The secret of the Royal Society: the 12 specialized units where the 'foals' are trained

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Seven days ago, Real Sociedad achieved its third consecutive victory against Huesca in the League (4-1), placing itself as the solo leader of the category for the first time since 2002, when it argued against Real Madrid for the title to the end.

However, when

was interviewed on the pitch after the game, the first thing he said was this: “Now we are happy, but we also have to do a little self-criticism and know that we cannot go out like this in the second half.

You work the entire first half and in a minute they tie the game, it can't be. ”That reaction from his young captain (23 years old) reflects the ambition and nonconformity of a team in a state of grace that does not put a ceiling on itself .

Real is aware, of course, that maintaining their current level throughout the season will be almost impossible, because in the end the greats end up applying the roller to fight the League among themselves.

This is what the recent history of Spanish football dictates, the private preserve of Real Madrid and Barcelona in the last 16 years, with the sole exception of the Atlético title in 2014. But there is no reason to set limits, to let the imagination fly with arguments , as those myths that raised the only two leagues that appear in the record of the San Sebastian club successfully did in 1981 and 1982. «Today's players are better than those of my time.

But not only those of the Real, but all.

Now any First-Class player makes a 40-meter change of orientation, something that three or four did before, "he reflects.

, one of the legends of the Real two-time champion.

A team that shares with the current one the commitment to youth footballers, but little else: «This team is more versatile in attack than we are, who used to look for the play on the left wing to finish off

and

.

And maybe we defended better as a block, but it is something in which I think they are improving a lot lately.

The second least thrashed

The data support the feeling of López Ufarte.

Last season, Real was the ninth most thrashed team in the category -1.26 goals conceded per game-, despite finishing in sixth position.

This season, they have only received three in seven games -0.42 on average-, a figure that only Atlético improves.

The advanced statistic also reflects that Real is the second team that receives the fewest shots, when last season it was the eighth.

And even the number of fouls seems to indicate a greater defensive maturity: from being the 12th who did the most it has become the fourth. Defensive reliability was a pending issue that was logical in this team, whose main trait is youth.

Alone

Moya

,

Silva

Y

Monreal

are over 30 years old and there are 19 players under 25 in the squad, 11 of them under 23. A reflection, likewise, of the other fundamental quality of this Real: its commitment to Zubieta and to giving opportunities to

'foals'

(That's how the youth players are called in the sports city), regardless of their age.

Nowadays

Imanol Sheriff

He has under his command 17 players trained in the lower categories and only five foreigners on the payroll, the second least in the League together with Osasuna (only Athletic has less). «Three seasons ago we undertook a generational changeover that we have not finished nor will we ever.

We have a staff with an average age of less than 25 years, but we do not want to be young 'per se', our goal is to be better ”, he usually explains

Roberto Olabe

, sports director of the 'txuriurdin' club.

In this time, the Real has successfully passed the

Xabi Prieto, Zurutuza, Bergara and Agirretxe

to the

Oyarzabal, Zubeldia, Elustondo and Le Normand

, with the now injured

Illarramendi

as a connecting link between the two best generations of this century.

A model in the quarry

Olabe, also sports director in 2002, when the Real was runner-up, has managed to give a new twist to the great work he did for a decade

Loren Juarros

, the sports manager who took the club out of Second until he settled in First and even made a foray into the Champions League in 2013. To do this, he has implemented a game model based on possession throughout the Zubieta chain, betting on long sides, Combinative interiors, centrals with good ball output, pressing forwards ... It does so with a work structure divided into 12 specialized units that serve all quarry teams, both male and female: administrative, conditional, goalkeepers, methodology, individual development, education, analysis, emotional, recruitment, health and performance, evaluation and data and internationalization.At the top of the pyramid is Alguacil, the coach who has made sense of the whole model after the failed bet on

Asier Garitano

two seasons ago.

Realistic to the bone, former player in the 90s and born in Orio, a town of rowers, had already assumed the leadership of the first team after the dismissal of

Eusebio Sacristan

in 2018, but did so asking that it be just a temporary fix.

He insisted that his was the quarry.

After Garitano's dismissal, at Christmas 2018, it was when he accepted the position definitively.

Since then, the team has experienced continuous growth only slowed down by the section after the confinement of the last League.

Now, the Real have returned on the path they left then, adding to their attractive offensive proposal a greater defensive reliability.

Like those heroes of the 80s.

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