The Sevilla Thread

You can just see the headlines, "Sevilla Hacked by the Russians". I blame the weather Fulhaman - 6°C.

 

Cooling down a bit out here now - been raining today and just 21 degrees and won't be getting above 80 degrees this week according to the weather men. Football wise we've not been so clever the last couple of games. We lost on Saturday to Bilbao as well. performance reminded me of Fulham, Loads of possession but hardly any shots on target. With Liverpool winning as well we have lost our top spot in the league and are third now. Need to pull our socks up a bit.

 

The headlines actually range from destroyed in Moscow and Ridiculed in Moscow to the rather more staid Sevilla fall to the Champions.

 

Bad day at the office all round, Fulhaman.

 

AS the coach said. Hay que fortalecerse, levantar la cabeza y mejorar, añadía - or - Must be stronger, raise your head and improve. Here's his post match reaction - in English.

Eduardo Berizzo evaluted tonight's loss to Valencia CF: "I'm not worried about getting the sack, I'm worried about other things that are wrong. I worry about not finding solutions to problems. After a defeat like that everything is pessimism and I don't have answers to immediate questions. We have to get stronger, keep our heads up and work. I have the most responsibility in defeat".

The Argentine coach turned to the game: "In attack they had an unstoppable game that we couldn't detain. They hit us before the break and after and we executed our moments of danger badly. After 2-0 you're disorientated and you go looking for chances and end up conceding more goals".

Berizzo finished up by evaluating the team and its need to pick itself up and improve: "The changing-room needed a good match, which we hoped this one could be but we ended up on the end of a rout. Football does that and you have to look at it that way. My intention is to look for solutions".

 

Great win over Spartak the other night Fulhaman. Wee bit of revenge. And, sounded close today over the Catalans, but guess the best thing was Messi being booked.

 

Barcelona is one of those games where you always go into it thinking getting anything is a bonus. At 1-1 I thought we might hold out but Barca are still a great side and their ball skills eventually won the day for them, but it wasn't a bad performance and we did very well and at least matched them for half the game, I thought anyway.

Spartak win was good and we are still well set in the Champions League. Would be surprised if we don't get out of the group.

 

Looking forward to the visit of Liverpool this evening. Should be a good game in good conditions. About 14 or so degrees and dry at kick off so ideal conditions for the players.

 

The heart must have been thumping as much at your place as over here Fulhaman. Great fight back from three down. Do you just have to beat Maribor to qualify?

 

There were...scenes.

Yep. Or we could draw or lose as long as Liverpool draw or win.

 

Blimey, enough to get your combinations in a twist.

 

See your man Luis Muriel is near the top of the Stats Charts Fulhaman ... for the number of times offside. With 18 to his credit already this season he's in equal 4th place alongside the one we nearly hooked, Eibar's Sergi Enrich.

Joking apart, what going on in La Liga? From all Europe's top five leagues, Spanish sides take the first 7 top spots for players caught offside. [Luis Suarez of Barcelona is No. 1 with 23 offsides against his name.]

 

I'm not sure. It is very strange. I didn't realise this until you pointed it out. Spanish football has always had a lot of offsides. Teams like to break fast and defenders are very well drilled out here to step up as one - we do it week in and week out. As Muriel has started for us 9 times he is getting caught out twice a match, which isn't so bad when you look at it like that - plus he has scored 3 goals so he is always playing just off the shoulder of the defender.

Be interesting to see what happens tomorrow against Cartagena tomorrow evening in the Cup. The señora and I are going and it will be quite special as it is the town we first met in.

 

Look forward to hearing how the anniversary date goes Fulhaman.

 

4 - 0 on the night and 7 - 0 on aggregate. In truth it was a walk in the park. The equivalent in the UK would be Tottenham playing Oxford Untied, I guess. We were 2 - 0 up in 6 minutes. Anyway, the señora and I thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, bundled up against the cold - well, about 10 degrees which is pretty cold out here and the wind was a bit nippy.

Cartagena is a lovely place - a port with lots of Roman history - worth a trip if ever you are out here and you never know, you might run into a young lady on a night out with some friends from the bank she works for and who gets chatting to a guy from SW London whose drink she has accidentally knocked over.

 

Great stuff and sounds like you both had a grand night out.

 

Just picked up on the shocking news about your Gaffer Eduardo Berizzo, Fulhaman. May have had something to do with the slight blip in form a couple of weeks ago?

Decent 3 points today though.

 

Yes. Very solid. Apparently he told the dressing room at half time in the Liverpool game hence the comeback.

 

It seems most likely that we will draw an English club in the next round of the Champions League. If the stars are aligned it will be Chelsea and Fulham will have a home mid-week match the day before or after or one of the weekends and I could squeeze in a visit to The Cottage.

 

It would be even better if you could celebrate a couple of wins in those games.