“I like order. It is fundamental. Chess and football are similar, the pieces are connected to attack and defence. It is vital to dominate the centre of the board.” -Quique Setién

for a coach that likens football to chess, it makes perfect sense that Quique Setién implements a style of play based around patience and positional discipline. His Real Betis side are the epitome of this philosphy and prove that good football isn’t exclusively for the elite. And after a good 6th placed finish last season, they will be looking to improve even further.

Offensive Organisation

By far the most impressive aspect of Betis’ play is their ability to construct positional attacks and break down compact defences despite lacking the technical proficiency of a top team.

They have lined up in a nominal 3-5-2 in each of their opening three games this season but with slight tweaks in each. The things that have remained constant are the use of a back three of Zouhair Feddal, Marc Bartra and Aissa Mandi in front of new signing Pau Lopez in goal. The use of a staggered midfield three has also been a feature of each three games. Carvalho acts as a single pivote betwen the opponent’s first and second lines while another midfielder supports slightly further ahead (all though sometimes dropping onto the same line), while the third midfielder plays between the second and last line. Guardado started in the advanced midfield position in the opening game against Levante while Canales was the supporting player — but since then they have swapped positions to good effect with Canales’ needle play between the lines being a crucial aspect of their play. This midfield dynamic is how they “dominate the centre of the board”, as Setién puts it.

Junior Firpo has also started every game at left wing-back with Francis and Tello having both played on the right. Loren Moren has offered a focal point up top in each game while the supporting striker has either been Ryad Boudebouz or Takashi Inui.

The example lineup above was used in Betis’ away game at Alavés. Guardado (number 18) dropped very deep and almost created a double pivote with Carvalho (number 14).

Buildup play

Betis have a commitment to playing out from the back that is very much ahead of their status, but are also flexible enough to play longer passes depending on the situation. Their most common buildup structure involves the wide centre-backs dropping deep on the edge of the box and offering horizontal options to Pau Lopez while the central defender, Marc Bartra, positions himself at the top of the box. The wing-backs then provide width, the strikers provide depth and the midfield trio provides moderate support. This is a standard buildup system for the 3-5-2 and offers several methods of playing out from the back. Lopez can play to one of the central defenders if available (the wider ones often are due to their depth), or if the opposition press high, this may open the window for chipped balls to free men in midfield or on the flank.

Betis also used a 4-3-3 buildup structure against Sevilla which created some interesting patterns of play in the first phase. Despite using a 3-5-2 in this game, Setién instructed left wing-back Junior to play deeper while the centre-backs shifted across and created a situational back four in buildup. This was probably to protect against Jesus Navas’ threat down the right side for Sevilla. Due to the lack of a third centre-back at the top of the box, the midfield naturally had to drop deeper to support Pau Lopez centrally. This opened space for the situational front three further up the pitch (now consisting of Inui, Loren and Tello) which allowed Lopez to play it long and immediately create favourable situations in the final third. This gave Betis a diverse range of buildup options, spanning most of the pitch.

They do play themselves into trouble on occasion by losing the ball in the defensive third, but playing out from the back is ultimately an important part of their positional game.

Progression to the final third and chance creation

Like any good possession based side, Betis have a number of options when it comes to breaking down defences after the initial buildup phase.

One way has been the ability to get the advanced midfielder free between the opposition defensive and midfield lines. The staggering of the midfield gives relative freedom to this player and allows them to advance high up the pitch while still being supported by and connected with deeper players. The positioning of the strikers is also important. Particularly in the Levante game, the two centre-forwards positioned themselves between the centre-back and the full-back, tying up the entire back four. This meant that if the midfield could be penetrated, the attacking midfielder would find himself in space and unopposed. Canales is particularly lethal when placed in these positions due to his needle play and passing range.

The one problem, however, is that Betis sonetimes struggle to get the ball into these spaces. Carvalho especially can be sloppy at times and lacks the technical ability (or bravery?) to play line breaking passes from the pivote role. This leads to more focus on another big playmaker for Betis: the wing-backs.

Quique Setién’s side faced narrow 4-4-2s in their opening two games (and to some degree the third) and this has opened significant spaces out wide for the wing-backs — most notably Junior Firpo. Balls straight out wide from the centre-backs or Carvalho or long diagonals have been surprisingly successful in advancing the team and creating opportunities to cross. This, however, is even more successful when the ball is played to players between the lines before being bounced out wide. These movements naturally cause a collapse of the opposition structure and allow the wing-backs to receive in large amounts of space and with the possibility to drive diagonally inward and cross or cut back from nearer the 18 yard box.

