Ooh Betis

Preparing for the beginning of the end

Last week, when I was fighting off horrible gastric flu bugs like Horatius knocking back Etruscans on that Roman bridge, I saw this little piece of news and made a mental note to return to it. In itself it's not much - that a local lawyer has been voted president of the executive committee of Fundación Heliópolis, the group of Andalcuian bigwigs trying to mount a challenge to Lopera's ownership of Betis - but I think it's indicative of a general mood of anticipation among the opposition just now.

Seville judge Mercedes Ayala has been investigating the legality - or otherwise - of Lopera's regime at Betis for months and months and months now, and Béticos are more than eager to discover what she will conclude. As I understand it, she was expected to report at the end of September but that date seems to have been postponed indefinitely. As the only news that ever comes out of the proceedings seems to be another report of judicial exasperation with the Lopera regime for its various delaying tactics, it's fair to say that some sort of challenge to the current status quo is hoped for.

A blog in Correo de Andalucía last week put it more clearly than I can. "As is well known," starts the second paragraph, "the judge could annul the political rights of Lopera's shares if she decides to charge him, in which case the Beticismo has to be prepared to assume management of the business so as to avoid a power vacuum that could be disastrous for the club. That's why [the Fundación Heliópolis president] was chosen to be Miguel Cuéllar, who can count on the backing of the majority of big Betis families and of the new groups of opposition groups that have sprung up in recent times...

"One of the first objectives of the Fundacion's new executive committee is to work how to effect the process of transition at Betis after the departure of Lopera, something that members of Por Nuestro Betis [another opposition group] have already been working on..."

In other words, this is not just pie in the sky. There are already supporters' chants dedicated to Judge Mercedes - surely a football first - and while it's pretty much taken as read that she represents the last chance to loosen Lopera's vice-like grip on the club, that's clearly no forlorn hope. Not yet. No-one seems to know when she's going to report, what she's going to say, or even what she can say - but expectations are mounting.

Christmas arrived early in Murcia this year

And here's the evidence...
 

Dogs of war barely raise a whimper

It probably won't surprise regular readers to hear that not all of the nearly 1,000 Betis fans who travelled to Murcia yesterday accepted the 2-0 defeat with just a shrug and another cigarette. According to ABC de Sevilla, a cohort gathered to harangue the players as they stepped onto the bus home with chants of the now-famililar "Futbolistas, mercenarios!"

By the sound of it, journalists from the Seville press might have whistling along under their breaths. ABC's Mateo Gonzalez has this morning accused Betis of showing "neither order, sense, heart or pride", while Diario de Sevilla makes the same point in a more nuanced way, accusing Lopera's Betis of being "moribund, mannered, bourgeois, broken, unstructured" and suggesting that "the team is no more than the osmotic reflection of the club".

Whether or not all that "ready to die for the 13 stripes" stuff floats your boat - and it doesn't mine, particularly - I can't help feel it definitely papers over the main reason Betis lost 2-0 yesterday Two words: rubbish defending!

The game was only three minutes old when a Murcia throw in came across and landed just behind midfielder Capdevila. While half the Betis defence got in the way of each other, Damiá allowed his opponent to collect the ball, turn, aim, mentally prepare his post-goal celebration, consider which of Murcia's top nightspots he might visit later, think how proud he was about to make his abuela, and, finally, shoot. Just in case, Goitia jumped out of the way. 1-0.

Five minutes later, Iriney inexplicably passed straight to a man in a red shirt, Murcia did their best to foul up the counter attack, but Arzu helpfully gave the ball back to them on the edge of the area and Isaac chipped in. 2-0.

Believe it or not, it should have been 3-0 shortly after. Another calamitous mistake - this time Fernando Vega tripping over himself - put Natalio through on goal, but he kindly refrained from plunging the dagger in deeper.

After that, the play was made almost entirely by Betis. With more bluster than precision, true, but a 2-0 lead is always going to be hard to overcome. Murcia packed the penalty area, surrounded Emaná with three men every time he got the ball and from there just challenged Betis to do their worst. The verdiblancos had a couple of chances towards the end of the first half, when Sergio García missed a sitter and Emaná drew a sharp save from the Murcia keeper, but overall failed to create chances of the quality and quantity they'd managed in the previous two games. Even after Pavone came on at half time they looked clueless as to how to get round Murcia's 11-man defence, and with Sergio García in particular looking totally out of form, the second half wasn't nearly as nervy for the home team as it should have been.

