[FM23] Globetrotter

[KlaaZ]

Um, hello, I have a CL final double on the 14th and the 22nd.. That's literally 90% of my starting eleven being called up to the African Nations.

[KlaaZ]

Here we go. I'm hoping to make the difference in our home game because we'll probably miss a lot of interland players in the return. No injuries, the expected line up with the exception of Ah Shene, who replaces a tired Mokwena.

[KlaaZ]

First blood!

[KlaaZ]

2-0! Malgas had an easy tap in but was blocked in the last instant. Luckily, Madonsela is there to bury the rebound.

[KlaaZ]

3-0! We escape on a set piece when ES Tunis hits the bar, and then Mogotsi restarts quickly with a long throw to Mathamela. A bit of buildup later and Nombula puts it square in front of goal where Ah Shene taps it in.

[KlaaZ]

15 minutes into the second half and it's a bit of a different Tunis, pushing forward but only threatening from set pieces so far. On the other hand, we're still looking dangerous on the break.

[KlaaZ]

3-1, on a set piece as expected.

[KlaaZ]

In worse news, Luvhengo broke his arms but we'll be able to play him with protective gear. 

[KlaaZ]

So, this is a joke.. I don't even have any eligible central defenders left to plug the gap.

[KlaaZ]

We're at the break and it should have been 1-1 but it's 1-0 instead. Luckily, Haddadi got himself sent off right before the break, which will hopefully make our second half a little easier.

[KlaaZ]

Bingo!

[KlaaZ]

Game over, it's in the bag. Two copybook goals with Luvhengo setting up Masinga, the winger crossing and Madonsela getting on the end of it.

[KlaaZ]

Icing on the cake, well deserved!

[john1]

Get in What's next for you?

[KlaaZ]

7 minutes ago, john1 said:

Get in What's next for you?

 

23 hours ago, KlaaZ said:

Exciting news: I'll be dipping my feet in European football for the first time starting next season. It's a bit of a gamble, but considering our results I'm very confident of finishing the job to win a continental trophy in Africa by then. 

Sevilla is having a disappointing season in 12th place in La Liga so far, so I'll have a lot of rebuilding to do. This will probably be my first job longer than two seasons assuming it goes well, and as it has no CL winning history it fits what I'm looking for.

It got buried a bit underneath all of my other spam, but I got a offered a gig in Spain.  It'll be a tough one as Sevilla finished 8th, which means no European football, and I'm fearing another financial pit that I'll have to clear. But we'll see when we get there, first we celebrate (and write a roundup).

[KlaaZ]

Supersport roundup

It's been a good two years, finishing with the icing on the cake as we grabbed the African CL in difficult circumstances with most of the squad away on international duties. It has been an amazing season with five trophies, as we also beat Galaxy in the last cup final.

With eight trophies in two years, I felt it was time to leave Africa behind and when Sevilla offered me an interview, I was happy to talk to them. As they allowed my to finish my season in South Africa, I was happy to join them at the beginning of the next football year. This would also give me time to rebuild the team a bit, since they finished 8th and are probably not in the best shape financially.

[KlaaZ]

On to a new chapter!

[john1]

Oh! Must have missed that one, Will be interesting witih Sevilla

[KlaaZ]

Sevilla, an overview

We'll start off with the bad. Sevilla is currently over 7M in the red, with a projection to lose another 18M next season. Most of this is, in my opinion, due to an unreasonable wage structure, as we paid 82M in wages last season. Almost half of the 1.9M we pay in wages now is going to four players, with Antonio Blanco being the luckiest one on a whopping 525k per week contract.. Luckily, that contract runs out this season and he's talking to Newcastle and PSG. He's a world class midfielder but for that kind of money, I can probably bring in seven or eight players. Apart from him, Oscar, Solbakken and Nianzou are also on a 100k+ per week salary, and I will be looking to trim that. 

Secondly, there's a huge staff gap that I'll have to fill as soon as possible. We have no assistant, no HOYD and only five coaches. The same goes for the youth squad who have no manager, no assistant and barely any coaches. The advantage here ris that I won't have to pay hefty fees to replace redundant staff, I guess.

On to the first good news, the club had a bit of a golden generation from the youth intake this season. As money is tight, this can only be a positive thing.

Secondly, there is a lot of talent in the first team, with four young players standing out. 

[john1]

Decent young players you got there

[KlaaZ]

2 hours ago, john1 said:

Decent young players you got there

Cheers! It's a hugely imbalanced team though, with (after Blanco leaves) only one proper DM and no real quality on the backs. First order of business is a new left back and at least two defensive midfielders, but it's going to be tricky without money.

