Ooh Betis

Practice makes perfect

One of the disadvantages of the Spanish system of self-contained "B" teams that essentially play in the same league pyramid as the first team is that players who would be called "reserves" in English football never get to play a competitive game. So, if you're Javi Matilla or Javi Chica, you're in a bit of a Catch 22 situation: you need football to recover your confidence, but your loss of confidence is probably what means you're not playing any football.

I would imagine this is the reason Betis have been happy to organise a couple of friendlies in recent weeks - to give players like those two, plus Ustaritz, Casto, Mario and Isidoro a run-out in a semi-competitive environment. A couple of weeks ago Betis took on Dymano Moscow at the Benito Villamarín and tonight they visit AD San José de la Rinconada, from the small town about six miles north of Seville. Everyone fit has been called up except Nelson and Jefferson Montero (absent with the Portugal and Ecuador squads, respectively), but I imagine that it's the central midfielder Matilla who Pepe Mel will be keeping the closest eye on.

I'll bring you brief news of the game later (kick-off 8.30pm).

PS: Should have mentioned before, but happy birthday for yesterday to arguably the two most popular people at Real Betis right now, coach Pepe Mel and psychologist Patricia Ramírez. Pepe was 49 and Patricia was, ahem, also a year old than she was on the 27th. (I am English gentleman, after all.)

UPDATE: AD San José de la Rinconada 0-2 Real Betis. A comfortable enough win, with goals from Roque Santa Cruz and Paulao, but the big (and rather surprising) news is that Álvaro Vadillo played the first 30 minutes, his first proper football since damaging his knee ligament in the Bernabéu in October. It might be a while before the 17-year-old winger is ready to play a genuinely competitive game, but it's still hugely encouraging that he's so far down the road to recovery. Centre-back Antonio Amaya also made his first start for a few weeks, and Sergio (broken finger and all) came on as a first-half substitute. The starting 11 was: Goitia; Chica, Ustartiz, Amaya, Álex Martínez; Cañas, Beñat, Salva Sevilla; Vadillo, Rubén Castro and Jorge Molina, but a total of 22 Betis players eventually appeared.

Happy holiday, everyone...

...and enjoy the day off, whatever you plan on doing.

Sorry, what?...You don't celebrate February 28th as Andalucía Day where you are? How unfortunate.

So, shall we have a geography lesson? Andalucía (sometimes anglicised to "Andalusia") is the second biggest automomous region in Spain. Stretching across the south of the country, from the Portuguese border to the south-east corner, it's about the size of Ireland or South Carolina, and comprises eight provinces: Almería, Cádiz, Córdoba, Granada, Huelva, Jaen, Málaga and Sevilla. The capital city of Andalucía is, of course, Seville.

Roughly 8 million people live in the region, which has traditionally relied on agriculture for its economic survival, and even now, long after tourism has become the most important industry, you'll probably be able to find an Andalucían fruit or vegetable in a supermaket near you.

Partly because of this rural heritage, Andalucía has a tendency to be looked down upon by the rest of Spain, which likes to make fun of the fact that our (like that?) twin obsessions seem to be religious devotion and partying (often at the same time).

A satirical national TV show poked last year poked gentle fun at the region  (from 1'30" on this video), imagining an Andalucían liberation army, ETA (for Estamos Tan Agu'tito' - we're just a little bit fed up). Typical jokes are that the struggle goes on from Monday to Thursday ("because the weekends are sacred"), but "not tomorrow because my brother still hasn't found a wig for his fancy dress costume".

Of course, on behalf of mi tierra I'm hurt and offended  (you don't often see a YouTube video with twice as may Dislikes as Likes) - but secretly proud of the enormous pennant they used behind them to represent the region. (And in fact Betis are referred to repeatedly as part of the joke...)

So, ¡Feliz Día de Andalucía! everyone - but especially to all the readers abroad whose families are originally from this very special land.

