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Game over - Valencia 0-1 Sevilla

Rakitic fires Sevilla level on points with Bilbao and just 1 point behind Espanyol. . . .the battle for Europa ligue slots heats up all the more!

5 minutes from what would be a massive vital away win . . . . .varas has been outstanding & really kept us in the game thus far. Hard on Valencia that the goal came against the run of play, at a time when we were really being seriously pegged back but it was hardly undeserved!

Sevilla seek return to glory years

Barcelona's Daniel Alves remembers the time he arrived in Spain in 2002, aged just 19. He was virtually unknown in Brazil because he wasn't at a big club in Rio or Sao Paulo, but that didn't deter Sevilla's famously brilliant sporting director Monchi, one of football's finest talent spotters. He sanctioned the signing of Alves for just €200,000.

This is a club which spotted or developed Julio Baptista, Jose Antonio Reyes, Sergio Ramos, Seydou Keita and Alves. They are the ones who left. Imagine if all Sevilla's players had stayed; they'd surely be able to challenge Barca and Madrid. Jesus Navas and the ageing Freddie Kanoute remain after Luis Fabiano left the club last week, but are Sevilla again becoming the type of struggling club which Alves joined?

"When I arrived we were fighting to stay in the first division," the Brazilian explains, "but I settled. The people in Sevilla are good fun and similar to Brazil. I was lucky too because Denilson was at Betis and he was a great help. Despite the rivalry between Betis and Sevilla, he took me out socially."

Sevilla's cross-city rivalry, the most intense in Spain, surprised Alves.

"In Bahia (Alves' native state in Brazil), people create noise but they sit down together to watch football without a problem. In Sevilla, we would arrive at Betis' ground and they would throw eggs and bricks at the bus. All the players were bouncing around and really motivated and there was me, shitting myself. I didn't know whether a war was coming, but in the end I got used to it."

With Alves et al, Sevilla enjoyed the best moments of their history between 2005-07.

"When I left, we had won the UEFA Cup twice in a row, the European Super Cup against Barcelona and the Spanish Super Cup against Real Madrid. That was beyond the dreams of any Sevilla fans. Older fans would tell me that they were the two most spectacular, beautiful years in the history of the club."

The Sevilla of Alves, Freddie Kanoute, Luis Fabiano and Jesus Navas narrowly missed out on the Primera Liga title in 2007.

"Sevilla was not used to that pressure," Alves says. "When you are not used to it, sometimes it frightens you. When you are up against Barcelona and Madrid with a chance of winning the league, you don't believe that you can do it. We fought to the end, but it's all about self-confidence. I did not understand that level of competitiveness."

Juande Ramos's thrilling side - with Alves as a one man right wing - had peaked and in 2007 Alves decided to move to one of his many bigger suitors. The move took a year and he joined Barcelona in 2008 for €29 million, where he's continued to thrive.

The same can't be said for Sevilla. True, they are the reigning Spanish Cup holders and they qualified for this season's Champions League by finishing fourth in La Liga, but this season has been their worst since Alves joined the club nearly a decade ago.

Sevilla are currently eighth in the table - not good enough for the 40,000 match-going fans accustomed to top four finishes and cup victories aplenty. They have lost as many games as they have won in the league and while last Saturday's draw against Barca showed a spirit long since passed, they can forget about a top four finish this term.

It wasn't supposed to be like this. The September appointment of a skilled and respected coach in Gregorio Manzano was supposed to steady the ship after their shock exit from the Champions League at the qualifying stage against Braga. Instead, Sevilla got far worse as the former Mallorca coach presided over a previously unimaginable level of player ill-discipline and even the club's colourful president Jose Maria Del Nido admitted, "We have made more mistakes than we should have."

Last summer's acquisitions were more expensive than the famed signings of yore, but far less effective. Monchi's magic touch has deserted him. Will he stay around to recover it and help Sevilla bounce back up, or are the Andalusians destined for leaner times after a glut of success?