[KlaaZ]

Transfer news

It's official, Blanco joins Newcastle on a free. On the plus side, this frees up more than 1/4th of our wage budget. Chumi and Diego Almeida also leave the club for Cremonense and Bordeaux respectively, bringing in around 10M total. These deals were there before I joined, and Almeida especially is a bit of a loss. He was a good defender, comfortable on the ball as well. I have no idea why he was loaned to Bordeaux, nor why they added the optional clause of only 7.75M.  But what is done is done.

On the incoming side, Arthur Mahe joins permanently after we loaned him last season, another deal in which I wasn't involved. He's a decent option on the right, but that's it.

We also bring in my former goalgetter Madonsela for 600k. He's not perfect but will be a decent stand in for Moses and I think he still has room to grow. 

Thirdly, Cebo Mosiatlhaga will join us from Cape Town City for 600k next year when he turns 18. He's an option for the future and had been on my radar at SuperSport for a while. 

Finally, we've also offered a contract to Tomas Rojas, who's contract will run out on December 31st at San Lorenzo. We face competition from Roma and Udinese for his signature.

We've also offered a new deal to young Idris, to up his release clause to 130M, which he gladly accepted. 

[KlaaZ]

Transfer news

Rojas came back to us and let us know that if he got an improved deal, he would chose us over the Romans. We went back to the table and worked out the details, so I'm very happy to announce his signature in a five year deal. Hopefully, he will become a pivotal player who takes us back into continental football.

Our scouts also flagged a young Serb still playing in his homeland and after seeing his profile, we had no hesitation moving in while there was no competition yet. Dordevic will be our starter on the right flank this year and looks like a bargain deal at 6.25M. This does mean that we're out of transfer budget, but there may be some more outgoing deals to create room for additional investment.

[KlaaZ]

Transfer news

The cutting of dead wood continues. Goalkeeper Stejskal will leave the club, we've accepted two offers for 1M. The same goes for Fer Nino (17M, Anderlecht) and Ivan Romero (13M, Alaves). They both would have been useful rotation options but as they are out of contract last year and have no intention of signing a new deal, I'd rather cash in and bring in some fresh blood. 

[john1]

Decent signing in Rojas

[KlaaZ]

50 minutes ago, john1 said:

Decent signing in Rojas

He came very highly rated by my scouts and at 18, I can imagine he still has quite a bit of room to grow. Even if he only bumps up 1 or 2 in his main attributes, he'll be close to a world beater.

[KlaaZ]

Transfer news

Ivan Romero's transfer to Alavés is finalized for 13M, which means that with some creative bookkeeping, we manage to sign a 20-year old central defender from Las Palmas. Ruiman Jimenez will get his chance as a starter and will also allow us to push Nianzou to defensive midfield, which solved another problem of ours as I was struggling to find affordable prospects in that position.

We're also on the verge of signing a young Peruvian, who will go straight out on loan. As he's a non-EU player, I'll be hard pressed to give him a spot in the squad this year but who knows going forward? If not, I'm sure we can make a healthy profit off of him.

[KlaaZ]

Transfer news

One more signing, now that Fer Nino to Anderlecht for 17M has been confirmed. We bring in a former teammate of Dordevic in a deal that can run up to 8M. Aleksandar Matic is a fast and mobile, hardworking midfielder with great volume, and looks like a prime candidate for the regista spot. I also learnt that African nations don't count towards the non-EU limit, which means we still have two free slots. 

Edited October 10, 2023 by KlaaZ

[KlaaZ]

That's one way to introduce yourself!

[KlaaZ]

More transfer news, and our opening game in the league. 34-year old Montiel goes back to South America and will end his career at Colo Colo, we get 800k. We also ship off Taborga on loan to France. I'm also trying to get rid of Oscar but it's hard work as nobody wants to pay his wage. 

On the incoming side, we anticipate his departure with the signing of 20-year old Iker Balda from Burgos in a 5M deal. He'll get plenty of chances and start in our opening game against Celta de Vigo.

An opening game which we won relatively convincingly. We got off to a great start with Dordevic opening his account in Sevilla after only 32 seconds with a placed shot into the far corner. We played quite ok but the players are not really accustomed to puniball yet, as shown in the second half when substitute right back Duke Idris played a square ball straight into an opponent. Luckily, young goalkeeper Micky D'Cruz (another academy player) didn't disappoint and saved the day. When another debutant, central defender Jimenez, scored a point blank header on a corner, the game was over. The only thing of note was Madonsela replacing a disappointing Moses and misses three clear cut opportunities. He's getting into the right positions though, and that's encouraging. 

It's a good thing we started with a win because next Sunday, Barcelona is coming to visit. The Blaugrana finished second last season behind Madrid and will be something else.

