Reached the second league break and with the first third of the competition completed, in ElDesmarque we chat with Manuel Pellegrini of the course of Real Betis through the course. The coach of the verdiblanco team, from his usual serenity and authority which gives him his career and work, reflects on the progress of the Betic team.
Pellegrini points out what has been achieved throughout the year 2021, with European classification included, although he also looks at the last three results and what happened. With the pause that characterizes him, the Betis coach also refers to his template and supports your performance. Transfer market, competitiveness, the qualities of this Betis, the step to jump with the Champions teams… word of the Engineer.
-The third league break has arrived, what reflection do you make of this section of the season?
-A very positive reflection. Not only for the first stage but for the whole of 2021. They are eleven months of competition and the team knew how to get into Europe despite the fact that we had given enough advantage in the first lap. And during this football year we are fifth, when it was a great celebration to be sixth last year. In addition, we depend on us in Europe.
-Do you think the break is good for the team or would you have liked to retaliate for the last three defeats?
– I do not believe that results and stop will be united. After seven games in 20 days, it is not only the physical but the mental demand. Every two or three days you compete and there is a certain stress that it is good to stop.
-Are you afraid that the latest results will generate doubts or ghosts?
-I don’t know who generates the ghosts. We are clear that they have been three difficult games. I put the derby aside because it is very difficult to compete with one less player. Although we played against teams superior to us in budget and squad, we gave a bad image. It can happen to anyone. The campus is complete to resume the path. All teams have downturns and you have to know how to deal with them.
-Do you recognize any failure in your management that week?
-All the games I think I have been wrong, winning or losing. Nor can you change this from being good when you win and bad when you lose. Many times you play well and lose. In that you have to have a cool head, and review matches and performances. I would have liked to do everything differently. The important thing is to do better, it is part of this and you have to be open to opinions.
– Could an excessive euphoria have had a negative influence on what was done until the Atlético de Madrid game?
-I already told. After almost eleven months of generating a lot of excitement, the frustration was going to be greater. That week it was a jump to get closer to the Champions League, against two direct rivals for it. If an institution is made for the Champions League, the frustration is greater, if we look at it further in terms of budget and institution, the frustration is less. Ambition is good every Sunday but do not turn into frustration.
“The squad is ready to get back on track. All the teams have downturns and you have to know how to deal with them”, Pellegrini on the return after the break and the latest results
-With the squad you have, can this resource management be maintained, with an average of seven rotations each game?
-We are going to try, but we must also analyze what the changes are. LaLiga is a priority and Europe generates a lot of illusion, but you can fall in the second round and then nobody remembers. LaLiga takes its toll and there the changes are usually two or three. Rotations can be done if performance is good.
– Are you still thinking about what you said in August about the squad?
-We have a template according to the objectives. Surely with more budget we would have better players. The squad must be supported by technicians, fans and managers. It is eleven months that we are showing the ability to play in Europe. Now with more load it will be more difficult but it is consistent and competitive within the most feasible. We remain ambitious.
-What would be the Letter to the Kings of Pellegrini for the winter market?
-It’s going to be difficult for us to bring someone. The squad is complete and balanced. Alternatives always arise especially if sales occur. We have until the end of December but the idea is to keep it except for something very special.
-If you were given the option of a single signing between a Ceballos-type player and a physically powerful central defender, what would you choose?
-I’m not going to talk about names or positions. We will have to evaluate at the end of December. If we continue well, there is no need to change. The sports department always has names. I give my full support to the squad and hopefully it will last until the end of the season because they have earned it on the court.
– Having seen what you’ve seen, do you think you might lack physicality or speed?
-The evaluation of the summer and winter markets have nothing to do with each other. We will see it in due course. Something like this is not possible now in December.
-Betis complies with equal or inferior rivals but is falling before superiors, do you see that more step possible?
-Would be ideal. Last week we tried to make a leap from the Champions League, but we couldn’t, due to the load of matches and circumstances. Last season’s games were even against those rivals except for Barcelona. We did not take that leap for now but there is a football reality that prevails throughout a championship. I’d rather beat the others a hundred times and qualify for Europe than win those games and then be on the decline. Maintaining regularity is much more important than having a punctual result.