Drawing conclusions

Are you a glass-half-full or glass-half-empty kind of person? Whatever your outlook, there's a headline to suit you today. From "Betis waste an ideal opportunity to dream of bigger things" to "A draw that brings the objective closer" via "An offside goal deprives Betis of victory", there are almost as many perspectives on yesterday's draw as Betis had chances to pick up two more points. Perhaps El Mundo's "A point as the lesser of two evils" is the most apt. Yes, the result could have been better - but it could have been worse, too. (Does that count as a platitude, d'you think?)

Although the game was fun to watch at the time, I don't think it will go down as one of the most memorable of the season, so there aren't a ton of points to come out of it, but here's a look at one or two..

l Pepe Mel sounded disappointed in the post-match press conference, but only slightly. "Overall we deserved to win," he said, "but as this is football, not boxing, what you deserve doesn't count for anything, only goals do, and that's why we drew...[but] a point means we can go home and sleep well...We have 30 points, we're in good form and we're playing good football. I'm satisfied." You'd have to be super-critical to disagree.

l The Betisweb fans' site runs a man-of-the-match vote for every game, and the last time I looked Jefferson Montero was winning yesterday's prize by a landslide. That might suprise you if you haven't seen him play in the last three weeks or so, but it's absolutely true that he's really starting to look like a potential superstar. He's been impressive running full-pelt at defenders all season, but just lately he's started to add a nice mixture of crosses, sensible passes and dangerous shots, and he was so much Betis's key player yesterday that the remaining fans in the Villamarín at full time applauded him off the pitch. His pass to Jorge Molina for the goal was inch perfect, he kept going right to the end, as he's also doing a good job providing energetic defensive help. 

All he lacks now is a goal, a fact he seems painfully aware of. "These days I'm much more confident in my game thanks to the support of my team-mates," he said,  "although the boss still wants more from me, like defending and helping the team, but I'm really grateful to him because he's helping me get better day by day. It's true that I'm desperate to score, but I hope I can do it soon."

l Was the Getafe goal offside? This video certainly seems to suggest so, although it was close enough that it hardly feels like robbery. Perhaps more importantly, immediately before Getafe scored a promising-looking Betis move was interrupted by the linesman flagging up Rubén Castro for a non-existant offside - a decision that sent Pepe Mel apoplectic. Within seconds, Getafe were level.

l The Betis goal (2'05" on the video below) is also worth looking at again: a sharp tackle by Juanma, a deceptively simple pass from Jefferson Montero and a fine finish from Molina. I like the celebration, too - Rubén looks genuinely thrilled that his strike partner has scored, while most of the rest of the team head to Jeff to congratulate him on his part in the move, before Nelson arrives at full speed and Iriney celebrates with Gol Norte. It's just a shame the euphoria didn't last longer.

l The crowd was officially a little over 42,000 - the second-biggest of the season after the derbi, thanks to the cheap-tickets offer. To be honest, though, the atmosphere was a bit muted, a result perhaps of the odd kick-off time (6pm counts as right after lunch in Seville time), the low winter sun in the eyes of half the stadium, and Betis's failure to hold on to their lead for more than four minutes. But if you want an idea of what attending a game in Heliópolis is like, take a look at this fun home-made video, which has popped up on YouTube today. The first couple of minutes really capture the spirit of things.

l There are some more nice picture galleries of the game up on various Betis-related sites - try here, here and here for starters. I'm a particular sucker for ones where the photographers turn away from the pitch...

l I have to admit that Sevilla's unexpected win at Valencia today was a slight irritation, but defeats for Mallorca and Granada mean Betis remain in 12th, still closer to Europe than relegation. Next up is a tricky-looking visit (next Monday evening) to fourth-placed Levante, followed by the long-awaited visit of Real Madrid. Points are going to be hard to come by over the next two or three weeks.

Pic of Jefferson Montero in full flight from Betisweb

Pecs appeal

I know there's a certain section of this blog's readership for whom, win, lose or draw, a Betis game is tinged with diappointment if Roque Santa Cruz doesn't swap shirts with someone at the end. So, from Beticismo.net's wonderful selection of photos from yesterday's game, un regalito..