[KlaaZ]

Well, how about that?! In a quiet first half, Barcelona missed a big chance in the first ten minutes but apart from that, we managed to keep them at bay. On the other end, we didn't look very threatening but that changed right after a break when Moses received the ball, eliminated two defenders with his turn and after a quick one-two with Dordevic coolly put it past Gregor Kobel, the new Barcelona star keeper who arrived for 59M this summer. The Blaugrana couldn't formulate an answer and in the 83rd minute some great build up play freed up substitute winger Carvajal on the left. He put it square across goal for Madonsela to open his account for Los Nervionenses.

Mahe was forced off by injury in the 86th minute with no subs left so we had to try and see the game out with ten men, and when Fati was left unopposed by four defenders on a 30 meter run and finished it into the far corner, things heated up. We were lucky when his 95th minute equalizer was chalked off for a clear offside and pulled the 2-1 victory over the finish line to make it two wins in two games. It may be a flattered victory but we fought hard to grab it.

 

[KlaaZ]

August ends with a serious reality check after a 3-1 loss at Sociedad. We dominated the first half but failed to convert and then completely turned off in the second. I'm really not happy with what happened on the pitch, with literally everyone except for Thorne (who picked up his third yellow in three games) performing below expectations. My two biggest talents up front, Moses and Moll, have had a very average start to the season and if this keeps up, the former will lose his place to Madonsela who is already on two goals after two sub appearances.

[KlaaZ]

Deadline day

It's the last day of the transfer window and we finalize some business. Oscar moved to Rennes on loan, on the other end we bring in two new players. Because our young Argentinian attacking midfielder will only join in January, we moved for an attacking midfield talent from Barcelona. He opted to stay with the Blaugrana and instead went on loan to Gijon, but in the process our eye fell on an other, cheaper player from Barça in the same position, Stoyan Yanakiev. He joins us for 17M, eight up front and nine spread over three years.

We also fleshen out our defensive midfield with the loan of young Centurion from Newcastle. 

[john1]

Some cracking wins already

[KlaaZ]

1 hour ago, john1 said:

Some cracking wins already

It's a good start but I'm not entirely convinced that puniball as played at Velez and SuperSport are going to yield the same results in Spain. I'm going to do a bit of a deep dive later today, but I both the game against Vigo and Barça could just as easily have been a defeat. On the flip side, maybe my expectations are too high for now. 🙂

[KlaaZ]

Time flies by when you only play a game per week at most. It's the end of september and we played three games this month. We play our rivals, Real Betis, at home, followed by games against relegation threatened Getafe and Alaves. 

Sevilla - Real Hispalis: 4-0

First up is the Sevillano derby against Betis, a team that is also situated in the city of Sevilla. After 40 minutes with the only highlight being a yellow card for Betis player Sadilek, we score the first attempt on goal of the game. Moses chases a long ball and wrestles it away from a sloppy defender, then puts is into the far corner face to face with the opposition goalie. Betis only records one 0.01 xG shot, off target.

The same story continues after the break until Solbakken enters the pitch for a quiet Dordevic. Two minutes later, Mahe gets sent deep on the right flank. His cross reaches Moll, who heads it across goal for Solbakken to tap it in and make it 2-0. Betis' spirit is finally broken and in the 84th, Balda sends Solbakken towards the Betis goal. Their goalie comes out but misses the ball, after which the Norwegian lays it wide to Madonsela, who taps it in. And in the added time, Moll scores his first on a deflected shot (which would have gone in anyway) to make it 4-0.

I wasn't happy with the first half, but looking back over 90 minutes I think we played a very mature game. Four goals, none conceded and only one yellow picked up.

 

Sevilla Getafe: 2-1

One week later, we receive Getafe who are in 18th place. We change the starting eleven in two places, with Centurion getting his first minutes while we rotate Thorne, and Collins getting the left back position with Sanusi out on injury. The game couldn't start better with Moses putting us ahead after only five minutes on a good cross by Mahe. Contrary to the Betis game, we're consistently getting shots away this time and after 29 minutes, Dordevic doubles the lead assisted by Moll, who is finally getting into gear. Getafe don't get a kick, but they do pull one back on a dead ball situation when Joseph heads home a corner.

In the second half, it's more of the same with us creating the chances and Getafe happy to sit back, waiting for that one opportunity. It comes six minutes before the end when a long range shot hits the bar, but we see the game out and grab three very deserved points.

 

Alaves - Sevilla: 0-3

We end the month away at Alaves, in 19th place. Only one change in the team, Idris has been doing really well in training and gets rewarded with a start to get some more experience under his belt in what should be an easier game. It's pretty much a copy of our last match against Getafe, with our opponents just sitting back with no intention of going forward. We're not as efficient though, and a lot of missed chances plus some decent saves mean it's all square at the break. An unchanged scenario in the second half, until Madonsela replaces Moses fifteen minutes before the final whistle. He thanks us with a clean hattrick, continuing his excellent goalscoring record under my wings. The South African has now scored six goals from six sub appearances, averaging a goal every 23 (!) minutes. 