-A person close to you points out that if he could, he would play with ten midfielders and a goalkeeper. Your Betis plays well, do you understand that this can collide with competitiveness and fang or poison in games like the derby or Leverkusen?
-The most important thing is to have a mix of everything, intensity, game and quality. In Europe, except for West Ham, I always qualified my teams for Europe. There is an idea in every technician. You have to choose one and then there are variants. For me, the less you lose the ball, the better. I like direct possessions towards the opposite field. My teams play well and score goals, if we also had that bite we would be the best team in the world. You can go against it and win LaLiga. With all systems you can win. I have been out of Chile for 22 years, it is a path that I try to take as best as possible. Criticism is accepted and I try to learn every day.
-The defensive capacity of the team has improved, can the mentality of the group and players be improved so that there are fewer gross individual errors?
-Football is successes and mistakes. There is the team spirit and the coordination work between the lines, and then the individual comes along. And I think that it is the decisive thing putting it in the game of the group. The other teams also make mistakes. We came from a defense that was receiving more than 60 goals and we lowered it to 50. If we lowered it to 40 it will be excellent. There is that thorn and it would be better to lower it but it happens in all of them. For now we are on the right track, we would have liked those mistakes not to be made but it is part of football. It happened to Atlético de Madrid the other day, who came back in two minutes. I don’t want to imagine if it happened to us … Globally, if we drop goals and meet real goals, the path is correct.
-Betis has ostensibly improved in competitiveness, is the mental aspect what you insist on the most?
-Yes, one has to have team spirit for each game. Critical but supportive with the partner. That is in individual performance, that each one leaves the maximum, not feeling inferior to anyone. When we analyze this Betis, if we go to the individual there will be criticisms, but in general we lost less than anyone in Europe. You have to be tolerant. We look for that competitive mentality every day and that as a habit is carried to the games. Training relaxed and competing well on Sunday cannot be achieved.
-The Engineer’s Plan is a phrase that the fans have made famous, do you feel your affection with events like that?
-Out of that phrase, I feel the affection of people every day. I thank the Betis fan and the people of Seville. I am very happy personally. I always want more, I am never satisfied with what was done. It will not change my self-demand. And every day you have to improve.
“I would like to leave Betis as a solid institution with continuous work,” explains Pellegrini about the future and his work
-Now that you are inside, have you been surprised by the size of the club?
-I knew the size of Betis but from the inside one realizes how big it is. We have a great illusion to give joy to that hobby, to compete with the greatest. Hopefully there is a long-term plan to make Betis stable in the fight for European places.
– Controversy has been generated around the behavior of part of the fans in the derby, what do you think?
-For every player, backing is very important, that’s why the environment has to be important. The frustration I can understand. For me, analyzing a game with one less is unreal. You had to be smart and keep results. Against a Champions League team and a much bigger budget if you think you can win with one less… It was the first part of equality, Claudio barely intervened, we were able to draw then with one less and then the own goal came. The fans have to have understanding. Last season’s Eibar day we hit rock bottom and the disappointment is understandable. The derby is a special game, the fans were waiting for it, they have not beaten the eternal rival for many years, but I am sure that we have them with us supporting us as always.
-We are facing the most even LaLiga in recent years, can there be a real change in the hegemony of the three so-called greats?
-I liked looking at the table a week before… it is an ambition that we will always encourage. I think that with the departure of Messi and Cristiano LaLiga has lost a lot. Other important players have left, but the two of them maintained a big difference in favor of LaLiga. Atlético matched it by bringing in great players. All this allowed LaLiga to win the Champions League and the Europa League permanently. The Premier is the most attractive but the best football is here. With the departure of those two players, those two teams have become more in the common league. We came from many leagues close to 100 points. With Villarreal with 77 we would have been champion six times in the last. The economic gap has come a little closer. Let’s see if LaLiga remains complete. The teams no longer reach 90 points and that makes it more competitive, it evens out and not all the players go to the same two teams. We will see in May if it is a reality.
-What is the dream to fulfill at Betis?
-Many dreams to fulfill with Betis. Win the next game, make the institution grow. I arrived in a moment complicated, years ago they spent 100 million, and there was a different reality that had to be faced and it is everyone’s credit. I would like with continuous work to leave Betis as a solid institution, with the example of Villarreal. Hopefully it happens.
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