Analysis: Why Manuel Pellegrini’s latest portrait at Real Betis stands out | OneFootball

It’s true that Manuel Pellegrini has become more famed for his vintage Kappa tracksuit number in recent years, but picture the Chilean manager in younger days. Think rollneck, pleated slacks and a bohemian haircut that belongs to contemporaries Ricky Villa or Mario Kempes. You’re still in a well-to-do neighbourhood, over-populated with dogs too small to be descended from wolves, and bars too spacious for the number of clients they ingest.

Pellegrini made his name in the early 2000s, and his finest work, a Diego Forlan, a Juan Roman Riquelme or even the Marcos Senna, hang in pride of place in Madrid’s Reina Sofia museum, amongst the Picassos and Dalis. His more recent exhibitions are on display in a more modest space, but those who make the trip, do so specifically to see him, and the old master continues to produce pieces that may not be avant-garde, but still hold their own next to anyone in the business.

Image via Guioteca

The most recent piece to be mounted never fails to draw the eye though, whether the spectator combines their wine with hubris or a soft drink. Pellegrini has built a reputation on rehabilitating football’s misunderstood and under-loved talents, perhaps the finest and most high-profile example being Isco Alarcon. Collectors will remind that Sergio Canales, Giovani Lo Celso and Ayoze Perez were all part of the oeuvre before Antony made headlines again. Yet there is something irresistible about the current image of Pablo Fornals.

Always talented, never tall but of square, sturdy dimensions, Fornals has wrestled with inconsistency throughout his career. Not quite credited with the same nous as a Canales or an Isco, he’s frequently been placed out wide, and accordingly, operated in the margins. At best, he has played off the striker. Many a manager has appreciated his quality, but few have ever depended on him.

Until the second half of last season, when Pellegrini, encouraged by results against weaker opposition in the Conference League, decided to trust him in La Liga, which as the Chilean never fails to remind the press, is the bread and butter. Often operating in a deeper two, this year Fornals is not just being used centrally, he is the focal point. As Juan Ramon Lara succinctly puts it, he defends like a holding midfielder, and attacks like an attacking midfielder, and finding someone that does both well, is well, a billionaire’s pursuit.

“[Pellegrini] is an old-school coach, as they say. He manages the squad very well, gives the players a lot of freedom, and tries to keep everyone involved: lots of rotation, helping out, a few tactical adjustments, especially in defence. And up front, freedom for the players,” one of Fornals’ revolving cast of midfield partners, Sergi Altimira, says of Pellegrini.

Partido de liga Sevilla fc Betis Antonio Pizarro/Diario de Sevilla

Ringing especially true in Seville, Altimira’s words perfectly tally with the resurrection of Isco, Lo Celso, Canales, Fekir, Antony – you get the point. Fornals has the vision, the delicacy of touch, to fit that mould of an old-school playmaker. Finding space for his ability on the ball to flourish is what Pellegrini does best. What stands out, is Pellegrini making him potent without it. With Isco and Lo Celso out injured, Johnny Cardoso at Atletico Madrid, and new signing Nelson Deossa still working when and where to do the things he’s good at, Fornals has become the engine of his team.

Ranking in the top 6% of La Liga midfielders for progressive passes, 6th in Europe’s big five leagues and 8th for shot-creating actions (B5Ls), Betis’ range of artillery has been living on the the platform provided by Fornals. Those are just three of a handful of statistics that make perfect sense of Fornals’ first Spain cap in over four years last month.

Yet last weekend’s Seville derby was the perfect protrait of the slogging, grappling, scuffler that Fornals has become. The responsibility he had the talent to take on, he now has the edge for. Sid Lowe called him the ‘new king of Betis’ after his winner in the second half, and naturally the focus is on his jinking run, cruising past slalom poles Cesar Azpilicueta and Jose Angel Carmona. Before it, the transformation was there for all to see in bright lights on Seville’s biggest stage. Hunting down Baptiste Mendy, who for the record is 15kg heavier than Fornals, bumped him off balance, and stole the ball from right under his nose.

“I don’t know if my kids saw it, but tomorrow I’ll tell them the tale. I’ve watched the replay several times since, because I remembered stealing the ball from their midfielder, but not the cuts and all that” – and all that. “Anyway, it was really beautiful,” Fornals clarified.