 

[KlaaZ]

On staff

As mentioned when I just joined Sevilla, there was a serious gap in both coaching and scouting department. So my first order of business was to bring in some fresh blood. I had several objectives, considering the stature of the club.

• Bring in coaches to both spread the workload to at most average and get four star training in every segment, preferrably both for youth and first team training.
• Bring in coaches with good personality, especially youth coaches and (assistant) manager, who are good at working with youngsters.
• Find a HOYD with a good personality (model citizen/professional, perfectionist, otherwise resolute or maybe professional) with a preferred formation and style of play that suits puniball.
• Flesh out the scouting department.

The first objective wasn't very difficult, albeit a bit harder for the youth team where we had to settle for several 3.5 star coaches. That said, we did bring in a few excellent personalities to guide our youngsters. 

 

Just as important, it took a while to find a good HOYD through advertising but in the end we got our man. Jean-Sébastien Mérieux was released from Sochaux about a year ago, a club that traditionally brings through a lot of excellent players, and we had no hesitation signing him up. 20 WWY, a model citizen with a passing playing style and 4231 DM as second preferred formation fits the bill almost perfectly.

[KlaaZ]

Four games in October: Valladolid, Elche, Granada and Espanyol. Sounds doable, right? Only caveat is that we have three games in short succession between 26/10 and 2/11.

Sevilla - Valladolid: 3-1

In a very equal and entertaining first fifteen minutes, it's the home team that shows more efficiency, with Moll scoring a brace. Valladolid pulls one back three minutes later, but Moses decides the game after half an hour of play. Valladolid is broken but we fail to extend our lead further in the second half, despite several excellent chances. 16-year old Rossello makes his debut as D'Cruz is out for a week or two with a small niggle and our reserve goalkeeper is just horrendous.

Sevilla - Elche: 1-0

One way traffic against a team that came to shut up shop and had no intention to break out. We had trouble breaking them down though, but in the end it was Moses who split the sea with a powerful header from quite far out on a deep cross from Nkounkou at left back. We never ran into trouble after.

Granada - Sevilla: 3-2

We weren't there at the start of the game and Granada punished us with a goal in the second minute. We had a few opportunities in the first half but nothing spectacular so we went into the dressing room trailing one goal. When Moses equalized ten minutes into the second period I thought we would go over, but a clinical Granada pegged us back immediately, scoring twice in the space of eight minutes. Carvajal pulled one back right before the end but that's as far as we got. We didn't deserve to lose but we also didn't deserve to win. In the end, too many players stayed well below expectations and that's something we can't afford (yet).

Espanyol - Sevilla: 0-4

Only three days later, we play a rotation squad away at Espanyol. It doesn't show though, as we drive over the Barcelonese minnows with four goals to nil, including a brace for young Lobo. They deserved a consolation goal but D'Cruz was determined to keep a clean sheet.

A quick look at the table after ten (in some cases eleven already) games sees us in a very satisfying third place, level with Barcelona and one point behind surprise package Sociedad who are tied to leaders Real. It's still tight both ways though.

[john1]

Epic start apart from Granada loss Brilliant recruitments in the staff you have bought in across the club!

[KlaaZ]

Fast forward to December 31st, 2031. We have a lot to talk about as we're almost halfway through the league season, and with the January transfer window right around the corner. Firstly, let's talk matches.

Sevilla - Bilbao: 3-1

A well deserved 3-0 victory against the Basques. Yanakiev scored a brace, with Moses adding to his tally inbetween. Bilbao pulled one back in the 78th minute but I never doubted that we would pull it over the finish line.

 

Real Madrid - Sevilla: 2-1

We put up a valiant fight away at what is probably the best team in the league right now (and at this point eight points clear in the lead), but it wasn't to be. We actually started off well with several decent chances but halfway through the first period Real kicked into gear and we were pretty much on the backfoot from there on out. When Madonsela pulled one back, I hoped to maybe steal a point but we couldn't really put up much of a fight anymore. On the contrary, it was Los Merengues who kept us in the game by missing several good chances to improve their lead. I wasn't too disappointed considering the squad doesn't have the quality yet to even think about challenging for a league title.

 

Almeria - Sevilla: 0-0

A bore draw in a game that could really have gone either way. It's also the first game where we don't find the back of the net, which says something about our goalscoring prowess. 

