Guido Rodriguez joined Betis in 2020, shortly before the arrival of Manuel Pellegrini as manager, and as part of Pellegrini’s transformation of the club, he was a key player for us over the past four years. If you can identify one tactical change which literally transformed the fortunes of Betis from 2020 onwards, it was the adoption of the ‘double pivot’ defensive midfield system which has become a permanent feature of their style of play.
Guido thrived in his place as a defensive midfielder, alongside the vastly experienced Portuguese player William Carvalho, playing slightly more forward. Between them they provided a defensive stability and an assuredness to pass the ball around the pitch. Prior to Pelligrini’s arrival and the eventual adoption of this usual 4-2-3-1 system for most games, Betis were known in La Liga for leaking goals at an alarming, record-breaking rate.
As well as stopping Betis conceding goals, Guido also scored a sprinkling of goals himself over the past few seasons. He has a decent shot from about 20 yards out but it’s not something he’s counted on for.
Maybe he hasn’t got the attention of the more spectacular players in recent times, such as Joaquin, Canales or Fekir, but he was very much valued for his consistency and reliability to ‘do a job’ as a quality defensive midfielder. He can tackle, tidy up in front of defence, pick a short pass or spray a long, accurate ball upfield.
The Betis fans wanted Guido to stay, often singing ‘Guido, Quedate’ at games, when his future seemed up in the air. He apparently had a four-year contract which was allowed to ‘run out’ and I’m not sure if that was a desire on his part to leave and seek a new challenge, or a lack of effort on the part of Betis to renew it.
There was some disappointment therefore in the sense that we’d lost a quality player, and also potentially missed out on a considerable transfer fee. From another perspective however, after four years in charge, Manuel Pelligrini has clearly set about a policy of rejuvenating the squad as the club looks towards the future.
Guido has been a good servant for several seasons but, aged 30, maybe this was the optimum time to make a change, with several new, young energetic midfielders – Jonny Cardoso, Marc Roca, Sergei Altimira – all aged under 25, moving into the team and all capable of playing around that defensive midfield pivot with Carvalho.
Guido has joined other big names such as Canales, Guardado, William Jose and Pezzella who have all now moved on. There was a rumour and expectation that Guido already had a deal lined up, pretty much all sorted, to move to FC Barcelona.
When that appeared to fall through, it was a big surprise to see that he’d moved to West Ham, but the general feeling is you’ve got yourselves a terrific player for this season, and on a free transfer. Certainly, if the other signings the club have made all fall into place, you’ve improved your squad on last year.
Nevertheless he’ll always be remembered at Betis I think for being part of ‘that’ team that won the Copa del Rey in 2022 – only the club’s third ever Cup success in its 115 year history and the first win since 2005.
Will he be a success at West Ham? I sincerely hope so. I think the key is for the Hammers fans to be patient and allow him to adapt to the English league – it’s often a difficult transition at first from La Liga. But the other consideration I think is to keep playing him in that ‘double pivot’ role that he is so used to, alongside another quality player.
It all depends on Lopetegui’s plans for him in the team I guess. The Betis fans certainly wish him luck.
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