A sinking ship

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1:20Hello, everyone, and welcome to this week's edition of the Spanish Rural Podcast. I'm Phil Kitramilides. I'm joined as ever by Dr Sid Lowe. Hello, Sidney. Good morning, Philip. How are you? I'm all right. How are you feeling? Yeah, not too bad. Thank you. Good. Looking terrific, as always. Muddy boarded. We both always look so frazzled on a Monday. It's a testament to the lengths that we go to cover Spanish football. So there we go. We were in London on Friday night doing the live show, which was terrific. Thanks to everyone who came down. There was no preview pod on Friday because we were busy with that live show.

1:56It was really good, Sid, wasn't it? Nice to see so many familiar faces.

1:59Phil Kitromilides:That's always the best bit, isn't it? The number of different shirts, the fans from all sorts of different clubs, the enthusiasm for Spanish football. And it's a lot of fun. It's a nice community. We'll be releasing some audio and video from the show very soon as well, if you didn't make it down. Here's what happened on Matchday 32. While the live show was going on, and we watched the second half with some of the people who came, Betis and Real Madrid drew 1-1, a dramatic late equaliser from Hector Bellerin with quite literally the last kick of the game meant that Real Madrid dropped points once more.

2:35A big result for Alaves on Saturday. They came from behind to beat Mallorca 2-1. Barca beat Getafe 2-0. Really good win for Barca at a ground where they had seriously struggled over the last few years. Valencia beat Girona 2-1 at Mestalla, a big win for them at the bottom of the table. And Atletico Madrid beat Athletic Club 3-2 at the Metropolitano. Then on Sunday, Rayo and Real Sociedad played out an extraordinary 3-3 draw. I mean, I know this is something that we say all the time, Sid, but hashtag always what's La Real. I think this was their third 3-3 draw in the last couple of months. They concede a ridiculous amount of goals, quite frankly, and Raya managed to score three against them.

3:15They'd only managed to score three against two other teams, Sid, this season. Who were they? One of them was yours and the other was Atletico Madrid. So there we go. So all the big boys then? All the big boys. Speaking of the big boys, Oviedo were beaten 2-1 at home by Elche and mathematically it's not done, but it is probably done for Oviedo.

3:34Phil Kitromilides:I saw one of those statistics. Chances of relegation, Oviedo, are now up at 99.51. So you're saying there's a chance. I'm hanging on to that 0.49. Osasuna beat Sevilla 2-1 at El Sadar. A devastating defeat for Sevilla. They are bottom of the table. No, they're not bottom of the table, but they're in the bottom three. Alejandro Catena scoring an injury-time winner for Osasuna. Massive win for them and yeah, absolutely crushing for Sevilla. And Villarreal beating Celta Vigo 2-1 at the Estadio de la Cerámica to go five points clear in third. Monday Night Football is another huge game at the bottom of the table.

4:15It's Espanyol, who haven't won still in 2026. They were fifth at the start of the year. They're now just a few points above the relegation zone. They take on Levante. The climax of the La Liga season is upon us. And then we've got the World Cup. And you really, really, really need to be a patron. Patreon.com forward slash TSFP. It's where we're going to be podding over the summer. It costs€4.75 a week, a month even. 4 euro 75 a month sid that's an it would be cheaper 4 euro 75 a week phil yeah but it's a month it's a year just over a euro a week it's cheaper if you get annual membership my goodness my it's great value come and join us sydney you've been writing about sevilla today or you're writing your column about sevilla and even if you weren't it was it's the place to start i was commentating in this game, Osasugur against Sevilla.

5:07It was built up so massively. One of the most important games in Sevilla's history, certainly the most important game domestically in the 21st century. There was so much tension. The tension around the players, around the club, around the manager, the manager who said, I've been working harder than I've ever been in my career. I've never worked this hard. The hours I've been putting in. And they still lost, Sid. And it's not just they lost. I mean, they didn't play particularly well either. It is a sinking ship.