 

Sevilla - Villareal: 1-0

Coming off the back of two games without a win, it was important to grab this one to prevent a real slump setting in. We dominated from start to finish but our finishing let us down until Moses scored a tap in provided by Dordevic five minutes before the break. More one way traffic in the second half, and even a dismissal for Thorn 20 minutes before the end couldn't break our rhythm. The Yellow Submarine only had one shot the entire game, very happy with the performance!

 

Sevilla - Tenerife: 4-0

We played low flying Tenerife only three days later, which prompted me to play a rotation squad which I deemed good enough to grab the three points. The game was over after less than half an hour with Madonsela scoring four roses in that timespan. The islanders had one chance in the second half to get a consolation goal but missed, apart from that we easily saw out the game.

 

Valencia - Sevilla: 1-1

A disappointing result and, more importantly, a disappointing performance as we were lucky to grab a point at Nuevo Mestalla. Valencia were sitting in sixteenth place when we faced them but they outplayed us for most of the game. The only good thing was that it was only 1-0 when Moses equalized but even then we didn't grab any momentum and were lucky to take a point back to Sevilla, thanks to a solid D'Cruz.

 

Levante - Sevilla: 0-2

Dead last and managerless Levante should have been a walkover but despite a solid defensive performance, we struggled quite a bit to break them down. Luckily an early goal in each half from Moses helped us on our way to an efficient victory.

 

Villanovense - Sevilla: 0-3

The first round of the cup was a game for my rotation players and they finished the job, although I did expect a little more against a team of Villanovense's stature. The highlight of the game was an absolute howitzer from Sanusi into the top corner.

 

Atlético Madrid - Sevilla: 2-1

A gutting result in Madrid. We put in a great defensive performance and when Moll put us ahead around the hour mark, the three points were there for the taking. Atlético started taking a lot of risks and there was so much space to exploit but bad luck, the woodwork and Moses needing two much time on two occasions saw us fail to score a second after they equalized. And then Jimenez gave away a clumsy penalty in added time to even lose us the draw.

 

That said, we're exceeding expectations, both of the pundits and myself, and find ourselves in fourth place after eightteen games. It's tight though, as we could easily fall out of a European qualification spot with a short bad spell.

Moses' performances have earned him the interest of the Parisian giant, Ajax and West Ham. He's improved substantially and at 20 years of age, I don't think he reached his limit yet. He has a 73M release clause which I intend to stick to and I'm hoping the attention will die down as right now, he won't sign a new deal with an improved clause as long as these rumours persist. I'm also trying to get rid of the trait he has, as I feel it's hampering his performances on the pitch.

I have two kids in the waiting room who could replace him in a year or two, easily, but right now they're not at that level yet so I'm hoping he will stick around a bit longer. There is also a bit of interest for Pulido, and I would be happy to sell as he's a team leader with seven determination and quite probably responsible for several younger players seeing their own determination drop. 

Speaking of youngster, the youth intake preview looks very promising. We could do with a good prospect in goal and our weakest positions are probably both full back slots. a defensive midfielder or a central defender would also have been nice, but you can't have it all.

[KlaaZ]

4 hours ago, john1 said:

Epic start apart from Granada loss Brilliant recruitments in the staff you have bought in across the club!

Yeah, it's also clearly showing in how my young prospectings are progressing. The Granada result was unfortunate but as we're nowhere near a position to push for a league title or anything, I just have to accept that this can happen. Just gotta make sure it doesn't do often.

[KlaaZ]

Six games were played and the January window is closed without anyone important leaving. Let's take a look!

Sevilla - Eibar: 5-0

The perfect game to open the month. It look us a while to get rolling, but once Dordevic opened the score right before the break, the floodgates opened and we poured on the misery. Dordevic netted his brace from the penalty spot and Rojas, Yanakiev and Moses all did their part to make it five nil.

 

Ferrol - Sevilla: 2-5

It's the rotation squad in the cup again with a debut for young Mba, who is touted in the youth academy as the guy to watch. He doesn't disappoint on his debut with two very nifty goals. I'm not happy with what happened in the second half though, with my defense just turning off and Ferrol scoring twice off of long balls over the top.

 

Sevilla - Celta de Vigo: 5-2

A copy of the game in Ferrol but with our best eleven instead. Smooth sailing until we were 4-0 up, just like we did in the cup, and then completely turning off and nearly giving Celta a way back into the game. Thorne scored his first goal for Sevilla, surprising since he's already contested over 90 games for the club since coming through the academy.  There's a lot of big interest in Moses still but if it stresses him out, it doesn't show in his performances. I'm happy to have a very in form striker, as we travel to Camp Nou next week, but first another cup game.

 

Logrones - Sevilla: 0-4

Logrones gave us very little trouble. Mba got another start and added another goal to his tally. 

