Former Leeds United sporting director Victor Orta says he is partly to blame for Sevilla having to change manager so early in the season.
Orta was speaking to AS following Sevilla’s appointment of Diego Alonso earlier this week, where he claimed everyone, including himself, is responsible for their poor early season form.
Sevilla currently sit 14th in La Liga having amassed just eight points from their opening eight matches, in what is Orta’s first season at the club.
Orta was brought in as the club’s new director of football in the summer to replace Monchi, who departed for Aston Villa to reunite with Unai Emery.
The 44-year-old had been on the lookout for a new role following his dismissal as sporting director at Leeds in May, where he left the club staring down the barrel of relegation.
Due to their poor start to the season, Joe Luis Mendilibar was fired from his position as manager despite having guided them to Europa League glory in May.
In a press conference following the appointment of Alonso, the man Marcelo Bielsa replaced as Uruguay boss earlier this year, Orta accepted some of the blame for Sevilla’s poor start to the season.
He said: “In football the only way to breaking something are the results. Adding eight points in eight games in the League made us evaluate the situation and decide to dismiss the coach. It’s not just the coaching staff that is guilty of this. The players and surely I are also guilty. The way to choose to provoke a reaction is the change of coach, but the fault lies with many others.”
Despite their slow start, it is clearly a gamble to fire a coach who guided them to a European trophy just five months ago, to then replace him with a manager who has never worked, at club level, in this continent.
It already feels like the pressure is beginning to mount on Orta over in Spain and so if this managerial appointment does not go well, he could be in for a tricky time.