”We are very angry and sad. “We apologize to the Sevillistas, especially to the fifteen hundred who have traveled to London.” The words of José María del Nido Carrasco, vice president of Sevilla and the next top leader of the Andalusian entity, reflected the state of mind of those responsible for the club in light of what they had seen from their team against Arsenal. A group without resources and dedicated, poorly designed by the coach, Diego Alonso, who gave up beforehand in such an important event in the Champions League. Sevilla, seven-time champion of the Europa League and with four consecutive Champions League qualifications, is reeling. It has stopped being reliable and in this course it repeats the evils of last year.
Monchi is no longer in sports management (he really did almost everything) and Julen Lopetegui, Jorge Sampaoli, José Luis Mendilibar and, now, Diego Alonso have passed through his bench. “We want to build a future around Diego Alonso,” added Del Nido Carrasco. Nobody believes it because if Betis achieves a resounding victory in the derby next Sunday (6:30 p.m., DAZN), the Uruguayan’s hours are numbered.
”Look what has happened with Xabi Alonso. He started losing and now Leverkusen is going like a shot. I know that Sevilla lives in a continuous catharsis, but I ask for patience with Diego Alonso,” claimed Víctor Orta, Monchi’s replacement. A patience that he did not have with Mendilibar because, simply, he was not his coach. The Basque was renewed for his victory in the Europa League last May against Roma. He was dismissed after 11 games (two wins, five draws and four losses) without taking into account that the squad was made in the last week of the market (arrivals of Soumaré, Lukebakio and Mariano) and even Sergio Ramos landed once it was over. . Diego Alonso’s numbers are very poor: three points out of nine in the League (three draws), two defeats against Arsenal in the Champions League and only one victory in the Cup against Quintanar, a Regional team. Not only has the Uruguayan not improved Mendilibar, he has made him worse.
After 17 games this season, Sevilla is curiously tracing what it did in the past in terms of victories. They have only achieved three wins, although they are slightly better classified in the League (now they are 15th with 11 points and then they were in relegation positions, 18th, also with 11). However, it should not be trusted. The two previous occasions in which they only obtained three victories in 17 games ended up being relegated to the Second Division (1967-68 and 1999-00 seasons). Last season they ended up winning the Europa League, with a discreet 12th place in the League. At the moment, they still have a thread of life in the Champions League despite being bottom of their group with only two points in four games. If they win their two remaining games against PSV (at home) and Lens (away) they would get into the round of 16. In the League, they are 14 points away from fourth place and 10 from fifth place.
The causes of Sevilla’s crisis respond to several factors. On the one hand, there are sports: haste of their leaders when taking action with the coaches; departure of Monchi and very late formation of the squad by Víctor Orta, unable to regenerate a group with too many veterans and shortages in basic positions such as the center of defense or the forward. Aware that their bench is a powder keg, highly prestigious coaches like Marcelino refused to sign for Sevilla after Mendilibar’s dismissal.
These are the main causes of the bad moment in sports, but there is an underlying institutional crisis that also affects. “Who really rules Sevilla?” some agents who wanted to establish contact with the club’s leadership recently asked themselves. José Castro is the president, but for the last two years he has been carrying out a transfer of powers in the figure of José María del Nido Carrasco, who must be proclaimed top leader of the entity at the meeting on December 4. This process is continually torpedoed from the outside by José María del Nido Benavente, the entity’s largest shareholder and former president from 2002 to 2013, when he had to leave the presidential chair due to his judicial problems after his time at the Marbella City Council. Del Nido will attempt his umpteenth assault on power at the aforementioned shareholders meeting in December, involved in a continuous judicial dispute with President Castro and his son.
With Monchi working at Aston Villa, Orta’s sporting decisions are being highly questioned. “I met Diego Alonso at a barbecue in 2010 and he impressed me,” he commented to explain the choice of him by a coach who had no experience in European football. It is the example of a message that does not resonate with the fans, who are very dissatisfied with a team that never wins.
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2023-11-10 04:15:00
#Sevillas #crisis #eternal #Soccer #Sports
