Béticos: long live Betis even when they lose!

L

Linecoigne1998

Member
Joined
Oct 8, 2015
Messages
2,224
Reaction score
1
Points
36
View attachment 34520Hello everyone and welcome to my first FM2019 story, Béticos: long live Betis even when they lose! The title of this story, despite its unorthodox nature, is actually the motto of the club located in the South of Spain. For those of you who follow La Liga or Spanish football in general, you'll know that Real Betis has had its troubles over the last couple years (hence the pretty negative motto) and despite getting promoted 4 years ago now, almost got relegated 2 years ago only to finish 6th last season, earning a spot in the Europa League. And that's where I come in.

With Betis not doing as well in the league this season and an impressive squad at their disposal, I decided they were the perfect team to start off my FM19 career with. The likes of Inui, Carvalho, Lo Celso, Bartra or even Sanabria are all key players in the side who I'm hoping I'll be able to take from one of the most entertaining sides in Spain to straight up one of the most successful. Now, because I don't necessarily want to spend the whole year trying to reach Real Madrid's record 33 league titles, I've decided to try to at least reach Valencia's total of 6 league titles and be in the top 5 of the most successful teams in Spain, ever. On top of that, I'll be looking to get more European titles than Sevilla, my arch rivals, who currently have 5 Europa Leagues to their name. Now then, without further ado, let's start this incredible journey in the South of Spain! I hope you'll enjoy.

View attachment 34518
 
Looking forward to this story, I started my BETA save with Betis but struggled to bring in any new talent with only 2 million available. Keen to see your incoming transfers!
 
Cheers Tom, definitely looking like a challenge considering the small budget but I'm sure the quality already present in the squad will help me get some decent results in my first season!
View attachment 34382

Welcome to Sevilla!

View attachment 34381​

Welcome to the sunny and beautiful South of Spain! I have to say, it's definitely not a bad first managerial job to get, especially coming from cloudy and rainy London (well, London basically). A town known for how dry and just warm it is, it should definitely be a change from the good old English weather. I'm definitely excited to live here now and hopefully get a bit of a tan throughout the many years I hope to spend here! Now then, onto my new home:

Say hello to the Estadio Benito Villamarín!
​

View attachment 34380
With a capacity of 60,720 fans, our stadium is the 4th biggest in the whole of La Liga, behind the enormous Camp Nou, the impressive Santiago Bernabéu and the recently expanded Metropolitano de Madrid. It's definitely not a bad infrastructure to have for an ambitious club like ourselves, especially in a city like Sevilla which will definitely attract a lot of tourists and fans throughout the years. Our rivals Sevilla can only hold a maximum of 45,000 people in the stadium, which is a great way for us to get an advantage over them already. Now then, over to the team!

Key players:

In net: Pau López
​
View attachment 34379
Recently arriving on a free, Pau is one of the more promising players at the club. At 23 years old, he's still got a long career ahead of him and I'm certainly hoping he'll decide to spend most of it here in Sevilla. With some great reflexes and a big of height about him, we'll certainly be relying on him to keep our goals conceded to a minimum.

At the back: Marc Bartra
View attachment 34378​

Despite the club's average defensive performance last season, we do have a few great defenders in the side. Bartra is definitely the most important one currently, having played at the likes of Dortmund and Barcelona before starting his spell here. By far not the most physically gifted defender in the world, he's got a bit of pace about him that will help us if a quick attacker like, let's say, Lionel Messi, is ever through on goal. At 27, he's another player with a long career ahead of him and who I'm hoping will be one of our main players for the next few years.

Holding down the fort: William Carvalho
View attachment 34377​

Definitely the best player at the club right now, Carvalho will be our best option to close down attacks and play a Busquets-type role on the pitch, just sitting back and launching passes from the back. With his incredible physicality and decent passing, he definitely will be a huge part of our attack all the way from his defensive midfield role and I'm hoping we can utilise William to the best of his ability.

The creative outlet: Takashi Inui
View attachment 34376
​
Fresh off an impressive World Cup campaign and an impressive season with Eibar in La Liga finishing in 9th, Inui is one of the more experienced players in the side who will be a huge threat down the wings for us. We have plenty of other great wingers, but Takashi brings in huge pressure match experience and should really be key for us throughout the season.

The lethal force: Antonio Sanabria
View attachment 34375​

Our 22 year old Paraguayan is the closest thing we've got to a great striker at the club, and he should definitely do for now. Both him and Sergio Léon are great in front of goal and I'm definitely hoping for a lot of goals from the both of them throughout the season, especially considering the amount of matches we'll end up playing with La Liga, the Copa Del Rey and the Europa League to compete for. And now, onto our system for pre-season.

An exciting formation and tactic for an exciting team

View attachment 34374​

Who better to get my inspiration from than Klopp's Liverpool side (well, and my assistant manager who was quite helpful too...). He got his team with Salah, Firmino and Mané to become one of the most feared sides in the Premier League and in Europe and with the attacking quality we have and a great midfield, we should be able to do some damage with the same sort of system as well. This 4-1-4-1 is what we'll be trying for the pre-season to come, hoping that it'll give us a few decent results ahead of our La Liga opener in August against Girona.

