Michel eyes away improvement

Michel agrees with his President that Sevilla cannot continue to lose face playing away from home, and targets the trip to Espanyol as a turning point.

Sevilla fell to a 4-0 defeat at the weekend away to Atletico Madrid, to sandwich the 5-1 home win over Real Betis with disappointing displays away to Real Zaragoza and Athletic Bilbao.

President Jose Maria del Nido yesterday criticised the players, imploring them to find consistency, calling their defeat to Atletico ‘lamentable’ and a bad image for the club.

“What the President said is felt by all, whilst if we continue with that manner of performance, from the last three games played away from home, I will not be happy.

“Sometimes I think we have shown this side to us, the game in Vigo, the first half at Bilbao, at Zaragoza…whilst I think I watch the games fairly objectively. In the Calderon nothing happened, we did not raise ourselves. We cannot stay like this, it is not the picture we want to present of ourselves.

“But, we also cannot confuse or derail in four games the team’s overall image. In nine other games the team has been good.

“But, we cannot be good and then do what we did, not just at the Calderon, but before. That’s what the President is concerned about and we are all in agreement.”

Michel was talking ahead of taking his Sevilla outfit to Catalonia this midweek for the second leg of their Copa del Rey Round of 32 clash. Los Rojiblancos currently lead 3-1.

“We have to be stronger, ambitious, responsible, determined and energetic. Already we have another game and without that things would be more unpleasant.

“We are on track to meet our target of progression, but maybe we will be the team that played against Betis or the one against Celta.

“After the derby I said that I could not fault the character of the team. I take my responsibility and certainly do not know why the team is not showing the same commitment they do at home, the work the is the same. We are looking for solutions in the line-up.

“Certainly, we cannot do against Espanyol what we have done in previous away games. We need more stability and Espanyol has to be approached as a game we want to win. 90 minutes remain and we will have to play well.”

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