How it happened

BETIS 1 GETAFE 1 por acosart 

Real Betis 1-1 Getafe CF

It's become a bit of a cliché this season to say that Betis's problem is that they don't draw enough games. The pundits simply look at the league table, notice that Pepe Mel's men have won has many times as sixth-placed Espanyol, and conclude that if they'd just avoided painful late defeats against Real Sociedad, for example, or Osasuna, they'd be staring Europe straight in the face.

The irony, of course, is that when they actually do draw, it can equally feel like they should have won. And that was pretty much the case today. Betis played nicely enough all-round, but mistakes and one or two bad breaks meant they were unable to convert plenty of promising build-up play into clear-cut chances and, from there, goals. The ball kept getting stuck under strikers' feet or floating agonisingly past their heads, while the clock seemed to tick away minutes at double speed. It was all very frustrating.

As suggested, Juanma replaced Salva Sevilla as Pepe Mel opted for a very conventional 4-4-2 formation, that took a while to bed in. Jefferson Montero eventually emerged as the principle threat, and he really does seem to be improving rapidly; there are still some occasional mad choices, but his pace and skill obviously terrified the Getafe defence and it was eventually one such run, shortly into the second half, that set up a shooting chance for Jorge Molina, who took it very smartly indeed.

Sadly the lead only lasted four minutes before a floated pass down the inside right channel allowed Getafe's Valera to outsprint Nacho and cross for Dorado and Guiza to put the ball past Fabricio more or less together. It was a real shame, because Getafe hadn't yet put into action a chasing-the-game Plan B that would have opened things up at the back. As it was, the visitors defended manfully for the remaining half-hour, and Betis couldn't quite manoeuvre the ball into position to have many clear shots at Moyá's goal.

To their credit, Getafe didn't entirely give up the idea of scoring a winner either, and looked vaguely dangerous on the break, so it's impossible to be too down on the draw. There are a lot worse scores than 1-1, as we discovered repeatedly in the autumn.

Mentions in dispatches should go to Fabricio, who made one stupendous save from a long-range Miku shot in the first-half, the simply awesome Paulao, and Jorge Molina, who took his goal with nerveless ease, despite the fact he hasn't scored in ages. Betis's most notable player today, however, might have been Salva Sevilla, whose creativity behind the front two was missed badly. It'll be good to have him back next week for the tricky visit to Levante.

Betis: Fabricio; Nelson, Paulao, Dorado, Nacho; Juanma (Pereira, min. 71), Iriney (Cañas, min. 68), Beñat, Jefferson Montero; Rubén Castro, Jorge Molina (Santa Cruz, min. 60).

Goals: 1-0: Jorge Molina, min. 51; 1-1: Güiza, min. 55.

Attendance: 42,160

Betis-Getafe - Live thread

There's not quite so much live coverage of this game as there was a fortnight ago for the visit of Athletic (or indeed as there will be in two weeks' time when Real Madrid are in town), but it is on GolTV in the USA. There's no use pretending that a lot of you won't be watching on illegal streams, so let me pass on a couple that one of my students recommended: levantewebDOTes and superdeporDOTtk. No guarantees, though.

I'm just off to the stadium in a bit, and I should warn you that I won't be back till late, so don't expect a match report till past midnight here, but you can leave all your comments here, as usual. ¡Mucho Betis! - wherever you are.

Betis v. Getafe (6pm): Into the danger zone

So, let's work this out: two wins in a row + achieving them in some style + important contributions from new players + a bumper crowd + limited opposition whose defence has been gutted by injury and suspension = comfortable home win. Right?

If that's the answer you got, then WAKE UP AND PAY ATTENTION AT THE BACK! Nothing is ever quite so simple with Betis. Both historically and this season in particular the verdiblancos seem to find it much easier to beat good teams (Valencia, Atlético, Athletic - twice) than lesser ones (Racing, Real Sociedad, Granada, Mallorca, etc), so I think I'd be more confident if we were facing an Inter-Galactic All-Stars XI tonight at six instead of a rag-tag group of reserves and emergency loanees calling themselves after a nondescript Madrid suburb.

On top of that, Betis are without Salva Sevilla - my player of the year last season, and a key figure in the exceptional team performance against Athlétic two weeks ago. Pepe Mel claimed yesterday that not even his own players will know what system they'll be using to replace Salva until an hour and a half beforehand, but the smart money seems to be on the reintroduction of Juanma and an expansive 4-4-2 formation.