Our pre-season:

View attachment 34373​

Basically an England tour to look forward to with some good games against, on paper, much weaker opposition. Getting good results early on will be key so I'm hoping we can get that done as soon as possible! Now to finish this club introduction on, how about I show you the incredible trophy cabinet that the club has and the huge budget I've been given to get this club to become one of the best in Spain?!

View attachment 34372
View attachment 34371
Well, if you couldn't gather from my tone in my last sentence, I was being sarcastic. The club only has a total of 9 trophies in their cabinet, 6 of which are pretty meaningless considering they're just 2nd division league titles. And in terms of my budget, I have €3 million to work with so let's just say I might have to dig deep in Eastern Europe to find the new Milan Škriniar or Sergej Milinković-Savić if I want to do some good business...
 
Last edited:
Always enjoy your stories and already looking forward to this one too!
 
View attachment 34194

1.1: arrivals and departures

View attachment 34193​

With a budget of just €3 million, let's just say we weren't blessed with a huge budget. When I arrived at the club, I immediately identified our weakest area to be squad depth, which I guess definitely goes against my transfer policy so far selling one of our backups but at 28 years old, I just couldn't see Ryad contributing much to the side. Besides, I have other plans for an attacking midfielder backup player.

View attachment 34192View attachment 34191
It was quite clear that one area of the team that needed improving was the full-backs. Iñigo was on Bilbao's loan list and after some impressive performances I saw from him in the last few years, I figured he was perfect to stay with us for the season and improve our side.

View attachment 34190View attachment 34189
The beauty of instalments is that it allows smaller teams like us to buy players who (hopefully) will turn out to be great. Antonio Marin was highly recommended by my scout as a great player for the future and considering Joaquin and Inui are both in their 30s, I'm sure Antonio will be called upon in the first team in no time. His incredible dribbling, technique and flair should make him a huge threat down the left.

View attachment 34188View attachment 34187
Another one of my scout recommendations, Pelayo comes in for just over €1 million in what is a bargain in my opinion. He's incredibly small and has no strength whatsoever, but once again his great mental attributes and techniques, on top of his versatility, should make him a huge threat down the middle of the pitch and a great substitute to bring on late on in a high-pressure game to close the game out or look for an equaliser or a winner.

View attachment 34186View attachment 34185
Our final signing will be costing us €5 million upfront, with the fee going up to €9 million in the next 2 years. This brings our total spend to €8.6 million plus wage expenditure, not bad at all considering we managed to bring in 4 players! Mario Hermoso is an already established La Liga player who can play as both a centre-back and left-back, meaning he not only brings quality to our center halves but can also be a quality backup to Junior Firpo, our number one left-back.

1.2: pre-season results and upcoming schedule

View attachment 34184
​
Our first game brought us right back to England (God **** it, I thought I left this place for sunny Spain!), in Nailsworth more specifically to face Forest Green in their own backyard. The game went very well and I was really pleased to see us control the game the way we did. To be honest, it was expected against a side like Forest Green (no disrespect to them) but it's still a good result nonetheless for my first game in charge of Betis.

View attachment 34183
I rotated the side quite heavily for our second match and I guess it showed as we lost to a late goal from Varney. That's why we're in pre-season, to lose against weak teams and learn from it and be able to move on and not make the same mistakes during our actual season!

View attachment 34182
By far our best result in pre-season, we absolutely smashed Barnet as the team started to gel. I have definitely figured out a starting 11 that works, now it's up to them to keep performing and impress me so that they can get their starting place for our La Liga opener against Girona! Inui is facing tough competition from Marin already though, I'll tell you that.

View attachment 34181
We ended our pre-season with a great 3-0 win against Lincoln which saw Antonio shine once again as we really restricted Lincoln to any sort of attacking play which was great to see. I imagine the fans won't be used to the sort of possession football we've been playing but it's been working very well so I don't see why they wouldn't get behind it!

View attachment 34180
So we end our 8-game pre-season with 6 wins, a draw and a loss. Not bad at all for my first month at the club. With just 2 goals conceded in 8 games and 20 scored, we were incredibly impressive up front but I will have to keep in mind that we were playing against much weaker opposition of course. The game against Deportivo was a good test though, and I'm glad we did well then.

View attachment 34179
With our opening game against Girona, who finished 10th last season, we're definitely not getting an easy game to start off with. Atléti come right after and then we get the international break of course. Our game at home against Barcelona will be by far the biggest test we'll get in the next month and a half, but our Europa League first group game will surely be tough as well.

1.3: season preview

View attachment 34178​

Real Madrid are favoured to win the league under new management, whilst Barcelona follow closely. We're pretty far down in 9th but I think that's a pretty good prediction considering the arrivals we've seen in Sevilla and Valencia, although I'm not sure where they're getting Bilbao's 6th place finish from. They finished down in 16th last season and haven't exactly made huge moves this summer to give them such a high predicted finish.

View attachment 34177
In terms of our own club predictions, well I don't know who wrote our overview but where are they getting this information from? Firstly, their projected line-up for us is a 4-4-2, even though we've been playing a 4-3-3 with a defensive midfielder for the last month now. Secondly, where are they getting that my preferred formation is a 4-1-4-1? I've clearly mentioned I love a good 4-3-3 so again, just not great journalism there... It is nice to see that we have one of the younger squads in the league, level with a lot of teams in La Liga actually, but also such a low salary per annum compared to the teams predicted to finish above us. Anyways, I'll see you in September now after shocks against Atléti, Barcelona and the Europa League of course!
 
