Playing with the Big Boys

By: Anthony | February 18th, 2009

We all know that expectations surrounding this Sevilla side this year were through the roof and they heightened when we went 7 league matches without defeat and not to mention UEFA Cup group stage victories as well. However since that dreadful day in Málaga we have had our heart ripped right out of our chest, or at least so it seems. We haven’t played like the team everyone knows and loves but rather one that goes into each match half-heartedly. The players have looked gassed on the pitch, week in and week out and as a result, have seriously struggled most notably in the past month or so.

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.