Too little too late for Míchel and Sevilla?

In a season full of uncertainty and intrigue, Sevilla, for the most part, have failed to take advantage of the inconsistent playing field thrown out before them. If anything, they have been one of the most erratic sides of the campaign so far.

Since ascending to the top flight in 2001, the club has made a home for itself among the upper echelons of La Liga, finishing in the top half of the table every year and even managing to pick up some domestic and European silverware along the way (two Copa del Reys, two UEFA Cups, one Spanish Super Cup and one European Super Cup). This season however, the Andalucians have been nudged out of the limelight somewhat as other teams have made their presences felt: Levante seem to be reading from some kind of Disney penned feel-good movie script, Rayo have proved to the world that paying your squad is overrated and Malaga crept into a Champions League position when no one was looking.

During the past decade, José María del Nido’s club made a name for itself as one of la liga’s most entertaining sides, due to its exciting brand of “attack now, defend later” football, but for the most part it has struggled to find that form this year.

Up until recently Sevilla’s season had been remarkably unremarkable. In terms of not living up to expectations, the club was only being outclassed by Villarreal - 2011/12’s sacrificial lamb. But much to the relief of the fans, the team seems to have turned a corner in recent weeks and finally looks like it has a point to prove. Before losing to a single goal in San Mamés on the weekend, the team had found the net three times in each of its previous three matches, all of which were victories – a winning streak the likes of which the club hadn’t experienced since November 2009. Nine points from twelve is not bad reading, but whether or not this change in form is just a blip in an otherwise lacklustre season or something sustainable remains to be seen.

Starting the year with Marcelino at the helm, the club languished in the doldrums of mediocrity. Sure the traditionally leaky defence was shorn up but it came at the expense of goals at the other end. The aptly named nervionenses (which actually refers to the River Nervion, not a state of anxiety) looked on bewilderingly as their team, stripped of its identity and collective spirit, started to slide down the table. The fact that Koné - who had only managed to score a solitary goal in his previous four seasons at the club – had suddenly blossomed into the club’s most lethal finisher upon moving on loan to Levante (14 goals and counting in all competitions), compounded just how impotent the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán strike force had become.

In fairness, missing Álvaro Negredo for part of the campaign through injury was always going to affect the goals tally, but Pitor Trochowski’s signing didn’t help matters much either. Assurances that the former Hamburg player would bed in quickly were wide off the mark, much like the midfielder’s shooting. The German, while looking far more assured now, failed to adapt to the expansive, free flowing game quickly enough and as a result distribution through the middle of the park suffered. Players like Jesús Navas and Diego Perotti became increasingly isolated out wide and creative play stagnated.

Eventually Marcelino got the chop. Sacking the under performing manager came as no surprise to anyone, but the fact that Míchel was chosen to replace him raised more than a few eyebrows. While no one in their right mind (so that leaves out Javier Clemente) could ever question Míchel’s legacy as one of Real Madrid and Spain’s all time great players, the Quinta del Buitre legend has so far struggled to garner the same level of respect as a manager.

His career on the bench kicked off at Rayo Vallecano in 2005, where he failed to lift the left-leaning club out of the Segunda B ‘well’ – so-called because of the difficulty clubs tend to have in bouncing back from Spanish football’s third tier. After that, a spell as the Real Madrid cantera director ended when his relationship with the then club president, Ramón Calderón, soured to irreparable levels. Staying in the Spanish capital, he took up a position in Getafe’s technical area near the end of the 2008/2009 season. There he managed to steer the club away from relegation and made history the following year by finishing in sixth place while also reaching the Copa del Rey semi-finals. But it all came undone the next year as the ever-fickle president Ángel Torres unceremoniously handed him his P-45 after a nervy final day draw against Real Sociedad was required to avoid the drop.

Míchel didn't exactly get off to the flying start Sevilla fans were hoping for. He resumed his managerial career the same place he finished his last job, Anoeta. Unfortunately for him this time round, his debut was overshadowed by Rubén Pardo's standout performance for the home side. A 2-0 defeat to begin proceedings didn't do much to lift spirits, nevertheless since then Sevilla has climbed from thirteenth to eighth and is still in with a fighting chance of qualifying for Europe next season.

On signing him for Getafe, Torres described Míchel as “the type of manager players like. Not a ball-breaker”. The recent wins against Racing, Granada and Mallorca (admittedly not the most robust sides in the league) certainly substantiate this statement, as the team looked like a real force again and was all smiles while it was doing it. The notoriously troublesome Reyes and Navas caused havoc on the wings and in more central areas, while in front of goal Álvaro Negredo and Manu del Moral seemed to be trying to make up for lost time in their hunt for the Pichichi. Although not everyone is singing off the same hymn sheet – namely Ivan Rakitic – the team is showing far more character in this final part of the season than it had at the beginning. Even Trochowski is playing well.