5:39Phil Kitromilides:Yeah. And I think one of the reasons they lost is precisely because of what you say, because of the build-up, because of the tension, because of the sense of who they are. I think fear is a big part of what's happening to Sevilla. Now, there are very, very significant structural flaws and reasons why Sevilla are in this kind of trouble, very significant ones. But I think the immediate issue is partly about fear And as you say, they didn't play particularly well, but they were in a position where they put themselves 1-0 into the lead with, it's 11 minutes to go, isn't it? I think 79 minutes when they get equalised.

6:16Phil Kitromilides:So they've 1-0 up until 11 minutes to go. At that point, I think, and I actually think even before that point, they dropped deeper and deeper because there's this real kind of desperation to protect what they've got, which actually isn't the best way to protect what you've got. And I think this is what's happening. And there was this discourse, wasn't there, from Luis Garcia. I'm not sure if it was the midweek game or last weekend's games. I've got a feeling it was the last weekend's game when he said, you know, we didn't want to step off. We didn't want to sit back. And I kept saying to him, step out, step out, step out.

6:44Phil Kitromilides:He said, but it's human. It's human to back away when you're frightened. It's human to take a step back. And I think that's what's happening. And he, if you look at the lineups, structure, personnel, they change every game. This is a manager desperately trying to find something. And he's not finding it. He left the captain and the top scorer on the bench for this game. Yeah. Nemanja Koudel and Akko Adams were on the bench. He sort of justified it pre-game by saying, well, we played on Thursday. Osasuna played on Tuesday. Need to refresh things up a little bit physically and also some tactical tweaks.

7:18But yeah, he's struggling, the manager.

7:22Phil Kitromilides:He is. And he said, you know, I think in a way, one way of starting this might be to look at the pre-match press conference. When Luis Garcia, who, bear in mind at this point, has been in charge for three games, is asked about his future. Yeah. Now, it's not just that Luis Garcia says, and this is the quote, you leave me, the phrase he used was frozen. You know, you've left me stone cold with that. I love him. Seriously? Seriously? After three games? It's not just that he says that. It's the way he says it. He says, oh, well, okay then. Okay, okay. Well, three games then. Okay, okay. Well, you know, you tell me.

8:04Phil Kitromilides:I mean, it's only three games. And what I think is interesting in that is that I think when that question is posed to him, he realises actually this might be true. And I don't trust these guys for it not to be true. And also that his response, I don't know, I don't want to pick on Luis Garcia because it absolutely isn't his fault. But I think his response tells you something about the club because he starts talking about me, the things that have happened to me, the things that have happened in my games. Now, in part, I think it's because he doesn't want to speak for what's gone before. But it's also about him turning up and thinking, oh, my word, what am I in the middle of?

8:41Phil Kitromilides:You know what? And he says, you know, the problems were here before I came. And he's absolutely right. He's 100 percent right. but the discourse is kind of of a man saying whoa would you have a look at this shit and look what i've got on my hands here and of course that doesn't help because there is a sense of him coming and i think there is a there is an unwritten issue and i really do think it's unwritten correct me if i'm wrong because i i don't think i've seen it and i don't think it's really been discussed which is that they sacked matthias almeida and i think most people looked at this and i don't think anyone really felt sorry for Almeida, particularly from the outside, because the results weren't good, the team wasn't very good.

9:18Phil Kitromilides:But I actually think that Almeida was in a position where he at least more or less had players on his side. He at least more or less had a degree of emotional connection with them. And this isn't to say it's Luis Garcia's fault, because it absolutely isn't. But you broke one of the few things they had by sacking him. And they're in really bad trouble. Just to put some context into it, I also when he was asked about getting sacked, he said, well, if I get sacked, that's total chaos. And I think total chaos is the sort of default setting for Sevilla because Luis Garcia Plaza is the 12th different man to take charge of Sevilla in the last nine years.

