{"id":893657,"date":"2026-03-23T03:23:25","date_gmt":"2026-03-23T08:23:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/23\/wasnt-happy-with-him-sevilla-coach-reveals-why-he-benched-akor-adams-in-2-0-loss-to-valencia\/"},"modified":"2026-03-23T03:23:25","modified_gmt":"2026-03-23T08:23:25","slug":"wasnt-happy-with-him-sevilla-coach-reveals-why-he-benched-akor-adams-in-2-0-loss-to-valencia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/23\/wasnt-happy-with-him-sevilla-coach-reveals-why-he-benched-akor-adams-in-2-0-loss-to-valencia\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cWasn\u2019t happy with him\u201d \u2013 Sevilla coach reveals why he benched Akor Adams in 2-0 loss to Valencia"},"content":{"rendered":"

Soccer <\/p>\n

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\"Soccer<\/p>\n

Sevilla’s Matias Almeyda with pip of Akor Adams. (Photos by Imago)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Sevilla<\/a> coach Matias Almeyda revealed that he benched Akor Adams<\/a> for their game against Valencia on Saturday because he was unhappy with the striker’s performance against Barcelona last week, Soccernet.ng reports.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u200bAdams is currently Sevilla’s top scorer, contributing seven goals and four assists in 23 appearances.<\/p>\n

Since returning from the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, he has been one of Los Nervionenses’ standout performers.<\/p>\n

\"Soccer
Akor Adams and Sevilla teammates. Copyright: ImagoxMANUxGOMEZx<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u200bAs a result, he was widely expected to start when Sevilla welcomed fellow relegation rivals Valencia to the Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan on Saturday.<\/p>\n

\u200bHowever, coach Almeyda opted to start Neal Maupay to lead the line instead. Unfortunately for them, the tactical shift failed to yield results, as Los Nervionenses found themselves two goals down by the break, courtesy of strikes from Hugo Duro and Largie Ramazani.<\/p>\n

\u200bAlmeyda eventually introduced Adams at halftime. The Nigerian brought much-needed bite and urgency to the side, but they ultimately failed to find the net despite dominating the second half.<\/p>\n

\"Soccer
Akor Adams of Sevilla FC during the La Liga. Copyright: ImagoxAntonioxPozox\/xPRESSINPHOTOx<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u200bThe match ended 2-0, a result that saw Valencia climb to 11th place\u2014seven points clear of the drop and just six points away from a European spot.<\/p>\n

Sevilla, on the other hand, sit 15th with 31 points from 29 games, hovering just three points above the relegation zone.<\/p>\n

\u200bMatias Almeyda Reveals Why He Benched Akor Adams<\/h2>\n

\u200bSpeaking after the defeat, Matias Almeyda was asked why he left Akor Adams out of the starting lineup. He explained that the decision stemmed from the Nigerian\u2019s showing in their previous 5-2 loss at Barcelona.<\/p>\n

\"Soccer
Akor Adams of Sevilla and Marc Bernal of Barcelona. Copyright: xSergioxRuizx\/xImagox<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u200bHe also noted that with three senior strikers in the squad, he wanted to rotate the team and give others an opportunity to prove themselves.<\/p>\n

\n

\u200b\u201dWe have three strikers. I’m trying them out to see who scores the goals,\u201d Almeyda said.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u200b\u201dI brought Neal back after his injury. I wasn’t happy with Akor’s last game, so we tried to rotate the squad. It’s very difficult to please everyone.<\/p>\n

\u200b\u201dC\u00e9sar came off because he felt discomfort in his adductor. Seeing how they were positioned with a back three, I thought that by bringing on Akor, we’d have a better attacking option. I made the substitution from that position. At halftime, we made another change to try and improve, but we didn’t succeed.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u200bFollowing this loss, Almeyda will have to go back to the drawing board. Sevilla are now in a very precarious position, and another defeat could see them slip further toward the drop.<\/p>\n

\u200bThe coach has likely realized by now that Adams is a vital cog in his machine. Going forward, it is expected that the Super Eagles star will return to his spot as a regular starter.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\"<!--Kelvin Omachonu” src=”https:\/\/media.soccernet.ng\/main\/2024\/06\/IMG-20240522-WA0001-150×150.jpg” height=”80″ width=”80″>\t\t<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\tKelvin Omachonu\t\t\t\t<\/a>
\n\t\t\t<\/h3>\n

\n\t\t\t\tKelvin Omachonu is a professional football columnist and sports writer with over half a decade of experience covering major events and delivering captivating, analytically-driven stories.
\nA graduate of the University of Ibadan, he is fueled by a profound dedication to sports journalism and the beautiful game. His insights have previously been featured in respected outlets, including IndyPress UI, UCJ UI Newshive NG, Sportpremi, and a few others.
\nAway from work, Kelvin is an avid fan of basketball, enjoys a great movie, and is always discovering new music.\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Read More<\/a>Kelvin Omachonu<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Soccer Sevilla’s Matias Almeyda with pip of Akor Adams. (Photos by Imago) Sevilla coach Matias Almeyda revealed that he benched Akor Adams for their game against Valencia on Saturday because he was unhappy with the striker’s performance against Barcelona last week, Soccernet.ng reports. \u200bAdams is currently Sevilla’s top scorer, contributing seven goals and four assists […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":893658,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1031,2005,3389],"tags":[8950,15049],"class_list":{"0":"post-893657","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-happy","8":"category-soccer","9":"category-wasnt","10":"tag-happy","11":"tag-wasnt"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/893657","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=893657"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/893657\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/893658"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=893657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=893657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=893657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}