The test for the manager and the team is whether they can salvage a European spot for next season. That is doable considering their upcoming fixture list - apart from a difficult trip to the Bernabéu, all the remaining league matches are winnable.

Against Athletic on the weekend Freddy Kanouté picked up an injury which effectively put and end to his Sevilla career, given that the Mali striker’s contract runs out in May. The anti-climatic nature of his exit seems strangely fitting given Sevilla’s season: a former figure of huge standing reduced to a hobbling version of itself.

For the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán faithful hopefully Míchel can awaken the sleeping giant.

Preview: Hannover 96 vs Atlético Madrid

Last week’s encounter in the Calderón saw the Spaniards draw first blood, but by no means did the Germans drop their heads after Falcao opened up the scoring. Mame Diouf responded to the Colombian’s early goal, and although Salvio had the final say in the match, which ended 2-1 in the home side’s favour, Simeone’s men have plenty to be fearful about heading into this Thursday’s return leg.

The AWD-Arena is not an ideal place to travel to with a slim lead and an away goal conceded. Die Roten are yet to record a single home defeat in either the Bundesliga or the Europa League this season, and extended their impressive run even further last weekend by defeated Bundesliga fourth spot dwellers Borussia Monchengladbach 2-1. In the European competition they have scored an average of 2.16 goals and conceded just 0.83 per game.

As Atleti witnessed first hand during last week’s match (especially in the second half), Mirko Slomka’s side is a well-equipped and well-drilled outfit, fast on the break and capable of making the most of its opportunities. In recent years Atleti’s exploits in Germany haven’t been that bountiful: drawing 1-1 with Bayer Leverkusen in 2010 and losing 1-0 to Schalke back in 2008, through a Christian Pander goal, the now Hannover left full back.

Mirko Slomka’s side is dangerous from all over the park, and unlike Atleti who depend massively on Salvio (4), Adrian (5) and Falcao (7) to score their goals, the list of goal scores is far more evenly spread out among the Hannover squad. Only Diouf has found the net on three occasions so far in the competition but seven other players have managed to score twice. 

Going in the colchoneros’ favour however is the fact that, despite the up-and-down nature of their domestic campaign, an impressive record on the continental road has seen them clock up a decent scoring average of two goals per game away from the Spanish capital, while only conceding 0.57.

As well as that, Diego’s back to full fitness. With his display against Getafe on Sunday, the Brazilian showed all the signs of a player on top of his game and his goal will have no doubt struck fear into the hearts of the Hannover faithful: during his spells with Werder Bremen and Wolfsburg the number 22 netted four times in seven matches against Robert Enke’s former side. His inclusion into the Atleti starting line up is also significant for the manner in which he brings his attacking teammates into the game, with Adrián in particular looking far more threatening and creative alongside him.

Simeone almost had a full squad to choose from going into last week’s match but thanks to Gabi, Juanfran and Arda all picking up suspensions in that fixture, the Atleti boss is slightly more hamstrung in terms of his options for Thursday’s encounter. In all likelihood he will replace them with the recently returning Tiago, Perea and Adrián, respectively. Silvio and Antonio Lopez are still injured, and Fran Merida is cup-tied having already togged out for Braga earlier on in the competition. Salvio’s resurgence in recent weeks (four goals in three Europa League games) should earn him a start and I’d imagine it will come at Koke’s expense.

Manzano’s successor has been feeling the wrath of some disgruntled fans recently, with some (quite rightfully) questioning how much more effective of a coach the former player is. With the team’s la liga form toeing the typically inconsistent Atleti line (DLDWLWLW), keeping it’s European dreams alive is a top priority for Simeone, who will be wanting to shut his critics up.

Prediction: Given that Atleti have looked remarkably sure-footed defensively in Europe so far this season (for Atleti standards), I’d expect the Argentine to keep things tight at the back at the expense of playing overly expansively. Hannover are at their most devastating when on the counter so Cholo will be trying to ensure their chances of doing so are limited, with the likes of Stindl, Rausch and Konan Ya not being given space to run into. The idea will be to beat the Germans at their own game by inviting them to push on and catching them on the break, with Adrián and Salvio’s pace on the wings opening up the home side.

