WHEN Sevilla were relegated from the Spanish top flight back in 2000, they knew drastic measures must be taken. In order to rebuild the club, they appointed recently retired goalkeeper Ramón Rodríguez Verdejo – who we know simply as “Monchi" – as their new Sporting Director and tasked him with improving their youth sector and implementing a far-reaching scouting network to improve the first team.
He was a total success at both tasks, helping Los Nervionenses unearth gems such as Diego Capel, Jesús Navas, Antonio Puerta and Sergio Ramos, while simultaneously snapping up bargain signings like Dani Alves, Seydou Keita and Ivan Rakitić. Those players helped Sevilla establish themselves as a force in La Liga, lifting no fewer than eleven trophies during Monchi’s 16-year tenure while his negotiating skills helped make over €200 million profit on the transfer market.
The fact they did so while operating in the shadow of Real Madrid, Barcelona and even Atletico Madrid was undoubtedly a factor in Roma coveting the services of the mastermind behind all that success. The Giallorossi had stumbled along in Serie A mediocrity for too long, owner James Pallotta determined to transform the club into a modern, forward-thinking outfit that could contend for trophies against Juventus and the two Milan giants.
When it became clear that Monchi was willing to leave the Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán in early 2017, Pallotta quickly signed him to a four-year contract and promised it was the start of a new era for Roma. One of their own former players Eusebio Di Francesco – a midfielder who won the Serie A title alongside Francesco Totti back in 2001 – was named as the new coach, an impressive spell at Sassuolo seemingly making him the ideal man to work with the kind of players the sporting director would bring in.
2⃣ days until #SevillaRoma #ASRoma pic.twitter.com/GwEm1mNsmw
— AS Roma English (@ASRomaEN) March 10, 2020
Their first campaign together saw them improbably reach the semi-finals of the Champions League and finish third in Serie A, but from the moment they were beaten by Liverpool the situation quickly deteriorated. Di Francesco was sacked by the following March when it became clear they would miss out on a top four berth and while the coach clearly made mistakes, in truth he was shouldering the blame for even greater errors committed by Monchi.
It was the Spaniard who sold Alisson to Liverpool and replaced him with the woefully inadequate Robin Olsen, the Swedish goalkeeper one of many signings who failed to make the grade. Whether in veterans like Javier Pastore and Steven Nzonzi or prospects such as Jonathan Silva and Patrik Schick – the latter becoming Roma’s record signing at a cost of almost €40 million – the Monchi Roma got was certainly not the one that had been so universally admired at Sevilla.
Worse still was the lack of understanding between Coach and Sporting Director. Di Francesco’s success had almost exclusively been built upon his favoured 4-3-3 system that used the speed of its wide players to terrorise opposition defences. Yet Monchi repeatedly signed attacking midfielders who had no place in that set up, leaving Di Francesco confused as to how he was expected to deploy them. When the coach admitted to reporters that “I don't know what formation to use” following a September 2018 loss to Bologna, the discord became public.
Monchi would leave the Stadio Olimpico too, and it was no surprise that after struggling to adapt to life at Roma, he returned home to Sevilla. But there has been no sudden reversal of fortune, no instant transformation back into the man so regularly labelled a “transfer guru” during his first stint, instead finding the role just as difficult as it had been in the Italian capital.
Sevilla sit third in La Liga, but Spanish football expert David Cartlidge told Unibet that Monchi’s work has “been more miss than hit” thus far. He appointed former Spain boss Julen Lopetegui as coach in the summer and has worked far more closely with the 53-year-old than he did with Di Francesco in Italy.
Yet their vastly differing approaches still seem an uneasy fit and Sevilla have begun to slump after a bright start to the campaign, winning just three of their last nine league games. That has allowed Real Sociedad, Getafe and Atletico Madrid to all move within two points of them in the table and put their hopes of Champions League qualification in real jeopardy.
⚠️ BEHIND CLOSED DOORS ⚠️
Thursday's Europa League game against Sevilla will now take place without fans present at the stadium, on the advice of local authorities.
#ASRoma #UEL #SevillaRoma pic.twitter.com/uVPJWDoa0s— AS Roma English (@ASRomaEN) March 9, 2020
Monchi once again must at least take part of the blame, with some of his biggest moves failing to pay off. Israeli international Moanes Dabour lasted less than 12 months before being sold at a loss, while Rony Lopes – a €25 million acquisition from AS Monaco – has played just 87 minutes of La Liga action so far this term.
It is with all those problems that Sevilla head into their last-16 Europa League clash on Thursday, and there will be plenty of familiar faces for Monchi as his current team takes on his previous side. Roma have had their difficulties this term, but under the guidance of new boss Paulo Fonseca, a vibrant young team with plenty of promise sits just three points outside the top four in Serie A.
Even though Monchi left less than one year ago, Fonseca’s regular first choice XI contains just three players – Cengiz Ünder, Bryan Cristante and Justin Kluivert – who were signed during his tenure. If that serves as a damning indictment of his failings, then watching his replacement Gianluca Petrachi bring in the exact kind of players that were once a Monchi specialty must be viewed with no small amount of irony.
It was the Italian sporting director who tempted promising young defender Gianluca Mancini away from Atalanta, while he also recognised that an under-appreciated and underperforming Chris Smalling could thrive under Fonseca’s tutelage. When the former Manchester United and Fulham man subsequently took a major leap and became arguably the best centre back in Serie A this term, isn’t that precisely the kind of wizardry Monchi was expected to perform?
So while all the focus is on Monchi as his two sides go head-to-head, perhaps it is the work of Gianluca Petrachi that deserves a little more attention?
