Once again, Messioronaldo has written up some of his excellent thoughts and made a great mid-week post for you all to enjoy. Be sure to join in the conversation in the comments, and if you’d like to write for Monchi’s Men, don’t hesitate to contact us.
This is complicated, very complicated. I’m glad it’s not my problem.
Tricky Problem 1
We are going to be scrapping for every point until the end of the season so there won’t be much time for experimentation. Emery will get his chance to experiment during the pre-season and that could be a giant stride forward for the team.
But he’ll need to know who’s going and who’s coming (and we’re not sure of Monchi’s future)
Celta and Mallorca are heading to the second division, the third place will be fought between Deportivo, Zaragoza and Granada. From these clubs we have Antonio Luna (Mallorca) and Javi Varas (Celta) on loan. Luna was born in Mallorca so he might be content there in the second division. If Javi Varas returns it will upset Julian who is expecting to be the second goalkeeper so Varas moved on for cash.
We also have Alexis Ruano on loan to Getafe, Bernardo Espinosa (Sporting Gijon) and Luis Alberto (Barcelona). Alexis will not return, I’m sure. There was a disagreement with the club and he accused them of favouring Martin Caceres because of a clause with his agents.
Bernardo might be a useful backup for centre defence, but strangely he’s only played 16 games for Sporting. Even if Botía and Fazio stay we need another central defender. I’m quite sure that Barca will not pay 4 million for Luis Alberto, so if the deal is not renegotiated he will return to Sevilla. (That would mean he stays or is used in a player exchange deal).
Tricky Problem 2
It seems that Beto is the only player that will surely start next season with Sevilla.
We have the following players in limbo: Stefanovic, Babá, Campaña, Del Moral, Trochowski, Cala, Botía and Rabello.
The Rabello situation must be top priority. Sell Stefanovic, Cala, Del Moral, Babá and Campaña. With Botía, I’m still trying to understand that very strange contract but I know it’s worked against him this year, when he doesn’t play Sevilla save money. But saying that, I have no idea what to do with Botía.
Sell Campaña? yes, sorry. I see a reasonably good player but I’m still waiting to see a ‘great’ Jose Campaña.
Trochowski, when he recovers, will need to learn football again. Not all of it, but he will need to integrate his ‘new leg’. If it functions OK he might still have to adjust style and posture. When he starts to kick a ball again, it will just be the start of another long phase of recuperation.
Tricky Problem 3
The budget is negative, we cannot buy anyone without selling one or more players. The eternal problem is that the market is a jigsaw puzzle, one player has to move to release the money to buy another. Much of the negotiation is ‘who blinks first’, trying to get the best deal at the last moment. How does that affect the pre-season planning? The manager ends up with an unknown asset and loses a top player.
If there are offers for Navas, Kondogbia and Negreo, which one(s) do we sell? My choice will surprise you. Navas. And I would also sell Reyes, Manu Del Moral and Rakitic. Why? Because the ‘gearbox’ mechanism between midfield and forward line still does not function. Rakitic, although he has the quality, makes too many unforced errors.
Tricky Problem 4
Who do we buy?
Over to you, I don’t know, but I would like three or four Brazilians, similar to Alves, Adriano, Fabiano and Renato (they weren’t expensive).
Sevilla – Sociedad Match Preview
It’s sort of hard to know what to make of Sevilla’s position in the table right now. Don’t get me wrong, I’m excited that we’re (kind of, sort of) in European places, and I hope we can stay. But while Málaga seems pretty likely to remain disqualified from European play this season, somehow it’s hard to feel like we’re really that close. Probably that has something to do with our final three games: today vs Real Sociedad (tied for 4th place on 59 points), the following week away at [who care because we never win away games], and then wrapping up the season with Valencia, the other team tied for the last Champions League spot with 59 points. So…yeah. It’s going to be a very tough road just to keep 8th place, let alone move up to 7th place where we wouldn’t have to await a court’s decision in June to know if we’d play or not.
Fortunately for us, Getafe (currently tied with Sevilla on points) hosts Valencia today, and will host Rayo (still with a hope of playing in Europe), so there’s a decent chance that a win today would buy Sevilla a bit of space in that last European spot. Which, again, we’re going to need since we don’t really have an easy match from here on out.
Missing today will be Fazio who was injured last week, but Reyes (also injured in that game) will be back. Perotti, who was subbed off in what I was guessing was going to be another 6 month injury last week, is back among the active players and is expected to start. In addition we’ll have both Kondo and Medel, so our midfield we’ll be as stable as we can hope.
I think we’ve said this before about La Real, but I really do hope they do well, and I’d be very happy to see them make Champions next year. It’s just…I don’t wish them any success on this particular day. VAMOOOOOOOOOOOO
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