View attachment 34121

2.1: Europa League draw
​

View attachment 34120
One very exciting opportunity at this club for this season is of course being able to play in the Europa League. With some huge teams in the competition like Leipzig, Arsenal, Chelsea, or Milan, I was really hoping for a favourable draw and I think we got a very decent one. Burnley and Anderlecht are definitely good sides but not unbeatable sides. Our first game will be away in the north of England against Burnley just before our home game against Barcelona, which should be an interesting couple of days.

2.2: opening fixtures and some big results

View attachment 34119
​
Our La Liga opener was always going to be a tricky one against a decent Girona side and I guess the result shows that. A 1-1 draw is a deserved result for both sides at the end of the day, although I wish we would've had better chances from our 15 shots all game. Up next is Atlético, and let's just say I'm not feeling that confident after this first result.

View attachment 34118
That went basically as well as it could've gone... Atlético, the new La Liga leaders, smash us 5-1 as we just completely crumbled. It was our first game against a proper big team and we just couldn't deal with the pressure. A lot to learn from this match for sure, but it's good to see that we're not getting bullied by bigger teams in terms of possession. We just need to create more chances now and then who knows what we'll be able to do. We go away for the international break now with the next big game that we'll be looking at being our first Europa League match of the season.

View attachment 34117
An incredible start to our European journey with a 2-1 away win against Burnley, who are a very good and physical side. Marin ended up getting the winning goal in the 51st minute and Pau López completed a great appearance in Europe with a penalty save really late on which was fantastic to say the least. We can go back home to Sevilla now with all 3 points looking forward to our next game against Anderlecht now.

View attachment 34112
A huge game against Barcelona ends in a shock as we ****** a 1-0 win thanks to León's 50th minute goal, his 3rd goal in 5 games this season. Barcelona lined up their best possible lineup as well so it's incredible to come away with 3 points against arguably the best team in Spain but looking at the statistics and from what I can tell you from managing the game, we absolutely deserved the 1-0 win. What a result!

View attachment 34111
A bad result against Eibar to finish on but overall a really good start to our season with wins against Burnley and Barcelona in the space of 3 days. We'll need to deal with the European games every now and then of course and it will be tough, but if we perform the way we did this month then I'm confident we can do really well this season!

2.3: league table and upcoming games

​
View attachment 34110
Atlético and Barcelona rule La Liga as Real Madrid are in a bit of trouble... We sit in 6th despite that 2-0 defeat against Eibar, which could actually see us drop down a few spots if the teams with games in hand win. It's hilarious to see our main rivals Sevilla all the way down in 15th, especially considering the quality of their squad, and I'm hoping we can stay this high up above them throughout the season!

View attachment 34109
For some reason my calendar has decided that our game against Sociedad, noted on the 1st of October, is part of September! Nevertheless, we have a few big games in the next month or so against Valencia and Alaves, who have both had very good starts to their seasons so far. Anderlecht and Red Star in the Europa League, both at home, will hopefully give us a bit of confidence if we get decent results.
2.4: transfer window roundup and records

View attachment 34108
​
Certainly a quiet transfer window in Spain with just €112 million spent in the entire country, with the biggest deal actually being a departure away from the league and to the Premier League. Barcelona and Real Madrid did bring in some good players during the window though, which are highlighted above.

View attachment 34107
View attachment 34106
Already two club records broken this season just a month into 2018/19, as Marin becomes the club's youngest ever goalscorer with his goal against Burnley and we break last season's attendance record with our win against Barcelona. This could turn out to be a fantastic season for this club, and I'm certainly hoping to take the club to new heights and continue with this record-breaking trend so far.
 
View attachment 34088

3.1: disastrous results and potential tactical system change

View attachment 34087​

Our first big game of October saw us play at home against Anderlecht. In that game, everything went to plan. A 1-0 win means we have all 6 points from a possible 6 points to take from our first 2 games in the Europa League. So far, so good. We dominated the game and most of our players on the pitch had great games; except, surprisingly, for our attackers. The potential tactical system change might have to come a lot sooner than later since we seem to be doing fine defensively, just not scoring enough and taking our chances.

View attachment 34086
Sticking to my 4-3-3 might just get me sacked if we keep getting these bad results. With one of the worst disciplinary records in La Liga and not great stats overall, things aren't looking too great. On top of that, our best penalty taker Sergio León keeps missing penalties when he gets them, which makes me now want to allow Guardado, our second best penalty taker, to have the first opportunity to hit one.

View attachment 34085
As bad as things are in the league, everything is going very smoothly in the league! Another win, this time 2-0 against Red Star at home, means we're now on 9 points from 3 games, with 3 games left to play in the group stages. We might very well make it out of our group as group leaders which would just be fantastic if we can keep up this form.

View attachment 34084
Definitely not the continuity we were hoping for from our good form in September. With a draw and 2 defeats in La Liga, we've dropped down the table massively and even managed to lose to Bouzas in the first leg of our Copa del Rey 4th round tie against them. I need to figure things out and change the system, fast, otherwise I could be heading back to England a lot sooner than I thought!