2-2

Possible line-ups:

Hannover 96: Zieler, Pander, Haggul, Pogatetz, Cherundolo, Sergio Pinto, Schmiedebach, Schlaudraff, Rausch, Konan Ya, Diouf

Atlético Madrid: Courtois, Felipe Luis, Miranda, Godín, Perea, Mario Suarez, Tiago, Salvio, Diego, Adrian, Falcao

Atlético 2-1 Hannover 96

It would take more than a measly general strike to prevent tonight’s Europa League action in the Calderón from taking place. The strong Hannover contingent that braved the trip over to the Spanish capital to see their beloved Die Roten take on Atlético Madrid had a city of closed bars, filthy streets and large manifestations to keep them entertained during the build-up to this highly anticipated quarterfinal clash between the eighth placed sides of both la Primera liga and the Bundesliga. However, the travelling fans’ midweek get-away was spoiled as a sensational Salvio winner near the end saw the Germans lose 2-1 despite putting in a decent performance.

Even Neptuno took the today off 

For the first time since taking up the reigns at the South Madrid club Simeone had a wealth of options at his disposal. Diego, Arda and Tiago were all back but the Argentine, probably with an eye to salvaging the floundering domestic campaign, opted to start with a more “well-oiled” team. Arda, Juanfran and Miranda were the only changes from Sunday’s loss to Zaragoza but from the start this looked like a completely different team. With an eagerness that was nowhere to be seen in the Romerada on Sunday, los rojiblancos got off to a perfect start when a lofted free kick from Gabi towards the Hannover back stick found Falcao who, with the faintest of touches, directed the ball past Kieler into the top right-hand corner.

Not content with a one nil lead so early on Atleti -- spurred on by Cholo’s midweek “now we’ll see who the real men are” comments -- continued to press the Germans and were perhaps unlucky not to extend their advantage with Adrian shooting wide off the mark or when Falcao could only steer a cross from Arda on the left over the visitors’ bar from within the six yard box.

However, just as things were looking up for the home side Diouf managed to bag his seventh goal in eleven games when he lost his marker (Miranda) and got onto the end of Stindl’s inviting cross. The on-loan United striker’s goal did come against the run of play, but nonetheless it made for a rather muted half time in the 60,000 seater stadium.

The second half began with Juanfran making a penetrating run through the heart of the Hannover midfield before feeding Falcao in on the right, but the Colombian could only hook his shot wide. However, Alteti weren’t to keep up this pace as the Germans seemed far more of threatening during the second period, especially when Didier Ya Konan came on for Manuel Schmiedebach. The Ivorian player almost became the architect of a carbon copy goal for Hannover when he sent in a tantalizing low ball in for Diouf, however this time the Ivorian blasted the ball straight at Courtois. Up until Salvio’s heroics at the end that was the best chance of the half.

Pre-match warm up

Before that Diego made his long awaited return to the Calderon, coming on for a hard working Koke. The Brazilian’s first real contribution came when he sucked in a few Hannover midfielders before finding Felipe in acres of space. The left full fired in a dangerous ball across the German goal but Falcao was unable to stretch out his foot enough to get a touch.

Hannover always looked capable of causing problems on the break once Ya Konan came on and Atleti were given a tougher time all round in the middle of the park during the last half hour.

Things were looking desperate towards the end for Simeone’s side as they looked to regain the lead. Humping long balls into Falcao became the name of the game, and in the 88^th minute it paid off with the ball landing at the feet of the recently introduced Salvio, who adjusted himself with one touch before magnificently curling the ball into the top corner, far from Kieler’s reach. The home side could have added another moments later but Diego’s cleanly hit bicycle kick was well saved.

In the post-match press conference Hannover coach Mirko Slomka stated that “Atlético is in the driving seat for the return leg, and with the experience in their squad we will have to take the game to them”. It was a good result for los colchoneros and importantly a morale boosting one, given the week the slating they received after the Zaragoza game. The stands went into raptures at the final whistle, however with Juanfran, Gabi and Arda all picking up suspensions, the second leg is not going to be a stroll in the park, especially considering Hannover’s undefeated record in the AWD-Arena this season.

Fact: Falcoa’s first half effort was Atlético Madrid’s 400^th European goal

Result: Atleti 2- 1 Hannover (Falcao, Diouf, Salvio)

Preview: Atlético vs Hannover 96

After Sunday’s disastrous result in the Romareda one could easily be forgiven for thinking that the Atleti players were making some kind of a stand against the new mister, such was the level of their ineptness against the league’s worst side. But one would have been wrong. The only talk of labour stoppages around the Manzanares club in the last few weeks has been that of the upcoming ‘general strike’ this Thursday, and while school doors remain closed and public transport shrieks to a halt, staff at the Calderón will be in full work mode as the Europa League returns to the Spanish capital.

