Xabi Alonso and his Real Sociedad B have starred in a feat ascending to Second division, right in the campaign in which it could least be thought that they could do it, due to the great renewal that there was in the squad last summer. The capacities of Tolosa as a coach and the inexhaustible quarry of Zubieta have undoubtedly been the great keys to success.
Sanse started his second season with Xabi Alonso at the helm with the unknown of how the up to 11 casualties would sit him that it had had in summer, some of them very important, such as those of two of its main figures, Martín Zubimendi and Roberto López, promoted to the first realistic team, the one yielded to Mirandés Djouahra, or those of its usual goalkeepers, Moisés Ramírez and Andoni Zubiaurre. In addition, there were veterans such as Gorostidi, Zourdine, Celorrio, El Haddadi or Ekaitz Jiménez, although he returned later.
The work that lay ahead, therefore, the one who was world champion in 2010 in preseason was to join the new promises that came to his hands. Together with his trusted man, Sebas Parrilla, and the rest of Zubieta’s assistants, he carried out some more pedagogical training if possible and that methodology, with a lot of dialogue with the kids, and that for them to be at the command of a myth of the Soccer is a huge motivation, it didn’t take long to pay off.
The passing games with rules, the insistence on the starts and restarts of the plays, the long sequences and combining the actions on the inside with those on the outside, with the ends wide open, are some of the former 14’s ideals as a technician.
The start of the course, with three consecutive wins, gave Xabi Alonso and his foals the confidence to look forward without fear, although the first test moment for them was not long in coming, since after that positive streak came one of five consecutive days without winning, the last of them with a defeat at home against Bilbao Athletic.
The txuriurdin technician then controlled the situation as he used to do when she dressed short and adjusted things that could be going wrong. If the head of the subsidiary has shown something, it has been knowing how to combine their kids with different systems and automation, and end up finding the right combination to get the most out of them.
And is that Xabi, in addition to the casualties of the summer already counted, he found the temporary due to injury of Petxarroman and Pacheco, in defense, or that of the goalkeeper Gaizka Ayesa, called to the first team due to Moyá’s injury, but to all setbacks seemed to find a solution for them.
GREAT FEEDBACK
This is the only way to explain that Real B added nine victories and a single defeat in the last dozen matches of the first phase, a spectacular reaction that helped them finish first in their group and with a very positive balance of results facing a second phase in which he achieved four more wins, with which he reached the promotion playoff draw as the first in his group.
Xabi, used to playing World Cup, Euro or Champions finals on his day, he didn’t get nervous when push comes to shove either, in the playoff, and neither did their kids, who won both games against veteran rivals such as Andorra and Algeciras
