He poor performance what Ricardo Rodriguez is offering in these first months in the Real Betis It is something that has surprised half of Europe, especially in Switzerland, the country of birth of the 32-year-old footballer who arrived last summer at Benito Villamarín with the label of ‘safe bet’ and who, however, in the lineups of Manuel Pellegrini has been advanced by Romain Perraudanother left-back signed in the last summer market (from the English Southampton FC) and who initially arrived with a theoretically lower profile than that of the Swiss. Absolute international and reference of the national team, In your country they are very attentive to these problems that it is having in its irregular start to the 2024/2025 season.
This is what he admitted Pierluigi Tami, sporting director of the Swiss national teamwho gave an interview to the program ‘The Ball’ of Channel On Radio to analyze the more than possible signing of his compatriot Rubén Vargas for Sevilla FC and, along the way, he has analyzed the unexpected situation of Ricardo Rodríguez at Real Betis. “I think what’s wrong with him is that “The competition is very strong in LaLiga, and it is normal that it is difficult for him to adapt.”explained the federation leader, who was convinced that he will reverse this situation and will end up being a very important footballer in the Verdiblanco team’s squad.
“Ricardo is now 32 years old, he is from the generation of 1992, but He is a very intelligent player. Defensively he has a lot of experience and a lot of versatility. With Switzerland he has played in defense of three and four, he has played as a winger and as a left winger… “He can be a very useful player for Betis.”added Pierlugi Tami, who considers that perhaps he has lost physical power to act as a winger and now it is better for him to play as a left-footed marker, a position in which Pellegrini has also used him, who counts on him as an alternative for Bartra, Diego Llorente and Natan -especially given Nobel Mendy’s injury-. “Currently, I think the best place for him to play is as a left-footed center back in a three-man defense, which is how the Swiss team has been playing lately.“said the sports director of the Central European team.
What is evident to those who know him is that if anyone has the ability to adapt to high demands, it is Ricardo Rodríguez. Addition 125 international matches for Switzerlandsquad with which he has participated in Euro Cup y World; treasure almost 200 games in the Italian Serie Asince he played three years in the AC Milan (2017-2020) and four more in the Torino FC (2020-2024); accumulated another 149 games in the Bundesliga, where he gave a very high level in the VfL Wolfsburg (2012-2017)a club in which he played five seasons after arriving from FC Zurich (2002-2012)a club from his hometown where he played as a youth player from the age of 10 until he left as a first team player when he just turned 20. With a contract in force at Betis until 2026, in this 24/25 he is having a hard time acclimatizing. Despite everything, he has totaled 713 minutes spread over 11 games across the three competitions, six of them as a starter.