 

Barcelona - Sevilla: 0-2

The robbery of the season, and that's an understatement. It makes me very happy to be on the right side of being FM'd. It was a quiet game both ways until Moses put us ahead out of nowhere on a long ball from central defender Giraldez. They reacted furiously but D'Cruz had a super day, even denying Fati a penalty goal right before the break. Barcelona keep trying in the second half, taking more and more risks while we are just happy to survive and in the 94th minute, it's again Moses who puts the icing on the cake with his second of the game.

 

Elche - Sevilla: 0-2

The last game of the month is our first serious cup game, in Elche. A semi rotated squad has no problems with Los Franjiverdes, with Madonsela and Yanakiev kicking us to the quarter final.

 

There's also a bit of transfer news. We manage to offload Pulido in Germany, where he joins Freiburg in a deal running up to 18.25M. Decent money for a 31-year old that was on the surplus list. We also sell Meseguer, who returned from a loan spell in China, to Salzburg for 1.8M. Apart from that, there's a lot of outgoing loan players so we brought in two others to fleshen out the rotation squad a little.

First up is Ivan Toimil, a defensive midfielder raised in Ferrol before moving to France at a very young age. We'll loan him until the end of the season to provide additional cover for Thorne and Matic. Great mentals for a defensive minded midfielder. 

Secondly, we sign a bit of a bargain deal by bringing an Ivan (why are so many Spanish players just called Ivan, by the way?) in from Logrones for 2.6M. He'll move on straight away, on loan to Valencia.

Finally, there's the transfer soap concerning Moses. Ajax, Inter and Manchester United all tried unsettling him and the English giant succeeded, with the young striker demanding an explanation for why their bid was rejected. I managed to convince him to stay by promising continental football next season (he wanted CL but I talked that out of his head), something I'm already fairly certain of.

[KlaaZ]

A whopping eight games in February, and it's already the shortest month of the lot. We'll finally get to test if our squad depth will hold up or not.

Sevilla - Sociedad: 2-0

We suffered our first defeat against Sociedad in our third game of the season, so I pointed out to the lads that we owed them something. They didn't disappoint, although it took us until the second half before we finally converted our dominance into (valid) goals, with Moses getting one chalked off for offside in the first period. Dordevic and Moll clinched us a very important victory.

 

Espanyol - Sevilla: 0-5

Our cup quarter final saw us meet Espanyol in their own ground. A very dominant performance resulted in a 0-5 victory, four roses from Madonsela, who then tore his hamstring and will be out for three months. Oof.  This means that Mba will move up in the ranking, covering for Moses.

 

Real Betis - Sevilla: 1-1

Just like ourselves, Betis are having an excellent season in La Liga, sitting in sixth place when we meet them. They start off better than us but our first real chance of the game results in a goal by Moses, giving us the lead. We keep them quiet in the second until the final minutes. D'Cruz almost saves the day by stopping a penalty, but four minutes into added time it's Ibanez who grabs Betis the more than deserved equalizer. No complaints about this one, we weren't good.

 

Valencia - Sevilla: 0-0

We face valencia over two games in the cup semis, and they completely overpower us in the opening game in the first half. They create chance after chance and we couldn't string two passes together. However, you can only score goals if you hit the target and that's the one thing they failed to do, with D'Cruz only having to step up once in the first half. We changed some things during half time and it showed in the second when we finally started playing football. But just like Valencia, our finishing just wasn't there. A logical draw in the end, and everything to play for in the return.

 

Sevilla - Atlético Madrid: 3-0

We took revenge to Atléti, bagging a very deserved 3-0 win. Mba put the icing on the cake with his first league goal in the 95th minute. Important victory, as the second team in Madrid was at that point right behind us in the ranking.

 

Sevilla - Alaves: 4-0

One way traffic against dead last Alaves, with goals from Moses, Dordevic, Mba and Solbakken. Their xG says it all really.

 

Getafe - Sevilla: 1-3

A few days later we play Getafe, another relegation threatened side. In a surprisingly even first half, they have the better occasions. When they fell to ten men right before the break, I figured we were good for the second half but when they actually took the lead five minutes after the break, I thought we would let ourselves down. Luckily, that was the wake up call we needed and we kicked into gear, turning it around with Moses for the equalizer and Mba for the winner. Solbakken finished it with an added time penalty kick to make it 3-1.4

 

Valladolid - Sevilla: 0-4

Looking at the stats, you'd think this was a fairly close event but in reality, it never was. Only after we ran out 3-0 did they start to try and get back into the game. An excellent D'Cruz denied them with another clean sheet though.

