Unai Emery is coaching a super team at PSG who have grabbed most of the headlines this summer, Jorge Sampaoli is coaching the Argentine national team. Both departures have left their former Club in the middle of a rebuilding process. A team that at the end of the 2016 season was parading around its third consecutive Europa League title and leaving people to speculate what their success rate could be if they competed with the big boys in the UEFA Champions League.
Today the picture looks a little more distorted. Some of the team’s once biggest stars like Carlos Bacca and Ivan Rakitic have since moved on to bigger clubs and higher paychecks as have most of their fellow 3 time winners. However many decent names have recently come on board that have fans fairly excited about how deep their club could venture off specially in European competition.
What have we seen so far?
Sevilla has already faced a tough challenge that could have started their season of on a very sour note and would have set the tone for a disappointing campaign to come. Their Champions League previous round matchup versus Istambul Basaksehir had an exciting second leg at the Sanchez Pizjuan. It was a hard fought match that saw the efforts of Joaquin Correa and Wissam Ben Yedder be just enough to edge out a team that was led by familiar faces like Emmanuel Adebayor and Gael Clichy. A late visiting team effort went of the post and made the whole home crowd breathe a sigh of relief. Although Sevilla went through and they are still unbeaten in La Liga the team still has a long way to go. They have put together a very talented squad that argentine manager Eduardo Berizzo is looking to take advantage of.
The return of the prodigal son and a promising squad
Certainly one of the most exciting summer signings for the fans was the return of homegrown product Jesus Navas. The speedy midfielder has come home after a Manchester City stint that saw him struggle to have constant and noteworthy appearances for the Pep Guardiola led side. In his homecoming however he has been a constant figure in Berizzo’s line-ups along with fellow new arrival Guido Pizarro.
The argentinian national team player has played well as a defensive centre midfielder. He has given good defensive balance and decent play in transition, but it is likely that the fans are going to want to see how Berizzo can set up a starting eleven where we could see Ever Banega, Paulo Ganso, Jesus Navas, Joaquin Correa, and Nolito all on the pitch at the same time.
In an extremely offensive proposition for a club that is not mostly known for these types of lineups. Having said all those names we can’t help, but wonder why Sevilla would be keen on bringing in another centre midfielder as a last minute addition in German Johannes Geis. With all the firepower that they have amassed in the midfield they might fall short this year at the centre forward spot. A position that at least in the last 10 years had always been very well covered for the club. From the likes of Frederick Kanoute and Luis Fabiano through Carlos Bacca or Kevin Gameiro, Sevilla was known for usually having a killer striker up front.
Today that spot is up for the taking in a showdown between Wissam Ben Yedder and Colombian Luis Murillo. Ben Yedder seems to have taken the lead with his goal lifting Sevilla through to the Champions League group stage, but for a club that brought in 9 new footballers in this summer’s market it seems rather odd that they would not bring more help at that particularly important spot.
They did spend 20 million on Colombian Murillo from Sampdoria the highest priced transfer for the club in this window. After a shaky start the team is looking to bounce back, as previously mentioned they have enough talent and are more than capable of putting up a good fight against any club in Europe.
However it remains to be seen if Berizzo can live up to the standards set by his predecessors especially Emery and deliver for a fan base that has grown accustomed to winning in the past couple of years and will most certainly want to continue those habits. On paper they could take on anybody, that remains to be seen on the pitch, but the season is young and there is no reason for Sevilla fans not to have high hopes.
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