3.2: La Liga and Europa League tables, plus our upcoming schedule

​
View attachment 34083
Things have completely been switched around since the end of September. Back a month ago, Real Madrid were basically where we were in the table and Sevilla were also far below us. Now, it's the exact opposite. Atlético and Barcelona have both continued their stellar form as they battle it out for the title early on, while Real Madrid and Sevilla are making a slight comeback.

View attachment 34082
All is well in the Europa League Group I. With 3 games played, we stay unbeaten and 6 points clear of Anderlecht down in 3rd. We do have to keep in mind that 2 of the games we played were at home so we'll now need to get results away from home as well, other than the Burnley game which we'll play at home.

View attachment 34081
After all our bad form in La Liga, my first Sevillano derby awaits. A game at home against Real Madrid also awaits and 2 tough European games will be on our schedule for November. Let's just be honest and say that if we have a bad month or a bad few games, I could very well be saying goodbye to Sevilla. Let's hope for the best and hope that I find the perfect setup for this team before that happens...
 
Last edited:
View attachment 34066

4.1: unbeaten month and back on track

View attachment 34065​

Not bad at all for a first Sevillano derby if you ask me! Switching to a 4-4-2 Atlético style for this game, I was very worried since Sevilla have been impressive as of late but we really dominated the match and took our chances, which is exactly what we couldn't do in our last few matches. The 3-0 scoreline is definitely flattering but when it's in your favour, I don't think you'd complain!

View attachment 34064
View attachment 34063
Another good result, this time away from home as this 4-4-2 is definitely looking like my saviour! A 1-0 win against Red Star means we've secured our spot in the next round, and so have Burnley as they won against Anderlecht. The battle will now be for 1st place in the group but since we're playing against the English side at home next, I'm confident we'll be the ones making it to the next round as 1st seeds.

View attachment 34062
Not wanting to invite so much pressure on us against Madrid, I decided to switch back to our 4-3-3 that worked so well against Barcelona for this match and how about that!!! A 2-1 win against a side who, yes, have underperformed so far this season but are still one of the best teams in Spain! An incredible result as we come away with all 3 points and continue our fantastic form in November.

View attachment 34061
What a successful European campaign this has been! 5 wins from 5 games in our group as we beat Burnley at home, with a pretty decent 4-2 scoreline. We went behind twice and both times managed to come back and even went on to win, so a great performance from us with the 4-3-3 once again. I think I might've found the two perfect setups for this team!

View attachment 34060
After a horrendous few games in October, we've done an incredible job to win all of our games in November and climb back up the table. The wins against Sevilla and Real Madrid have really given us some confidence and I'm certainly hoping we can now take that confidence through for our next few games.

4.2: La Liga and Europa League tables and our upcoming games in December

View attachment 34059​

A great climb up the table as we find ourselves up in 6th now. There's very few points separating us from 6th and 9th place but it definitely feels great to be all the way up there for now. Let's hope we can keep it up.

View attachment 34058
With 5 wins from 5 group games so far and a win against Burnley, we've secured top spot in our group and will be 1st seeds for the next round, which is great. Our European campaign has honestly gone really well so I'm hoping for a favourable draw in the next round now so we can really go far in the Europa League this season.

View attachment 34057
December is a very busy time of year in most leagues and this isn't any different for us in Spain. Bilbao and Villareal are definitely our toughest games this month, while the Bouzas game at home will also be a big one since they lead 1-0 on aggregate so far. I'll rotate the side for us against Anderlecht since that game is completely meaningless now and it will give some younger players the chance to play in Europe as well.
 
View attachment 34042

5.1: consistency but a lot of work ahead

View attachment 34041​

A great turnaround in the Copa del Rey which sees us go into the 5th round where we'll face Levante. It was a tough match for sure but Joaquín's 13-second strike really gave us a huge advantage early on which was incredible. Our strikers are still struggling which is a bit of an issue, but hopefully we can change that over the January transfer window.

View attachment 34040
We make it 6 wins from 6 games with a 1-0 win away from home against Anderlecht, a fantastic result. I have recently switched back to a 4-3-3 but am seriously considering going right back to our 4-4-2 considering the few performances we've put in with it and the results we've gotten recently with this 4-3-3. We are winning, but not very convincingly and not in incredible ways.

View attachment 34039
Some decent results this month, definitely not the best overall but we have been quite consistent. The defeat against Espanyol could have been avoided for sure so that's disappointing but we haven't fallen off the table massively as a result which is alright.

5.2: Europa League draw and more money and records!

View attachment 34038​

The board has really trusted me since the start of the season and this is even more proof that they do. They've given me another €6 million to work with in January which could be really, really useful considering our form and the performances of a few players in the side...

View attachment 34037
Joaquín scores just 13 seconds into our second leg game against Bouzas to score the fastest goal in the club's history but also the Copa del Rey's history, which is pretty insane if you ask me. This is now the 3rd record we've broken this season and we're just halfway through it, so I can't wait to see what the future holds for us.

View attachment 34036
We draw Frankfurt for the 1st knockout round, which, considering some of the Champions League going down to the Europa League, really isn't that bad! Frankfurt did qualify out of a group with Chelsea and even beat the English side once though, so it'll definitely be a really tough tie. We'll be starting off the tie in Germany, which in my opinion really gives us an advantage since at the end of the game, we'll know exactly what we have to do in front of our fans to make it through to the next round.