 

[KlaaZ]

Sevilla - Valencia: 3-2

We're into the cup final but my god, they made us work for it. This game would be symptomatic for the rest of the month, where we would look defensively shaky to say the least. Moses put us ahead after only three minutes but we refused to double our lead and halfway through the first period, Valencia took over. They scored twice to turn the game around before the break. We reinstated control in the second half, with Thorne scoring the equalizer and Centurion shooting us to the final with the winner, fifteen minutes before the end of the game. 

 

Sevilla - Granada: 4-1

We took revenge on Granada for our loss in the first game. It was 1-1 at the break because they were very efficient going forward really, but three goals in five minutes in the second gave us what we deserved. Moses is on fire, scoring a brace again.

 

Elche - Sevilla: 3-3

Not sure what happened here. We had everything under control, twice, going 0-2 and 2-3 up. But twice we blew it. Six goals conceded in three games is simply too much.

 

Sevilla - Espanyol: 3-1

Another brace from Moses clinches us a solid three points but again, we conceded an unnecessary goal to make it 1-1 at the break. 

[KlaaZ]

Youth intake

The predictions looks promising and our new HOYD delivers. Two excellent prospects, a young Indian lad who could be our goalie for the next ten years and a young Sevillan for the left back position. I've been using the editor to rename players left and right as there is an unfixed bug which names the majority of Spanish players 'Ivan' and it completely ruins the save otherwise.

[KlaaZ]

Bilbao - Sevilla: 0-1

A tight game edged when Moses scored just before the break. They were the better team in the second half but a good D'Cruz kept a clean sheet to secure the win.

 

Sevilla - Almeria: 1-0

This should have been a walkover going by the chances we created. But Moses, even though he scored the winner in the end, had an absolutely horrendous day at the office, missing clear cut chance after clear cut chance. Almeria didn't have a kick but they did scare us right before the end with a shot that went just over the bar. 

 

Real Madrid - Sevilla: 2-1

The first of two direct confrontations with the giants from Madrid was the cup final. We played a semi rotated Real and I thought this one was there for the taking but we honestly just weren't good enough. I thought we might turn it around after Moses' equalizer but they went ahead only five minutes later and from there on out, they controlled the game right until the finish. Disappointing, truth be told, as I felt this was a winnable trophy going by their line up.

 

Sevilla - Real Madrid: 3-2

The second game against the Madridians went better, with us having the home advantage. Rojas opened the score on the rebound after an excellent run from Dordevic was parried by Trubin. Eight minutes later, Moses set up Moll's replacement Morilla for a clear one on one with Trubin to make it 2-0. In the second half, Madrid pulled one back but Rojas extended the lead to two goals right after. Saka's goal set the final score 3-2.

 

Villareal - Sevilla: 1-0

A disappointing result in a game that we should have won. But most of our key players didn't turn up, and we don't have the quality in depth to chance things around much. This also means that our second place is under threat again, with Barça nearing to one point. With two losses in three games and more importantly not the best of performances, it's the worst of times to slip up. 

 

We have four games left to play, with the toughest one against Valencia coming right up. Barça plays Valladolid, Elche, Granada and Espanyol so I fear that dropping any points now will see us finish third. And to make matters worse, we lost Nianzou in the game against Villareal quite possible until September or October. A serious blow as he's by far our best defender this season.

 

More mixed news, the good one being I got my contract extended until 2035 after overperforming. The bad news is that we're already 22M in the red and rising fast, with the prognosis of next year to be a 96M deficit. This both means that our budget for next season are average at best, and that we may have to sell in order to balance the books..

Edited October 15, 2023 by KlaaZ

[KlaaZ]

Sevilla - Valencia: 2-0

A good win in a game we controlled from start to finish. Thorne opened the score after an excellent move, being fed through by Rojas. The Argentinian repeated this feat in the second half when he set up Djordevic to make it two.

 

Sevilla - Levante: 2-1

With the Valencia game out of the way, I thought the hardest part was done with dead last and already relegated Levante up next, especially since Moses put us ahead after only four minutes. I couldn't have been more wrong though as we completely switched off and Levante notched the deserved equalizer right before the break. No real improvement in the second half where we were unable to break them down, but Jimenez was the saviour of the day, heading home a free kick from Dordevic in the 88th minute. Even then, we almost shot ourself in the foot again but Levante's 94th minute equalizer was chalked off for offside.

 

Tenerife - Sevilla: 3-2

The scare against Levante apparently wasn't enough to wake us up, as Tenerife ran us completely into the ground. 1-0 at the break, with us only recording one shot on target.. And to make matters worse, we started badly in the second period with Antonio doubling Tenerife's lead after 55 minutes. Only after substituting four players, including Rojas and Moses, we started pushing back with Madonsela and Yanakiev leveling the score. But it was Tenerife's Dajaku who gave the home team what they deserved in the 94th minute. In other news, Barça was faultless which saw us drop down a spot.

