Sevilla sack coach Marcelino

 　　MADRID, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- Spanish La Liga club Sevilla sacked coach Marcelino Garcia on Monday after a run of games which has seen them slip from contenders for a place in Europe to below halfway¹ in the league.

　　Sevilla lost 2-1 at home to Villarreal to take the club's run of games without a win to seven. Among those defeats is a painful 6-2 home defeat against Real Madrid.

　　Marcelino joined Sevilla during the summer to replace Gregory Manzano, but the former Racing² Santander coach got off to a dreadful³ side when the club was knocked out of the Europa League and failed to make the group stage.

　　The coach has also been criticized for an overly conservative⁴ style of play and poor relations with several key players, such as Freddy Kanoute.

　　The club's decision means that Marcelino is the eighth coach to lose his job in Spain's top flight after just 21 games of the season.

　　Former Getafe coach Michel Gonzalez is the favorite to replace Marcelino at the club.

1 halfway   

adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途

参考例句：

• We had got only halfway when it began to get dark.走到半路，天就黑了。
• In study the worst danger is give up halfway.在学习上，最忌讳的是有始无终。

2 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。

3 dreadful   

adj.糟透了的，极端的，可怕的，令人畏惧的

参考例句：

• I cannot imagine what to do in this dreadful situation.我不能想像在这么糟的情况下该怎么办。
• I must apologize for the dreadful mistake I made.我为我所犯的严重错误深表歉意。

4 conservative   

adj.保守的，守旧的；n.保守的人，保守派

参考例句：

• He is a conservative member of the church.他是一个守旧教会教友。
• The young man is very conservative.这个年轻人很守旧。