Start Trying to be Like Sevilla; Quit Trying to be like Real Madrid

Now that the inevitable has come, and Sevilla have parlayed their 3-0 home win into a 5-0 trouncing on aggregate over the same Fiorentina side that knocked Tottenham out of the Europa League, it is time for someone to say it. Spurs should strive to be like Sevilla! All they do is win European trophies, battle in La Liga for Champions League spots on a yearly basis, go deep in the Copa del Rey, go head to head with Barcelona and Real Madrid without giving an inch, and play an exciting brand of football. These are things Tottenham should strive for.

Somehow Sevilla manages to balance the “grueling” Europa League and the nasty Thursday-Sunday fixture list in brings with it, with great performances week in and week out in La Liga.

But La Liga is weaker than the Premier League you say? That’s debatable at present, but what isn’t debatable is the Spanish domination we have seen recently in Europe’s biggest cup competitions. And before you ask, Sevilla ran out 3-2 losers to Real in a thrilling encounter (where they had Los Blancos on their heels for large portions of that game) just days before their first leg win over La Viola, and their scintillating 2-2 draw (came back from 0-2 down) with Barcelona came the weekend before their quarterfinal game with Zenit.

Schedules are not an excuse. They didn’t fade in La Liga, and they are now in the final of the Europa League where they have to win one game to get into the Champions League, and that game is against….Dnipro? Spurs would love to be in that position. Oh, and by the way, how much better did Spurs get once they were eliminated from the EL? Answer: they have four wins, four losses, and two draws in league play. Not exactly setting the world on fire. Can’t blame all those pesky trips to Belarus for that mediocrity.

So, how have Sevilla done it? How do they keep the balance between doing well in their domestic competition and thriving during their continental exploits? The answers are simple.

Believe in a Philosophy

Unai Emery is a name that you’ll be hearing pop up for some major managerial jobs around Europe soon and with good reason. His players will run through a brick wall for him, and do everything he asks of them. He comes up with a game plan for every opponent, exploits their weaknesses, and relies on the players he assembled to do what he knows they can do. Against Fiorentina, he allowed the Florentines possession, pressed all over the field, and exploited their weakness- the counterattack.

Why couldn’t Spurs do that against Fiorentina? There are many reasons, but the number one reason has to be the manager’s lack of confidence with his defenders. Emery believes wholeheartedly in his defence to get the job done, and that when they do, his attack will put their chances in the back of the goal. That confidence cannot be overstated. Who do Spurs have that the manager feels confident will stop the opposition? Who does Poch believe can score? For Emery, he has the confidence that any combination he puts out there will get the job done. And that brings us to the second point.

Brilliant Squad Rotation

Sevilla and Spurs have the requisite number of defenders in their respective squads, but the difference is that Emery rotates his men frequently, but in a smart way. Almost every combination of center defenders and wing defenders spends the same amount of time on the field together throughout the course of the season. All the players have confidence (that word again) in each other and better yet, understand each other. Whatever combo he uses, the players understand the others’ tendencies. Does this happen at Spurs?

Offensively, Sevilla does this very well too. The best example is the use of Carlos Bacca and Kevin Gamiero at center forward. Together they have 38 goals in both competitions and Emery is not afraid to sub one on for the other, even if the man on the pitch is red hot. In fact, every game, one of these guys comes in for the other. They know it will happen if they haven’t scored. They know it will happen if they are on a hat trick. Both players are content.

I know Harry Kane has been a revelation this season, but what if he had a little help at that striker position? If Spurs had any production from a forward not named Kane, this season might have finished differently. The same can be said of the midfield, especially the wide attack. Chadli is the only one who was a consistent threat. In the Europa League along, Sevilla had five different players that are mainly deployed on the wings score a total of 11 goals for them. That’s a nice balance.

Smart Player Recruitment

I’m not going to rehash the many times that Tottenham have wasted money on a player that didn’t pan out. It’s not a new story, and Mauricio has said that he is looking for the best pieces, not necessarily the flashiest. This is a theory that Unai Emery and Sevilla have been using for the last few years and it has worked wonders at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán.

This past off season, Sevilla lost Ivan Rakitić (himself a great purchase when they bought him from Schalke) and promptly replaced him with Ever Banega, a player that had a lot of personal baggage in his past. Emery saw past that and has mentored the Argentine into the engine that drives the Sevilla midfield.

Another example is Grzegorz Krychowiak who has turned himself into one of the best defending midfielders in Spain. He’s only 25 and could play that position for a long time. The list of players like this goes on for Sevilla.

I hope we start seeing these same types of players coming in through Pochettino- guys that are underlooked by Europe’s elite. We can scoop them up for a nice price and watch them blossom. Because let’s face it, we are not one of Europe’s elite right now, so why not be a team that competes like mad in every competition and will work until the end for the coach they love and respect? Why not be more like Sevilla?