As for Getafe, what can you say about a team that is capable of losing to Sporting Gijón one week and beating Barcelona the next (as they managed in November)? Their season has been almost as all over the place as Betis's, but they're only a point behind us in the table so they really can't be dismissed as pushovers.

The big difference between the two sides is that while the Betis defence has been give a huge, much-needed testostorone injection with the en-masse arrival of Paulao, Nelson and Fabricio, Getafe's back-line is so crippled by absentees that this week they had to apply for special dispensation to bring in an emergency centre-back. The man in question, Alexis, has played precisely one game for Sevilla this year, which might be why usual right-back Miguel Torres is more likely to start in the centre tonight.

Also, Getafe don't have Rubén Castro. Upfront, Venezuelan Miku has scored a respectable seven goals this season, but his veteran partner Dani Guiza, with just three in 20 games, is already looking like a bullet successfully dodged by Betis, who reportedly came close to signing him in the summer.

It's a glorious spring day in Seville (see pic of Plaz San Lorenzo for evidence), which, together with the cheap-ticket offer I mentioned the other day, has prompted long enough queues at the stadium that local TV stations sent cameras to film them. Diario de Sevilla is predicting the biggest crowd of the season so far, but whether that comes to pass or not there's definitely going to be an amazing, celebratory atmosphere at the Villamarín tonight. Béticos sense that something very special is in the air right now, and not just because a win tonight would take the team - however briefly - three points above Sevilla and just a point off fourth place. If Pepe Mel's men don't crash and burn against Getafe - as they did in October, let's not forget, to kick off a six-game losing streak - we might start getting really carried away.

Talk, talk, talk

Friday seems to be interview day in Betis-land, so today you can read (and feed into Google Translate if necessary) chats with Fabricio, Rubén Castro and Iriney (printed edition only) in AS, ABC de Sevilla and Estadio Deportivo respectively.

Of course, all being sensible sportsmen, they do their best to escape without giving too much away, but I did learn, for instance, that Fabricio is still just 24 (which makes him a babe-in-arms in goalkeeping terms) and that his hero is Peter Schmeichel, who could hardly be a better example to follow.

Rubén is slightly more forthcoming, not least because he's older (30) and has more to talk about. And actually his story is quite interesting: before landing at Betis, he'd played for seven clubs all over Spain in just nine years. The relief he feels, not just at scoring so many goals but simply being able to stay in the same place for two years running, is palpable. "I've got a year left on my contract but what I want is to stay here," he says. "I've been all over the place. Here, I'm happy, the people like me, and I love the dressing room. I want to stay here, I don't want to go anywhere else. If they'd let me, I'd stay here for 10 years. I'm happy."

Of course, the main man responsible for bringing him to Betis is Pepe Mel, for whom Rubén played at Rayo (including against Betis in 2009). The player doesn't hide his gratitude. "I know almost all of Spain because I've moved around so much...but nowhere have I felt like I do here, and you can tell [on the pitch]. At Betis I've connected well with the fans and the dressing room, but the gaffer has also been important, because it was him who brought me here and he's always played me. He's a special person for me. We understood each other quite soon after meeting. He knew what I could give him and I knew what he wanted from me. I scored 15 goals [at Rayo] but the day they sacked him I missed a penalty. It's dead true. It was up in Girona,  in the fifth minute of the game, and we ended up losing 3-1. I missed it and they sacked him and still the next year he signed me for Betis. So he didn't hold it against me [although] when we practise penalties now he always make me take more [laughs]. He's more than a coach to me. We understand each other with just a look, and that's why things are working out like they are. At the same time, he's not married to anyone and he's already dropped me once this season. He's very serious when he has to be. But he's the coach I have most to thank for."

As far as Iriney is concerned, most of a sweet interview in today's Estadio Deportivo is about how delighted he is to have become a father for the first time in the autumn. But as the cover of the paper says, when he talks about his contract situation "his words sound like a veiled goodbye".