Another prevalent aspect of Betis’ play is the aggression of the outside centre-backs and in particular Zouhair Feddal. The half space is a good area to perform driving runs forward because it is less congested than central areas and unlike the wide spaces, offers passing options to either side. This creates good conditions for Betis’ wider central defenders to drive forward and disorganise the opposition’s defensive shape.

The partner of Loren Moron in the front two has varied the Betis approach further up the pitch. Boudebouz tends to drop deeper and overload the midfield while Inui looks to make runs in behind.

The Sevilla game brought many new patterns to the Betis play and is worth an entire article in itself. Like I’ve already mentioned, Junior played much deeper in this game due to the threat of Navas and this created back four buildup structures and generally more lopsided formations further up the pitch. This deeper positioning of the left wing-back was balanced by the much more offensive positioning of Tello at right wing-back. He would push up and often be in line with the front two and Mandi at right centre-back would shift across and support from deeper. Canales from attacking midfield and various other plays would also make ball oriented shifts to the right and create triangles on the flank. This heavy right sided focus created some interesting near side combinations and break throughs. It also opened the door for switch balls to the underloaded far side, all though this was less common due to the more conservative positioning of Junior.

Transition Management

A very clear indicator of the way a team intends to play is their behaviour in transition phases. Betis are passive in the attacking transition and aggressive in the defensive transition. This allows them to dominate possession and execute their positional play to it’s maximum potential.

Upon winning the ball, Betis are happy to counter quickly if the option is there, but if the situation is sub-optimal they will simply keep possession calmly and establish their positional structure. We saw this aspect of their play in the game against Alavés where they would put the brakes on any counter in which they were in numerical inferiority.

Their behaviour in the defensive transition couldn’t be more different. Their structure immediately collapse around the ball in an aggressive counterpress that looks to cut space off for the ball winner. They don’t implement this with the consistency of a team like Liverpool but there have been clear signs at their intents to counterpress, especially in the two home games.

Another important aspect of the defensive transition is having a good rest defence (referring to how the positioning of players not directly involved in the attack during the attacking phase helps in the defensive transition). Because Betis play with a back three, they will almost always outnumber the team trying to counter-attack them. But they have had problems with spacing, particularly between the defensive and midfield lines. This caused them problems against Levante, a game in which they conceded three goals off counter-attacks.

A range of defensive reference points

Real Betis have organised themselves in a few different defensive shapes. They have used a 5-3-2 with the wing-backs slotting back or a 5-4-1 with the supporting striker dropping into midfield or sometimes more of a 5-2-3 with the attacking midfielder pushing up to join the front two. When in this mid or deep block, they apply light pressure to the ball and look to keep their shape.

If the opponent is playing out from the back, Betis will sometimes trigger a man oriented pressing move in which they push up onto each opposition player trying to play out in their defensive third.

These man orientations are mirrored in all set piece situations including opposition goal kicks. Even on corners they are entirely man oriented with no players on the posts or outside the box. This means they have complete coverage of the opposition and have the potential to spring counters on an over committed opponent, but the lack of an outlet ball means they can find themselves hemmed in and having to face 3-4 consecutive corners.

In-game tweaks from Setién

As well as setting up his team very intelligently, Quique Setién has also showed an ability to read the game and make erudite changes mid match.

One example is his decision to bring Canales back from his attacking midfield role to a supporting position, almost in a double pivote alongside Guardado in the game against Alavés. Carvalho and Guardado were struggling to progress play and create from deep so Setién decided to introduce Canales’ needle play and passing ability to deeper zones so that Betis could advance to the final third more consistently. The side improved as a result and were much more penetrative.

In the most recent game at home to Sevilla, the away side were reduced to ten men and dropped into a deep 5-3-1. Junior was finally able to push high up the pitch and Betis took control of the game. But the question was how to break them down. Setién decided to bring on the aerial threat of club legend Joaquín to play in attacking midfield. Within minutes the substitute scored the winning goal by drifting into the box unnoticed and heading home.

Conclusion

Real Betis are one of the most interesting teams in Spain — and all of Europe for that matter. Their commitment to positional play and flexible approach to defence is commendable, even if they are shaky at times.

Quique Setién is the perfect fit for Lorenzo Serra Ferrer’s ambitious project. If Betis continue improving and developing their own distinct style, they could become one of LaLiga’s top teams.