Julen Lopetegui’s future at the Sanchez-Pizjuan is up in the air according to a report by Diario AS.
The Basque coach has gone on holidays with his family without making a decision on his future with Sevilla. He needs a period of reflection after an intense and in some ways frustrating season.
Lopetegui will then return and sit down with Monchi to not just plan for the 2022/23 season but also to decide his own future.
The thought at the moment is that he will continue but that is not something being said with much confidence.
Lopetegui led Sevilla to their sixth Europa League title in 2020 and has steered the club to three consecutive top four La Liga finishes in his time at the Sanchez-Pizjuan.
But a lot of the football played has been less than inspiring and there is a sense that there was an opportunity to really push for the title last season squandered by his conservatism.
With both Jules Kounde and Diego Carlos expected to depart the Andalusian capital this summer a rejuvenation is needed at Sevilla. Whether Lopetegui is the man to carry it out is unknown.
It looks as if we are seeing peak Sevilla. They are about half-way to repeating Atletico’s methodical journey to the upper tier of Spanish football but it doesn’t look like they will get there. They would need about four more Champions League qualifications to give them the financial might to do so.
Interesting that a coach who wins two titles with Spanish junior national teams, goes undefeated in 20 games with the men ‘s national team only to get fired on the eve of the World Cup for accepting the manager’s job at the most prestigious club in the world, and leads Sevilla to three consecutive Champions League qualifications plus a Europa League title is held in such low esteem. It would be best for him to leave.
Diego Martinez’s apprenticeship is complete. He came up through the Sevilla organization, coached Granada to the Europa League quarter-finals (eliminated by Manchester United) and we have seen what Granada looks like without him (relegated.) He has taken the past year off, reportedly analyzing the Prenier League way of doing things. This would seem like a logical candidate to replace Lopetegui and play pleasing football that can succeed in the secondary competitions.