Some interesting tidbits…

By: wan | October 3rd, 2008

Guillem Balague is one journalist and football critic whose opinions I respect and enjoy reading…being from Spain, he has an insider understanding of the comings and goings of what happens in La Liga.

The thing that I like most about him is the fact that he is not into the hyperbole like most pundits are – Balague keeps his perspective and says things as they are. His Liverpool-biasness aside, his comments are always worth a read.

Why suddenly bring him up you wonder? Well, Balague does a yearly preview for Sky Sports on the La Liga and I thought that it would be interesting 5 games into the season to see what he had to say about Betis and how the club really is doing now…

This was what he had written before the season began:

It is the start of the post-Manuel Ruiz de Lopera era. He is still their main public man but he has agreed to give most of his shares to a new group. Lopera is almost like the religious leader of a club used to having him and his mood swings running it. The football foundations of this season were put last year but nothing smells of brilliant or successful. Betis are a team that still needs to be organised, with two centre-backs who are very suspect, but with a forward formation that can score against anybody.

Top player: Rafael Sobis

Finally he has decided to stay, or better still, he has not been allowed to leave. Lopera wanted him to lead the club next season and he should do that. Must improve though, to get the transfer he wants.

Top surprise: Casto

A goalie from the lower ranks, took the place of the Portuguese Ricardo during last season and this could be the year of his confirmation.

Top signing: Mehmet Aurelio

He had a good European Championships playing in the centre of midfield. With his defensive characteristics, he could be the man that gives solidity to the team

Probable finish: 14th

What do we make of his predictions? Well he was absolutely spot on with regards to the weakness in defence and his rating of Aurelio. While the facts suggest that the Betis defence is not so bad, this is more because of Aurelio’s presence and impact than on the quality of the centrebacks. Aurelio’s calming presence has increased the solidity of the defence in general and is a major reason why the club has not leaked more goals.

What surprised me was his high regard for our attack…and the results from the last two games seem to bear out this assessment. Betis with the likes of Sergio Garcia, Jose Mari, Gonzalez and Edu (when he returns) do possess the firepower to hurt most teams.

The biggest shock? The fact that he rated Rafael Sorbis so so highly… it makes me wonder whether Betis has been too hasty in getting rid of the Brazilian. The main problem for Sobis was always that he could not fit into Chaparro’s tactics and not that he had no talent. I wish that he was still around so that we could have tried him out alongside Jose Mari or even Garcia.

All in all, it was quite an objective and unbiased look at Betis… Let’s see now if we can surpass his expectations and finish higher than 14th.