Quique Setien

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Quique Setien (Enrique Setien Solar)





Current Club/Country: Real Betis.

Previous Clubs/Countries: Las Palmas, Lugo, Logrones, Equatorial Guinea, Poli Ejido, Racing Santander.



Honours: N/A.





Setien's Betis side play an extremely attacking and attractive style, very similar to the way Marcelo Bielsa had his Chile side set up. A 3-4-1-2, pressing high, looking to take the game to the opposition and beat them. It is exhilarating to watch, amongst the most entertaining football in Europe right now. At times it is the best to watch, even if it does not always bring the right results.



With a lack of money to spend, Setien has to work with what he is given and develop them into players that do the job the way he wants them to. He has to mould them, guide them and improve them, as he will not be given the funds to buy better unless he sells to bring in funds in the first place.



One of things he also does well is get the best out of players. A good case in point is Joaquin, one time future star who never reached his potential, now Betis captain and plays right-wing, right back and right wing back depending on what Setien needs from him. He usually gets something out of Joaquin that no one else has managed to do.



Unfortunately, one of the problems of a lack of money means that it is very difficult to judge his ability to change games through substitutions as he very rarely has the quality to bring on to alter them. However there have been occasions when he has made subs that have been game changers, but that could be down to luck rather than judgement due to its rarity.



Setien is a manager who rarely, if ever, varies from his attacking philosophy. His intent is to win every game, which can be seen in a couple of different ways, brave or naive, for instance. He does not have the pragmatism of some managers, he does not want to sit back and defend against stronger teams.



However his style is very precise, based in large part on his love for chess, which shows in his meticulous preparation for each match. Setien says he likes order and sets outs his team to dominate the centre, like a chess player does. In terms of possession, only Barcelona boasted a higher percentage than his teams have over the last couple of seasons.



Despite the high possession statistic, his teams are not afraid to move the ball forward quickly and go more direct at times. They are also very open at the back, conceding a lot of goals, far too many if anything. For someone so meticulous with his preparation, it is a serious wonder that his teams are so open at the back and concede so many.



Setien is not quite as inflexible as Sarri, for example, he does understand, much to his chagrin, that physicality is required as much as technique, leading to him to leave out Valeron at times when he managed him. However his intent is always the same, get the ball as quickly as possible, keep the ball away from the opponent and get it in the back of the net.



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