So, there is an article saying that Marcelino, our new coach (for those who haven’t been following things too closely over the summer), recently said that Guardiola is a better tactician than Mourinho.
Am I the only person who, when reading this, was thinking: “WTF?!?!?!? SHUT YOUR G-D MOUTH AND STOP PI$$ING OFF OUR OPPONENTS AND GIVING THEM EXTRA MOTIVATION WHEN THEY PLAY AGAINST US!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
If you are Mourinho, what are you going to think? Of course there is the argument that everyone tries to play their best for every game and it won’t matter. But I’m not always sure that’s true. Especially when considering an ego-maniac like Mourinho.
Or, perhaps he’s giving Mourinho a taste of his own mind games medicine. Trying to get the mental edge on him, in some way that I don’t understand, before the season starts.
But for me, I don’t like it at all. He offended Betis, now he’s probably offended Mourinho. Does anyone know if he has a history of this?
I’d much rather he shuts his mouth, worries about OUR team and OUR players, and lets our performance do any and all talking.
What do you all think?
I’m assuming most of these sound bites have come from pointed questions like, “Do you prefer Guardiola or Mourinho?” or “Who do you consider to be the best coach in La Liga?”
I think we can agree that instead of giving an honest answer like, “Well, Mourinho is an exceptional coach, but for me, Guardiola is the best,” he could just as easily have said, “I am not thinking about other teams at all at the moment. I am only concerned with Sevilla. Ask me next May who the best coach was.” Do I prefer the latter? Yes. Have a dozen coaches opted for the former in the past 12 months? Yes. It seems clear to me that it is more media fanfare than actual firmly held belief that G is better than M. I understand the frustration, though. Just don’t get pulled in by their BS!
Off topic:
New kits debut tomorrow at the RSP on our 4 new signings! Not sure if its anticipation or dread I feel…seriously…how ugly can they be?
am i the only one who wouldn’t have been disappointed if we’d just kept the default kit they’ve been using? all white, red horizontal stripe at chest…sometimes simple is good.
but i’m excited to see where they go with it. sevilla’s basic jersey (white top/bottom with red accents) is such a classic the potential for greatness is high.
wonder if we’ll have a sponsor by tomorrow, too.
on topic, i think aaron’s got a good point that it’s likely someone asked about barca/RM. what i’d have liked from marcelino (and for every other team in spain) is when a reporter asked him about two teams he has nothing to do with, he just said “what the hell does that have to do with this team?” obviously that’s just my already existing distaste for the ongoing effort to turn spain into a 2-team league. i don’t much care that marcelino stated his opinion or that mou might be mad–if he needed to, mourinho could construe the way the president of russia eats his caviar into a sign that the echelon conspiracy is trying to keep madrid out of titles–i guess i just wish he would have answered the question like del nido would have. (which i guess means with more swears, and a comment that you don’t have to be a master tactician when you’re playing with a team that looks like the roster for a newly proposed la liga all-star game.)
the betis comment, though, i didn’t like. marcelino is the new guy in town, and disrespecting our best rival before he’s even played them just seemed like poor form. and that game is one that i DO think will have enough blood-boiling parameters (opening day, first game in a couple years, the ongoing and unceasing hatred, etc) that everyone in front of a mic should tread lightly.
H8, I’m a Barcelona fan who enjoys reading this blog as it’s hard to get news in English on Spanish sides besides Barcelona and Madrid. Felt compelled to point out here that the two men who most directly called out Mourinho, Pep and Preciado, were also the two that ended up beating Jose. I think saying some sparring words at one of the big sides is a good thing, as it seems too often now teams come out afraid and/or expecting to lose to Madrid and Barca.
hey barcafan, thanks for the comment and for stopping by to read!
you make an interesting point and you certainly might be right, but i have a couple thoughts/responses.
first, while some who “provoked” mourinho may have had success last year, it’s not exactly a consistent advantage or benefit. sevilla created a series of videos that directly called out mou (in portuguese, even!), and we were still eliminated in the copa by them.
secondly, while i certainly enjoyed gijón’s success vs. RM last year (and i’m sure YOU enjoyed it a lot more as a barca fan), my bigger point has to do with the fact that gijón’s win probably didn’t make any fan call their 10th place finish a success. in fact, probably the only team in the league for whom “success vs. RM” is directly related to just plain old success is…barcelona. i’d happily lose all 4 games against the big 2 if it came with a 3rd place finish (or, to say it the other way, no chance in hell i’d call a mid-table finish a success just because we carried all 12 points from the money teams. and that’s the thing–we’re at the beginning of the season; what on earth does josep vs. jose have to do with marcelino and sevilla? that’s my complaint–the importance of these two teams is exaggerated and has very little to do with sevilla. how we fare against the big 2 will be a very poor predictor of our success in the league this year.
Fair points, though it should be noted 10th place for Sporting is much better than 10th place for Sevilla, and adding a win against Real Madrid that ends a historic streak for Jose Mourinho really might push the season over the top into a very successful category. But I definitely agree a top 3 finish is far more important for Sevilla than a win against one of the top two.
Also let me add great work on the blog and I hope Sevilla bounces back (and especially returns to their swashbuckling, extremely entertaining selves), Kanoute and Navas are two of my favorite players. Sorry that my side loves to raid your players (though I’m not sorry enough that I’d willingly give Dani, Keita, and Adriano back!)
FYI:
new jerseys have been announced. aaron will have a post up about them shortly!
Never really understood the ”Betis diss”. What was it that Marcelino exactly said to Betis?
welcome abshir!
the betis diss…. i forget the details. it was something to the effect of saying that betis wasnt in the same class as sevilla. probably true, but just not something you say.
and jeremy and our barcelona friend touched on an intersting point. its also possible that making inflammatory comments might motivate the underdog a bunch more than the favorite. that’s to say, real madrid maybe hear this stuff so often it has less of an effect, whereas for an underdog, it maybe cuts through their nerves and lets them just go out for blood…. who knows. its all psychology of athletes and psychopaths…