9:58That's chaotic enough in itself, but even that stat only tells half the story because during that time, Jorge Sampaoli was manager twice and Joaquin Camparros was interim coach three times. So the The number of managerial changes in the last nine years is really quite extraordinary.

10:15Phil Kitromilides:And we could add to that, by the way, 12 coaches in nine years when Julian Lopetegui, I believe I'd be right in saying, lasted three years. Yes. You've got one little island of relative stability. And bear in mind that Julian Lopetegui wasn't that far off winning the league. I think I'm right in saying they qualified for the Champions League three years in a row. Sid, I mean, the job was extraordinary. And at that point, it wasn't enough. because listen they finished fourth in 2020 2021 and 2022 fourth three years in a row then they finished 12th in 2023 but they won the Europa League then they finished 14th in 2024 last year they finished 17th and this year they're 18th like it has been a steady steady decline from pretty big heights you know four fourth place three years in a row is terrific for Sevilla and here we are four years later from being in the Champions League finishing fourth to this.

11:09Phil Kitromilides:Yeah. And should we talk steady decline? Because we're here talking about the underlying issues. One way of analysing this is to give you some more numbers, which is to say that their total spending this summer was€250 ,000. €250 ,000. And they sold... How many players? Hang on. I've got the list here. I mean, the total list is about 14 long. I mean, some of those are promotions from the B team. So actual signings is one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine actual signings across the two markets. By the way, they made$55 million in sales. The previous summer, they spent$20 million, which doesn't sound terrible, but they made$32 million.

11:53Phil Kitromilides:So they're still working at a deficit. The summer before that,$32 million, which seems like quite a lot. But look at the players. Bade, he's gone. Luque Bacchio, he's gone. Pedrosa, Pedrosa. Nyland, who's now the substitute goalkeeper. Sergio Ramos, who's been and gone. Mariano Diaz from Real Madrid. Now, these aren't, you know, they've just been an absolute disaster. Now, I don't know about you, but I was reminded, or I reminded myself, I was thinking about this this morning. There's an amazing clip from a Netflix La Liga documentary at the beginning of the season after they win the Europa League.

12:31Phil Kitromilides:And they're sitting on a golf course. And I remember at the time laughing at this. And now you think, wow, they're sitting on a golf course. And it's Pepe Castro, who was then the president. It's Jose Maria del Nido Jr., who was then the vice president and is now the president. So very much the same group. And they actually had an agreement those two to alternate the presidency, which in itself is hilarious. You have an agreement to alternate the presidency. And the other guy, of course, is Victor Orta, who came in as a sporting director. Ah, Victor Orta, yes. Now, I'm actually going to slightly defend Victor Horta in the sense that this was just a mess at all levels.

13:08Phil Kitromilides:And I'm going to slightly defend Antonio Cordon, who's a sporting director now, because he's basically been put in a position where he had to build a team with literally no money. Literally no money. Right? Anyway, so this clip... 150 grand. Yeah, exactly. For nine players. This clip is them sitting on a golf course, pre-season somewhere, and they're sitting around the table, and it's hot. It's clearly hot, but still Pepe Castro is there in his suit and Del Nido Jr. is there trying to look sort of smart and slick. Yes. And they're saying to Mendeleevar, well, you know, you came in because the team was in crisis.

13:43Phil Kitromilides:That's true. But you're now here because we're a Champions League team. And this is, you know, we've got to change and we've got to be good enough. We don't want to go through the suffering we went through before. And, you know, we've got to get back to our model. And our model is, you know, young players. We bring players through and we develop and we're not going to go through that suffering again. and Mendeleevar who is the absolute classic no bullshit manager is looking at them as if to say I you guys I mean it's really embarrassing it's so David Brent it's unreal the yeah or what's the name of David Brent in the American version for our American listeners I've forgotten what he's called now the American version of the office anyway it's just you know it's embarrassing corporate empty speak.

14:26And anyway, they sacked him after eight games. Yeah, well, exactly.