5.3: La Liga table and final Europa League group table, also our schedule

​
View attachment 34035
Sitting in 7th after 16 games, we've definitely done better than most people were expecting us to do so far this season. Level on points with Villarreal above us and Bilbao beneath us, it's a very tight table for sure but I'm confident we'll be able to pull away later on this season and finish in a European spot for next season, which was always my goal at this club.

View attachment 34034
We absolutely smashed it in the Europa League so far, I just hope we can now take this form in the group stages and use it against Frankfurt in February next year because it would really make us a side that other teams will fear, especially considering we won all 6 of our group games so far.

View attachment 34033
We face Levante an impressive 3 TIMES in January as we'll also be meeting with Atlético again, for the first time since their 5-1 battering of us at the Métropolitano a few months ago. Huesca and Vallecano should be winnable games and I'm hoping we do get all 6 points in those games to give us some confidence in the league. The transfer window is also opening which could be crucial for our season, so hopefully we can bring in a few players to strengthen the squad or even agree on some pre-contract deals with other players.
 
View attachment 33804

6.1: new contract, departures and arrivals
​

View attachment 33803
Despite a very average start to my Betis career, the chairman believes it's enough for me to get a new contract! I'll take it, definitely, but I am a little confused to say the least. This new deal does mean that I'm staying here until June 2021 on €21,500 a week though, which is very, very nice.

View attachment 33791
The first departure of the window is a pretty minor one to be honest. With Sanabria and León as our main strikers, Loren just wasn't getting any game time and I figured I might as well cash out while I could.

View attachment 33786View attachment 33785
Our first signing of the window is a pretty great one as Cataldi, a very promising Italian talent, signs for just under €3 million. To be honest with you, I wasn't really expecting him to want to join the club since he's only going to be a backup for now but he comes in for cheap and will be a great player who can step up once Lo Celso leaves the club at the end of the season. Now though, moving onto the bad news of the window with two huge departures...

View attachment 33784
View attachment 33783
Tottenham snap up Carvalho and Bartra in a double deal worth a little under €40 million. Both players wanted to leave and told me there was nothing I could do to keep them here, so there we are. Two of our best, if not our two best players at the club are now gone and we have huge gaps to fill in the team...

View attachment 33782View attachment 33781
On the bright side, we do have a bit more money to spend now and Velázquez comes in for just €4.5 million from Vallecano after a pretty decent first half of the season. He was honestly the best cheap option we could go for at the back and considering his La Liga experience, I think he'll be perfect to step in and replace Bartra at least until the end of this season.

View attachment 33780View attachment 33779
We do also manage to get Mariano on loan, which is a fantastic deal for us. I initially tried to sign him permanently as he was on the transfer list, but considering he was on €165,000 a week at Madrid, he said there was no chance we'd be able to match his pay so there we are. To have a quality striker up front for the second half of the season will be huge and I'm hoping he'll contribute more than his mere goal in 8 appearances for Real Madrid so far this season.

View attachment 33778View attachment 33777
Our final signing of this window, leaving us with about €14 million still in the bank, is Guilavogui. He's someone else who's had La Liga experience before with Atlético (yes I know it was just one single game but still!) and will definitely be a great addition to the squad for now. I just wanted a strong player who can replace Carvalho's physical presence in the midfield and he should be able to do just that. His work rate is also incredible so I'm hoping that with the right training and once the team gels properly, he can become a great player for us.

6.2: better performances but cup disappointment
​

View attachment 33766
Two of our games against Levante this month were in the Copa del Rey and we did really well to win both and make it to the next round. I did experience with tactics a little bit over the course of January and I feel like I might've found something that works but nevertheless, this system worked wonders against Levante as we beat them 6-3 on aggregate to make it to the Copa del Rey quarter final, which is further than the board wanted us to get!

View attachment 33764
This new system, a little tweak of my initial Gegenpress system earlier in the season, was what worked against one of the best teams in the league this time around. If you remember, they beat us 5-1 in my second game in charge of the club but this time we manage to hold them to a 2-2 draw. They actually had to come back from a goal down in the second half, so fair play to them.

View attachment 33763
My experimenting ended up coming back to bite us as we lost 2-0 in the first leg and couldn't turn it around in the second leg against Celta Vigo. I really fancied my chances against a team like Celta to be honest so this feels very disappointing, but we'll have to just work hard and go again I guess...

View attachment 33762
Overall a pretty weird month to be honest. We didn't manage to win a single game in La Liga which is a big worry, but with our new signings and new system, we can hopefully build up some form now. The defeat against Huesca was avoidable but I'm really proud we managed to draw against Atlético.

6.3: La Liga table and our busy schedule ahead

​
View attachment 33760
Sitting in 8th, it's fair to say that our bad form in January hasn't completely destroyed our season. We're just 5 points behind Bilbao in 5th for the first Europa League spot and 7 points behind Real Madrid for the last Champions League spot, which would be the dream of course. Getting Europa League football is very important for me, the club and the board so let's hope we can get there.

View attachment 33761
We are pretty to be able to face 20th-place Girona and 19th-place Getafe in our next two games before a tough tie against Frankfurt and games against Sociedad and Barcelona to finish off February. I'm a little worried about next month to be honest, but it could also turn out to be a fantastic month overall if we get decent results.
 
