Osasuna 0-0 Sevilla; Is The Glass Half Empty or Half Full?

By: Anthony | May 19th, 2009

Just when I thought we had seriously found some consistency this match came along and was a real slap in the face to show just how long of an uphill battle we face in regards to breaking the “top 2″.

Jiménez surprised me and probably any other Sevillista when he left Jesús Navas, Diego Capel and Diego Perotti all on the bench to start the match with Adriano being the only true winger in the starting XI.

It was also evident that we need to address our right back problem this summer as Konko was being turned inside and out by Plasil the whole match. Dare I say it but Osasuna actually had control of the match for the whole first half but just failed to capitalize on their chances and opportunities so we went into the break deadlocked at 0-0.

Entering the second half nothing changed as in the 48th minute, Nekounam smashed his freekick towards the top right corder but San Andrés (Palop) matched it with a perfect save. Off the corner it was Plasil again causing us trouble as Konko didn’t mark him properly and as a result he headed towards goal but what looked to be dangerous, hit another Osasuna player and went the danger was cleared.

The whole Kanouté/Fabiano partnership which appeared to be working so well over the past few weeks just wasn’t happening in Pamplona and also realizing that we had no width, Jiménez put on our prodigal son Jesús Navas for Kanouté.

Jiménez confused the hell out of me when he took off Adriano who was clearly our only attacking threat the whole match and put on Diego Capel. It was so obvious that Konko was struggling so why not take him off for Capel and push Adriano to right-back where he is just as comfortable? I don’t know Manolo, I don’t know… The substitution did bring a bit more pace on the left flank but Capel was well marked and couldn’t do much and Osasuna at this point were still controlling the match.

We started to turn the heat up a bit but regardless, it was too late and despite a break or two we failed to materialize anything dangerous. With 10 minutes left, Romaric picked up his second yellow and was sent off. The call was pretty harsh in my eyes considering it didn’t even look like he had any wrong intent in the tackle. The drama didn’t stop there though as in stoppage time, Sergio was given a straight red for a tackle on Diego Capel which was also a harsh call but that’s football and two bad calls ultimately made the match even.

This was supposed to be the match where we sealed third place but we still find ourselves yet to do that. I don’t know what’s more worrying – Jiménez’ awful tactics or the fact that we couldn’t manage a win over Osasuna this whole season. No disrespect to the boys from Pamplona but when we play our game, we are clearly on a whole other level but this inconsistency could come back to haunt us.

This season has given Sevillistas a lot to be excited about but at the same time gives us a lot to put into perspective. We’ve been really up and down throughout the campaign and despite that we sit in a solid league position, and have technically qualified for Europe for the 6th consecutive season (regardless of whether it’s the Champions League or Europa League). Those are the positives, here are the negatives. Jiménez has less than inspired our players throughout the season and it’s a scary thought to see players who have such little faith for the man in charge. You can’t expect us to break into the top 2 if we don’t have the proper coaching and as much as I’ve tried to defend Jiménez and put my trust in him throughout the course of the campaign, I think I officially give up. Romaric, Renato and Duscher are all central midfielders so starting them in a four-man midfield just doesn’t work… We’re not Barcelona or Real Madrid, all the remaining matches still matter! With a win we could have solidified that third place spot but instead it’s going to be down to the wire to do so.

Optimists would say that we’ve officially qualified for Europe for the 6th season running but realists (call them pessimistic if you want!) would say that we should be achieving so much more. I think I’m somewhere in between and I just expect so much more out of this beloved club. It’s so obvious that one of the main reasons behind Fabiano and Kanouté’s successful partnership has been Jesús Navas’ near-perfect service and without him they clearly struggled. Not only did Navas not play, but there was no winger on the right flank at all to support our dynamic duo up top.

My thoughts on this matter are simple. We’re a big club now, whether we like it or not, that’s what it has come down to. We need a coach to inspire the players, give them something to look forward to and something to believe in. I think that by keeping Jiménez, we would only stagnate as a team and not progress like we so badly need to. We have the squad to cause some serious damage in Europe but at the same time there are obvious problems that need to be addressed. Those will be saved for another post, on another day but for now we have to decide how we are looking at this situation.

Should I be optimistic right now or a bit more reserved?