Last time out, Simeone’s team took on a toothless Besiktas side, more willing than not to bow down before its la liga opponents than to put up a worthy fight. The tie finished 6-1 on aggregate in Atleti’s favour, however, two weeks on from that convincing win and los rojiblancos seem to have reverted back to their pre-Cholo schizophrenic ways: suffering their first defeat on the road under the new boss to a ten man Mallorca side, before thumping Athletic 2-1 at home, only to capitulate in their last match against a woeful Zaragoza in the last minute. 

This time round the Madrid side faces a much tougher opponent in the form of Hannover 96. Although not possessing any standout players to speak of, the Bundesliga’s eighth placed side has already put an end to Sevilla’s dreams in the competition, when it beat Marcelino’s side in the preliminary round. Like Atleti, the Germans are yet to lose a home match in the competition so far either (four wins, three draws). Mirko Slomka’s side will be coming into Thursday’s clash quite invigorated after making life far from easy for Bayern Munich last Saturday. Despite losing that match 2-1, the lower placed side was in the game for the full 90 minutes and could have snatched a point near the end had Didier Ya Konan directed his header on target.

Slomka is a no nonsense tactician so expect a bog standard 4-4-2 formation on Thursday night. The defence, which is marshalled by team USA international Steve Cherundolo at right full, boasts a solid back four and one of German’s brightest goalkeeping talents in Zieler. In the middle of the park Die Roten (the Reds) have decent passers of the ball in Sergio Pinto and Manuel Schmiedebach, as well as nippy wide men in Lars Stindl and Konstantin Rausch, all of whom are capable of fast counterattacking football. Up front the German’s have a few options to choose from, with Mohammed Abdellaoue, Jan Schlaudraff, Mame Biram Diouf and Ya Konan all available to play. Going on Saturday’s evidence I would expect the last two to partner each other at some point during the match, so Atleti will have to have their wits about them if they are to avoid being caught on the break, as these two typify the West African mould of quick, ruthless, powerful players.

It’s not all doom and gloom for Atlético however. After six weeks of sitting on the side-lines the much missed Diego is back. Although the pocket-sized Brazilian already made a late appearance against Zaragoza on Sunday, he is likely to make his first start since having to come off injured against Sporting in February. And what a rival to come back to: in his previous seven encounters against Hannover he has scored four goals and made a further five.

Simeone can also count on the services of Arda and Tiago, both of whom return from injury as well. The Argentine rates these three players very highly and will no doubt be delighted to have all of them available for only the third time since taking over from Manzano.

As today’s training session was behind closed doors and the whole squad is fully fit, with the exceptions of Antonio López and Sílvio, predicting the starting XI is a difficult call to make. In today’s post-training press conference Simeone, presumably in attempt to whip his charges into shape, stressed that “this is the time to find out who the men are”.

I’d expect the formation to be the usual 4-2-3-1 with the back line remaining unchanged: Miranda and Godin being flanked on either side by Felipe Luis and Juanfran. Midfield will probably see a double pivot of Mario and Gabi sitting behind Diego, Koke and Adrian, with el Tigre taking up his familiar position of the lone number nine up front.

With the Spanish workforce making its case against the new labour reforms on Thursday, Simeone will be taking on the role of hardnosed taskmaster, demanding blood, sweat and goals from his underperforming playing staff.

Prediction: Tough one to call given Atleti’s struggling form of late. Even under Manzano los colchoneros were able to turn it on at home for the European nights and with the welcome returns of Diego, Arda and Tiago I can see them playing more creatively than in the past few weeks (which wouldn’t be hard). Saying that the German’s will be no pushovers and will be a threat on the break.

2-1

Possible line-ups:

Atlético: Courtois, Luis, Miranda, Godín, Juanfran, Mario Suarez, Gabi, Koke, Diego, Adrian, Falcao

Hannover 96: Zieler, Pander, Haggul, Pogatetz, Cherundolo, Sergio Pinto, Schmiedebach, Stindl, Rausch, Abdellaoue, Diouf

Hay Liga?

If a week is a long time in politics, than three days is a long time in football. Just 72 hours after Real Madrid’s ten point lead over Barcelona was cut to eight by an exquisite Santi Cazorla free kick, Marco Senna ensured that the gap was narrowed even further last night. Now the difference between the two sides is just six points, a much more palpable figure for Pep Guardiola’s squad to digest.

