There's beauty in the build-up

Sevilla extended García Pimienta's contract until 2027 despite a difficult start to life at the club. They've given him time, which is just what this project needs.

Last Wednesday night, Sevilla scraped past Real Vallavolid 2-1 at home thanks to a late Chidera Ejuke strike. With García Pimienta struggling early on in his stint as Sevilla manager, they needed three points to quiet talk of a crisis.

And then came the announcement.

Sevilla had extended García Pimienta's contract until 2027. It wasn't the announcement we were expecting, if we were expecting an announcement at all. The expectation was that Sevilla would quietly celebrate, breathe a sight of relief having just about overcome relegation candidates Valladolid at home and move on to the next game.

Of course, we don't have the counter factual scenario of what might have happened if Ejuke didn't put the ball in the back of the net. Would they have announced the extension? Possibly so.

The timing seems strange, but it was also a strategic jolt of support for the 50-year-old. A show of solidarity for a manager working with a squad that is still far from ideal for his style of play, while having to navigate the notoriously difficult initial stages for a coach in Nervión.

Sevilla's Squad Building

Sevilla added eight new faces to their squad this season and only two of those commanded a transfer fee — Lucien Agoumé from Inter Milan and Peque Fernández from Racing Santander, who were both €4 million. The rest were brought in through loans or promotion from the second team.

They sold Youssef En-Nesyri and Lucas Ocampos while letting six players leave for free. En-Nesyri has been hard to replace but in general, given the qualities we have seen from Ejuke so far along with Peque's potential at just 21, they have broken even in attack with money in the bank.

Most of the investment went on midfield where Albert Sambi Lokonga was signed from Arsenal, while Saúl was brought in on a free from Atlético Madrid along with the aforementioned Agoumé. But none of them really solved the main problem that García Pimienta is trying to solve. And that's the reason why they renewed his contact.

The announcement was a mea culpa from the board. García Pimienta won't and can't be judged on his ability to do a jigsaw puzzle until all the pieces of the jigsaw puzzles are at least in place and available.

So, what is the problem that the Sevilla coach is faced with?

How Pimienta's plan has changed

Just how dedicated is a manager to a specific style of play? How pragmatic can they ultimately be? Does compromising on some basic facets of their philosophy ultimately render the whole thing a sham?

The former Barcelona B coach has been forced to alter the very platform on which his strategy is built on given the lack of technical quality both in defense and in midfield.

García Pimienta still wants possession of the ball. His Sevilla side have 57% of it this season, down just 2.2% from his Las Palmas side in LaLiga last season, who had 59.2% of the ball. But he has quickly realised that this Sevilla side can't do what his Las Palmas side did during build-up.

Las Palmas, last season, were averaging 15.7 sequences per game with 10 or more passes, which was third in the league. Sevilla are averaging 9.8 this season, good enough for mid-table in that specific metric. The length of possessions are shorter and his side's ability to draw out a press has reduced significantly. Last season, his Las Palmas team was fifth in build-up attacks (2.2 per game) behind only Real Madrid, Barcelona, Girona and Atlético Madrid. Sevilla are currently 12th this term, with just 1.5 per game.

He has also changed how his team build up from the back. Agoumé started the first two games but has been usurped by Nemanja Gudelj, a veteran centre-back who moonlights as a defensive midfielder when necessary.

Kirian Rodríguez, Las Palmas' architect last season, started 36 games and played in 37. Only goalkeeper Álvaro Vallés played more minutes.

This isn't to say that García Pimienta has given up on finding the solution within his squad or on Agoumé becoming some version of what Kirian was to García Pimienta, but he has been rotating between midfielders based on the opponent this season whereas last season, he had his style and rarely tinkered with his midfield or at least how they would approach the game.

Sevilla's non-penalty xG per game is better this season — 1.21 compared to 0.77 for Las Palmas last year, which was last in LaLiga. This has to be the most frustrating point for García Pimienta. Last year, he had plenty of defenders and midfielders through which to build the game, who were good technically, and all welcomed the responsibility of drawing out a press but then they had little resource through their wingers and attacking players to take advantage of the space they opened up.

At Sevilla, the problem has been flipped on it's head.

He’s lacking the players who can repeatedly and effectively build the game from the back, but he has got the likes of Ejuke and Lukebakio who can do damage in wide areas once the ball eventually arrives into the final third.

For example, he has played with Ejuke, Peque and Lukebakio as the attacking three, with Ejuke and Lukebakio on the wings and Peque somewhere between a second striker and number 10 in recent games. Chidera Ejuke is level with Lamine Yamal for dribbles completed and can break a game open at any time and anywhere on the field. Think Jeremy Doku levels of dribbling ability and willingness to use it.

There are some pieces of a very interesting puzzle already available to García Pimienta. He just has to bide his time until he finds a solution to the problem of building up, which will then further bring their attacking talent into the picture. Of course, the players he has under his orders might come good in this respect. It takes time to learn the specific movements and passes that the manager is looking for, and they have high hopes for Agoumé especially.

But while they wait for that process to occur — of which are there no guarantees in the current squad — it is precisely why Sevilla have given him with the contract extension despite the difficult start to the season. To get to the long term benefits, García Pimienta and co are going to have to endure some short term pain.

By Robbie Dunne (@robbiejdunne)