Valencia has faltered since Ronald Koeman took over as manager. (Fernando Bustamante/Associated Press)

Valencia: city of orange trees, Catholic cathedrals and paella.

Although it's a bustling port on the east coast of Spain that acts as a gateway to the rest of the country, Valencia is also renowned for its relaxed pace and its Mediterranean way of life.

But the word on the streets is that locals are restless, and they're picking the oranges off the trees, ripping bricks from the foundations of the cathedrals and taking their paella pans off the stoves in order to hurl them at their hometown soccer club.

Where does one even begin when trying to diagnose what ails Valencia CF, the famous Los Che who once threatened to break up the Real Madrid-FC Barcelona duopoly that has forever ruled Spanish soccer?

What's wrong with Lose Che?

Valencia was expected to contend for the Spanish league title this season, but it looks as though a mid-table finish is about the best it can hope for. Last weekend, Valencia stumbled to an embarrassing 2-0 loss to Espanyol, a result that left the club in ninth place in la liga and a whopping 24 points behind front-runner Real Madrid.

European glory was also predicted this season for Los Che. Considered as one of the dark horses in this year's Champions League, the Spanish outfit was eliminated at the first hurdle, finishing last in its opening-round group.

Valencia stuttered out of the gate in Spain at the start of the campaign, and the club's board of directors fired manager Quique Sanchez Flores in October, a rash decision if ever there was one because at the time Valencia was only four points off the pace of Real Madrid and still alive in the Champions League.

Ronald Koeman was installed as the new manager, and the Dutchman wasted little time in making an impression.

He immediately banished captain David Albelda, goalkeeper Santiago Canizares and midfielder Miguel Angel Angulo — who between them had played over 750 games for Valencia — as part of his rebuilding plans. By axing the veteran trio, Koeman sent a clear signal to his players as to who was in charge and that they had better toe the line.

But not everybody got the message, because a month later midfielder Manuel Fernandes spent several hours behind bars following a nightclub incident in which two police officers were allegedly attacked. The following day, Fernandes was loaned to English club Everton.

Koeman clears house

Koeman was supposed to invigorate the team with his quick counter-attacking, one-touch-passing system, but instead Valencia has looked slow and sluggish and way out of its depth. Under Koeman, the club has managed to win just three of 15 Spanish league games and prematurely exited the Champions League.

This is a staggering blow for a once mighty club that has only finished outside the top five in the Span ish standings once in the last 10 years, won two Spanish league titles (2002 and 2004), reached two Champions League finals (2000 and 2001) and won the UEFA Cup (2004).

While it would be easy to point the finger of blame at Koeman — Valencia has gone from bad to worse under his watch — the reality is the die was cast long ago, in 2004 to be exact, when the club acrimoniously parted ways with former manager Rafa Benitez.

The current Liverpool manager has won few admirers during his time at Anfield, mostly because of his odd strategies and failed player rotation policy, but the Spaniard was once one of the most esteemed tacticians in the world.

The Madrid native took over as Valencia manager in 2001 and quickly introduced a more attacking and stylish brand of play, a scheme that stood in direct contrast to the conservative, defensive system employed by his predecessor, Hector Cuper.

Team not the same without Benitez

The tactical change bore immediate fruit: in his first season at the helm, Benitez guided Valencia to its first league title in 31 years. Benitez went one better just two seasons later when Valencia won the Spanish league crown and the UEFA Cup in the same campaign.

On the field, Valencia was on top of the heap, but turmoil was brewing behind the scenes. Benitez was at odds with club management, as he wanted greater control over which new players the club would sign for the following season.

The club's director of sport, Jesus Pitarch, ignored Benitez's plea to go after a proven goal-scorer and instead signed winger Nestor Canobbio against his manager's wishes.

Benitez was outraged, and when Pitarch chose not to reinforce the team with the players he wanted, Benitez quickly resigned and left no doubt in people's minds as to why he was leaving.

"I asked for a sofa and they bought me a lamp," Benitez famously said at a news conference, explaining what he thought of management's utter lack of acumen and tactical naiveté.

Four years have passed since Benitez left town, but it would appear the club still hasn't learned its lesson. The firing of Flores, the hiring of Koeman (a great player in his day, but unproven as a manager) and a failure to sign quality players in the off-season all point to the fact that this team is in complete disarray.

Forget about sofas and lamps — Valencia needs a new interior designer.

John F. Molinaro is a reporter for CBCSports.ca whose chief love is international soccer. Contact John here.