View attachment 33729

7.2: February 2019 results
​

View attachment 33728
A very tough tie against a great Frankfurt side, we got a 3-2 win away in Germany and 5-2 win at home in Spain meaning we go through to the 2nd knockout round after an 8-4 aggregate win! A fantastic result in both games to be honest, definitely went our way a lot more than I anticipated and it's great to see the team performing this well now. The additions of Velázquez, Cataldi and Mariano have clearly boosted the quality of the team which is great to see.

View attachment 33727
An incredibly disappointing result when I look at how the game went. We completely dominated the game even after going a man down with over 40 minutes left in the game, yet could only come away with a point. Sociedad are a great side and have been performing really well so far this season so I do take that into consideration but it's a big let down considering our incredible performance tonight.

View attachment 33726
After beating Barcelona once in La Liga this season, we couldn't repeat our achievement in this second game against them. This game could have been really different had we scored that 31st minute penalty but that's how it goes I guess. A 2-0 defeat against Barcelona means we're now at risk of dropping out of the Europa League race for now and with a very tough month ahead in March, I really hope we get some more positive results in the next few games to climb back in there.

The one defeat against Barcelona was the negative result of February but nothing to complain about other than that really! It would've been better to get 6 points rather than 2 from our games against Getafe and Sociedad but we can't go back and change it now. Let's hope for some good results in March now so we can climb up the table and secure European football for next season!

7.2: La Liga table and March schedule plus a pre-contract signing
​

View attachment 33724View attachment 33723
After 39 games in charge of this club and a little less managing Hermoso, who we signed as a backup left-back, I've realised that he's actually a lot better as a centre-back. Because of that, it means that we needed to find a backup leftback in case Júnior Firpo ever got injured and we have our man. Günter is a great, versatile player who will bring in a lot of quality over the summer and just once again adds more strength and depth to the side, which is what I wanted immediately when I arrived here.

View attachment 33722
Sevilla have a game in hand, meaning they could overtake us into 7th if they win that game in hand. It would be pretty horrible, especially as our main rivals, but we have 13 games to get back into the Europa League spots should they manage to win that game and overtake us.

View attachment 33721
Oh and because I clearly forgot, we're facing Arsenal in the 2nd knockout round of the Europa League! Beating Frankfurt was an achievement on its own so imagine beating the most-likely favourites to win the whole thing! The board wanted us to get to at least the 2nd knockout round so losing to Arsenal wouldn't be the worst thing, but we'll be looking to do the best we can while we're still in the competition. Other than that, we also have huge games against Valencia, Sevilla and Real Madrid in La Liga, all away. Should be a stressful month...
 
View attachment 33716

8.1: March 2019 results

View attachment 33715​

One of our tougher matches this month, I was quite disappointed with the outcome purely because of how well we played and how little we got for it. Two goals in the first half for Valencia were enough for them to get all 3 points, and that's not good news for us considering Sevilla are already right on our tail.

View attachment 33714
View attachment 33713
Incredible!!! Two amazing performances against Arsenal give us a 5-3 aggregate win over the English side to make it to the Europa League quarter-final! Joaquín continues to be the Betis legend that he is by becoming the oldest goalscorer in Europa League history with his first leg goal against Emery's side, and I just can't believe we just won against Arsenal on aggregate. Mariano was a key part of that and it really does make me and the recruitment team here at Betis like geniuses doesn't it?

View attachment 33712
My second Sevillano derby in charge of Betis and it's another win!!! An incredible performance from us as we smashed Sevilla, coming back from 2-0 down within the first 12 minutes to go on and win 4-2. Honestly an incredible result especially considering they're the team we're battling with for Europa League football next season!

View attachment 33711
Just like against Barcelona a month ago, we can't repeat our luck from the start of the season and lose to Real Madrid. We actually played a lot better than they did in my opinion, but their first-team quality was a little much for us to handle and we lose 3-1, conceding a very late penalty to rub salt in the wounds. It's 3 points lost but I'm confident for our last few games of the season.

View attachment 33710
Overall a very, very successful month in March with great wins against Arsenal, Sevilla and Valladolid. The defeats against Valencia and Real Madrid were too bad considering how well we played in both games but again, I'm happy with the way we played at least and it gives me something to focus on doing more of in training! Now then, who are we playing in the Europa League quarter-final?!

8.2: La Liga table and April schedule

View attachment 33709​

Our defeat against Real Madrid gave Sevilla another opportunity to overtake us as we now sit in 8th, 3 points behind Sevilla. We have a better head-to-head over Sevilla of course and a better goal difference, both of which will hopefully help us in our last 9 games of the season. The good news is, we've already faced all of the big teams ahead of us and now have to deal with teams lower down the table, other than Bilbao.

View attachment 33708
Considering our form, all of our league games in April are games we could, and probably even should, win. We'll be facing Monaco in the Europa League quarter-final, another huge team after playing against Arsenal in the last round. I guess that's what happens when you get really far into a European competition, you play big teams! As stressful as March was, we're getting closer to the end of the season now and April might be even worse...
 
