Reality Bites…

By: wan | August 14th, 2009

That is a picture of the Betis team decked out in the latest away strip…it grows on you actually but that is about the only thing shining in Betis recently…

You may have already read about this or found out on the grapevine but the Spanish Football League (LFP) have backed Xerez’s rights to compete in the Primera Liga this season. The charges that the club had engaged in irregular financial practices have been deemed as ‘inadmissable’ and ‘without value’ and so the reality is that Betis will be stuck in the Segunda Division at least for the next year or so. Not that I had expected any miracles to happen…while there have been many Betis fans who felt that if we had made our way back that it would have been gloriously unfair and unjust, I beg to differ.

What really gets me angry are the fans who wish for nothing less than the total destruction of the club so as to force Manuel Lopera out of his ownership and feel that if it means playing in the Segunda or worse, then that is the way to do it. To me, that’s like throwing the baby out with the bath water.

As despicable as Lopera is and has been and probably will be, Betis is still my beloved club and it boggles my mind to think that there are those who would wish it every disaster. Probably they are thinking of the examples of clubs in Italy, notably Fiorentina, Napoli and Genoa who had chairmen who were as bad if not worse than Lopera and who had fell through the lower divisions before new owners came in to catalyse a phoenix-like recovery back to the big time. Yet there are also other examples like Leeds and SNotthingham Forest, big teams who had to suffer falls down the lower divisions and have never recovered, even until today.

These fans must realise that in today’s context and environment, clubs are essentially ruled not by sporting values but by economic principles and every fall down the levels effectively curtail the amount of revenue and cashflow generated. Each tightening of the financial arteries forces “heartattacks” on the club as players, administrators and coaches leave for greener pastures. What then would we be left with? A shell of a patient that we can call our own? If these fans really want to preserve the purity of their Betis, perhaps they should take the example of Wimbledon or FC United, clubs run by fans for fans but with no hope of ever breaking it into the big time.

Am I a Lopera supporter? Not at all; I wish the man would just go away and leave Betis alone. But do I think a total anniliation is the only way out? Definitely not!! In fact I wish for Betis to bounce back immediately into La Liga once again and hope one day that we can finally make our return to the Champions League…

Talking about change, it has been confirmed in recent weeks that more players are leaving the club – Mark Gonzalez’s move to CSKA Moscow was followed by the release of Ricardo as more big names look to follow Oliveria out the door. Emana for one has been acting like the petulant child – describing at one time that he was too good for the Segunda Division and that he would like to move to Valencia if possible.

This has left a bad taste in my mouth as Emana was one of the few shining lights in Betis last season but an interesting assessment of the club’s attackers have left me convinced that he might have been the cause of the team’s tactical unbalance last year.

The problem with Emana was that he was neither a striker nor a real midfielder in that while he has shown the ability to get forward and score goals like Lampard and Gerrard, unlike the English pair, Emana does not have the tactical discipline nor the willingness to defend against the opposition. And because his passing ability is poor and he cannot link up effectively with his teammates, deploying him as a striker is also a problem. In other words, though he was our top scorer, you run the risk of playing 10 against 11 for long periods in games.

While it pains me to say this, I feel that he should be sold if a good price can be received for him. Antonio Tapia seems set on his departure, having deployed the team in a 4-2-3-1 formation recently in friendlies and he has since also gone on record on numerous occassions to the media and to reporters about the same thing.

What this mean for Betis is that likely Pavone will once again be used as the spearhead, his power and built now utilised in the right manner while Sergio Garcia will be asked to operate just behind him in the ‘hole’. While his mobility and stamina are major minus points, Garcia is a cerebral footballer and arguably he was Betis’s best last season. He is at his best playing off the shoulder of a target man and his tactic should suit him just fine. With the promise of Manu Gavilan also in the mix, Betis should be able to find the net regularly in the new campaign.

I do believe that there will be more departures in the coming days and weeks as the deadline draws near so expect the likes of Arzu and Aurelio to join Emana and Ricardo on the way out. I can’t really make a fair assessment until I know who is coming and leaving but I do believe the spine of the team is more or less fixed and the likes of Carlos Garcia, Iriney, Garcia, Pavone and hopefully Odonkor will be around to herald in a new dawn for the Pride of Andalucia.

Stay tune for a preview of the Segunda Division and as well as a preview of Betis’s prospects in the coming weeks.