After a summer of upheaval, few would have expected Sevilla to get off to a flying start in La Liga, particularly with matches against Atletico Madrid and Barcelona in the first few weeks.
However, even fewer fans would have accepted that the club would be bottom of the League with two points and no wins from their opening five domestic matches. That, though, is the grim reality for Sevilla.
The 3-1 defeat to Valencia on Sunday was meaningful for various reasons, but first and foremost it ensured Los Nervionenses’ worst start to a League season since 1958-59 when they managed only one point from their first five fixtures. In all it has been their third worst start in the club’s history.
Failing to claim the three points at Mestalla also meant that their winless run away from home in La Liga would stretch to over a year, with their last triumph coming at Deportivo de La Coruna on September 24, 2012.
Before the Valencia loss, Coach Unai Emery was not under any intense pressure from the media or fans, but losing to a side hammered 3-0 at home by Swansea during the week clearly angered many. Miroslav Djukic, the man in charge at Mestalla, was the one who was under fire going into the tie, but just as quickly a win changed his fortunes, the loss has Emery in a spot bother. He only has himself to blame, however.
The 41-year-old made the bizarre choice to replace goal-scorer and all-round livewire Kevin Gameiro with Sebastian Cristoforo, a defensive midfielder. The France international was clearly bemused, as were the fans.
At the time Sevilla were level at 1-1 and arguably looking the more dangerous, but Emery was not interested in capitalising, rather appearing to settle for the draw.
Of course it all went wrong. Instead of attacking, Emery opted to put his faith in the defence despite their generally disastrous displays at the back thus far.
Following the defeat, Sevilla have conceded the third most amount of goals in the League, begging the question – why rely on a depleted area of the team to get you a draw?
Admittedly Emery has been unlucky with injuries. Daniel Carrico, Nico Pareja and Federico Fazio would all be ahead of Fernando Navarro and Juan Cala, but have spent spells out.
On paper, the tactician has a very talented squad to choose from, but some of his decisions confuse more than they inspire. His continual use of Ivan Rakitic in a deep-lying role borders on blatant ignorance as he decides against using his best player in his most effective position – attacking midfield.
Rayo Vallecano, who have the worst defensive record so far, are up next for Sevilla at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan on Wednesday. Although it offers a good chance to get a first win, they know the pressure will be on to get a result.
If they cannot find a way past Rayo at home, Emery will be in trouble.
