Football Season Guide

Real Betis eventually finished 10th last season under caretaker manager Juan Merino, who took over from Pepe Mel with the club in relegation trouble down in 15th. Merino’s spell is over and incoming is the colourful figure of Gustavo Poyet, who had managerial spells in England with Brighton and Hove Albion and Sunderland before a spell in Greece with AEK Athens. Poyet had no affiliation with Real Betis as a player but he is known in Spain for his successful spell as a midfield talisman for Real Zaragoza in the 1990s. He joins a Betis side which has known relegation and promotion several times in the past decade but now has serious ambitions to emerge from seasons of mediocrity. The infrastructure and fan base is in place, they just need a manager and a team which can match those ambitions. In order to meet those expectations, the club has spent significant significantly over the summer and the squad looks stronger on paper than it has done in some years. There have been a lot of departures as well and one of the key elements of Gus Poyet’s job has to be to balance what has been a massively oversubscribed playing staff in recent years. Depth is important, but when the squad is saturated it leads to a lot of disgruntlement. It is important to have a core of regulars and to supplement that with hungry supporting players but not too many of them. It is an issue which is still to be resolved perhaps, but more have left than have joined the Seville-based club so the Beticos are heading in the right direction. The big signing of the summer was young Roma forward Antonio Sanabria for 7.5 million euros. The Paraguayan striker was a teenage sensation at Sporting Gijon last year and will come in to partner Ruben Castro up front; if pre-season has taught us anything, it is that the all-weather Castro is still the man with the Midas touch at Betis and will continue to star up front despite his advancing age. Charly Musonda was a fantastic addition on loan from Chelsea last year and he returns, with Spanish under-21 international Nahuel Leiva also recruited on loan from Villarreal to give Betis plenty of trickery in wide areas. Jonas Martinez and Felipe Gutierrez could occupy starting midfield roles after joining from Montpellier and FC Twente, while the defence has been supplemented by Aisa Mandi and Riza Durmisi. Those four were recruited for a combined sum of around 12 million euros; forget the seismic spending of the Premier League, that is big money for a club of Betis’ current mid-table standing in La Liga. We expect them all to be prominent, and young Jonas Martinez is particularly exciting after his great season in Ligue 1, but regulars from last year Joaquin and Dani Ceballos will feature conspicuously and will be important figures in bedding in the new faces. Poyet has never managed in Spain before so his tactical system will be immediately under the spotlight. He appears to have already stamped his authority on the club, though. Alfred N’Diaye, a player he cold-shouldered at Sunderland, was the first out of the door despite his solidity in the Verdiblanco midfield last year. If it is clarity they are looking for, they should get it from their new Uruguayan manager.