Considering the injuries we got this season, lack of attacking power the other big boys got and refs making life difficult for us we doing extremely well so far.
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Yeah if you put it like that, it’s very good. That should be temporary however as January is approaching and Monchi is hopefully rolling up his sleeves. What will not be temporary with Lope is the style of play, the suffering, the heavy reliance on luck - and that’s not what I’m proud about as a die-hard Sevillista since 2005.
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That’s a great point Mark. I think we may have to add Acuña to the list and maybe Diego Carlos who took a few knocks.
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Yeah we been hit again today. Yet for another 2 key players this season. Lope has had to keep rotating the squad a lot already this season but everyone who’s came in have in the main did a good job for the team. Let’s hope we can keep it up but overall we in a good place.
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What would you say if Moreno wouldn’t miss that open-goal chance that was harder to miss than score? Same opinion that we’re doing great?
That chance didn’t come out of the blue. It was constant pressure and attacking from Villarreal that got us on the ropes, totally dominated. I was and still am a strong believer of the philosophy that in football luck goes with those that want it more and stronger teams do not always have to win matches based on merit, doing just enough to get the 3 points. But this is a bit different… this is relying 95% on luck and whatever happens happens…
In my opinion it’s lope style of play that is getting us these wins. I feel the conservative approach has helped us get these narrow wins. Like I said before I don’t believe we good enough with these players to go all out attack every game especially against the better or decent sides.
It would obviously change the result and our mood. We’d be 2 points less but I’d still be happy overall. Villarreal are a tough team who despite their low position don’t lose much. They drew at Real Madrid and atletico so they no mugs. A draw would have been a shame but still not a disaster.
The fact is though under lopetegui we are very organised so he gives us every chance to get these narrow wins. Yes we got a lot of luck with that missed chance but bar that we defended well. I always feel under lopetegui when we ahead we can beat anyone. That wasn’t the case at all under previous managers.
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Do you feel we can win the important games against the stronger clubs with Lope?
Nobody’s saying go all out attack against Villarreal. They have an amazing coach like Emery and some very good players, you can’t do that against them. What you can do however is go all out attack against the weaker sides and kill the games off earlier. What you can also do is develop a proper counter-attacking system to kill the games off against decent teams or take advantage from the mistakes when playing the stronger teams. Without that countering system, you are left to go toe-to-toe with every possible team that you face. That is why you can’t beat the stronger teams and you will have issues with weaker teams at time too. Toe-to-toe is good, but not good enough to do it all the time.
A good coach develops certain systems and minimizes the risk for things to go south. Lope has never ever done that. Pure reliance on luck and praying to the one above… that’s not how it’s done. That is also the main reason why I think Lope is not the one that will take us to the next level, becoming a top club - he can’t properly develop systems for us to use on autopilot.
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It’s not just luck. We got ahead and we better team until they applied the pressure later in game. Against a quality side like Villarreal you will have spells where you under pressure, that’s normal. We are very good overall at standing up to that pressure and seeing it out. We aren’t at Bayern Munich or some other top European teams where we can dominate a game for 90 minutes. We play well in spells and do well with what resources and players we have.
With the record lope has with us though he’s earned that the right of being a very good manager and not just relying on luck. To do it well over 2 and half seasons isn’t just luck. I understand if it just for 10 games or something.
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You can’t call it luck if it keeps happening. If they had scored, our attacking philosophy would have changed. They didn’t, so Lope kept on keeping on.
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Bayern doesn’t dominate all their games, at all. They are just extremely effective and have developed certain systems that allow them to look good even on a bad day. Of course, we can’t compare to that type of quality because we don’t have it, just like we can’t compare to City, Chelsea, PSG etc.
However, this season’s squad of ours is very similar to the one that Atletico had in 2013-14. That’s where I’m drawing the comparisons, logically so, most of the time. What we’re not doing that Atletico did at the time is try to seriously win and not chicken out against the big sides.
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How many times did that switch of attacking philosophy after being equalized or go behind solve anything under Lope though?
Moreno’s miss came in the 79th minute, do you really think or believe we’d have done anything for 10-12 mins? I don’t… honestly.
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We lost to Real Madrid on a Bono mistake and wonder goal. Hardly lope fault? Plus I will never call lope for losing to Real Madrid away as it will always be a difficult game. We didn’t bottle that game in my opinion. We played well but unfortunately lost as we played a top team who have a lot of quality all over the pitch. I can totally live with that as we played well and the ref/var were fair that game.
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Bono’s mistake was the main culprit, that’s true. It triggered many factors that went against us. The inability to string 2-3 passes together in the second half for a good amount of time and up until they scored is not acceptable by any standard though. We are not Cadiz or the likes.
It all comes down to my argument regarding the autopilot system, which Lope never developed unfortunately. We have the squad, we have the capacity and I just want a coach that can deliver a better style of play and approach with this team. I believe it can happen…
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You might get a manager that does that but it doesn’t guarantee better results. We could get a manager that plays a different style and more attractive but if he loses the balance and defensive structure we could crash and burn more than go to next level. All I’m saying is lope has brought us far and it’s not very easy to find a manager who would be a guarantee upgrade on him. It’s sometimes the saying of “Careful what you wish for” or ‘You don’t know what you had till it’s gone”
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Anyone want to jump on the podcast in 30 minutes time?
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All in all, having these debates in the good position that we’re currently in is still quite positive.
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We were sitting right behind Lope and he was yelling at Papu the entire game. Acuña some and Mir at the end. But didn’t change out Mir or Jordan. Fuckin’ crazy that they got to stay in. Acuña is the best player we have, hands down.
Incredible defense with the 4 that played today (even Augustinsson at the change).
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Another lucky win but i will take it. Nobody in the stadium could believe that miss by moreno , it was in all the way. Re the ref he is yet another one from the madrid school of spanish referees, they do keep choosing them for our games.
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