Overall our team isn’t doing as bad as it seems, we’re third in the league only behind who else but Barça and Real, in the Copa del Rey semifinals and next we travel to Bilbao with the lead. We also have a decent point tally and at the half way mark of the season it was equal to the highest in Rojiblanco history. It just seems like the negative points of drawing Osasuna and Mallorca, and losing to Betis (embarrassingly), Sporting Gijón and Racing Santander have overshadowed the positives like defeat of Real in the Bernabeú, the 1-0 dismantling of Villarreal, and the victory over Deportivo when we were down a man for over half the match.

Today our sporting director, Monchi brought up a very valid point whilst talking to Spanish Newspaper rag, Marca. The questions he was asked were about our season thus far and the struggles we have encountered, specifically our humiliating defeat at home to hated rivals Betis.

Still, Monchi insists that our squad is perfectly fine and the losses of Dani Alves and Seydou Keita to Barcelona as well as Christian Poulsen to Juventus were major losses but all in all we are doing better this year than last as we currently sit 8 points ahead of where we were at this point one year ago.

Monchi also states in his interview that the media has attributed to the pressure the team are facing and that pressure has now turned into anxiety, hence our run of recent poor results.

“It makes me sad at times to read and listen to some of the things in the media, as sporting director I have cried many times, mainly in finals, but this year I have cried more than ever after normal games.”

That was his confession to the media earlier today, quite a touching statement really.

“The fans listen, read and see. The press is creating the view.”

Responded our sporting director when asked about the pressure on the team from the fans and other outside sources.

It hit me today that we’re nothing more than an above average club who is way too erratic to be considered a “footballing powerhouse”. We’re a solid side no doubt, but the difference between us and sides like Barça and Real are consistency levels. We cannot afford to lose matches to Betis, Racing, and Sporting, especially at such crucial times in the season. One must realize that it was not too long ago that we were always in the second half of the table and spent a few spells in the Segunda so to be in the position we’re in today is quite remarkable, especially in the short timeframe that it was achieved. None the less, now that we’re here we have to expect the expectations and if we want to stay in the top four and be recognized as one of Spain’s best clubs we can’t go on blaming things like the media for our piss-poor performances, that’s just sad.

I can’t deny that players must feel some self-consciousness when they read articles about their recent performances (or lack of) and while this may affect them slightly you can’t tell me that it would cause our team to not win a league match for a whole month.

We’re not showing signs of dropping out of the top four Champions League places but then again we’re not showing signs of progressing ahead of our current position into a position where we can pass the big boys of Real Madrid and Barcelona.

While this kills me to say and admit these things, I’ve done some serious thinking today about our recent performances and it’s absolutely true. We just don’t have the depth as the big two do nor do we have the leadership. Palop is a great guy but I have a certain prejudice against goalkeepers being captains, he can’t run half way up the pitch to argue a booking and then be expected to run back to the goal, I really thought Maresca was that guy but due to his hot-tempered nature it is evident he is not the one to fill the role. As Javi Navarro doesn’t look like he’ll be back very soon, or at all, we need to find a suitable leader and captain fast, for people that think this is a small deal, quite clearly you don’t know football, it is absolutely vital to have someone to lead the squad on the pitch.

We can go on making one hundred and one excuses about anything we want but at the end of the day must realize that now we’ve had several successful seasons in a row and as a result expectations of our squad are through the roof therefore meaning we have to deliver or the world and their grandmothers will be on our ass about it. It comes down to the players and where their heart is, if they value the crest on the front of the jersey rather than the name on the back we will succeed, as is evident with any other major clubs in Europe.

As a club we cannot be content with staggering in the position we are currently in, we have to show the desire to progress above and beyond what people expect, we need to shatter their expectations and show them that they need to actually set them higher because we need new goals to achieve, thats a big club mentality.

Not doing anything in the January transfer window besides shipping out Tom de Mul on loan is another worrying sign. While Monchi usually does his best work in the summer it was quite evident a couple months ago that we needed more talent in the squad to progress and considering we didn’t buy any of the numerous players we were linked to is pretty disappointing. Injuries have plagued the squad and a couple loan moves would have been ideal, hopefully now that Koné, Chevantón and Luis Fabiano are almost back to full fitness we can start scoring goals again.

This weekend we’ll need to show the Primera what exactly we’re made of when we take on a similarly struggling Atlético Madrid side at home in El Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán which is a crucial match and will probably dictate where we go from here. I’m sure revenge will be on the minds of everyone who was in the squad last year as well as Jiménez because Atléti stole that last CL spot meaning we had to settle for UEFA Cup action again this year. This year though we’re in the drivers seat, not them, so let’s see what we can do when its crunch time.

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.

Luis Fabiano Blows Up, Calms Down

The new talk on the block is about the whole Luis Fabiano blowup on Sunday. For those of you who didn’t hear, Luis Fabiano was none to happy about being subbed off at halftime in the win against Mallorca. Fabiano said after the match that he would rather sit on the bench then be subbed off during the game.

Well, needless to say that didn’t sit well with most of the sevillistas, especially Kanouté who came out against Fabiano saying he would need to get used to it if this happened.

Today, on El DesMarque, Renato spoke for the entire team, saying ‘Luis talked with us and to the coach and everything is fixed.’

In AS today, in a article entitled ‘Jimenez and Luis Fabiano, obligated to make up’ LuFa was quoted as saying ‘Everything is fixed. There’s nothing more to talk about.’

This isn’t the first time LuFa has spoken out against Sevilla ‘misters’. He gave Juande Ramos some stick when he sat the bench a few games during his reign in Sevilla. But, it always ended with a sit down, and an a-ok.

I for one am glad this didn’t escalate AND that it’s apparently all water under the bridge.

Argentinian Sevillistas Arrive in Sevilla

In case you didn’t know (and I’m sure most don’t) Sevilla have a school in Argentina, called ‘la Escuela de Fútbol Tucumán Ramón Rodríguez Monchi’ (named after my FAVORITE Sevillista, Monchi).

3 months ago, 2 players from Tucuman were chosen to come to Sevilla and have their chance with the club, see the city, meet the players, and take it all in (even La Feria).

(Here’s a picture of the che’s upon their arrival in Sevilla.

Injury Updates

Renato will make his return to the squad this weekend against Almeria after being out with a strained calf muscle.

Escude will still be out against Almeria with a variety of injuries

Dragois out as well with still problems with his right leg (at least from what I can remember)

Kanouté is banged up after last weekend’s game, but will be back.

Chevantón is still out after having surgery on his left knee over a month ago.

That’s all for now Sevillistas, I’ll see you on Thursday with some new information.

PS Diego Capel is NOT going to Real Madrid, in case you all were wondering! =)