View attachment 33652

9.1: Europa League tie against Monaco and results

View attachment 33651​

After a 1-0 defeat in France, I thought that was it for our European journey this season. Little did I know, the players are almost as ambitious as I am! We win 5-1 at home and beat the French side 5-2 on aggregate to put us through to the Europa League semi-final!!! What an incredible result and what an incredible season in Europe this is turning out to be! Mariano has been an absolute God-send in this team, and so has Cataldi actually. The young Italian has become a regular starter here and I can't imagine where we'd be in La Liga right now if both him and Mariano had been here since the start of the season...

View attachment 33650
April comes to an end as we come away with 2 wins, 2 draws and a loss in La Liga. The Europa League adventure continues for us, which is just incredible, but I do want to do well in the league as well. No one ever expected us to get to the semi-final in Europe so I'm tempted to put it aside now. At the same time, we're just 2 games away from a potential Europa League final...

9.2: La Liga table and the last games of the season

View attachment 33649​

Our decent form in the league last month puts us 4 points clear of Sevilla with 4 games to go. This will be a very, very tight end to the season in La Liga, especially considering we're also not far off from Sociedad in 6th so we'd equal last season's 6th place finish for the club if we managed to catch up to them! Sociedad's last 4 games? Sevilla and Real Madrid at home, and Alavas and Bilbao away. Sevilla's last 4 games? Sociedad and Valladolid away, Valencia and Huesca at home. Our last 4 games? See for yourself.

View attachment 33648
Levante, Huesca and Vallecano at home and Celta Vigo away. I think it's fair to say that 6th place is ours to take now, especially if Sociedad and Sevilla don't take points from their home games. This is going to be very, very close. Oh and in the Europa League we got drawn against Real Madrid, so I think it's fair to say good luck to them in the final, hopefully they win it so I don't feel so bad about losing to them in the semi-final!
 
View attachment 33647

10.1: Europa League tie against Real Madrid, final La Liga table and May results

View attachment 33646​

After managing an impressive 0-0 draw at home against the mighty Real Madrid, we couldn't resist them in the second leg at the Bernabéu. We lose 3-0 as they go through to the final and we'll have to be happy with a semi-final exit. I'm incredibly proud of this team and since we might make it back to the Europa League next season, I'm certainly hoping to get as far if not even further next season.

View attachment 33645
We win our last game of the season in La Liga despite a red card in the 70th minute, thanks to a brace from Inui. It's been one **** of a season where we exceeded most expectations set by the board, the fans and pundits so I'm really, really proud of this team whether we finish in the Europa League spots or not. We dropped a few points earlier this month and Sociedad and Sevilla actually did a lot better than I thought so I'm not entirely sure if we've made it to the Europa League yet.

View attachment 33644
View attachment 33643
Incredible!!! We finish just 2 points ahead of our arch rivals Sevilla and deny them European football for next season! We finished just a point behind Sociedad in 6th, so it's fair to say that I'm very, very proud of these players. The club finished 6th last season and was expected to do the same again this season but after Bartra and Carvalho left halfway through the season, I'm pretty sure most people would have predicted us to finish mid-table. We get European football for next season which was my goal all along, let's hope we can now get a decent budget to work with next summer to push higher up the table next season!

View attachment 33642
Dropped points against Levante and Celta Vigo made me really worried ahead of our last 2 games of the season, but we thankfully made it to the Europa League thanks to 2 wins in our last 2 games. What a tight end to the season, what a stressful end to the season! I wish the best of luck to Real Madrid as well, who'll face RB Leipzig in the Europa League final at the end of the month.
10.2: awards and season review
​

View attachment 33638
Our little wonderkid Antonio Marin, who signed just last summer from his home country of Croatia, wins the Young Player of the Year after a very decent first season at the club. He joins a list of players like Ramos, Piqué, Messi, Asensio and Guedes who have all won the award in the past. If these players' careers are anything to go by, he should become an absolutely world-class talent.

View attachment 33637
View attachment 33636
A tweaked 4-3-3 ended up working wonders in the second half of the season, as we finish in 7th and get knocked out in the Europa League semi-final. Joaquín finishes as our player with the most assists and best average rating, while Sergio León scored the most. An overall great season with Hermoso getting the signing of the season and young player of the season AND player of the season from the fans as well. We'll now have to say goodbye to Lekue, Mariano and Lo Celso, who were all here on loan.

View attachment 33635
This was a very successful first season in my opinion, but there's still a lot of work to be done. With a great average attendance, a lot of players used and some great results throughout the year, it's fair to say that we've set a really good base for how things are going to be like around here now. And it does feel really great to be the best team in Seville at the end of the season, long may that continue. Our club motto is long live Betis even when they lose? We might have to change that up soon...
 
Last edited:
Apologies for not posting any updates in a while, been really busy over the weekend! I have been going through pre-season though and that update will be out tomorrow!
 
