Enzo Perez said Valencia have hit rock bottom, but the problem is they might not have. It was almost exactly 12 months ago when they thought they'd hit it; again a couple of months after that; again not long after that; again and again as the club fired manager after manager following loss after loss. Each time, it's looked like rock bottom. Each time, it hasn't been.The issue with Valencia declaring themselves at the lowest of all points now is that it projects an assumption they're protected from the ultimate descent. On Saturday night, Valencia travel south to Andalucia to take on Sevilla at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan. They arrive as one of the worst sides in the division, sat in 16th place and averaging less than a point per game, hanging just above the trap door.Through it is rock bottom. With each passing week, you feel you'd be less surprised if they went through the trap door, and it also wouldn't surprise you if they didn't even make it to Seville on Saturday:Somewhere along the line, Valencia set sail with aTamagotchi for a compass.It would be easy at this point to jump into the drunken sailor references, but Perez put it better. When announcing his club's arrival at rock bottom after last weekend's 1-1 draw with Granadaa game in which Mestalla fumed and in which owner Peter Lim was turned uponthe midfielder told Marca(in Spanish) his team's concession of goals had become "childlike."If there's ever a way to gauge whether a team has allowed the destruction of its own standards, it's by watching them defend. Protecting your goal involves skill and tactical acumen, sure, but more than anything it requires collective effort. It's one of the few things a whole team can do together; watching a side defend is a glimpse into its soul.Evidently, Valencia sold theirs for a couple of bucks and an Eliaquim Mangala.The Frenchman will be wanting the DVD from Sunday's clash with Granada as much as Marlon Brando's agent once wanted the film poster for The Island of Dr. Moreaufor his office wall.Mangala is the latest centre-back to send Mestalla over the edge, and the list is extensive: Aymen Abdennour,Aderlan Santos and Ruben Vezo have all had their turns before him.Had last weekend's opponents been anyone other than Granada, it's almost certain Valencia would have conceded a handful. They've already let in 22 this season, having started it by conceding four to Las Palmas and three to Real Betis. In the last 12 months, Los Che have had more managers than clean sheets. That's not a typo; Mestalla will soon need seat-back pockets with sick bags in place at all times.Of course, though, these are symptoms of the issue rather than the cause. Valencia's identity crisis on the field is a result of them not knowing who they are off it. This is a club with money but no idea how to use it; a club stuck between two stadiums; a club with a new regime that looks both besieged and distracted; a club at which awkward questions linger, the most important of them being: "What is the point of Valencia right now'"Lim might have saved them from financial ruin but that's about all, and if they're not careful they could experience ruin like never before. The Singaporean's reign started brightly in 2014-15, but a complex background picture has become tumultuous.Under Lim's watch, Valencia have spent heavily but recklessly, leaving behind an unbalanced, overrated squad that had to be gutted last summer as financial fair play regulations loomed. The players they said they wouldn't sell (Shkodran Mustafi and Paco Alcacer), they sold. The ones they should have sold, they kept.Around this, replacements have been underwhelming and the squad looks messy. The array of wide men flatter to deceive, the defence is wonkier than the business model and there's no genuine centre-forward to speak of. You've got problems when Mario Suarez is your leading scorer.Building a football club is not an exact science, but it's not advisable to treat it like the family fish and chip shop. Having dispensed with the old, Lim's Valencia is surrounded by uncomfortable, troubling sensations. The influence of agent Jorge Mendesthe man who helped bring Lim to Spain's east coasthas been strong, heightening the suspicion that the club is being run partly for the benefit of friends and clients.Former manager Nuno, Mendes' first client, represented that conflict of interest in the eyes of fans. The appointment of Gary Neville did little to dispel the perception. Both are now gone. Neville's successor, Pako Ayestaran, is, too. Now the club is ontoCesare Prandelli, who told Marca(in Spanish) that Claudio Ranieri encouraged him to take the job.The