It’s at times like these that I feel such pride. I support Sevilla, the same team that got relegated not too long ago, got promoted again and dominated Europe for a couple years – all of this without crazy investment and limited transfer funds! I don’t care how much you hate us, anyone with common sense will admire our achievements from both a footballing perspective and even from the point where we proved that success is obtainable without money.

I mean just look at Man City (Shitty?) they’re probably one of the richest clubs in Europe right now, or at least have the highest investment but recently were knocked out by Nottingham Forest (Championship side – equivalent to the Spanish Segunda) in the FA Cup and sit in a highly respectable 13th place in the Premier League. It’s true, money can’t buy you happiness now can it? Think Robinho is regretting his move? He might not come out and say it, but I wouldn’t doubt it.

Glory hunters never seem to amaze me. I bet 99% of foreign Manchester United fans can’t even find Manchester on a map. Same goes for Liverpool, Chelsea, Milan and Madrid. It’s not ruining the game directly, but there are very few true fans anymore.

Once again, the pride in being a Sevillista, that small club from the south of Spain who was relegated not too long ago, fought their way back into the top flight and winning those 5 trophies just felt even sweeter. I mean if you’re winning a trophy everyday, the euphoria is lost, as in the case of some of Europe’s top clubs, it’s probably not appreciated as much as it could be, but when we won I can’t even begin to describe the feeling.

Anyway, in case you’re wondering, yes, this does have a lot to do with the transfer window. Money is ruining the beautiful game, everyone knows this. The youth academies of the smaller teams are virtually useless because the big rich clubs are just going to come and submit an irresistible offer for the young up and coming stars anyway.

At Sevilla we have probably the best sporting director in all of Europe, Monchi. He has found some of the now, biggest stars in Europe who were just average kids at one time. The likes of Dani Alves who started at local Brasilian club Bahia and was scouted when he was just seen as an average right back, Fredi Kanoute, the big Tottenham Hotspur flop who came to Nervion and was putting in goals left right and centre, and of course Luis Fabiano who played for Porto and were more than happy to let him go. These three once average players have all come to Sevilla and been more than successful, they were given the time and proper environment to develop. This however is all in vain if one of the bigger clubs in Europe come calling like we saw with Alves and Barcelona. We simple couldn’t resist the 22 million Euro transfer fee that Barca offered. Same deal with Poulsen and Juventus and the 15 million Euros they gave us.

Sure, these two transfers plus the Keita one have made us an extremely rich club over the past year, and allowed us to start a development project on our stadium upgrading the capacity and making it one of the best stadiums in all of Europe but still it doesn’t take away from the fact that we developed these players into the superstars they are but the temptation of money makes it hard for us to do anything. The prestige of playing for a “big club” outweighs playing for the club that made you who you are. It’s ridiculous.

The transfer window may have just opened but already Man Shitty have splashed their cash (12 million pounds) to be exact, on Wayne Bridge, a left back who has always played second fiddle to Ashley Cole. There have been rumours of both Chelsea and Inter Milan being interested in Luis Fabiano, and Kanoute. We now know that Scolari will not be given any funds at Chelsea to buy during this window but we all know that if they really wanted something, they could get it, no problem. Same goes for Inter, probably the best team in Italy right now, they have the money and prestige of a “big club” so when they come calling, it’s hard to say no.

What’s the point of Monchi and our board finding these stars if they’re just going to get bought a couple years later when they’re in their prime? It really defeats the purpose of the transfer window and for the smaller to mid sized teams to progress is made more difficult.

Think about it. We’re a team that is not big by any means, we’ve been successful over the past 5 years or so and we are constantly fighting for the Champions League spots in the league but by no means rich. How can we expect to develop and keep challenging for these places if all our stars are being lured by the more prestigious clubs? How can we even buy other stars if they are being pursued by other top clubs? Who would a player rather choose, Sevilla or AC Milan? I hate this and its slightly degrading to my own team but this is what football has come to, it’s sad.

I often think to myself just how long it will be before Navas and Capel are tapped up by some other European powerhouse… Just look what happened to Sergio Ramos, Julio Baptista, and Jose Antonio Reyes, all moved on to Real, with only one of them eventually succeeding. I’m sure if Puerta was still alive, he’d be one of the most sought after left backs in Europe, the boy was pure class. Our youth system has produced all these great players and only Navas is still with the club. David Prieto is a promising centre back, what if he becomes a world beater? Guess he’s not staying at Sevilla either.

The transfer window was introduced in attempts for clubs to strengthen their squad before the second half of the season, but it has now turned out that it is more of the same. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. How many times have we seen this throughout history? Now it’s happening in football.