 

Eibar - Sevilla: 0-2

We took a serious hit in morale and struggled against relegation threatened Eibar too. Only after the break and by bringing in Solbakken and Yanakiev for a once again disappointing Rojas were we able to take some distance, and even then our defensive struggles remained. The Norwegian winger opened the score and Eibar then missed the biggest chance of the game. In the 91st, it was again Solbakken for his brace to secure victory. Unfortunately, Barça also did their jobs which means it's a third place for us. 

 

Meanwhile, Tenerife pulled off a real Houdini by beating us and Tenerife in their last two games to escape relegation on the final day.

[KlaaZ]

Season recap

It was a debut season to remember, with the team overperforming thanks to an excellent Moses up front and clenching third place in the league, a record high for Sevilla. That said, the end of season for put a bit of a question mark on whether this is something we can repeat, especially considering the financial trouble we find ourselves in. Things pretty much imploded when Nianzou ran into a damaged achilles tendon against Villareal. The loss against Real in the cup final also hurt, a lot. 

 

 

Moses had an excellent season and ended up league top goalscorer with 31 roses. The good news is that he's still under contract until 2036, with an option to extend for a year, but he has a 73M release clause so I'm fairly sure that we will lose him during the summer. His sale would go a long way to improving the club finances but we'll be hard pressed to replace a player of his quality, 

 

In other good news, we improved training and youth facilities, junior coaching and youth recruitment when the finances were still ok, which can only help us going forward. The bad news is that those finances are really not looking good. Despite slashing the wage cost by almost 25M, we still find ourselves heavily in the red. The only thing I can hope for is that the combination of Champions League revenue and a hopefully higher income from both sponsorship and domestic tv money will help us turn this around so we can work towards become a title challenger.

 

[KlaaZ]

Looking forward: Squad assessment

Goalkeepers

I had my doubts about D'Cruz at the start of the season but overall, he did very well, showing some great improvement in his ability in the process. I'll keep him on board for at least another year, maybe two. If all goes well, that should be enough for our new Indian kid from this year's intake to take over the reigns.

 

Left back

Probably our biggest weak spot right now. 31-year old Nkounkou filled the gap this year but he's average at best and behind him, there's nobody to take over yet. We do have a very good 15-year old from the academy, but he's not ready, at all. Sanusi turned 34 and just hasn't got it anymore, his contract runs out and will not be extended. This is one of the positions that we'll need to creatively strengthen, probably.

 

Right back

21-year old Duke Idris is our main man for now. He also came through the academy which is always a good thing, but it's unlikely for him to become the world class player we need here. Especially on his physicals, he's a bit lacking as he possesses neither pure speed or aerial prowess. Behind him, young Frenchman Mahe fills the gap whenever necessary, but he also isn't really that good.

 

 

Central defense

We played new signing Jimenez and veteran Nianzou here, with Giraldez as a backup, until Nianzou ran into a major injury near the end of the season. Giraldez played surprisingly well but in all honesty, he's not La Liga level and I'm not entirely convinced by Jimenez either. I'd like at least one new center back but with money being tight, I'm not sure how we'll find him. We also still have Collins but he's a better footballer than he is a defender really.

[KlaaZ]

Looking forward: Squad assessment

Defensive midfielders

Thorne is the man to watch. We managed to extend his contract, including a very nifty 170M release clause which almost tripples his previous one. PSG is interested though, so it's possible that even this amount will not throw them off. Next to him, Matic had a decent debut season but I'm still not sure what his best role is. I actually want someone more creative next to Thorne and the Serb is doesn't really fit that profile with a bad trait and average passing. I'm actually considering of turning him into a full back in due time. We filled up this position with two loanies who will return to their clubs. It would be nice to reloan Centurion but I don't think that's an option as they want to try him in the first team.

 

Left wing

Just like with Thorne, we signed Moll on an improved deal with a 150M clause as he's one of the brightest gems of the team at his young age. I plan to rotate him with Ivan Lobo, a 21-year old two footed winger who did well on loan at Almeria this season. There's also Carvajal but he doesn't have the ability yet to challenge for the first team.

 

Right wing

A very impressive Dordevic didn't disappoint in his debut season, racking up nine goals and fifteen assists in the league. Solbakken also performed well as a rotation option but doesn't justify his wage so we'll not extend his contract, which runs out at the end of this season. I'm considering using Ivan, who played on loan at Valencia, as his backup since he's also a natural on the right. He's a different profile though.

 

Attacking midfield

A wealth of depth here. Rojas did very ok but I'll expect more of him next year, with Yanakiev performing above expectation. We also still have young Balda but I'll probably either loan him out again or sell for profit.