The influence football has over Spanish life is as apparent as the correlation between MC Hammer’s shuffle-heavy choreography and the sudden boom in the sale of parachute pants in the early 1990’s. Despite the tight grip futbol has on one of Europe’s most historically rich and intensely traditional countries, the beautiful game is hardly held aloft as a bastion of cultural brilliance. The sad truth is that very little culture exists within the game itself.
Players are not a typically well read bunch, and for the most part live quite shallow and vacuous lives away from the pitch, while fine art is hardly a common topic of conversation among the stalls at your average ground either: It’s hard to imagine David Villa and Sergio Busquets passionately discussing the finer points of Alexandre Dumas’ works for example, or to envision the likes of Florentino Pérez and José Mourinho debating over what relevance the poetry of WB Yeats holds nowadays. Enlightenment, it seems, holds no significance in the sport.
Well fortunately there are some sophisticated minds dwelling within this barbarous and boorish world. Among this small group of broad-minded individuals is Pepe Mel.
The current head coach at Real Betis and the man responsible for bringing the club back to the promised land of La Primera Liga is not only a revered coach, having gained promotion for both Betis (Seville’s “other team”) and Rayo Vallecano, but since last month is also a published author-and not in the sense that “David Beckham: My Side” makes Golden Balls one. Mel has written an actual novel. Using his brain!
“The Liar” (El Mentiroso) tells the tale of Cail, a downtrodden, bored-with-life millionaire who has a penchant for collecting antiques. Our hero comes across some very valuable manuscripts which cause him all sorts of problems, including getting on the Vatican’s bad side.
While my intermediate Spanish limits me to reading at a dyslexic snail’s pace, my immersion into the novel so far has left me quite impressed with the literary prowess of the erstwhile Real Madrid and Betis striker. The story doesn’t dilly dally around, taking off at a blistering pace, much like Betis’ start to this season: winning its first four matches in its return to the top flight.
Hopefully though, “The Liar” is able to sustain its high-octane, adrenaline fuelled start: unlike the Andaluz outfit, which now finds itself starring down the barrel of a six game losing streak-the worst run of form in the division.
So what has happened to los Béticos? While the Seville club doesn’t expect to be knocking either of the Gran Clásico teams off their perches at the summit of the table any time soon, worry is no doubt setting in on this young squad of players as they see themselves slip perilously closer and closer to the drop zone.
Maybe naivety is to blame. Just as winning can become a habit, so too can losing, and this relatively inexperienced group of players might have let their heads drop on the back of a few defeats. However, this is the same team that lost five matches on the bounce last season only to go on and win the league, so a shortage of mental strength is unlikely to be the cause of their current blight.
What’s more, Mel’s men did something unusual in their ascendancy from La Segunda: played well. The reality is that Betis has stuck to its guns and adhered to the manager’s philosophy of playing silky, attack-minded football but, for whatever reason, the results don’t seem to be coming of late.
Last Sunday against Santander for example, los Verdiblancos completely dominated away from home but couldn’t find the back of Toño’s net. They controlled the game in terms of possession and shots on goal but, as the old cliché goes, were to be punished for not taking their chances. The luck was to be with Racing when they were awarded a penalty during the second half, after a reckless challenge by José Isidoro. Christain Stuani converted the resulting spot kick, and Betis went home empty handed. Again.
This week rallying calls from within the Benito Villamarín by Mel and some players defiantly pointed to the misfortune the club has suffered results wise. In a press conference on Wednesday novelist Mel admitted to some of the team’s failings in the last half a dozen games, but overall highlighted it’s miserable luck, “We didn’t play well in the Bernabéu, in the first half against Getafe or against Espanyol, but we did in Santander, in the second half against Getafe and against Rayo and Levante. In the last six games we haven’t been inferior to anyone”.
This Saturday Betis takes on Málaga at home, hoping to finally end this rotten vein of form. It won’t be easy as Pelligrini’s side is itself just coming out of its own slump and will be eager to keep the momentum going, having beaten Espanyol last week.
Here’s hoping Mel can turn the page on this dreadful chapter in Betis’ season.
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