Summer is over in Sevilla
By: Anthony |
1 Comment
Our friendly match tomorrow against Atalanta starts a run of several important matches which will lead us right into our 2010-2011 Liga campaign. Building up to the Trofeo Carranza as well as our Supercopa matches, this will be the perfect opportunity to get our season off to a positive start.
We travel to Italy with a nearly complete squad with the exception of Jesús Navas who is still on his post World Cup holiday/recovery period and both Konko and Acosta who were declared unfit to travel with the squad following some minor injuries they’ve sustained.
Atalanta is an opponent of some significance as this is our new signing, Tiberio Guarente’s former club. This match will allow Álvarez to asses just how well new signing’s Guarente and Dabo fit into and play with the rest of the squad.
While the game is technically meaningless, it allows Álvarez to evaluate the squad in a competitive match against a decent opponent to prepare for the Supercopa de España against Liga Champions, Barcelona later next month.
The squad traveling is as follows: Palop, Javi Varas, Dabo, Fernando Navarro, Luna, Cala, Lolo, Squillaci, Escudé, Fazio, Renato, Romaric, Guarente, Zokora, Alfaro, Perotti, Capel, José Carlos, Negredo, Luis Fabiano, Kanoute and Rodri.
Transfer Latest
With the departure of Tom de Mul to Standard Liege on a season long loan (with an option to purchase at year-end), it begs the question if this move is part of a bigger picture that President Del Nido has in mind. It was reported earlier this week that we were interested in two Liege players – Steven Defour and Sebastien Pocognoli. Maybe some sort of agreement was struck between Del Nido and Standard to help strengthen their squad in order to allow us to buy one of their top players. Maybe it’s an over-thought, but our president always has something crafty up his sleeve and it wouldn’t surprise me if this time is any different.
It is needless to say that with upcoming crucial matches, summer holidays are over in Sevilla.
Back to Business
By: Anthony | 2 Comments
A quick bit of info for those who aren’t absolutely sick and tired hearing about the whole “Luis Fabiano transfer saga”.
LuFa today stated that he does not expect a transfer away from the Sánchez Pizjuán as he is happy in Nervión despite being linked with European heavyweights such as Tottenham, Inter and Manchester United. He stated that he could not speak while with his native Brasilian squad in South Africa but he is very content fulfilling his one year left in Sevilla.
While Fabiano may be technically, the strongest football in our squad, I was following the saga not minding either of the possible outcomes which either included LuFa staying in Sevilla or leaving for another European giant. Fabiano staying obviously provides us with great strength up front as he is still one of the best strikers in the world as displayed in his several World Cup performances. On the other hand, Luis is 29 years old, which by footballing standards, is old for a striker. The €20m+ which was being rumoured as the price for the Brasilian is in my opinion, an offer worth grabbing as we could definitely invest that into the squad in massive ways. Not that we have to worry about that anymore though, as Fabiano says he will be in Nervión next season.
Other musings around Europe have us linked to PSV midfielder Ibrahim Affelay, Everton star Mikel Arteta and most noticably, Napoli’s Luca Cigarini. There seemed to be some substance to the Cigarini gossip before it was reported that there was a breakdown in negotiations between Napoli and Sevilla in regards to the transfer. The Arteta rumour most likely is paper talk as I cannot see Everton accepting a £9m offer when there’s been talk of Manchester City offering £20m+.
Season Preperations
Disregarding the chaos that is going on in the transfer market, we are progressing nicely in our pre-season leading up to the 2010-2011 campaign.
Three consecutive wins against weaker opposition Chiclana, Villa Rota and San Fernando has set us up nicely for our World Cup stars Jesús Navas, Squillaci and Zokora to return to the squad in time for the Trofeo Carranza, and more importantly in the buildup to the beginning of the season. The return of these three crucial players means Antonio Álvarez will have some decisions to make as he must trim the squad down to 25 players to submit to UEFA before the start of the season. The issue will be even worse as we are still in the hunt for a new midfielder which will create more congestion within the squad. The excess number of players in the squad could mean the likes of Chevantón, Duscher, Lolo, De Mul and David Prieto all finding new homes for next season as it is said Álvarez isn’t pleased with their progress so far this pre-season. They could all be transfered in attempts to raise funds for a more prolific midfielder which we so desperately need.
Who we will actually sign in the summer before the start of the season is still very much a mystery but with the massive loss of Adriano to Barcelona, we definitely need some strengthening if there’s any hopes of not only closing the gap between ourselves and the big two in La Liga but also for our well being in the Champions League. We cannot expect to make it very far if the squad looks the same as it does today, on September 1 when the transfer window closes.
