Inside the club is a series where write about a certain club and analyse them. Today I have picked Real Betis- a club from La Liga, who finished ninth last season.

Real Betis Balompié, S.A.D., more commonly referred to as Real Betis.or just Betis, is a Spanish football club based in Seville, in the autonomous community of Andalusia.

History

Real Betis was Founded on 12 September 1907, it plays in La Liga, having won the Segunda División in the 2014–15 season. It holds home games at Estadio Benito Villamarín in the south of the city.

Real Betis won the league title in 1935 and the Copa del Rey in 1977 and 2005. Given the club’s tumultuous history and many relegations, its motto is ¡Viva el Betis aunque pierda! (“Long live Betis even when they lose!”)

The name “Betis” is derived from Baetis, the Roman name for the Guadalquivir river which passes through Seville and which the Roman province there was named after. Real was added in 1914 after the club received patronage from King Alfonso XIII.

Academy

The cantera (quarry) of Spanish professional football club Real Betis is the organisation’s youth academy, developing players from childhood through to the integration of the best prospects into the adult teams.

The top football clubs in the Spanish leagues generally place great importance in developing their cantera to promote the players from within or sell to other clubs as a source of revenue, and Real Betis is no exception. Their youth recruitment network is focused around their home region of Andalusia, and in particular the Province of Seville, and there are collaboration agreements in place with small clubs in the region.

Betis face a battle with city rivals Sevilla to sign the best local prospects. As at senior level, over recent years Sevilla has been slightly superior to Betis, this has lead them to pick up slightly inferior players and because of that, they have not sold youth like the other teams in ligue. They have still produced some very good players like- Dani Ceballos, Fabián Ruiz and Junior Firpo in the last decade.

First Team Squad

Real Betis recently sacked Quique Setién, who played a highly attractive but ineffective style of game. Setién generally played a 3-4-3 whose main aim was to keep the ball and when lost to gain through high pressing. Fans quite liked this at the start but were frustrated when it did not give any end product. 

Rubi the Espanyol boss was appointed and he seems like a made in a match made in heaven for Real Betis. Sticking to the same kind of approach and capitalising on the same qualities of his players, primarily fast movement and good passing. However, he is just that slight amount more flexible and more adaptable, which will appease the fans who grew frustrated by Setien’s refusal to divert from his philosophy last season.

After two successful campaigns with Huesca, earning a promotion, and Espanyol, taking them to Europe, he will now inherit the squad of the highest quality yet. The potential for Rubi to perform well in Seville is huge and he will hope to benefit from the patience afforded to Setien before him.

Real Betis is certainly going to sell Giovani Lo Celso this window. Lo Celso was an integral cog in last seasons team, his  imminent exit has meant that Betis have been linked to Nabil Fekir for just 30 million euros, which is the best deal Betis could have got as although Fekir is very injury prone- he is just as a good player like Lo Celso and Betis are making at least a profit of 20 million of that deal.

Real Betis look like they are going to be very good next season and maybe finish in the top 6, they certainly have a very good coach to do so.