short Sevilla update:
It was a good first half of the season and Machin is excellent. The club has to give him all the tools to succeed. Sevilla played ~33 matches so far and the squad is way too thin for this kind of program. The first 11 is quite good, but the rest of the squad is fairly useless and Machin simply can't trust them. He can't rest any key-players even against the smaller sides. This team would probably not finish in the top half of of the table without Banega and Sarabia. The negotiations to extend the contract of both players is imo not going well, because Sevilla seems to be unwilling to pay an adequate salary. It would be a nightmare if one of them would leave, because Sevilla wasted too much money on bad transfer.
The injury problems make matters worse. Gonalons is probably missing the complete season. Without him, Banega has to play every minute or the team lacks a midfielder, who can pass the ball. Roque Mesa is terrible and should be sold asap, while Amadou is a different type of player (he also suffered from injuries at the worst time). Kjaer and Aleix Vidal might be both out for the rest of the season.
I have no idea why the club bought Gnagnon last summer. He had to lose over 10 kg just to get into a physical state, where he can play football. The Guilherme Arana transfer (last winter) must have be some kind of money laundering deal. He is distinctly average and nothing of this transfer makes sense. The time of Luis Muriel is finally over; he joins Florenz on a loan. He was just a massive waste of money and time. I really wanted him to succeed, but he lacks any end-product.
Quincy Promes is another transfer that looks a bit daft. He is a good player, but after changing the system to a 352 (and not a 343), there is simply no spot for a wide-forward. Credit to him and his attitude, that he showed some good performances as wing-back despite that not being his natural position at all.
Sevilla needs to at least three new players this winter. A CB, a central midfielder and another forward. There are lots of names flying around. Some of the more interesting/promising ones: Eric Bailly, Jovetic and Cornet. I am worried, that there is no proper midfielder available.
it's been a really long two weeks. I'll be watching the Real Madrid game from 2030 (and just hoping City somehow do it.)