And that was that. Just one of those days when an inferior team gets a bit of luck and, helped by a terrible pitch, manages to hold on? Or a terrible indictment of the deficiencies of an over-paid, over-pampered group of preening wannabes who only care about their next pay check, don't understand what they're fighting for and aren't worthy of the shirts they should count themselves lucky to wear? Your choice.

One thing, though. If we don't want these "mercenaries", what do we want? Conscripts? Volunteers?

UPDATE: It did occur to me, once I'd written all this, that "mercenarios" in Spanish can be an adjective as well as a noun, and I might have been taking it a bit too literally. Still, even if the players are "mercenary" in the sense of "only interested about money", it surely shouldn't bother us too much - just as long as they're efficient footballers with it. And you could well ask - as the Diario article does - what else is there for them to play for, anyway - fans who are mostly indifferent to them? Lopera?

Real Murcia 2-0 Real Betis

In which our heroes discovered that even the lowliest teams are difficult to beat if they're invited to help themselves to a two-goal start. And yes, it was all but presented to them on a bed of lettuce, topped with a sprig of parsley, accompanied by a nice glass of chilled champagne to help wash it down. 

Two-down after seven minutes (!), Betis huffed and puffed for the next 82, but the Murcian house steadfastly refused to blow down. Tapia made a bit of a blunder in choosing to rest Pavone, which reduced his options in attack just when he needed as many as possible, but even after the Argentinian came on after half-time Betis couldn't get through the massed ranks of the opposition defence.

It was all very frustrating, but perhaps not quite as depressing as some performances last month. At least the ball was heading in the right direction for most of the game. And, you have to admit, losing to two different bottom-of-the-table teams in a matter of weeks is some kind of achievement.

Betis: Goitia; Damiá (Caffa, min. 51), Melli, Arzu, Fernando Vega (Mehmet Aurelio, min. 75); Iriney, Nacho; Juanma, Emana, Rodri (Pavone, min. 46); and Sergio García.

Goals: 1-0, min.4: Capdevilla. 2-0, min. 7: Isaac.

Betis on a Murcia mission

Things must be looking up: I spent yesterday afternoon keeping an eye out for the results of the three teams in the promotion places (something there wasn't much point in doing for the previous few weeks). The news was mixed; Real Sociedad won comfortably and Hércules drew (after missing a late penalty), but Cartagena lost 2-1 to Numancia. That means a win in Murcia this afternoon - kick-off 5pm - will take Betis into the top three for the first time since the season got serious.

And let's be honest, it should be in the bag. Betis have suddenly hit their best form for a year, while Murcia have lost five of their last six matches, recently sacked their coach and are currently bottom of the table. Two years ago they were in the Primera, but after a series of financial troubles they are now operating on a shoestring and their fans are planning an afternoon of protests against the club's owners. Morale in the seventh-largest city in Spain - thank you Wikipedia - could hardly be lower.

Contrast that with the bubbly mood in the verdiblanco camp, so different from just a week ago. It's not just the renaissance of Emaná, but also a return to form for Melli and the triumphant success of playing Nacho alongside Iriney in central midfield. On Thursday Estadio Deportivo called this tactical brainstorm "the experiment of the century" - with the Hadron Collider a close second, perhaps? - and there's no doubt that Nacho's simple, effective football has brought a measure of calm to the Betis engine room that was sorely lacking whenever Juande or Sunny were flailing away in there. And a fit-again Mehmet Aurelio is still waiting in the wings, too.

The only change from Wednesday night is expected to be steady old Juanma coming in for Juan Pablo Caffa. That would leave Nelson on the bench again, which will only encourage the number of big Portuguese clubs reportedly ready to try and buy him in January, and continue Rodri's role as a super-energetic substitute, another tactical masterstroke that seems to be working wonders for Antonio Tapia.

Of course, as the Correo de Andalucia points out in its match preview this morning, "El Betis es el Betis." In other words, anything can happen. And, as lots of people have pointed out, all the team's defeats this season have been in Levante. That all acknowledged, I'm still strongly expecting Betis to be in third place at 7pm this evening.