Real were caught off guard on Sunday against a Malaga team which unexpectedly popped up out of the woodwork, six months after it had proclaimed to the world in pre-season that it was about to shake things up at the top. Despite taking a first half lead through Karim Benzema, Madrid couldn’t kill the game off and paid the price right at the death as a result, when a poorly positioned Iker Casillas could only look on helplessly as the league’s most prolific dead ball specialist, Cazorla (four goals from 21 attempts), found the top corner of the Madrid captain’s net. The eerie silence that followed the former Villarreal star’s equaliser gave the Bernabeu the feel of a morgue.

It was no secret that Madrid had faced some arduous tests in the weeks proceeding Sunday night’s game – the close call in Vallecas, followed by the equally thrilling and controversial victory over Betis, as well as the slug fest in the Coliseum – but these were on the road and, while scrappy and disjointed, they all resulted in three points for the league leaders.

The fact that Sunday night saw los blanco’s being pilfered of points on their own stomping ground -- a place where visiting teams are supposed to come to get their bellies tickled -- sent shock waves through the stands in Chamartín. Suddenly, the team that was making a habit of winning when playing poorly, was now just playing poorly. The fans couldn’t even bring themselves to boo.

Mourihno’s reaction to all this was to revert to Mourihno tactics. Out with the recently back-in-favour Kaká and in with the workhorse Lass Diarra for last night’s encounter away to Villarreal. A technical and creative maestro replaced by a disruptor, of the Claude Makelele mould. Never mind that the Yellow Submarine had lost its previous three matches and had just sacked its second manager of the season, the Madrid coach decided that it was more important to prevent the home team from playing rather than taking the game to them. Thus a triumvirate made up of Xabi Alonso, Sami Khedira and Lass was favoured over pairing Özil and Kaka together.

The Special One stuck to his defensive guns even when Lass picked up a needless booking early on. Aware that the Frenchman is nowhere near as effective when he’s on a yellow, Mou choose to change him for Callejón. Admittedly this was more of a positive move but just as the tall haired midfielder was getting into the swing of things, a clumsy challenge from Bruno meant the sub had to come off at the break. Cue Hamit Altintop. The Turkish enigma came on as a bemused looking bench made up of Higuaín, Kaká and Esteban Granero, looked on. Madrid went ahead through a moment of telepathic brilliance between Özil and Ronlado, in an otherwise turgid, stop-start spectacle.

The visitors were punished though when (you guessed it) Altintop conceded a free kick on the edge of Madrid’s box, which Senna duly dispatched into the bottom right hand corner of Casillas’ net, with the keeper being guilty of poor positioning again.

The chaos that ensued after that was farcical. First Ramos became the most sent off player in Real Madrid’s history (14 reds) when he picked up a second booking for recklessly mauling Nilmar in a 50/50. He was quickly followed by Özil who clapped his way into the book, just as the team’s physio, Rui Faria had done earlier on. After that Mou got in on the act, as did Pepe who couldn’t keep his grievances with referee Paradas Ramero to himself in the tunnel after the final whistle. Even the usually angelic Ronaldo felt the team was hard done by and made his disapproval with the referee’s performance clear with a hand gesture that translates as “robbery”.

Madrid’s disgust with the referee was so venomous that neither the manager nor the assistant, Karanka, would make an appearance in the post-match press conference for fear of what they might say. But was this just a diversion? While the ref did have a nightmare, it went both ways. The harsh booking Pepe received for simulation, when his mouth was bleeding, was cancelled out by two penalty shouts for Villarreal which weren’t awarded.

Earlier on in the night, Marcelo Bielsa made no qualms about taking the rap for his Athletic side losing to Atlético Madrid, “I feel especially responsible for the defeat because the decisions I made didn’t solve any of the problems I intended to correct, which weakened the team”. A far cry from the Madrid coach’s refusal to own up to things.

Last week when los blancos seemed untouchable, the Catalan press resorted to playing the victim, claiming that referees were unfairly favouring Barca’s eternal rival. Mundo Deportivo went with the headline “Mano Blanca” (White Hand) to highlight the five “clear-cut” (non)decisions that were to blame for the ten point gap.  Now with the past four days events behind him, Mou is probably attempting to muster up his own conspiracy theories in an attempt to galvanise his squad. It wouldn’t be the first time.

Apparently dignity is a small price to pay where winning the league is concerned. However, with only six points separating first and second, the shouts of “Hay Liga” (League On) that had most of us rolling our eyes on Sunday definitely carry more weight now, especially when you factor in that Real still have to play Osasuna, Atlético, Athletic and, of course, Barca away.

The mask has slipped for Madrid in the past few days and more gun hoe performances like last night are only going to rattle the team further during the run-in. It seems as though Mou’s paranoia is getting the better of him or maybe it’s a case that Guardiola’s “there’s no way we’re catching Madrid” remarks were an ingenious mind trick all along?