Forever Betis

Havant & Waterlooville 0-7 Real Betis

Is that any way to treat last-minute hosts? It did occur to me beforehand that the enterprising Havant & Waterlooville official who put forward his team as emergency replacements probably had no idea what he was letting his boys in for. I would have expected Betis to have beaten Portsmouth soundly, so their part-time neighbours four rungs below them? Lambs to the slaughter, I'm afraid. 

As a Havant director told the BBC, "I think we knew they were going to be good, but I don't think we knew how good they were going to be...This team was something else. We did the best we good."

Pepe Mel put out a full-strength side for the start of the game (minus Emaná, of course, of whom more later) and Betis were four-up inside quarter of an hour. Rubén Castro, looking sharp, scored three and made the other for Jorge Molina, who added a fifth just before half-time. 

At the break Betis changed their entire 11 and the new team (featuring four young Betis B players) scored goals at the beginning and the end of the second half, through Jonathan Pareira and Salva Sevilla (a penalty).

A crowd of around 800 were on hand to see the game, including a group of around 100 impressively noisy Béticos, apparently. (If you were among them, please do tell us all about it in the comments below.)

Afterwards, the squad headed off to the next stage of their training camp in Cardiff, while club officials were trying to arrange a more testing friendly for midweek. Charlton Athletic are possible opponents on Wednesday evening, but this has yet to be confirmed.

Predictably, however, much of yesterday's most important Betis news was being made in the mobile phone ether between Hampshire and Seville and regarded Achille Emaná. The talks between Betis and Al-Hilal have reportedly broken down over the the Saudi club's failure to guarantee their payments, so president Miguel Guillén and coach Pepe Mel, not unreasonably, are politely asking their highest-paid player to get on a flight to GB ASAP.

"Once we'd checked that it wasn't a physical problem that had prevented him from travelling, but that it had been his choice, we told him that he has to join up with the squad," said Guillén yesterday. "If he doesn't do it, he'll be punished appropriately. We can't allow this kind of attitude. We're looking into what kind of fine we can give him, but this is a clear and serious breach of discipline."

As there doesn't seem any indication that Emaná is willing to travel to Cardiff, we now have ourselves a bit of a problem. Pepe Mel has always taken a hard line on players whose attitude he considers suspect - Nelson last year, for example - and he is said to be furious with the Cameroonian. The fans, to judge from the various Bético internet forums, have also turned against him. And yet, until a club comes in with a genuine, verifiable bid of €4million to €4.5million, Achille Emaná remains a Betis player. I think everyone's hoping that Al-Hilal will come back with those guarantees in the next day or two.

Betis (first half): Casto; Chica, Mario, Dorado, Nacho; Iriney, Beñat, Matilla; Jefferson Montero, Rubén Castro, Jorge Molina

(Second half): Goitia; Isidoro, Juanito Calahorro, Amaya, Álex Martínez; Vadillo, Arzu, Salva Sevilla; Momo, Pozuelo, Jonathan Pereira

Havant felt like this in a long time

I have to admit that I'm secretly glad to be able to report that even at the new improved Real Betis, the one whose go-ahead management is dragging the club kicking and screaming towards the 21st century, there can be the odd mad day. Like today, for instance.

Overnight, the state of play with the Emaná transfer (see below) was that the three sides - Betis, Al-Hilal and the player himself - had failed to reach a definitive collective agreement, but were still talking. Sporting director Vlada Stosic was reported as saying there were only "flecos" (loose ends) left to tie up.

The only problem was that the first-team squad were due on a flight to England at about lunchtime for the next stage of their pre-season preparation. Achille Emaná says he's not going, related the first report. Stosic says Emaná's still a Betis player and he'll be on the plane, asserted the second. Emaná has decided not to go, said the third (with the plane now in the air). Emaná's agent claims Betis knew all along he wasn't planning to go, added the fourth. Emaná will be fined, say the rumours now. And so on.

The upshot seems to be that the Real Betis squad are now resting a hotel in Portsmouth, while Achille Emaná is still in Seville - and no nearer Saudi Arabia, as far as I can surmise. All three parties are reported to be fuming.

