Julen Agirrezabala is being one of the revelations of Athletic’s preseason. The goalkeeper of the subsidiary appeared in the preseason without making much noise and with the ballot of substitute for Ezkieta. However, his good performance in these weeks has put him at the level of his partner and Marcelino does not rule out giving him the opportunity in his debut against Elche next August 16.
In the 225 minutes played between the four friendlies disputed by the people of Bilbao, only has conceded both goals. They were both in the last game against Unión Berlin en actions in which you could not do anything to prevent them. In addition, he offered great security in almost all the plays, removing some specific moment. His average was more than two stops per crash. With his feet he was also quite successful,closing all its short passes and achieving a very high percentage of long shipments successful.
His performance is a continuation of what was shown last year in Second B. Juice 15 games, conceding 13 goals and leaving five clean sheets. An average of 0.84 targets per shock, although he should have received 1.23 according to the expected goals. The average was 3.28 stops per day. With regard to footwork, the level of precision was extremely high. He hit 94.9% of his short passes (8.16 per game) and the 74.5% of long balls (7.12 per game). “He has a good decision making. It is very safe and usually makes advantageous decisions without excessive danger ” Joseba Etxeberria, his coach at Bilbao Athletic, told us in an interview with MARCA.
Beyond all this, are the training sessions that seem to make a difference in favor of Agirrezabala. Each session is a recital of stops of all types: reflexes, going down, going out to cover … Even in plays that seem like a goal, he manages to stretch to prevent the ball from entering the goal. “Good Julen!” has become a common phrase in the training of Athletic. “I think we are talking about a high-level goalkeeper, with a great future and, above all, that for a lot. On a day-to-day basis in one-on-one situations, short games … it is something that draws a lot of attention and I hope I can confirm it in the first team “ stated Etxeberria.
Marcelino slipped after the friendly against Unión Berlin What can be perfectly starter against Elche “. In that meeting he completed the 90 minutes. Now we will have to see how the Asturian coach distributes the opportunities and how much Ezkieta plays. Unai Simón will rest after the Olympics, so that of Villaba and Agirrezabala dispute ownership ahead of the league debut. A competition that today seems to favor a Julen Agirrezabala who is making merits to debut with the first team in his 20s.