 

Because we have the biggest Charlatan in football in charge of our club, strangling it with his totally unqualified self important ideology.
Fact is there is no winning mentality instilled from the top down, its 1 big cautious tick along '6th is enough' mantra.
Whats the excuses? We have more revenue than any of the semi finalists in this years europa so this little spurs cant compete shouldnt try is totally redundant.
The only reason is bad attitude and for a bunch of losers to have the audacity to think theyr bigger than a cup competition they cant even make the semis in is nothing short of scandalous!
We duck out every year with a whimper moaning non stop about the inconvenience of it yet fail in it and everything else were supposed to be more interested in.
But its ok because were in a transition so 6th and cup 'run' (not win) is deemed a great season.
This failure and loser mentality is bred from the top down by the master failure Daniel Levy with his total ignorance to what this club needs and means!
Every season half hearted go at everything master nothing, we lack strategy, ambition, hunger, quality, a manager with any charisma/trophy pedigree/a tactic.
Its a f#cking joke, were a surrender monkey outfit happy making up the numbers, no genuine hunger, talking up and being 'patient' over utter nobodies who do nothing to warrant the praise or understanding afforded them.
The club needs a massive clear out starting with the charlatan then baldini then half the 1st team Squad and as much as i dnt want yet another manager change Poch has done nothing to enthuse and has nothing backing him to prove hes able to kick us on.
Club needs a rocket up it from a leader/driving force that doesnt accept such ignorant/poor/weak/lame seasonal excuses.

 

Totally agree with everything said. Europa is a great springboard for success.

 

I say we nick their manager and sell them our floundering strikers ... again ...... That worked out well last time.

 

Levy has hired and fired so many managers, surely the Joe Swales and shareholders should be starting to ask questions about his recruitment skills? If the chairman of YOUR company hired 11 dud production managers who failed to made profits and business success, would they not be under fire?
Levy's selection process is so flawed that even when he does get it right (Harry, Jol, Sherwood) he gets it wrong and fires. The Botch is NOT the right man for the job. He has had a woeful season and made too many omissions and mistakes. At Southampton he took them to 8th but Koeman has done much better with five of the side's best players leaving in the summer. No wonder Southampton did not moan too much when we poached The Potch, they knew he was holding them back.
But you are right, we need that Sevilla attitude; Kane up front on his own has been found out by the opposition since his England debut and is now is about as much use as a certain man from sunny Spain.
In fact, Spurs are so poor right now, betting firms have slashed the odds on Hull beating us at the Lane on Saturday - don't be surprised if they do - and even if they don't, there will be one team trying harder than the other - and I think you know which team that will be.

 

Can't say I disagree with much of this or the comments (so far). One thing though is that we have to remove the mentality that we are a top 4 side and anything less is a failure. We aren't. We've been 4th twice and cheated out of CL football on one of those occasions. What we are is a top 6 side the should be challenging for the top 4, the domestic cups and any European competition we're in. But we don't. The Europa League has been an Albatross around our necks where we don't know whether to compete or give up and concentrate on the league. We have a bad mentality which hasn't improved under Poch and I just don't get the feeling it will either. He's not a winner. In any respect. I don't expect him to have won trophies in his playing or management career but he doesn't have the mentality. I can't say I was that upset that Sherwood left but I miss his winning mentality.

I'm not one of those fans who thinks we should always be top 4 neither do I accept the sort of season we've had this time around.

 

I always thought it would be a top six finish but the fact that it could be an eighth place finish is poor. Poch has far from convinced me this far and his managerial resume was t exactly brilliant before he arrived. Certainly not on the level of Koeman who we should have gone for.
Rodriguez was a target but he would prefer to stay at saints and not many are desperate to join a club run by Mr Levy.

 

We should have played first team against Fiorentina, but we had Wembley coincided and we didn't. So we lost both and season has ended right then. Should we have dressed a fridge XI players against Mourinho? Rafa Benitez couldn't get to final, he wanted to emulate Sevilla I am sure...
Thanks for thoughtful article, but it is not a new idea to emulate Sevilla. To make it a reality is more difficult. We tried this season. Should we be able to get Konoplyanka in Jan, not only Spurs could be where Dnipro is, but Adebayor would be helping WHFC to stay afloat by now. May be so... Or may be Evhen would become another Soldado... Who knows... Football is not only the business of the game, but also the game of business. Too many thing are influencing your result. Criticizing is easy... COYS!!!

 

It's all well and good to compare Spurs and Sevilla but conclusions are tough to justify because they play in such different leagues. La Liga has two great teams, 3-4 good teams and 14-15 fairly **** teams. The Premier League has 4-5 great teams, 5-6 good teams, 6-7 decent teams and a few **** teams. The PL's schedule is a lot tougher and playing in the Europa League makes it worse.

If Spurs and Sevilla swapped leagues next season, I'd put my house on Sevilla being the team that really struggles (although it would be Spursy for us to find a way to screw things up ).