For instance, when interviewer Isabel Morales points out that it's a shame his current contentment has to coincide with the last year of his contract, he says: "All I can say is that I will defend this shirt with the same excitement from the first game to the last. My job is to give everything from the first day to the last. I want to go with the same reputation that I arrived with, because that says a lot about a person, a professional. As far as the contract renewal is concerned, staying up comes first. Iriney will keep doing the same, trying to improve so that the team is happy."

Hmm. That's hardly Rubén's "I'd stay here another ten years if they wanted me", is it? Happily, the Betis skipper is far more positive about his young daughter, with whom he is clearly besotted.

"She's lucky, because when she was born was when we started to win," he remembers. "It was the week we beat Valencia. I knew it. She was born and she said: 'Hard luck Valencia, you're going to lose.' The girl's lucky, and not just because I'm her father and it's me she dribbles on..."

If and when the time comes, we're going to miss him.

Thursday round-up

Quite a few little news stories have cropped up in the last few days, so let's have a scoot round them all...

l There's been a bit of debate about how Pepe Mel will replace suspended Salva Sevilla on Saturday. According to ABC de Sevilla, the Betis coach hasn't been all that happy when Cañas, Iriney and Beñat have played together, and would really have liked to try Sergio Rodíguez in Salva's advanced midfield role, but the 19-year-old went and broke a finger in traiing last week, which is a real pain (literally, too, I'd imagine). 

This might give a chance to Javier Matilla, who was bought from Villareal for €1.5million in the summer but has been a big disappointment in his few appearances so far. Apparently, though, the Betis training staff are convinced that his loss of form - basically he seems almost incapable of making a forward pass - is only a confidence thing and that there's still a really decent player in there somewhere. If he gets the nod, I'll certainly be rooting for him. Cañas looked a bit the same early in his Betis career, but has made huge strides since, so there's still hope.

And Sergio? As I've mentioned several times here - and as you can see for yourself from 0'20" here - this kid is seriously talented and has every chance of being Betis's next break-out star. Betis B's top scorer this season from midfield, he can pass, dribble, shoot and make a nuisance of himself in midfield, and although right now he's probably a little smaller than ideal for first-team football, there's obviously plenty of time for him to fill out. As Pepe Mel said last week,"What Sergio offers is vision and a change of rhythm, with or without the ball. He's capable of making changing the rhythm of a team-mate with one pass and has the individual ability to go past opposition players."

l For Saturday's game there's another of those nice offers whereby season-ticket holders can buy extra tickets for friends for just €10. Rather sweetly, the promotion was launched with a brief video in which Rubén Castro tells us: "Today we're not asking for your support, we want to say thank you." Any time, Rubén.

l The administrator of Lopera's shares, José Antonio Bosch, has confirmed that in-house brand RBB will not be supplying the Betis kit next year. This is good news. Although the designs have generally been OK, the shirts have been expensive and poor quality, and the club shop (also run by RBB) has been a complete disaster. The word is still that Italian company Macron - who supply Chelsea's midweek conquerors Napoli, among others - will take over for next season, and I imagine that the shop (including the online operation) will also be under new management.

 l It's been confirmed that Iriney has been offered a new two-contract, to replace the one that runs out in the summer (when he'll be 31). It's at the top end of the club's pay scale, apparently, but everyone seemsto accept that he could get more money playing somewhere like Qatar or Saudi Arabia, so now it's simply up to him. Should he stay in Seville with his young family, or look to make the most, financially speaking, of the last few years of his career? I don't suppose it's an easy decision to make.

l The ever-astonishing blog in English about the football stadiums in Spain, Estadios de Fútbol en España, has a new entry about the Ciudad Deportivo Luis Del Sol, home to Betis B and also where the first team train most days. Once again, hats off to the blog's compiler, Bristol-based Chris Clements.

l And finally, congratulations are definitely in order to Simon Needham and his pals up in the north-east of England for getting confirmation through that the Blyth Spartans Peña Bética - the first English supporters' club - is now official (complete with rather natty logo). I've written about them here before, so I won't repeat all that, except to say that you can keep track of their activities (and enquire about joining) via the Betis forum on their Welcome to Spartan website.