After 2-0 Betis defeat, Anselmi voices anger and backs Elche

“I’m very angry that we didn’t win; we did everything to make it happen,” Martín Anselmi said after Elche’s 2-0 defeat to Betis in La Liga. The coach felt his side had shown enough to earn a better outcome, despite the final score at the Martínez Valero.

Anselmi particularly regretted that Elche came away with nothing. “Given how the match unfolded, that is a very small reward,” he said. He also considered the margin on the scoreboard excessive, arguing that his team had produced more than the result suggested. In his view, the players’ performance and attitude merited at least a point.

The coach praised their willingness to play and their ability to exploit space, while pointing to the chances they created. Elche’s first goal did not come, he lamented, before Betis extended the lead. After the 0-1, his team mounted a brief response, then conceded a second goal. Anselmi also said the substitutions made during the match had influenced its course, and that he wanted to review some incidents to understand them better.

He disputed the decision involving Redondo, saying the foul called against him was not one. Anselmi compared it with an incident involving Osorio, which he had not watched on television. He said he could not judge that play from the tactical footage available to him.

The defeat adds to a difficult La Liga campaign for Elche so far: the club sits 18th with 10 points after 12 matches, having recorded two wins, four draws and six defeats. It has scored 14 goals and conceded 20. Across its last five league matches, Elche has one win, two draws and two defeats.

Despite the loss, Anselmi stood by the team’s approach: “Playing like this, this team will achieve great victories, that’s clear.” He also insisted that this direction was not up for debate and said his side would collect points if it continued to perform in this way.