14:30Phil Kitromilides:That's the punchline to this joke. And he's there sort of shaking his head, wow, okay. And then they cut to him saying, so wait a minute, the 36-year-old who's just won you the Europa League no longer is not valid for you. You know, don't want him anymore. And he's just looking at them thinking, you absolute morons. And as you say, the punchline is eight games later, they've sacked him. How did that go for you, lads? Extremely badly. And looking at the fixtures that Sevilla have coming up, it is quite a not very encouraging run into the season. Their next game is at home to Real Sociedad. Their home form has been abysmal.

15:12Only Levante and Oviedo have less points at home than Sevilla. I mean, it's really, really poor at home. Then they're at home to Espanyol if they don't win that. oh you know then they're away to Villarreal which maybe Villarreal will be on the beach by then but not an easy game then they're at home to Real Madrid Real Madrid I don't know where they'll be but they won't be in the title race and then they're away to Celta Vigo so in theory they've got you know four really tough games and then they're at home to Espanyol who haven't won all year but it is really really devastating

15:47Phil Kitromilides:What you've just said there is really important about the home record being awful because everybody is saying this is about the home games. And I must admit, there's a bit of me thinking this is about the home games, these next two games. It's about winning these next two games at the P1, which has real atmosphere, which is really, really, in theory, intimidating. And Luis Garcia has said this two or three times now. You know, when I came as a manager and played against Sevilla, you felt it. And we have to feel it now. And he made the point yesterday in the post-mate game press conference where he complained a lot about the fact that nine minutes were added and they conceded the 99th minute, and that's very painful and all the rest of it.

16:24Phil Kitromilides:But obviously there are broader issues here. And he said, you know, when I came as a manager, it was terrifying the P1, and the P1 has to do this. And I am not in a position to ask our fans to do anything because I've been here for four games and we've only won one of them. And I'm not in a position to ask them to do anything, but we need them. And I think this is right, and it's true. And you do need these two home games, but you're right as well. Their home form is not something you would say, tell you what, that's the thing you grab hold of. But really and truly, you look at the away form and think, well, yeah, it is.

16:54Phil Kitromilides:Because it's all there is. Yeah, five wins from 16. Funnily enough, one of those wins was a thrashing of Barcelona, which seems a long, long, long time ago now. Big, big problems at Sevilla. All right, so tell us a little bit about the game you were at on Saturday afternoon. you came back from the live show I went straight to the Coliseum to see Barcelona win 2-0 as we said this was a place where Barcelona had a really really poor record they only scored one goal in their last five matches at the Coliseum they were missing La Minha Mar they were missing Rafinha but Pedri started pulling the strings in a way that he hasn't done in the last few weeks and he set up Fermin with the opening goal Fermin called it un pase de locos an absolute madness of a pass it's a beautiful assist and Fermin does the job and then Marcus Rashford scores a second.

17:44This was a pretty complete performance from Barca.

17:47Phil Kitromilides:Yeah, it was. And I think one of the things that was interesting about it, from my point of view, is that they were patient. Now, it's true, it is absolutely true, that the analyses you come up with, and I say you as the collective we, if you like, and I absolutely include myself in this, always are coloured a little bit by the result. and this goal comes literally on 44 minutes and 59 seconds had they got to halftime without having got this goal I wonder if our analysis might be different because here I am saying well Barcelona were patient they took their time they they tried to control the game they didn't panic they they they waited for their opportunities um and had they got to halftime and not got it I wonder if I might be now sitting here saying well you know they lacked urgency the ball circulation was slow And that's probably, I probably would be, because that is true.

18:35Phil Kitromilides:That is what the game was like. The pitch was a little slow, a little bit dry. A little bit long. Yeah, of course. And you know this. And it did seem to me like a slightly sluggish game, but one in which, yes, Barcelona were trying to keep hold of the ball, not allow Getafe to run counterattacks. And actually, it's not really that Getafe run counterattacks. It's not really what they do. We have to get away from the obvious analysis, which is to say, well, they stay deep and then they run counterattacks. No, they go long, which is not the same as Baron and counterattacks. They go long and they go direct.