But that's not where the day's drama ended. All the while, the Portsmouth first-team squad were stuck in South Carolina after a bizarre-sounding accident disrupted their plans to fly back from warm-weather training in the USA. It soon became clear that they had no chance of returning to the UK before Sunday and the friendly due to be played at Fratton Park tomorrow was duly cancelled.

Time for some frantic phone calls. Eventually, up stepped Havant & Waterlooville of the Blue Square Conference South - the sixth tier of English football - with an offer to entertain Betis at their Westleigh Park ground tomorrow (Saturday) at 6.30pm local time. I really hope theyre rewarded for their enterprise with a bumper attendance and a fantastic evening. The modest dimensions of a Conference South stadium (capacity 5,000) certainly won't hold any fears for the Betis players after two seasons playing against Huesca and Girona and Alcorcón.

Personally, I would love to see the game - perhaps even more than the original Portsmouth one - but I'll be 150 miles away chasing my two-year-old nephew round the Cambridge Folk Festival. I'm sure any Béticos that do make it to Havant will be made extremely welcome.

Young, gifted and verdiblanco

This time last year, very few people outside of Seville knew that in Beñat, Miki Roqué and Ezequiel, Betis had three of the most promising prospects in Spanish football. In fact, there weren't even many people at Betis aware of this fact. Beñat only got his chance in a Copa del Rey game because Arzu was injured and Miki Roqué was generally thought to be behind Fran No (now with Valladolid) in the defensive pecking order. Of the three, only Ezequiel was thought to be a solid gold prospect, but even he wasn't expected to make anything like the 29 league appearances he eventually did.

That they all emerged to play important parts in Betis's promotion was, of course, down to their talent and hard work, but also a complete vindication of Pepe Mel's decision to trust young players with responsibility, something that his immediate predecessors, Victor Fernández and Antonio Tapia, were painfully reluctant to do.

Not surprisingly, then, all eyes this past month have been on the seven canteranos (home-grown young players) who were invited to join the first-team squad for the first part of pre-season training, especially as several of them have already been much coveted by other clubs. Both Marca and ABC de Sevilla have recently photographed all seven together, so I thought this might be a good time to introduce them to you formally and speculate as to which one might be this year's Beñat, so to speak.

Without further ado, from left to right in the picture from the Marca article, meet...

Álex Pozuelo (usually just known as "Pozuelo"), 19, forward: Usually referred to as a mediapunta (which doesn't have an exact English translation, but might be something like "inside forward"), Pozuelo is a clever, versatile attacking player with a touch of class. Has looked promising in pre-season and has every chance of making an appearance in the first team at some stage this year.

Sergio Rodriguez (known as "Sergio"), 18, forward: At this stage the most likely of the seven to make, say, 20 appearances next season. He came on as a late substitute a couple of times last year and looked lively, skilful and super-confident. Is still small and lightweight, but can play all over the front line. Check out his pass to Emaná before the first goal in Irún the other night (and keep the clip running to see Pozuelo scoring the second).

Álvaro Vadillo, 16, winger: Possibly the best long-term prospect at the club - as confirmed by Fiorentina's multi-million Euro interest at the start of the summer - but is still very young and will need to establish himself as a Betis B regular before breaking through into the first team. Doesn't seem the tiniest bit fazed at being called "the New Joaquín" (even though he says the comparison is "stupid").

Adrián, 24, goalkeeper: The oldest of the seven, and not even first-choice with Betis B until halfway through last season, he'll have his work cut out to climb over Fabricio, Casto and Goitia to reach the first team.

Manu Palancar, 21, right-back: An attacking full back (possibly a little too attacking according to Pepe Mel recently), he looked comfortable enough in a couple of brief first-team appearances last season but has Chica and Isidoro ahead of him in the pecking order right now.

Álex Martínez, 20, left-back: Has a similar profile to Palancar but, at the moment, less competition in his position. Made a solid debut in the promotion-clincher against Tenerife in May and could well see first-team action again in 2011/12.

Damián Petcoff (known as "Damián"), 21, central midfielder: Very highly regarded Argentinian who was persuaded to stay in the summer despite interest from several other clubs - and stiff competition in his position at Betis. Right now it's hard to see him being selected ahead of Salva Sevilla, Javier Matilla or Beñat, but the latter was in exactly the same situation this time last year and look what happened to him.

