FM22: ¡Viva el Betis manque pierda!
I think it is fair to say that the southern Spanish region of Andalusia has played a pretty significant role in the country’s footballing history, hosting some of it’s most important moments.
In 1889 it was the birthplace of the first-ever club, Real Club Recreativo de Huelva. In 1890 it hosted the first-ever official match and in 1915 it hosted the first ever Seville derby between Sevilla FC and Real Betis Balompié.
Located along the west bank of the Guadalquivir river lies the neighbourhood of Triana, Triana and Betis go almost hand in hand. Betis is derived from Baetis, the Roman name for the city’s Guadalquivir river which flows through Seville and after which the Roman province was subsequently named.
The neighbourhood itself is also a source of great controversy, it is cited by many Béticos as the cause of an internal split at city rivals Sevilla which led to the formation of their own club in a dispute contested by their neighbours.
Betis are a fundamental part of the nation’s football fabric yet despite holding such a prominent role in the history of the Spanish game, Betis have only been crowned champions of Spain once (1935) and have lifted the Copa del Rey twice (1977 & 2005).
La Liga 2021/22
The above map shows where the teams within La Liga are situated across the peninsula. You will note that many are clustered together, this is due to Spain being made up of 17 autonomous communities.
Andalucia: Betis, Cadiz, Granada and Seville
Basque Country: Athletic Bilbao, Deportivo Alaves, Real Sociedad and Osasuna
Balearic Islands: Mallorca
Catalonia: Barcelona and Espanyol
Galicia: Celta Vigo
Madrid: Getafe, Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid and Vallecano
Murcia: Elche
Valencia: Levante, Valencia and Villarreal
I will look to cover the objectives of the save in my next post, however given the fact that Seville sit 70 places above Betis in the UEFA Club Coefficients one of the objectives of the save will absolutely be to attempt to make Betis the leading club within Andalucia.
Why Los Verdiblancos?
Real Betis Balompié stand for Andalusia and Spain, from the club badge to the kit of which the colours of green and white hold reference to the Andalusian flag and the clubs origins/roots.
It is indisputable that there is a base for Betis to become a leading club in Spain and make a lasting, meaningful impact in European competition.
The Stadium — A stadium is the face a club wishes to present of itself, the home of Real Betis, Estadio Benito Villamarín — has undergone heavy refurbishment, with its 60,000 capacity making it the nation’s fourth-biggest stadium.
The Fanbase — Betis has a passionate fanbase and in the 2017/18 season, Betis broke the 50,000 barrier of season ticket sales for the first time in their history and increased this to over 55,000 the following year.
Betis also had the fourth-largest volume of ‘interactions’ across its social media pages (a key measurement for attracting sponsorship) in Spain, behind only Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atlético de Madrid. Notably, they had over twice the numbers generated of the side next on the list: Valencia.
If the above infrastructure wasn’t enough, the club is also home to one of my all time favourite players, Joaquín Sánchez Rodríguez, simply known as Joaquín.
Joaquin would come to define Los Verdiblancos in the 21st century and establish himself as arguably the most emblematic player in the club’s distinguished history.
Despite recently turning 40 the Spaniard had no intentions of hanging up his boot during the pandemic. Joaquin stated “I would like to retire with the fans in the stands, as I want to invite football fans to attend my final match at the Estadio Benito Villamarin.”
It would be immense if Magnus Steinkelsson could provide Betis’ all-time record appearance holder with one last hurrah to close off his magnificent career.
The Club
The club vision and expectations set out the scene for the initial direction of the save. The board would like to play a brand of attacking football, something which lets face it we all look to implement within the game.
The second point is surrounding the development of players within the clubs youth system. I feel this culture has something more to do with the clubs financial position, rather than it’s reputation for developing talent from within, with only Joaquin and Rodri learning their trade from within Betis’ youth system (Quarry).
A twenty year payment plan has been set up with the state in order to repay the initial loan of £51m, when looking into the finance projection the balance is set to decrease year on year, hence the need to adhere with the five year plan of working within the wage budget.
The Squad
As with the start of any FM save, one of the first tasks you should conduct as a manager is a thorough squad analysis. This year I opted to deviate away from the A4 notepad and ranking of players per position (1st choice, 2nd choice and youth prospect) and followed a good friends (@THEFMACADEMY1) approach, which he has documented in his blog article How to Guide — Squad Analysis
What did this analysis show me that the in-game squad comparison couldn’t?
50% of the squad (15/30) are big game players, breaking this down even further to my preferred starting eleven this percentage increases even higher to a whopping 73%.
I have a relatively short side who aren’t particularly good in the air, this will aid my tactic planning (which I will cover in a further blog), opting to defend wide to force the opponent through the middle.
Edgar at 193cm (6’3") is the tallest player within my side and despite his average attributes and a 2.5 star current ability, he is someone who I could look to call from if the opponent is providing an aerial threat.
The analysis also goes a long way to aiding what player roles I should look to use by taking a deep dive into the player traits.
Looking at the negatives, I am carrying a few players (Ruiz, Bartra, Guardado, Canales and Ruibal) who are injury prone.
Key Players
We all know the importance of a solid spine and the players identified below should absolutely make the difference between a successful season and a failure.
Victor Ruiz
Despite being 32 years of age, the Spaniard is fundamental to the possession based football which I am looking to implement at Betis.
Why? Tom Worville from The Athletic wrote an excellent piece back in September 2020 which explained why left-footed centre-backs are so in demand.
In summary the benefits surrounded improved passing angles and trajectories, which impacted metrics such as passes into the final third and progressive passes.
Making the left-right combination essential for teams that are hyper-focused on building out from defence.
Ruiz is the only left-footed centre-back within the first team squad, therefore making him a key player.
Guido Rodriguez
Signed from America in Mexico back in 2019/20, Steinkelsson will look to Guido to protect the defensive line from breaking attackers by closing them down (Anticipation 16, Tackling 18, Positioning 17 and Work Rate 15). He will also look to hold onto the ball to relieve the defensive unit after periods of sustained pressure (First Touch 15 and Decisions)
Nabil Fekir
At 27-years of age the Frenchman is entering his prime and will be the catalyst to igniting the side in the final third. Fekir will operate from the role of an attacking midfielder, allowing him the freedom to operate higher up the pitch and use his technical skills to fashion chances for himself and others (Technique 17, Dribbling 16, Passing 16, Flair 16 and Vision 16).
I hope the first part of my FM22 main save introduction has left you with a taster of what is to come, my next post leading up to the main release date and start of the save will cover tactics, squad depth and the save objectives.
I am planning on documenting the save via two platforms, blogs will be covering bigger pieces whilst those of you who are keen to follow activity in minutiae can also pick up goings on via the SI Forum.
I also have a Discord channel if people are keen to discuss all things FM, we have a great community within the channel and always welcome new additions.
I hope you all enjoy following the save as much as I intend to do so playing!