Leicester City boss has obviously been fooling us with his charm all along. You wouldn't wish Valencia on any coach right now.You also wouldn't wish the Pizjuan on any team at present. On Saturday, Valencia travel to one of the country's true footballing fortresses. Sevilla have won 19 of their last 23 league games at Nervion, where the atmosphere is intense and where a connection between player and fan lives.Sevilla have started the campaign in a blaze. Under Jorge Sampaoli, they've charged into the league's top three, taking down Atletico Madrid in the process and outplaying Barcelona at their own game for a half. You sense they're the real deal this term. Belief is rising that something special is growing at the Pizjuan, but then, something special has long been there.Sevilla's might be the most tantalising project in the land, but for Valencia, more than anything, Sevilla should be an example of how to conduct oneself. They're the club Valencia should be.On the back of brilliant scouting and recruitment, founded around the excellence of sporting directorRamon Rodriguez Verdejothe man you may know as Monchithe club from the south has built and rebuilt, over and over, year after year with astonishing success.This is the club that in the last three years has sold Kevin Gameiro,Grzegorz Krychowiak,Carlos Bacca, Aleix Vidal,Alberto Moreno, Ivan Rakitic, Federico Fazio,Alvaro Negredo, Jesus Navas, Geoffrey Kondogbia and Gary Medel among countless others. The fees for those 11 men alone top 200 million. But it's not just the selling; you've got to find and buy them first.A look at Sevilla's squad now illustrates how remarkable Monchi and Co. are at doing just that. Any other club would be close to disrepair having let go of the aforementioned names, but not the one from the Pizjuan. Currently wearing white are Samir Nasri, Vitolo, Franco Vazquez, Luciano Vietto, Mariano, Steven N'Zonzi, Ganso, Wissam Ben Yedder, Pablo Sarabia, Sergio Escudero andMatias Kranevitter.The depth of talent is staggering, and Monchi has been pulling this trick for years. Five Europa League titles in a decade are reflective of that, and now Sampaoli is taking it to another level again.But for Valencia, it's not the titles nor the talent that should hold their gaze. Instead, it's the conviction and commitment Sevilla have for their way of doing things. They've prioritised their model of operation above all else, its principles guiding their every move.Valencia will get an up-close look of that on Saturday night. And afterwards, maybe they'll get a model of their own. Rock bottom is awaiting them if they don't.Not to Be MissedLuis Enrique won't be mucking around this time, past experience will ensure that. There'll be no rotation from the Barcelona boss, no resting and no experiments. His side head to Anoeta on Sunday night to take on Real Sociedad in the venue that's been their graveyard. The Catalans haven't won in San Sebastian in almost a decade, and things typically get weird for them there. It's made even weirder by the fact Barcelona have beaten La Real 19 straight times at home.Sporting Gijon were so bad and so comprehensively outplayed by Real Sociedad last weekend that manager Abelardo said that if he'd been sitting in the stands he would have whistled, too, according to Mundo Deportivo(in Spanish). It's all starting to look a bit grim for Sporting after a strong start. The defeat to La Real was their seventh in their last nine games, and they haven't won in two-and-a-half months. Next up: Real Madrid at the SantiagoBernabeu.Though Real Madrid can't be overtaken at the top this weekend regardless of what happens, plenty of movement could unfold behind them. Barcelona could make ground or even fall to third; Sevilla could finish the weekend anywhere between second and fifth; Villarreal and Real Sociedad could get to third or fall to seventh; and Atletico Madrid could get as high as fourth or fall one place to seventh. Some season, eh'If unpredictability is what you're after, Celta Vigo vs. Granada on Sunday is the game for you. Celta's last six games in the league have seen them topple Barcelona 4-3, thrash Deportivo La Coruna 4-1, receive a 5-0 thrashing from Villarreal, take part in a 3-3 with Las Palmas and manage to finish with nine men against Eibar. Granada will turn up to Balaidos winless, but never underestimate the potential for wonderful chaos in Vigo.After their worst derby performance in years, Diego Simeone and Atletico Madrid are out to find themselves this weekend. Even if it wasn't always the case, tackling Osasuna atEl Sadar is a good place for that these days.
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