“I loved Sampaoli’s philosophy, but a lot of bad things happened” – Ivan Rakitic on Sevilla manager switch

Sevilla have changed coach for the third time, but there appears to be a sense of relief from the players that Jose Luis Mendilibar is in charge. While some were more diplomatic than others, it seems clear that all was not well under Jorge Sampaoli.

With both Yassine Bounou and Marcos Acuna criticising his system publicly in the lead up to his sacking, Sampaoli exited after the international break with Jose Luis Mendilibar replacing him. Sevilla have four points from his first two games against Cadiz and Celta Vigo, with Manchester United awaiting on Thursday.

One of the senior figures at the club, Ivan Rakitic, told Diario AS that he was a fan of Sampaoli’s style, but perhaps not his management.

“This happens when the performances aren’t there. We must thank Sampaoli’s work and also Lopetegui’s. I loved Sampaoli’s philosophy, he is a spectacular coach and so is his coaching staff.”

“But a lot of bad things happened. In the end you have to respect the club’s decision, although I am very sorry [it went that way]. I would have loved to continue working with Jorge.”

Yet he did call on the team to get behind the new coach in charge.

“Now we have to help Mendilibar and make things easy for him so that everything goes as well as possible. Give him all the support and love he needs. With that we have to get out of the bottom completely and, if possible, go further in Europe.”

Striker Rafa Mir was a little less diplomatic in his evaluation of Sampaoli, as he remarked to MD.

“A coach with his own style. He came up with a role for you to see where you played. He did things that made a footballer feel out of place. With Mendilibar all is good, a football man, who has been at many clubs. I am very excited to continue working as I have done, even if they haven’t used me yet.”

While Sevilla were still out of the relegation zone under Sampaoli, and he might have gotten the same or better results than Mendilibar, it seems clear that the Argentine had a divided squad on his hands, with a number of them not believing in his methods.

Tags Ivan Rakitic Jorge Sampaoli Jose Luis Mendilibar Rafa Mir Sevilla
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