On August 23rd 2008 a match between Sevilla and Málaga was scheduled for I Trofeo Antonio Puerta, a match to commemorate Antonio and continue his legacy. Originally Del Nido wanted to select either Shalke, whom which Antonio scored his infamous UEFA cup game winning goal, or AC Milan, whom which Sevilla played in the UEFA Supercup the same week that Antonio had passed. Due to both their busy schedules Del Nido chose Málaga, whom which were recently promoted to the Primera, and this was a way to both introduce them back to the league, and make it an Andaluz tournament.

Sevilla easily handled their fellow Andalucian’s beating them 2-0 with goals coming from Luis Fabiano, and Renato. But what was important wasn’t the goals, the trophy, or even victory for that matter. It was for everyone to remember Antonio for the great player, husband, and friend he was.

I really respect Del Nido for things like this, he makes Sevilla a respectable club, and he treats it like family, not a business like most football clubs these days.

Descansa en Paz Antonio
Siempre Con Nosotros

2 years ago, Antonio Puerta single handedly started Sevilla on a run that would Spain 15 months and 5 separate titles (UEFA Cup 2006, 2007, Spanish Copa Del Rey 2007, Spanish Super Cup 2007 and European Super Cup 2006). His goal against Schalke didn’t only lift Sevilla to the finals against Middlesbrough, but it was also a spectacular goal, scored in the 100th minute of the game, in Sevilla’s 100th year of existence.

And on a totally random note, this is my 100th post on The Sevilla Offside…creepy

When this goal was scored, the city quite literally erupted into a frenzy, as you can see from the video. This goal will live as one of the greatest goals in Sevilla history.

Manolo Jimenez wrote a great remembrance today in MARCA about this topic. Remember that Jimenez was Puerta’s coach in Sevilla Atlético for a few years before his move up to the first team under Joaquin Caparros, and ultimately under the guidance of Juande Ramos.

His few lines says it all:

No resulta fácil encontrar las palabras adecuadas cuando se trata de recordar la figura del gran Antonio Puerta. Es un futbolista, una persona, por la que siento una especial predilección. Se cumple el primer Jueves de Feria sin él, se cumple el segundo aniversario del Jueves de Feria que cambió la historia del Sevilla y el destino de Puerta.

It’s not easy to find the right words when trying to remember the great Antonio Puerta. He’s a footballer, a person, for whom I felt a special predilection. It’s the first ‘Jueves de Feria’ without him, and it’s the second anniversary of the ‘Jueves de Feria’ that changed Sevilla’s history, and Puerta’s destiny’

The article goes on to talk about the goal against Schalke and how he was a ‘captain without a armband’. What a leader.

I’m waiting to get a quote from Del Nido on this. I’m really surprised he hasn’t come out with anything today.

Jesus Alvarado also wrote a story about Puerta on his blog, entitled ‘Saying ‘Jueves de Feria’ is like saying ‘Antonio Puerta’ and it honestly doesn’t do it any justice to translate it into English. I hope for those of you who speak Spanish can give it a read, it really is quality, especially the last paragraph.

Este Jueves, te lo juro, por la noche, donde sea, pediré de manzanilla, muy fresquita, una botella. Llenaré dos o tres copas de ambrosía sanluqueña, y me acordaré del regalo de tu zurda pinturera. Alzaré mi copa al Cielo, en tu nombre, Antonio Puerta, que es tu día, amigo mío, otra vez, Jueves de Feria.

An interesting story in Público today about Antonio Puerta.

First reports from his autopsy say that his heart did not show any type of damage or defect that would have caused his death. Original reports said that he had a genetic condition that caused his death, but now that is being challenged.

Doctors now are talking that it was caused by a cerebral embolism, which is a blood clot in one part of the body that is carried to the brain where it blocks an artery. The embolism caused a brain hemorrhage, which caused his death.

The sketchy thing about this is that they are not releasing his autopsy reports. I have to say that I’m a bit concerned about this decision.

On one hand, I want this to be over, and for Antonio Puerta to rest in peace and for his family and friends to have closure to this. In Spain right now, a show ‘Aqui Hay Tomate’ has been investigating Puerta’s past to see about any family heart problems, etc.

I can understand the need to know what happened, but they should just leave this alone.

The other thing that is getting me is that Sevilla has been on the list of being one of the clubs suspected of doping. I haven’t seen any reports or articles about this, so if anyone has a good link to this, I would love to read it. When I posted about Puerta’s death in the first place, a commenter posted about Spanish doping. Read it here

I don’t want to say that this may have been a cause of Puerta’s death, because that would be just a shot in the dark. But with the autopsy results being sealed, many are pointing to doping as a cause for his death.

I just hope that isn’t the case.