19:07Phil Kitromilides:But it is true they were a little bit deeper because Barcelona were pushing them further back. But I think what Barcelona did, and again, this is conditioned, as I often say, by your perspective on the pitch. I was pitch side and I was pitch side on the left side of the Barcelona attack, where Fermin was tending to drift into that position. I know he scored the goal in the end, just the left of centre, but a lot of his runs were the left. and it was absolutely clear to me, and it's easy to be a smart arse after the event, I know, that the goal, if and when it came, and I do think it was an if, because it wasn't clear that the goal was going to come, was going to come from a Pedri pass and a Federmin run.

19:45Phil Kitromilides:Because the whole of that first half was basically Getafe squeezing the line, squeezing the line, trying to step out, not being able to step out that far, but trying to step out, trying to push Spaz Loner back, and Pedri trying to find the pass that broke that Getafe back line. usually with a little clip dink over the top not usually through the gap but usually over the top and usually with a certain degree of diagonal on it so it would be slightly to the right of center to slightly to left of center and the person making the run every time to try and offer that was Ferdermin and truth be told it wasn't coming off either the pass wasn't quite right or Ferdermin's first touch wasn't quite good a couple of times he got the ball caught under his feet as I say the pitch was a bit slow about two or three minutes before Ferdermin had walked past just in front of me and kicked a divot out of the pitch because he was pissed off because he just messed up the previous one but you could see that this was the way Barcelona were going to break that Getafe line and it took a brilliant pass and great run but the two players who most did it and most did it all the way through the game were those two.

20:45Marcus Rashford scored second goal and threw on goal and an assist from Robert Lewandowski. Bobby Lewandowski pumping the ball up and Marcus From inside his own penalty area, almost. Slotting it home nicely. 13 goals and 13 assists in all competitions for Marcus Rashford. He's available for around€30 million. And yet, it feels like they might not sign him, Sid. Why are Barcelona maybe not going to sign him?

21:10Phil Kitromilides:Well, you've given part of the answer there because it costs€30 million. And he would be extremely well paid, assuming that he would demand something close to what he's on at Manchester United. And Barcelona aren't going to pay that. can't afford to pay that for someone who's a backup player. You're right. I mean, Marcus Rashford is the classic yeah, but no, but yeah, but no, but player. Because his figures are very good. His figures are unquestionable. They are. But they're sort of not if you unpack them. Yeah, because it hasn't necessarily been decisive, have they? There's been key goals in some key moments.

21:49Phil Kitromilides:At the start of the season, a little flurry, and then a big gap in the middle. And then one or two here and there at the end of the season. And I mean, look, to counter the statistical, if we're going to give a statistical thing, which is look at his stats are really good and they are really good. Let's give another stat, shall we? I don't know if this counts as a stack, but it's a fact. He didn't start this game. A game in which Barcelona winning, basically wrap up the league title because Real Madrid have not won the night before. They don't have Rafinha. They don't have Lamine. who is the one player that can play on both wings who has got good figures it's Marcus Rashford and he doesn't start now again I think there is a degree of tactical analysis in this which is Rashford really good running into space it's after quite likely not to give you very much space although as I say they do play a defensive line higher than people assume but we looked at this game we thought this probably isn't the game where Rashford runs through you why because the finesse then the precision isn't really there.

22:51Phil Kitromilides:If the game is broken and it's open, he can make things happen. If you can get him into shooting positions around the edge of the area, he can make things happen. But that little clever little final pass or the touch inside tight areas, you look at it and you think, well, yeah, I probably would rather have Dani Olmo or even Rooney Badagi or maybe Fernmin playing further up the pitch, not necessarily as a midfielder, but kind of almost as a full swinger. You know, those are the players or Gavi doing that kind of role. Those are the players you want ahead of him. Is that one of the reasons as well why they might not sign him?