View attachment 33143

11.1: summer 2019 transfer business

View attachment 33141​

Well, we're finally back from our summer break and where do I start?! After Carvalho and Bartra wanting to go to new clubs in January last season, we got a huge amount of transfer requests coming in over the summer. The board gave me just €12 million to work with, less than I ended last season with, which didn't make my job of replacement these departing players very easy. Hermoso and Sidnei are the most notable departures as our two starting centre-backs, meaning I needed to replace them but money issues and the transfer deadline coming in so quickly means that only promising centre-back Pelayo Suárez was brought in, with Jorge Mere's transfer here cancelled in the last few minutes of the transfer window. We did make some great deals though: with Sanabria wanting to leave and Guardado also wanting to leave plus Canales being let go in order to have a bit more money to use in the transfer window, we were able to bring in Eggestein on loan from Dortmund as one of our new centre midfielders and Schick as our new main striker! Considering the lad's potential, getting him for less than €9 million is an absolute steal. On top of that, we also got Munir to come in on a free which is a fantastic deal, with Günter finally joining up with the squad. Orsolini was also brought in for some depth on the wings. With Joel Robles, our second keeper, leaving on loan to Inter potentially on a permanent deal, we also needed a new keeper which is why Von Ballmoos was brought in from Young Boys. After some decent performances in the Champions League last season, he impressed me enough to bring in and create some competition between him and Pau Lopez who was basically our only keeper last season. Finally, we did bring in Hidde ter Avest from Udinese as a new right-back in the team since Lekue went back to Bilbao after his loan. The good news is that Hidde can also play as a centre-back, so he'll be able to play there if needed! That's our transfer window overview, we brought in some fantastic players and I'm extremely excited to see them, as sad as I also am to have had to say goodbye to so many important players. We're still left with about €10 million in the bank for January now, which should hopefully give us an opportunity to bring in some players if needed.

11.2: Europa League playoffs and pre-season results

View attachment 33135​

After finishing 7th last season, we entered the Europa League playoffs early on for the 2nd qualifying round. From then we played Shamrock Rovers, Hadjuk Split and Reims. After beating all of our opponents, we've made it to the group stages which is just fantastic. We also started our La Liga campaign with a fantastic 4-1 win against newly-promoted Osasuna, which really does mean that our summer went very well and we've started our season off very well so far.

View attachment 33134
Speaking of the Europa League group stages, the draw happened at the end of August and let's just say we were blessed with a pretty easy group in my opinion. Ajax are a great side, don't get me wrong, but Maribor and Haugesund don't necessarily worry me, no offence intended. They're in the Europa League for a reason and must be good sides if they're part of this competition so we won't take them for granted for sure.

11.3: season preview and September schedule

View attachment 33133
View attachment 33132​

Unfortunately, it doesn't look like the media and pundits think we'll do much better this year than they predicted we'd do last year. They thought we'd finish 9th, we ended up in 7th. This year, they reckon we'll finish 9th again. I don't blame them since a few of our very important players from last season have left the club but in my opinion, we've brought in enough quality to finish either in 7th again or even higher, who knows! Barcelona are the favourites to win the league, understandably (although Atlético did win last year so you never know!). The one problem I have with their predictions is how they think that Sevilla will finish in 5th! They finished in 8th last season behind us, so how can they be predicted to finish in 5th!!! Oh well...

View attachment 33131
Our 2nd game in La Liga is against Barcelona away, so we've not been handed an easy start but that's why we want to play against the best, to improve and be able to beat them later on! Games against Deportivo, Huesca, Alaves and Vallecano are ones that we can win for sure, but we need to learn from last season and not get carried away thinking we'll just win all those games easily. I will definitely make it clear to the players that they'll need to try hard to win those games and I'm certainly hoping the new faces in the team can step up. We also get our Europa League campaign off with a home game against Haugesund, which should be good for confidence (should we win it of course...).
 
View attachment 33130

12.1: key September results

View attachment 33129​

Our first game against a big side this season didn't go too well, as you can see... Barcelona are the favourites for the title right now and deservedly so considering the quality of their squad. At the end of the day, we just couldn't deal with their quality and lost heavily. If anything, I guess it's better to lose like that right now than later on in the season when we might be building up momentum.

View attachment 33128
As expected, Haugesund just couldn't deal with us and we score 8 goals from our 38 shots throughout the game. One thing's for sure, it's that we'll have a lot of fun in the Europa League if we can keep performing like that consistently! A lot of the new signings we've made this summer are performing well and it's just great to see. Camarasa, who was out on loan in Cardiff last season, is also performing as our defensive midfielder in the 4-3-3 system that worked so well in the second half of the season, which is another big positive.

View attachment 33127
Some wonderful results this month following our heavy defeat against Barcelona. With 3 clean sheets in a row and 4 league wins, we're in great shape so far. We're also doing great in the Europa League after just the one game and I'm hoping we can continue this kind of form, especially against Ajax.

12.2: La Liga table, October schedule and contract news

View attachment 33126​

Camarasa has been doing really well so far this season which is why he gets a new contract. He had a €12 million release clause in his contract before so it's great to also increase it with this new contract. Let's now hope he can use this new contract and form to keep doing well and push the team forward.

View attachment 33124
Just 6 games in, I know, but look at that! We sit in 2nd behind the leaders Barcelona, having lost just one game and it was against them. Real Madrid and Sevilla are somewhat struggling at the start of this season but I'm sure they'll turn things around (although I would love it if they kept struggling so we can keep striving...).

View attachment 33123
Two Europa League games, one Copa del Rey game and 3 La Liga games. A very busy schedule in October but some great tests along the way which will really make us work hard for our results. Ajax are a good side, especially away from home, same for Atlético and Real Sociedad. I can't wait to see how next month goes and see where we end up after such a good start to the season.
 
Some good replacement signings you've made there, especially with Schik!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

FMBase

Beta

Resources

Top