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/football/andy-mitten/article/462/

Eventually, Monchi was gonna lose it at some point and we should have been preparing for it, maybe even anticipating it but Del Nido and the accountants were not thinking along those lines.
Well, one can only hope that Monchi still has a few more years of good talent-hunting in him and will deliver good resources for Manzano to work with!

0-0 half-time

We should be ahead in this contest - no thanks to Negredo!

Guess the trend in La Liga now is young goalies. . . . .that Valencia GK looks like the younger brother of Arsenal's Sczesceny

& yet another glorious chance goes abegging. . . . WTF is wrong with Negredo!!!?

This ref must have a Sevilla jersey under his shirt or just loves not to give PKs cuz Valencia have 2 or 3 good claims so far!

Oh Negredo. . . what a miss - should be 1-0 Sevilla.

First 2 touches were poor, very lucky to have still had the shot but he should be doing better.

& immediately, we are almost made to pay - what a miss by the Valencia striker. . . . . pheeeeeew, close!

La Liga Match of the Week - Valencia vs Sevilla

Cracking tie so far. . . .very open and both teams are giving it a massive go.

I'm loving the spirit i've seen in Sevilla FC these days; maybe a sign of better things to come next season. . . .the enthusiasm and endeavor is just great to see and certainly heartwarming for the fans!!!

medjai:
Abeg, y'all shouldn't even bother putting up any resistance, no need to dey form 'strong head' or you'll just make it more difficult for yourselves.
Sevije of Andalusia, I dey laugh

By now u should know that we are more than capable of beating Barca. . . . & didn't we just prove it last weekend - y'all got away with a draw by the skin of your teeth.

Well done Lads!

Wow. . . . great win - much needed in the light of Arsenal's result.

And I really think we should start giving Berbatov the credit he deserves; at least he's stepped up this season and is doing more than he used to. . . .as that shot left nani's boots, you could see him already moving towards the goal in case of a rebound - thinking of a poacher, which he naturally isn't but is learning well and fast too!

Been dying to take a swipe at D.K over this result. . . .didn't watch the game, still haven't but seriously am on the lookout for the re-runs - musta been a cracking match!

Five-match ban for SAF - starts March 22, 2011

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/16032011/58/premier-league-ferguson-handed-five-match-ban.html

Interesting piece about Berbatov's recent run of bench-warming. . . .somebody made a very logical comment about SAF investing so much in Rooney now and Berba being the fall guy for it - what do y'all think!

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/football/early-doors/article/319824/

Quick question pls. . . . when RVP hit that sweet equalizing shot for Arsenal in the first leg, how many seconds did it take him to turn and shoot!!?

I don't blame the ref oh & all that 1-sec chant is bulls.h.y.t.e - RVP took a touch that seemed an eternity before he hit the ball, so why wouldn't the ref suspect time-wasting when as early as the 15^th minute Wilshere was rolling around feigning injury

una go blame ref tire today!

DJ Dayo. . . . pls slams me Delicious remix by 2-shot & Big-lo

Nna nwa po'po meeeen. . . . .Barca di'ka veli dericious meeeeen  

Messi x2, Xavi, Busquets (og). . . .do you see an Arsenal name on that scoresheet!?

I talk am sey na FAB4 go score own goal dem think sey i dey crase  

Y'all should be worried about the game against the mighty SEVILLA next week

In truth, it all depends on the Barca side that shows up on the pitch tonight - just a little pinch of that same kind of determination they showed in the El-Classico; where they seriously came out with intent to make the Special 1 look stupid. . . . .this one will be over as a contest very early indeed!

Emperoh:
^^^^
Formation really has to change as Giggs is the only recognised, result orientated player!!
I can believe we have fallen this far!!!
I yab Arsenal for being responsible for their own downfall but here is SAF cocking an automatic machine gun and putting it to his head!!!
Let's see how it goes with Arsenal this weekend and then with Bolton!!

Can't really put the bulk of the blame on SAF, some of this players have just refused to raise their games to the limits required competitive levels - Rooney & Carrick are way too disappointing, its embarrassing but Baba has very limited options when the next generation seem not to want to step-up to the plate. Off the lot mid-and-early 20 boys we have in the forward line only Hernandez is reliable. . . . i'm beginning to feel we should convert the Da Silvas to wingers!

