Jorge Sampaoli: Could Sevilla’s New Rebel Follow Simeone in Shaking Up La Liga?

The opening message was typically him, but even still there was something in it. Defiant, daring, it felt neatly aligned with the potential of the environment he’s stepped into, hinting that the ingredients for something of a perfect storm might just be coming together. 

“I’m tremendously passionate about attacking,” said new Sevilla manager Jorge Sampaoli to the club’s official website (h/t Fox Sports) shortly after his appointment last month. “They [Sevilla fans] will see a coach who never wants to stop being a protagonist.”

Then came the key part: “For that we need a rebellious group.” 

Rebellion has been a key theme of Sampaoli’s managerial career, and such a characteristic strikes one as significant for both Sevilla and La Liga in their current states. 

On the back of three consecutive Europa League triumphs, the Andalusian club possesses both a belief and a defined identity. Under former manager Unai Emery, Sevilla enjoyed some of the richest years in their history, thriving at home in the ferocity of the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan while doing what they do better than anyone. 

Even if they were before, Sevilla—guided by the meticulous work of sporting director Monchi—are now definitively known as the outfit that rebuilds and reloads each summer like no other. They’re the masters of reinvention. The cup experts. The slayers of giants in Nervion. 

Effectively, Sevilla have carved out a niche for themselves, settling into an existence of success on a lightly populated level just below the game’s elite but above the rest. It’s worked brilliantly, and yet that niche is exactly what Sampaoli might be set to challenge.

The club’s new boss is a fighter and a rebel. He’s fiercely intense and does things his own way. He rejects notions of limits and carries absolute conviction in his encompassing idea. And he’s Argentinian. 

Sound familiar?

Since 2011, Spain has witnessed Diego Simeone’s revolution at Atletico Madrid shake up La Liga. Because of him, the country now has a third footballing power alongside Real Madrid and Barcelona, one that has claimed five major titles in less than five years while also reaching two Champions League finals. 

Where fatalism once reigned at the Vicente Calderon, “Cholismo” has taken over. Simeone has given Atletico an identity that is stronger than that of nearly any club in Europe, overseeing an astonishing transformation to smash through supposed ceilings.

He’s shown it can be done, and now in Sampaoli, Sevilla have a similar character.

Admittedly, he and his fellow Argentinian contrast in many ways (particularly from a tactical standpoint), as do their respective clubs. But …

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