I've said this before, but one of the most reassuring things about Pepe Mel is that he has invariably watched the same game as us. That was true again last night, which is probably why he looks so depressed in the video of his post-match press conference. "We were monumentally lethargic," he admitted. "Rayo won because they were better. We've got no excuses...It was a bad game and we deserved to lose."
Asked about the apparent nervousness in defence, he said: "It does worry me - we've got a lot of work to do. What's odd is that the five at the back today are the same as last year. We didn't defend well, we didn't stop the counter-attacks and we were very indecisive. On top of that, whenever we won the ball we seemed to give it away again straightaway."
And Fabricio's jitters in particular? "You'd have to ask him about that." Ouch.
I should point out that Mel himself has come in for plenty of criticism from fans today. Rayo's impressive coach Paco Jémez opted for an innovative 3-6-1 formation that swamped midfield with bodies and had Beñat and Cañas chasing shadows all evening but the Betis coach declined to, for example, bring on Salva Sevilla or Nono to counter this problem. The home side's 4-4-2 looked very one-dimensional throughout.
Some more thoughts...
l Apparently a scout from Wolfsburg was in the stands having another look at Beñat. He probably wouldn't have been too impressed. Despite making the first goal and almost scoring with a header (!), the Betis No. 10 had one of those games where he seemed to run out of steam long before the end and generally looked something less than a €15million midfielder. It's hard to believe this could be true of a modern-day footballer, but Beñat really does seem to have the kind of physique that needs three or four months' playing time before he's fit enough to last the full 95 minutes. He was substituted in Bilbao and might have been again yesterday if Amaya hadn't come on at half-time for Paulao.
l Ay, Fabricio - what's up, mate? It just goes to show what a strange thing confidence is. When he took over between the sticks in February, one of his prime attributes was that he simply radiated self-belief, but last night the Betis keeper looked like he didn't know which way was up. The best thing we can say is that at least Pepe Mel doesn't even have a decision to make - Casto, who played well in pre-season by all accounts, will be back in goal for the Atleti game, giving Fabricio a chance to get his game together in training.
If he needs any inspiration, perhaps he might consider watching the video of Murcia's 2-3 win at Sporting Gijón yesterday. One Javi Matilla, last seen looking completely lost in the Betis midfield and sent on loan to Murcia in the summer, scored a great goal and was apparently sensational in his side's creditable victory. The point is, it can all come back as quickly as it vanished.
l Ditto Javi Chica. The hugely likeable right-back has apparently had to shut down his Twitter account due the amount of abuse he received after last night, which is obviously a really sad state of affairs. He didn't have the best day at the office, but no-one deserves that (and least of all him).
l The official attendance last night was 29, 213, below 30,000 for the first time since Betis were promoted. Plenty of people will have been away on holiday but it's still true that the club are going to have to get creative with their pricing if they're going to get crowds in the upper-30,000s. The cheapest walk-up seats last night were €35, which is probably about double what they should be.
l Before the game, not one but two enormous banners were unfurled to commemorate the passing of important figures in the club. From Fondo (opposite the main stand) the guys behind Betisweb hung a tribute to Alfonso Jaramillo and Antonio Picchi (both important directors who died in the summer), plus ex-president Benito Villamarín (after whom the stadium is named), while another in front of Gol Sur paid homage to Jaramillo, Picchi and, of course, Miki Roqué (who was remembered loudly before the game and after 26 minutes of both halves).
l Has anyone else noticed that "improvement" doesn't always mean things getting better? In the summer it was announced that Betis had dispensed with the services of Manuel Melado, a Seville barber who took over the PA announcer's job 15 years ago and had become a bit of a lengend with his cry of "Béticos del universo..." and habit of inventing corny little rhymes for his favourite players. The new guy might remember to say the sponsors' names in all the right places, but he sounds depressingly like he could have been flown in from any sports stadium in the world. I miss Señor Melado already (and not just because he once gave me a very decent €13 haircut).
l It's true that there were plenty of catcalls and whistles in the stadium last night, but I got the impression that it's still too early in the season for proper despondency. Fans meeting up with friends after the game were mostly rolling their eyes, shrugging and then laughing. Perhaps my favourite reaction, though, was from the bloke my wife and I passed on the way home. He'd just lit a joint and was playing flamenco guitar music loudly on his phone while he blew fragrant smoke rings into the warm night air. He probably had things in their proper perspective.
Both pics from the Betisweb gallery of photos from the game.
