The wayward genius of Sevilla’s Ever Banega
Ever Banega was born in Rosario into hardship as he has stated that his family did not have enough money for food until he started playing football. He played for the local team in his Nuevo Horizonte neighbourhood, even crossing paths with Lionel Messi’s Grandoli of La Pulga team. Him and his two brothers had to share boots he was astonishingly promoted to the Boca Juniors first team at the tender age of 16.
He was used as a deep-lying playmaker in a 4-3-1-2. The beginning of his career was simultaneous with Juan Roman Riquelme’s return to Boca Juniors while he played with Martin Palermo and Rodrigo Palacio. As a 19-year-old deep-lying playmaker, with his baggy, long-sleeved Boca shirt with low hanging shorts topped with long black locks hanging over his face. His distribution was simple and effective as he was helped when Riquelme dropped into his vertical line to receive possession and work the ball forward while he also acted as a passing option in between the lines.
He seamlessly facilitated the transition from another deep-lying playmaker, Fernando Gago as Boca won the Copa Libertadores in 2007. In such an experienced squad, the presence of wide midfielders allowed him to misplace passes as they would move closer to him to regain possession. Riquelme would also consistently move closer to him to receive possession and progress play as the Argentine playmaker would also move into the channels to prevent Banega from playing high-risk passes which would risk Boca losing possession in build-up play.
He then followed Gago to Spain as Banega joined Valencia but his move to Spain was fraught with issues, including the inability to remain fit for long periods and issues with cars. He famously fractured his ankle as well as broke the tibia and fibula in his left leg after he forgot to utilize the hand-break in his sport’s car while putting in gas. His car rolled over his foot while in another situation, his car burst into flames. He then moved to Sevilla in 2014 where he has experienced the greatest amount of success in his European sojourn as Unai Emery managed him for a short spell at Valencia and was pivotal in him moving to Andalucía.
He also had issues with controlling his weight as he was administered a personal chef to deny him his beloved burgers and cook healthy meals. He has admitted in recent years that he did not have his head set straight as there was the one instance of Unai Emery inviting him and the rest of the team to his birthday party. Everybody showed up to training the next day in decent shape, but Banega turned up experiencing the effects of a busy night as him and Emery would strike up a bond which would lead to Emery wanting him at Arsenal as well.
In his first season at Sevilla, Emery indulged him and gave him more tactical freedom in his 4-4-2/4-2-3-1 set-up as Grzegorz Krychowiak and Vicente Iborra played behind him while Banega played as an attacking midfielder. In the 4-4-2 low block, he would push up next to Carlos Bacca with less defensive responsibility but in the 4-2-3-1, he mainly played in the ten space, receiving the ball in between the lines, stretching the play with pin-point switch balls while also having the ability to play outside of the boot chips into runners in behind. Banega thrived at weaving past players to the top of the box and connecting play with Bacca as he was also given opportunities to drop deep and ease transition. He would also at times play deeper with Iborra or Denis Suarez in front of him while Krychowiak or Stephane M’bia would break up play next to him.
He won two Europa Leagues as well as being a Copa Del Rey runner up before joining Inter Milan in 2016. His spell in Milan was short-lived but he did impress in a match against Roma where he played with Marcelo Brozovic in midfield. He began the game by regaining possession in the deeper areas, driving forward and striking a shot off the post from 25 yards away. He then worked a pass to his teammate from Rosario, Cristian Ansaldi who flashed a cross to Antonio Candreva whose volley was acrobatically saved. He worked an interchange with another Argentine from Rosario in Mauro Icardi to go through on goal to side-foot the opportunity past Wojciech Szczesny to open his account for the Nerazurri. By the middle of the season, he decided that he would return to Sevilla in the summer.
When he returned to Sevilla, he found a Sevilla with less boardroom and managerial stability with a rotating cast of teammates. He played under Eduardo Berizzo for 8 months, Vincenzo Montella for 5 months, Joaquin Caparros for under a month and Pablo Machin for over a year. One of the issues at executive level was the departure of Monchi to Roma as the Sevilla squad was metamorphosed as they went on a spending spree of attacking midfielders when Banega left, signing Franco Vazquez, Paulo Henrique Ganso, Samir Nasri as well as Pablo Sarabia to play under Jorge Sampaoli.