Category: Champions League, Copa Del Rey, Friendly Matches, International Matches, Team News, Transfers
Tags: Adriano, Antonio Álvarez, Barcelona, Champions League, Chevantón, Copa Del Rey, David Prieto, Didier Zokora, Duscher, Everton, Friendly Matches, Inter Milan, International Matches, Jesus Navas, La Liga, Lolo, Luis Fabiano, Manchester City, Manchester United, Napoli, Sevilla FC, Squillaci, Team News, Tom De Mul, Tottenham, Transfers, Trofeo CarranzaA Quick Message of Thanks
By: Joshua | 8 Comments
I just want to take the opportunity to thank all of the readers of this blog for being so kind with your comments and page views over the past few months. I started blogging for Sevilla just a few months ago to help keep the blog up-to-date, always knowing the end of the summer would bring about a loss of time to write, but hoping I could continue on and co-blog with Anthony upon his return.
I have a lot going on in my life over the next few weeks, as my wife is due to give birth at anytime. Due to this, I am going to take a break from writing for a while—mostly because of the chaos of the baby and learning how to be a father for the first time. But enough about my life, I am writing this to announce that Anthony will return to being the Sevilla blogger after this post. His excellent writing is the reason most of you began following this blog, and I look forward very much to reading his new posts. Again, thank you all for your reading my posts and with your kind comments.
Category: Team NewsSevilla 2010/2011 Kits Revealed
By: Joshua | 5 Comments
Finally, Sevilla unveiled their kits for the upcoming season on Monday. While there are many new features, most of the kits are what you would expect from a Sevilla kit, but the third kit…whoa!
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Category: Team NewsCampeones del Mundo
By: Joshua | 6 Comments
Spain won the World Cup! ! I guess we can finally put the tired cliché of perennial Spanish underachievement in major tournaments to rest for good—gracias a Dios! Huge congratulations to the Spanish National Team! This was a team that we saw grow over the course of the tournament, a team that gave us changes in tactics, teamwork, formations and fortunes. This was a team that started with a shocking loss, and bounced back after many had written them off. Del Bosque put together a mix of Spain’s most experienced players and some of Spain’s most promising youth, and the result was something the Spanish people had only dreamed of—they were crowned champions of the world!
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Sevilla FC Tours Cadiz
By: Joshua | 5 Comments
First, I want to congratulate Jesús Navas and the rest of La Furia Roja on making it to the country’s first World Cup Final! While Navas hasn’t seen action since the group stages, it is a great accomplishment to be on the team, and considering he is warming the bench along with players like David Silva, Cesc Fabregas, and Fernando Torres, I don’t think he should feel too bad. Del Bosque only uses Navas when Iniesta in not on the field. I don’t think I have seen both on the field through any of the warm-ups or World Cup. So, as long as Iniesta remains in superb form, I don’t think we will see Navas in the final at any time where the outcome is not already decided.
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Musings on the World Cup Thus Far
By: Joshua | 4 Comments
As the domestic leagues take a backseat to the action in South Africa this month, I wanted to take some time and comment about the Sevilla players in the World Cup and their performances thus far. Please feel free to agree or disagree, as this article is mostly opinion. Read the rest of this entry »
Category: Team NewsJesús Navas: “It’s nice that a team like Real Madrid is set on you”
By: Joshua | 7 Comments
I admit that I was a bit worried when I saw the above quote from Navas as I was surfing the Spanish newspapers today. It would seem that over the past few weeks Florentino has set his sights on our beloved Sevilla winger. However, I am not so sure that this deal is likely for several reasons:
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Category: Team NewsClosing the Gap
By: Joshua | 3 Comments
The end of the 2009/2010 season has come, and looking at the final La Liga table, one thing is clear—there is a huge gap between the top two teams and the rest of the league. The gap exists in several areas on the table with the most noticeable being points, wins, and goals scored. In fact, Sevilla scored the third-most goals in the Primera División this year, but was still 33 goals short of catching Barcelona who scored the second-most. In comparison, the worst team at finding the net, Espanyol, scored only 36 goals less than Sevilla—nearly the same gap.
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Category: Team NewsTransfer News and Rumors
By: Joshua | 5 Comments
Dabo in, Stankevicius Out
Last week, Sevilla announced the arrival of Senegalese-born defender Mouhamadou Dabo on a free transfer from Saint-Etienne of Ligue 1. Ramon Rodriguez Verdejo, the Deputy General Director of Sports, or “Monchi” as he is more commonly known, has admitted that Sevilla has had their eye on the 23 year old Dabo for some time, and has hailed the player’s skill and versatility. In an interview with Estadio Deportivo, Monchi had this to say of the former Saint-Etienne defender: Read the rest of this entry »
Category: Team News
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