I'm not gonna bet against FAB4 scoring an own goal. . . .everytime he sees a Barca shirt u can almost see the tears in his eyes - Arsenal jus dey punish the guy

Emperoh:
Ruudie,
I couldn't find any better recipe for disaster.
Ok maybe pairing Scholes and Giggs in defence and having Berbatov as GK!!

Obergini? Oga, the transfer market needs our pound sterling
Is the grammar too big for Fergie to comprehend?

Right now; until JS Park, Anderson, Valencia and Nani return. . . .much as i hate to accept it myself, but we are forced to turn to the likes of Bebe and Obertan cuz we are almost totally bare on attacking options. One can only hope they put in acceptable, half-decent performances on a manageable consistent basis to help our cause!

Odinaka00:
i supported arsenal as an epl fan on their firzt leg match against barcelona bt come 2moro's game i wil suppor barca cuz arsenal fanz did lauf man u fanz to scorn on sunday, they also supported chelsea wen man u played them, nairaland band boiz were very much busy, bt dz time around, im coming wif my own band boiz 2moro, d banj wil be here, m.i haz already made himself available, 2face wil also be here along side timaya and flavour, ice prince wil rap along wif vector and many more musicianz wil join us as we celebrate barca win 2moro

u no call styl-plus

Well, we can continue mulling over this loss all week long or pick ourselves up & soldier on. . . .we don't have the best players (i'm sure we've all known that for sometime now) but we need to start taking some massive risks like benching Rooney, playing the likes of Gibson, Raphael & _{God + UTD fans forgive me for this} Obertan and Chicharito!

I don't think the Gaffer had much of a choice but to pair Brown & Smalling back there - thing is they haven't played much together so wasn't expecting a very solid defensive showing but the problem was in the lack of cover from midfield. . . .& suddenly i wished we played Gibson instead.
God must have answered Nani's prayers when he went out injured because that assist to Kuyt was just unbelievably horrendous!

Any iota of truth in this

According to reports in Argentina, Palermo's Javier Pastore is on the verge of joining Manchester United.

Local media in Cordoba, where the Argentine international was born, are suggesting that Pastore's agent Marcelo Simonen is currently finalising a deal for his client to move to Old Trafford.

The Red Devils would be willing to pay €40 million for the 21-year-old, according to Radio Event. Rumours previously suggested that Sir Alex Ferguson would make his move for the highly rated Rosanero star, despite officials of the Sicilian club making it clear that Pastore was a key member of the squad.

United, however, will have a battle on their hands from Barcelona, who travelled to Italy to discuss a verbal agreement with Palermo to unite Pastore with fellow countryman Lionel Messi. But no signed agreement was made by the Blaugrana officials, leaving Manchester United free to pursue their target.

Pastore joined Palermo in 2009 and his performances were rewarded with a place in the Argentina squad in the 2010 World Cup.



http://m.goal.com/thumbtribe/en/news/article?contentId=2380085&SID=38leiu2m85q4vgaee8a8n8b3a3

Well, in a sense all is not lost - for now, we're still in pole position and we have just played 2 very difficult games. . . .in this league atimes, you need the fixtures to favor you to win and its possible that when the other top teams start facing themselves we'll have an easier run of games!

But Bebe and Obertan. . . . . . . .kai

AjanleKoko:
Game over. Own goal plus penalty. Not nice for Sevilla. It gets tougher by the day.

Certainly does. . . we totally lacked any form of attacking threat throughout & Kanoute compounded it all by fluffing the little that came our way. The loss of Negredo early on certainly took its toll.

Probably should play more of 4-5-1; Romaric/Zokora and Medel sitting behind Rakitic and lone striker preferably Negredo - tightens up the back and allows for the wing-backs to move forward better while the wingers cut more into the middle to assist the lone striker. I think Manzano is so very concerned about keeping all his strikers happy and it is killing us because in defence we need bodies.