So, there you have it. Ooh Betis readers, meet the canteranos. Canteranos, Ooh Betis readers. Let's hope we're all friends for a very long time.

Achille Emaná: going, going...

As you will have seen if you've been scanning the Seville newspaper websites in the last couple of days, the latest episode of the Emaná culebrón (soap opera) is well under way. Negotiations with Saudi Arabian club Al-Hilal are reportedly far advanced, although a sign of the uncertainty still surrounding the deal is that while Diario de Sevilla say that the player has agreed terms but the clubs are still talking, AS say it's the other way round and that it's now all up to Emaná himself.

Either way, it does seem very likely that he will be leaving Seville today. For the player it means a new four-year contract worth around twice what he would have got at Betis; for Betis it means enough money recouped and saved to go on a shopping spree. Pepe Mel still wants central defender, a left-back, a defensive midfielder and a replacement for Emaná himself.

While, as I've said before, I think this type of deal was always inevitable, it does seem a shame that a player as watchable as Achille Emaná should be heading off to a corner of the football world as obscure as the Saudi Professional League. But I'll write more if and when the whole thing is signed and sealed.

Real Unión 0-2 Real Betis, Osasuna 1-0 Real Betis

Two 45-minute mini games with different results, but sending out similar messages to the previous friendlies in France: Betis's passing game is in good order and the club has some very promising youngsters, but there's still plenty of work to be done.

Against Real Unión last night, Pepe Mel sent out a side of mostly Betis B players - plus Arzu, Emaná and Jonathan Pereira - and the Segunda B team was completely outplayed by the visitors. Nice team moves were finished off by Pereira and Álex Pozuelo for the goals, with the latter and Sergio (again) getting most of the plaudits from observers.

The second 45 minutes, against Primera rivals Osasuna, was less encouraging. What looked like a full-strength Betis team had plenty of possession but once again failed to turn this into clear-cut chances, not helped by the super-defensive tactics of the opposition. A mistake by Dorado - one more than he made throughout the whole of last season - allowed the speedy Ibrahima to draw a foul from Casto and the subsequent penalty was apparently Osasuna's only shot of the 45 minutes.

Jefferson Montero once again looked lively for Betis, but let's hope their current dose of "Arsenalitis" is only a short-term affliction. It's hard to be too critical without having seen the games, but I'd like to have seen Pepe Mel trialling a 4-4-2 formation as well as the rather awkward 4.3-3s he seems to have been opting for. On the whole his side played better last year with two wide players, and while Montero is already looking exciting on one flank, his job would surely be made easier if there was an equal threat over on the other side of the pitch.

The squad will be back in Seville this week, ahead of their decampment to England on Friday and a very interesting friendly with Portsmouth the following day.

Elsewhere, unlucky new goalkeeper Fabricio had his shoulder operation yesterday, and is being predicted to be out for up to three months. Goitia definitely has a temporary reprieve.

Real Betis v. Real Union: Adrián; Manu Palancar (Isidoro, m. 33), Arzu, Calahorro, Álex Martínez; Álvaro Vadillo, Sergio, Matilla, Pozuelo; Emaná (Momo, m. 27), Jonathan Pereira.

Goals: 0-1, m. 9: Jonathan Pereira. 0-2, m. 22: Pozuelo.

Real Betis v. Osasuna: Casto; Chica, Dorado, Calahorro, Nacho; Beñat (Álvaro Vadillo, m. 36), Iriney, Salva Sevilla; Rubén Castro, Jorge Molina, Jefferson Montero (Emaná, m. 27).

Goal: 1-0, m. 38: Puñal (pen.)

On the right lines

No points, no goals, no panic. That seems to be the eminently sensible message from coach Pepe Mel after the first two games of pre-season.

"We've lost the two games, but I'm not worried about results," he's quoted as saying on the ABC de Sevilla website. "The second game confirmed to me that we're doing the same things right, but that we're lacking a bit of zip. We're moving the ball around well, but we need to be more direct with the final pass. That's why the guys upfront hardly touched the ball."

The idea at the moment, he says, it to test a few things out and give everyone a run-out. "Last night what I wanted was to keep looking at all the players, and that's why I put out two different teams. I'm leaving here feeling good. It's not surprising we're lacking spark; we've only spent two weeks training and the opposition are about to start their league."

