak part of Mathieu's game is his concentration, which will sometimes be lost during a critical phase in a game. His disciplinary record from last season shows that sometimes he can lose his concentration and make rash decisions, leading him to get booked 7 times in the league last season and sent off once. He will need to improve this aspect of his game if he wants to be a role model to the younger defenders at Barcelona like Bartra.

Overall

Overall, in my opinion, signing Jeremy Mathieu was really necessary for Barcelona in this transfer window. Ever since Puyol's injury problems and retirement, Barcelona have lacked leadership, composure and organisation at the back, something which was apparent to see last season. Although he is not the defender many people would have hoped for, after being linked with the likes of Marquinhos, David Luiz and Daniel Agger for so long, Barcelona have gotten themselves a quality experienced centre-back who will undoubtedly improve their 'leaky' defense as they prepare their title hunt for next season.

Article written by Mayank Tiwary. Twitter: @VanPerseing