The coach of Betis, Manuel Pellegrini , gives great importance to the figure of the Argentine 5 in his idea of ​​the game . That footballer who plays ahead of the defense to provide more defensive security and balance to the center of the field, and in the case of the Verdiblancos, that function is performed by Guido Rodriguez , who convinced the Engineer from the outset due to the similarities that the Chilean sees with respect to a player much to his liking, Javier Mascherano (football nicknamed Little Boss).
The coach of the Heliopolis team has high regard for the former Argentine soccer player , whose qualities he sees reflected in Guido, who could well be defined as the Little Boss of a Betis in which he has become a fundamental piece for everything he contributes on the pitch in terms of dedication, ambition and fight. Very important aspects for the coach born in Santiago de Chile within his way of understanding soccer.
The common link between Mascherano and Guido Rodriguez is River Plate, a club in which both were trained and with which they made the leap to professional football. It all started in the stage in which Pellegrini directed the Millionaire (2002-03 season). Then, the Chilean decided to remove him from the lower categories to make him debut in the elite of Argentine soccer on August 3, 2003 in a match that River Plate won at his stadium against Nueva Chicago (2-1) and in which he played the minutes endings. Such was Mascherano’s worth to Pellegrini that he did not hesitate to make him return from the U20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates to play the second leg of the 2003 South American Cup final against Cienciano, after in the first leg, in the Monumental, the match ended in a three-way tie. In the second leg, the Peruvian team won 1-0 and took the title.
But the relationship between Pellegrini and Mascherano did not end there, and during the Betis coach’s stage in China, at Hebei Fortuna , he opted for the Argentine, who became an important pillar. “Mascherano is a leader and I am very interested in him coming,” Pellegrini said days before Mascherano’s arrival. And it is precisely this capacity for leadership, to give everything on the field, to supply with character and grit certain technical limitations in handling the ball, that the Engineer also highlights over Guido, in whom he sees a reflection of Mascherano’s characteristics. .
“We were talking about the demands of a coach towards the players, and we all have a ceiling, which exists. We cannot pretend that Guido Rodriguez is Busquets. He has his characteristics, one knows what he can give. He is an example of a player who gives in the games as close to his maximum. That is transmitted, a series of personality factors on the field. Paul has to learn the same thing, who has extremely high technical conditions, and other players have to learn it, which is to give the maximum. In my career I have had the fortune of directing many players of the highest quality, that demand outside the greats, such as Cristiano, I have not seen anyone like Javier Mascherano. There is no training that has delivered everything, speaking, demanding, making mistakes… Both Javier and Guido have some technical limitations, but they absolutely replace them with dedication, with personality, they are absolute leaders to copy them. Who is the best soccer player
That kind of player. Guido, who is also from River, would have had the opportunity to see Mascherano a lot, I was fortunate to make him debut in River, take him to China for my team, if I had played against him many times, he is a leader inside and outside the field of what the life of a professional footballer is,” the Betis coach commented to this newspaper in his extensive interview. The best proof, without a doubt, that Guido is the little boss of Betis on the field of play.