Girondins de Bordeaux 2-0 Real Betis

In the end there was no television coverage of this game - or radio commentary outside Seville - so I've only got newspaper reports to go on, but it sounds like it was a repeat of the first friendly. Betis played well enough but lacked a bit of sharpness in front of goal and eventually paid for this. But Bordeaux had been training for two weeks more than Pepe Mel's side, and were playing their fifth friendly, so there's absolutely no reason to get too carried away by a second consecutive defeat, especially as the Betis starting 11 was far from full strength: Casto; Isidoro, Calahorro, Cañas, Álex Martínez; Iriney, Beñat, Matilla; Pereira, Molina, Momo. You'll notice that only Iriney and Beñat started both games.

After about 60 minutes, with the game still at 0-0, Pepe Mel changed almost the entire team to: Goitia: Chica, Mario, Dorado, Nacho; Salva Sevilla, Damián, Sergio; Pozuelo, Emaná, Rubén Castro. Shortly afterwards, Bordeaux took the lead through a free-kick (the umpteenth that Goitia has conceded in the last couple of years), and the French side eventually added a second right at the end as Betis pressed for an equaliser. Sergio, a 19-year-old attacking midfielder who came on as a substitute for a couple of league games at the end of last season, was reportedly the stand-out player in orange (Betis's hard-to-get-used-to third strip).

Next up is a strange three-way game in the Basque town of Irún on Monday, with Betis sides playing 45 minutes against both Real Unión and Osasuna. I should also mention that an additional friendly has recently been added to the programme: against mighty Juventus in the southern Italian town of Salerno on Saturday, August 13th. Pepe Mel reportedly asked for tough pre-season opponents - he certainly got his wish.

Shoulder of fortune

It seems a bit early to be having to have an injury update post, but sadly it's necessary after a rough two or three days.

Worst off is new goalkeeper Fabricio, who banged up his shoulder in an accidental collision in training and will need an operation to fix the damage. He'll be out for a couple of months, which is really bad luck for him, as every indication suggested he would have been the first-choice keeper at the start of the season.

Casto took his position between the posts for the Marseille game, but he too picked up a knock in training yesterday, injuring his ankle. That's not thought to be serious, but it was enough of a scare for Pepe Mel to decide that Iñaki Goitia's going nowhere before Christmas.

Recently arrived central defender Antonio Amaya, meanwhile, was unlucky enough to receive a broken nose in the short time he was on the pitch against Marseille, which will keep him from doing anything but running and gym work for several days. Javi Chica's arm injury from the same game, however, isn't as bad as first feared.

Other news, briefly...

l Betis are due to play next against Bordeaux tomorrow night, but president Miguel Guillén is threatening to bring the squad home unless the club is paid the money they've been promised for appearing in the Kopa Baiona tournament. With Canal Plus broadcasting the whole thing live in France, it's hard to think the row won't be sorted out in time.

l Bologna central defender Chico, apparently top of Pepe Mel's wanted list, has (understandably) tired of waiting for Betis to sign him and joined Mallorca on loan instead. That can certainly be regarded as a case of the club's financial difficulties holding them back.

l According to a report in the ABC de Sevilla newspaper, we're now up to 30,000 season-ticket holders - and there's still a month to go before the start of the season. It was hard to get official (ie true) figures for last year, but the best guess was that there were 28,000 at the start of 2010/11, with 5,000 more signing up in January - so we're obviously heading into a completely different realm. The bandwagon is rolling.

And that's that for now. I'm heading to the UK for four weeks later today, so I'll be keeping an eye on matters verdiblanco from afar, but hopefully you shouldn't be able to spot the difference. And when I get back to Seville there'll be just three days till a certain special first game of the season.

Olympique de Marseille 1-0 Real Betis

I actually watched the first half of this game on the internet and I remember thinking that, whatever happens in the second, I hope the Seville press accentuate the positive this morning. And they certainly do: "The ongoing project looks good"; "Betis raise the bar"; "A debut full of hope"; "Worthy defeat against the French runners-up".