Pablo Machin utilized a particular style of play in a 3-5-2 as Banega played as a deep-lying playmaker with a rotating cast of partners with Roque Mesa, Marko Rog, Franco ‘El Mudo’ Vazquez and Stefan N’Zonzi playing next to him. In every midfield partnership in a double-pivot, especially with a defensive-minded midfield partner, Banega will drop as the deepest-lying midfielder, receiving passes from the centre-backs to work the ball through the lines. In a match against Atletico Madrid’s deep-block, he and Mesa would drop in front of the three-chain, forcing Koke and Rodri to decide when to push up to press and when to remain in the deeper positions.
This allowed Banega and Mesa more time and space on the ball to work transitions as Sevilla worked a beautiful move in which Banega played through Andre Silva who had his shot tipped onto the post. Banega and his midfield partner were driving the ball into the opposition half while creating passing lanes for the back three to play the early ball in between the lines. For the majority of the first half, Sevilla’s build-up shape was a 3+2/3+1 but in the second-half, Mesa pushed high onto the left flank. After a 1-1 draw with Atletico, Machin’s side would go on a bad spell of form which would lead to the young Spanish coach being sacked as Caparros would take the reins of Sevilla until the end of the season. Monchi would return to Sevilla to rehabilitate the squad under a new manager in Julen Lopetgui.
Banega would have to play with new midfield partners as Joan Jordan and Fernando Reges were signed as Banega and the latter would take turns at dropping in between the centre-backs to receive the ball. At times, Fernando would push forward into the opposition half as Banega would drop into the six space. With Fernando at the base of midfield, this allowed Banega to move into the left half-space where he can move into the opposition half to work wide combinations with the left-back and left winger on the flank while also working pin-point switch balls to the right flank, so Sevilla can generate low crosses. Under Lopetgui, Banega has been given the freedom to receive possession in all areas of the pitch and connect play to create opportunities.
In his favoured left half-space, he would receive the ball and work line breaking vertical passes to the centre of the pitch as he will also be involved in interchanges with Nolito and Sergio Reguilon as Banega will also tuck in when the ball is positioned on the opposite flank. In Lopetgui’s 4-3-3, the midfield three will always rotate as in build-up, Fernando will push into the ten space, with Banega in the six space while in the opposition half, Banega would be in the left half-space, Jordan would move into in the six space to connect play and recycle the ball in a much quicker fashion.
This season, Banega has put on press resistance clinics in the positions where he picked up possession, sometimes worked elegant little moves as in one situation, he flicked the ball off an onrushing marker in the left half-space, to turn and ping an accurate switch ball before the ball even hit the ground. At home to Espanyol, he was tightly marked by Marc Roca and evaded pressure intelligently by moving into the left half-space, interchanging passes and positions with Suso to create space for Nolito and Reguilon on the left for wide triangular passing sequences. By mid-season, only Toni Kroos could compete with him for the highest number of completed passes in La Liga.
His international career could be a tale of two missed World Cups with Diego Maradona not picking him in 2010 and Alejandro Sabella not picking him in 2014 despite an excellent season with Sevilla. He could also be remembered for missing one of the penalties in the 2015 Copa America final against Chile but that would underestimate the effect that he could have on La Albiceleste when he donned the famous white and sky blue. His performance against Chile in the Copa America Centenario was exhilarating. Banega started by crossing for Gonzalo Higuain whose flick went narrowly wide. Argentina then won a turnover in midfield for Banega to release his teammate from Rosario, Angel Di Maria who beat Claudio Bravo at his near post.
The duo then switched roles as Di Maria turned provider for Banega to beat Bravo at his near post with the help of Mauricio Isla. Banega was the embodiment of what the opposition were missing in midfield as he provided zest and authority. In the only World Cup he was selected for in Russia, he came off the bench in the opener against Iceland and did not play against Croatia. Lionel Messi then made a wholehearted plea in the team meeting with the coaches before the match against Nigeria for Banega to start. Jorge Sampaoli obliged, and Banega chipped a lovely ball for Messi to take a touch and drive a shot past Francis Uzoho. Banega and Messi had played together in Olympic winning side in 2008 as Messi knew that only Banega could provide the distribution to find him in space in between the lines while adding some guile to stale Argentine midfield.
Banega’s genius will garner him cult status in Sevilla even though he may not have shown his high-level of talent at the other European clubs he played at. He will depart once the season is ended for Al Shabab on a three-year deal in Saudi Arabia as it seems he may take the Carlos Tevez route in earning some money before returning to his home at Boca Juniors. Banega is still 31, in the vestiges of his prime and could be an asset for any club in Europe, especially Sevilla as if motivated, he can be a dominant force for Al Shabab and the other clubs he plays for in his career.
