With nearly every team in La Liga still involved in European qualification or the relegation battle, Monday night’s final game of the weekend between Real Betis and Espanyol appeared to be a rare case of an irrelevant mid-table meeting.
And although it’s true that the two teams – tied on 44 points after a 1-1 draw secured by Morocco defender Zouhair Feddal’s 94th-minute equaliser for the hosts at Estadio Benito Villamarin – are safe from relegation with only a slim chance of climbing into the top seven, the game carried plenty of significance for under-pressure Betis boss Quique Setien.
Just a few months ago, the 60-year-old was being widely touted as the next big thing in the Spanish coaching world.
A strong start to the season including a sparkling victory at Barcelona made Betis the hipster’s team du jour, and Setien was hailed as the ultimate purist, a devoted purveyor of sexy football whose adherence to passing football made Pep Guardiola look like a long ball merchant.
In the last few weeks, though, the wheels have fallen off and now Setien, never mind being lured by Barcelona or a top continental club, is in stark danger of being fired.
The problems started in February, when Betis suffered a quickfire pair of cup exits as they were beaten in the Copa del Rey semi-final by Valencia and the Europa League by Rennes. Those double blows also affected their league form, and Betis fans soon started to turn against Setien as the team plummeted down the table.
This is what Sergio Canales said after #LevanteRealBetis 💬📼▶ pic.twitter.com/CM3A5kvdQX
— Real Betis Balompié (@RealBetis_en) April 25, 2019
The nadir was reached last Wednesday, when Betis crashed to a humiliating 4-0 loss against a Levante side who had previously slipped into the relegation zone with a run of eight games without victory, and Setien’s team have now won just three of their last 16 games in all competitions.
That slide in form was dramatic enough to force Betis into releasing a statement to confirm they will not fire Setien before the end of the season, but will determine his future in the summer.
Many fans have made up their minds already: they want him out. And it’s easy to understand that point of view, because the team’s loss of form really has been alarming and Setien has been far too dogmatic, sticking by his passing principles no matter what and lacking the flexibility to change the team’s approach when his preferred methods are not working.
On the other side of the coin, though, those fans could be accused of overreacting to excessive expectations generated by the success Setien enjoyed during his first season, when he led Betis to their highest finish in La Liga since 2005.
Although Betis have invested relatively heavily to add some real quality to the squad, especially in midfield with the additions of William Carvalho and Gio Lo Celso, they are still lacking in other areas – notably the centre of defence and in attack, where the lack of a genuine goalscorer (the team’s main striker, Loren Moron, only has five league goals) has badly handicapped the team’s overall effectiveness.
Quique Setien
Considering the resources at his disposal, mid-table is probably just about where Betis should be, and dismissing Setien after a moderate but by no means disastrous season would be harsh.
But the feeling is that the tide has turned against him, and last week’s club statement appeared to put the ball in the players’ court: if you want to be led by this man next season, they have been told, you’ve got four games to prove it.
Monday night’s dramatic finale could yet convince the club’s hierarchy to stick with their man. At least they didn’t repeat the dross served up at Levante last week, as Setien could be history if they did.
