If I can just get the envelope open...

Everyone loves an awards do, right? Then welcome along to the very first glittering Ooh Betis Player of the Year extravaganza. (Which my wife has been urging me in vain to call the Capis. Time to move on, sweetheart…)

Let’s start at the back.

Defender of the Year

Nominees:

Casto (17 games, 0 goals) After a string of impressive performances in the Copa del Rey, eventually replaced the erratic Iñaki Goitia between the posts in week 25. Betis’s defensive stats improved immediately. With Goitia as goalkeeper Betis conceded 1.26 goals per league game; with Casto that figure came down to 0.88. 

David Belenguer (20 games, 0 goals) Simply being a professional footballer aged 39 is something of an achievement, but to play with such calm authority week after week was remarkable. Whether the opponents were Barcelona or Salamanca, he never stopped frustrating much younger strikers with his anticipation and poise.

Chechu Dorado (33 games, 2 goals) For a central defender to finish a full season with just two yellow cards speaks volumes for both his self-discipline and domination over opposition attackers. He made even fewer mistakes and week after week was the very epitome of leading by example. And all this with his shirt unfashionably tucked in to his shorts.

And the winner is… Is there really any debate? Chechu Dorado. 
 

Midfielder of the Year

Nominees:

Beñat (36 games, 4 goals) It’s still incredible to think that this time last year no-one was even mentioning the young Basque Captain Caveman as a future first-team regular. Now, everyone’s worried about whether his €6million rescission clause is high enough. Emerged from nowhere as a fully formed mini Xavi, complete with devilish knack of always choosing the right pass. What a debut season.

Iriney (36 games, 3 goals) Watching the madcap Brazilian harrying opposition midfields like a caffeinated terrier has been one of the more memorable sights of the the 2010/11. Throw in three spectacular goals, his obvious encouragement of younger team-mates and a no-nonsense will to win and it’s easy to see why he’s become a genuine crowd favourite.

Salva Sevilla (33 games, 3 goals) Back in January, a journalist worked out that of Betis’s first 55 goals, Salva Sevilla supplied the pass for 18 of them – a remarkably high proportion that I’m sure continued to the end of the season. His vision and finesse opened defences up all season, and he thoroughly deserves his first ever season in Primera.

And the winner is… A close one, but Salva Sevilla for me. Time and time again, quite simply, he made the difference.

Attacker of the Year

Nominees:

Rubén Castro (42 games, 27 goals) Perhaps even more amazing than his incredibly consistent goalscoring record was the fact that he didn’t miss a single league game – quite an achievement for a side’s main striker. He was also formidably versatile, playing all over the front line and scoring with both feet and his head. Marginally better than Mariano Pavone, I think we can all agree.

Achille Emaná (28 games, 13 goals) Despite missing large chunks of the campaign with an ankle injury, the Cameroonian had easily the most productive of his three seasons with Betis – and at his best was simply unstoppable. About half his 13 goals were so good only he could have scored them.

Jorge Molina (34 games, 18 goals) Rubén Castro might have finished with more total goals but if you take into account minutes played, his strike partner just about matched him. The former Elche man was unlucky first to pick up a bad early injury and then be on the receiving end of a string of terrible refereeing decisions, but eventually proved himself as a proper old-fashioned No. 9. The Primera had better be ready.

And the winner is… A closer call than you might imagine, but Rubén Castro’s sheer week-in-week-out-ness edges it. Whatever happens from now on, I think we’ll still be remembering el Tridente in ten years time.
 

Young Player of the Year

And the winner is… No need for nominations, or indeed for rules. The maximum age for this category is simply anything older than Beñat (actually 24), who started the season unbelievably well and just got better and better. 

Team Performance of the Year

And the winner is… Away v Getafe, Copa del Rey. Rarely can a 1-3 scoreline have so flattered a home team, who were chasing shadows all game. Pepe Mel’s high-energy, fast-thinking, neat-passing football philosophy had its perfect expression this January lunchtime. Several hundred awestruck fans were moved to greet the team on their return to Seville station (not the last time this would happen!).

Individual Performance of the Year

And the winner is… Beñat v Salamanca, Copa del Rey. When the strength of a team is exactly that – its teamliness – picking out single players is never going to be easy. But Beñat’s first full game for Betis will stick in the mind for a long time to come. He passed beautifully, he harassed, he tackled – and then he scored one of the best goals of the season. By the end, he was being wildly applauded every time he touched the ball.

Non-Betis Player of the Year

Nominees:

Dani Benítez, Granada

Coke, Rayo Vallecano

Alex Geijo, Granada

And the winner is… Dani Benítez, without a shadow of a doubt (although Coke did help the final decision-making process by ruling himself out last week). The Granada left-winger is a little magician who gave Betis all sorts of problems all three of the times we faced him (twice in the league, once in the cup). There’s a remote possibility he might yet end up at the Benito Villamarín in some kind of swap deal involving Emaná and his Italian parent club Udinese, in which case you'd have my permission to get excited.
 

Goal of the Season

Nominees:

Salva Sevilla v Granada (H)

 

Beñat v Salamana (H)

 

Achille Emaná v Cartagena (H) (From 3:00 here)

Salva Sevilla v Tenerife (H)

 

Rubén Castro v Gimnástic (A)

 

And the winner is… Actually, there’s no question in my mind that the goal of the season was Roversio’s 73rd-minute prod into the Albacete net from about 16 inches out on February 27th which finally put an end to five weeks of losing. But you want to know the Goal of the Season (capital G, capital S), don’t you? And it has to be Achille Emaná’s – so good that the most common response in the stands was simply to start laughing. (Sorry that there's not a decent clip of it on YouTube.)

Ooh Betis Player of the Year 2010/11

And the winner is… Feel free to argue about this in the Comments below, but for me the player who made the single biggest difference this season was Salva Sevilla. His ability to see the most subtle of defence-splitting passes – and then be able to execute them, with either foot – turned one point into three on countless occasions. We’re lucky to have him.

Comments

[Emmanuel Castro]

Best facial expression after scoring a goal
-Iriney

[Oggy]

Must say Beñat is the midfielder of the year. I was abit worried about the creativity in midfield before this season, with Capi gone and all that. But Beñats impact on the team was huge and allowed Sevilla and Emana to roam free up front. He was in command from his first game, just like you wrote above. Very impressive!

And thanx for a good blogg! =)

[Bill Mill]

Surely Ezequiel deserves a mention in the "young player of the year" section! Agreed that Beñat runs away with it, though.

[Adam]

Oggy - you won't find me saying a bad word about Beñat, but I thought Salva edged it on consistency over the season. My wife tells me Iriney was more important than them both, though, so I guess it's all subjective.

And you're right, Bill - even though he drives me mad, Ezequiel did enough good things to warrant a mention. If he ever puts a head on those young shoulders I think there's still a chance he could turn out to be a VERY good player indeed.

[Arch Bell]

I like your list for best non-Betis player but you are missing Javi Guerra of Valladolid! :) Despite their elimination yesterday, perhaps no player single-handedly carried a team like Guerra in the final months of the Segunda season.

Otherwise, your picks are sterling mi amigo.

[Adam]

I should probably have made clear that I judged them entirely on their performances against Betis - and I'm afraid I honestly don't remember the work of Sr Guerra in that respect! Nolito of Barça B certainly merited a mention, though - although, as a local boy, he looked a bit like he was trying too hard to impress. I'm sure your run-down of the Segunda's players of the season would be MUCH more interesting, Arch!