A Potted History: Why Real Sociedad should be your second team in Europe this year
A Potted History: Why Real Sociedad should be your second team in Europe this year
A Potted History: Why Real Sociedad should be your second team in Europe this year
By Will Giles
If there were ever any seedlings of doubt about the allure of the Champions League’s bright lights and trademark soundtrack, then the climactic resolutions to the battles fought across the continent for final qualifying spots would have quite comprehensively dispelled them.
Indeed, it was not just Arsenal and Spurs who were locked in final-day, Champions League drama last season. In Italy, AC Milan scored two goals in the last six minutes to hold off the challenge of Fiorentina, thus securing their berth in Europe’s premier club competition by two points. Freiburg hosted Schalke with both teams knowing that a win would see them occupy the Bundesliga’s last qualifying spot - an own goal gave Schalke a narrow victory. In France, Lyon had to win their final game to ensure they weren’t overtaken by Nice, PSV qualified via goal difference, and Pacos Ferreira’s historic qualification was achieved with only two points to spare.
This article, however, will focus on the team that prevailed in La Liga’s version of this seemingly customary fight for qualification: Real Sociedad. Sociedad went into the final two games ahead of Valencia by virtue of a substantially better head-to-head record. Whilst having their fate in their own hands may have seemed like an enviable position, the next round of matches handed Sociedad the daunting prospect of hosting defending champions Real Madrid at their Anoeta Stadium, whilst Valencia would entertain lowly Granada.
Indeed, with an hour gone in both matches, it appeared as if the Sociedad fans’ worst fears were being confirmed – their team was 2-0 down, whilst Valencia were winning 1-0 (they would go on to win the match by this scoreline). At this rate, Valencia would only have to draw away to Sevilla on the final day (not an easy task, but certainly not an insurmountable one either) to pinch fourth place.
However, the 2-0 deficit that Sociedad faced was not representative of the match as a whole; Los Txuri-Urdin amassed 28 shots (12 of which were on target) to Real Madrid’s 11. Unfortunately for Sociedad, in Diego Lopez they faced a goalkeeper in inspired form, denying the likes of Antoine Griezmann, Imanol Agirretxe and the Sociedad captain Xabi Prieto time and time again. As frustration and desperation levels increased in equal measure with every opportunity squandered, a handball by Sami Khedira after 64 minutes gave Prieto the chance to finally beat Lopez from the spot. Suddenly, Real Sociedad’s concerted pressure was starting to bear tangible dividends, and 14 minutes later Griezmann levelled things up by tapping the ball into an empty net after a low Carlos Martinez cross swung invitingly through Madrid’s defence.
With the momentum generated after such a fightback, it seemed that, if there was going to be a winner, it would be only be Sociedad. However, no sooner had Griezmann and co finished celebrating, than a one-two between Khedira and Mesut Ozil gave the former the opportunity to deftly lift the ball above Sociedad’s onrushing goalkeeper Claudio Bravo and into the net. The goal was as heart-breaking for the Anoeta faithful as it was expertly dispatched.
A late blow as crushing as this one would have finished off many teams, but Sociedad went for Madrid again, pressing forward in search of a second equaliser. A couple of golden chances went begging; Agirretxe headed wide with the goal at his mercy, and Lopez acrobatically tipped a Prieto header over the bar. It was another spirited fightback, but it appeared inevitable that Sociedad would, quite unfairly given their contribution to the match, both end up on the wrong side of a 3-2 scoreline, and, more significantly, finish the game three points behind Valencia. That is, it seemed inevitable right up until Carlos Martinez was set free on the right wing in the 3rd minute of injury time. The right-back produced another outstanding cross, Agirretxe got up to head back across goal, Prieto was there to apply the finish and…Lopez saved it. Again. This time, however, Prieto decided that the best way to beat a goalkeeper in such outstanding form was to actually follow the ball into the net, and indeed, Lopez’s initial save rebounded off Prieto’s chest (possibly brushing against his arm in the process), and as a result goalkeeper, midfielder and ball all ended up in the net.
It certainly wasn’t the prettiest of goals, but to Sociedad it was worth its weight in Champions League gold. When other teams (in this case Valencia) have such a vested interest in the outcome of a particular match, then late goals like Prieto’s have the capacity to put an irreparable dent in their ambitions. As it was, Real Sociedad’s late equaliser meant that Valencia suddenly needed a win, not a draw, at Sevilla. It is impossible to know for sure whether or not this sudden change in requirements affected Valencia, but they lost 4-3, with Alvaro Negredo scoring all of Sevilla’s goals. Real Sociedad, on the other hand, held onto a 1-0 lead against Deportivo La Coruna, and as such they overtook Valencia by a single point to qualify for the Champions League for the first time in 10 years.
