Manuel Pellegrini gave an extensive interview to the official Betis media in which he elaborated on the project he is leading at the Helipolitan entity for the upcoming season. His statements were as follows:
First hours: “We have been getting to know the entity, planning the preseason and trying not to distract the club in the games that remain, because winning is always important to end the season in the best possible way.”
Changes at Betis: “The sports results are one thing and the analysis of the club as an institution is another. There has been an important advance in the infrastructures and you cannot be a large club without their development. Everything is easier if you win, so it has much merit to be developed globally even though the results do not arrive. The foundations are fundamental in all the works, not only in soccer. If you only want to develop the soccer area to achieve punctual sports results, I think it is a way which in the long run is difficult to sustain. “
Negotiation: “For me, the conversation with the owners of the club was very important, because they are the ones who have to define the club line they want. I am happy to try to develop a project at Betis.”
Challenge: “Betis is a challenge that motivates me. I have a long career and I have lived through very different situations. I think that the Betis challenge is very similar to what I took on in Villarreal. I have never regretted the decisions I have made and I think that in Betis is laying the foundations to put the club where it deserves. No one celebrates a balance, the fans celebrate titles or be represented by what their team shows. It is my challenge. “
Template: “I think we all agree that Betis could have had better results than those obtained. Not only by squad, but by how many games have been given. But to those feelings you have to find your reason, rebel and find what is missing to win”.
Solutions: “In football everything is always falling apart. That is why I give so much importance to what is group leadership, being able as a coach to get the commitment of the group. Tactics and physicality are important, but uniting wills can be more Of course, good players have to arrive and particularly players who, due to their technical quality, ensure results “.
Defensive problems: “The defensive work belongs to all the players on the team. Everyone must be held accountable. Then there is individual performance, which can be good or bad for a year. The difference is that in the opposite area it defines quality and in trying to avoid danger with concentration. “
I lead: “The first thing is respect in the locker room and in the club. In everything that makes up the day-to-day life of a club. Second, commitment. One chooses a path, which is not the only one nor the true one, but it is the that is chosen and the one that needs the commitment of the player. And finally, the performance. “
Betis style: “There are many ways to win. I have always wanted to have teams with good ball treatment and aggressive, who create many occasions and who knows how to defend. The statistics are important. They do not reflect the essential, but if they say that to achieve objectives they cannot be to concede many goals because it is like that. The team has to know how to defend according to the situations. I can make a goal and put the eleven in the area, it is a way that I accept although I do not like it, but sometimes winning is all allowed “.
System: “I think that the system does not win, you win with the right players. Many times the system is blamed for defeats, but I think it is the player's performance that defines everything. The performance is going to be good or bad with a 4-4-2 or with a 4-3-3. It is not the system that wins a match, but the performance of a team and its players. “
Draft: “Betis is a club that has been growing and is demonstrated by facts. We will try to contribute all our experience to go hand in hand with that growth. Large teams, even if they win one year, start from scratch the following year. Every season we have to We should always consider taking a step forward to go in line with the size of the club. The bigger the institution, the more people want it to win. “