And that all seems fair enough. In the first half, Betis were clearly the better side against Champions-League opponents who had been in training two weeks longer. Pepe Mel's men showed nearly all of the attributes that blew Segunda teams away last year: intense pressing high up the field, quick passing, long periods of possession... If they lacked a little sharpness in the final third, that was only to be expected (and anyway, I thought they should have had two penalties).

After half-time, by all accounts, tiredness and wholesale substitutions muddled things up somewhat (with the Marseille goal arriving on 53 minutes), but that shouldn't disguise the fact this was a thoroughly promising first game.

You could describe Pepe Mel's starting formation in several ways, but let's call it 4-3-2-1: Casto behind a back four of Chica, Mario, Dorado and Nacho, a midfield three of Salva Sevilla, Beñat and Iriney, with Montero and Emaná just ahead and Rubén Castro on his own (sometimes frustratingly so) upfront. This all worked pretty well, although with Montero hugging the left-hand touchline there was a tendency for Betis's attacking play to look a bit lopsided. At times, until Chica started getting forward from right-back, nine of the 11 players had drifted over to the left half of the pitch.

But that's just a detail. More important, as all the match reports point out, is that even after a long summer holiday and with three new players in the team, this was still recognisably the same Betis as last year. Pressing and passing, passing and pressing. Emaná looked energetic linking midfield and attack - as well he might, considering how many scouts must have been watching - while Jefferson Montero gave hints that he might turn out to be a very exciting player, with pace and skill in abundance. Beñat strolled around midfield like a veteran. Dorado and Mario looked like a proper partnership in the centre of defence - with Dorado definitely the brains and Mario the brawn. Even the slightly strange dark green second strip played OK.

The second half seemed like it was too much of a mess to analyse too closely, but a busy little Jonathan Pereira upfront gets most mentions in dispatches, and Javier Matilla is apparently not yet up to Beñat's level.

The only bad news (apart from the final scoreline) concerned a worrying arm injury for barrell-chested new right-back Javi Chica, who fell awkwardly just after half-time, and a sore head for Antonio Amaya, who was unlucky enough to meet a Marseille elbow within 48 hours of his joining Betis. We'll find out more about the length of their likely absences today.

All in all, a solid start - and plenty of reasons to look forward to the next game, which is against Bordeaux on Saturday night.

Kicking off

Well, sort of. The 2011/12 version of Real Betis Balompié have their first game tonight, a pre-season friendly against last year's French league runners-up, Olympique Marseille - which is obviously a tough start in anyone's language.

The match is taking place at the Bayonne rugby stadium in south-west France, just round the corner from the Betis training camp up in Fuenterrabía, northern Spain. Kick-off is either at 8pm or 8.30pm - depending whether you believe the organisers' website or the Seville press - and the game is being televised on French satellite TV, so you may be able to find an internet stream for it somewhere. There'll also be commentary on Radio Betis.

New keeper Fabricio has picked up a sore shoulder in training, which will keep him out for a couple of weeks, so Casto should get the nod tonight, behind a defensive line of Chica, Mario, Dorado and Nacho. Iriney and either Beñat or Matilla will anchor midfield, with Salva Sevilla, Emaná and Jefferson Montero ahead of them and Rubén Castro upfront on his own. However, there will be plenty of substitutions, both at half-time and throughout the second half, so it'll probably be best not to read too much into the final scoreline.

A couple of extra news items...

l Former Almería defender Chico is reportedly on standby to become the next new signing, but Betis really do have to get rid of the some of the dead wood before they can complete the deal. There are currently 35 players with the first-team squad, which Pepe Mel wants to reduce by 10 by around this time next week. Goitia, Arzu, Fernando Vega, Juande and Rodri have all been put out on a trestle table next to a hand-scribbled "Will listen to any offers" sign.

l The Betis online shop has been revamped. The new range of the last season under the RBb brand isn't particularly extensive as yet, but it may well be added to over the next few weeks. There's a contact form if you want to ask about overseas shipping.

l The Pavone-to-Blackburn deal seems to have broken down, possibly over the amount of compensation due to Betis. Personally, I hope for his sake it gets reactivated  as he always seemed like an OK bloke, but I think we can forget seeing anything near the €1.5million that was originally suggested might be on its way to Seville. It still seems an unlikely move.