Every year there are teams whose season seems like a rollercoaster. A very clear example we can find this season is Real Betis. Right now they are in a negative streak, with four consecutive defeats in the league, which makes it increasingly difficult for them to reach the sixth European place.
If we don’t get too deep into the subject, we might think that Pellegrini‘s side aren’t having such a bad season, in seventh place and seven points behind Real Sociedad with eight games left to play. The reality is different, as there are several factors to take into account.
Pitiful European performance:
Undoubtedly, the most reprehensible thing about Betis this season. After getting into Europe last season with a good campaign, they weren’t able to get out of the group stage. And it isn’t that they were drawn in groups with the ‘bogeymen’ of the competition, but they came third in a group with Rangers, Sparta Praha and Aris Limassol.
But this wasn’t the only thing, they lost the play-off against Dinamo Zagreb in the Conference League. Worst of all wasn’t the elimination, but the passivity that was shown.
Both fans and players looked as if they wanted to be eliminated. It is understandable that it is a minor European competition and that they prefer to focus on the league, but in the end, you don’t fight for a title, and you might not get into Europe.
To all this, we must also add their discreet passage through the King’s Cup, where they were almost eliminated by Villanovense from Second Federation (the fourth Spanish division) and then eliminated by Alavés in the round of 32.
Problems in the squad:
This situation that Betis have reached has mainly one cause, and that is the way the squad is put together, which prevents Pellegrini from establishing a standard XI for each of the matchdays.
At centre-back, there seems to be no doubt, as Chadi Riad and Pezzella are the ones the Chilean coach trusts the most. The problem comes when you get to the full-backs, as five names appear: Abner, Miranda, Sabaly, Bellerín and Ruibal. None of them have managed to establish themselves as starters and, practically, in every game, they are the positions that rotate the most and provide the least security.
But Betis don’t only have a problem in defence. In attack, Pellegrini has a blessed problem, which is how to field all the ‘playmakers’ he has in the team.
With the arrival of Fornals in the winter transfer window, he joins three other players very similar to his style of play: Fekir, Isco and Ayoze. These player profiles need to have a lot of the ball to create their own chances and the attacking positions are limited.
In this latest defeat against Girona, Pellegrini opted to field the back four behind William José and escorted by Guido Rodríguez. The result was a fragmented team, suffering a lot in defence and generating a certain inconsistency.
Faced with this bad season for Betis, a question arises around the fans: has Pellegrini’s cycle at Betis come to an end? Let’s remember that the Chilean coach arrived in 2020 and still has a contract until the summer of 2027.
We will see if Pellegrini is able to find the key and change the dynamic of the team, or if, on the contrary, we are facing the end of his time at the helm of Betis.
Main image: @RealBetis.
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