To the casual observer taking a brief glance at the final La Liga table, it may look like Sociedad nicked 4th place from under Valencia’s noses right at the death. This, however, could not be further from the truth, as they deservedly qualified for the Champions League off the back of a superb season. Indeed, as well as coming back from two goals down to draw with Madrid, they also recovered from the same position to beat Barcelona 3-2. This sort of resilience was key to Sociedad’s success. After finding themselves in 17th place after 10 weeks, pre-season predictions of lower-mid table mediocrity were starting to look ambitious. However, a 2-1 win away at Malaga (who would go on to reach the Champion’s League quarter-finals) triggered an exceptional run that lasted until the end of season, as Sociedad won 15 of their remaining 28 fixtures and lost only twice (one of these defeats being a 4-3 thriller at the Bernabeu).
Resilience, however, is a trait that all involved with Real Sociedad have had to draw on when faced with graver setbacks than being 2-0 down against Barcelona or Real Madrid. Alongside Athletic Bilbao, Sociedad are one of only two Basque country teams currently playing in Spain’s top division. However, the team from San Sebastián are also separated from most of their peers by their illustrious history; they are, in fact, one of only nine teams to have won the league title, having triumphed in 1981 and 1982 under the management of Alberto Ormaetxea. Indeed, in more recent years, when the competitiveness of Spanish football has been stifled by the dominance of the big two, Sociedad finished as runners-up to Real Madrid in the 2002-03 season.
The team owed much of its success that season to a 43 goal partnership between big money strikers Nihat Kahveci and Darko Kovacevic. However, the significant contributions of a young Xabi Alonso (a product of Sociedad’s famed youth academy) did not go unnoticed, and he was a key part of the squad that made it to the first knockout round of the subsequent season’s Champions League, where they were knocked out by Olympique Lyonnais.
By 2006, however, memories of Champions League participation, let alone success, were faint. Sociedad finished 15th, 14th and 16th in successive seasons, but if the fans thought that was as bad as things could get, they were about to be shown how wrong they were.
In the 2006-07 season, having lost Nihat to Villarreal on a Bosman, Real Sociedad scored the joint-least amount of goals and were relegated to the second tier of Spanish football after a forty-year stay in the top division. The financial worries that inevitably come with relegation, especially when the team concerned operates on a fairly low budget, meant that Sociedad turned to their youth system for answers.
And answers it would provide.
It was not as if Sociedad’s youth academy had been struggling to provide for the first team: of the 24 players registered to play last season, only 7 hadn’t been at the club as youngsters. Many of these essentially one club players (some have come and gone on loan) were present during the three seasons that Sociedad spent in Segunda Liga and, by 2010, this core of players had finally got their act together and gained the promotion that their talent deserved.
Since then, Real Sociedad’s squad has been considerably augmented by some extraordinarily talented academy players. Griezmann and Asier Illaramendi burst through in the 2010-2011 season under Martin Lasarte, with Griezmann especially playing a key role in keeping Sociedad up, finishing as the club’s top goalscorer. Despite this, the board were unhappy with Lasarte’s levels of youth integration, and replaced him with Frenchman Phillipe Montanier, who has since overseen the introduction of the Spaniards Inigo Martinez and Ruben Pardo.
All four of these youth players will play international football in the future, and to further demonstrate their quality, Martinez has been seriously touted as the answer to Barcelona’s defensive problems, whilst Real Madrid recently paid Illaramendi’s €38.6million release clause.
Indeed, the ability of these young players was a key factor in the success that Sociedad had under Montanier, and by combining their precocious talents with a core of committed and experienced players, the Frenchman certainly had an able squad at his disposal. In his first season, however, Montanier experienced plenty of calls for his resignation, even after he had stabilised the team’s campaign and guided them to a respectable 12th finish.
Montanier responded by making Carlos Vela’s loan move from Arsenal permanent (making him one of only 4 players in the current squad that have actually cost anything) and bringing in Gonzalo Castro from Mallorca. He never looked back. Last season Sociedad played in a similar fashion to Borussia Dortmund, adopting a 4-2-3-1 system designed to utilise the pace of Griezmann, Castro and Vela when making lightning quick transitions from defence to attack. The calming presence of pass-hungry Spaniards like Pardo, Prieto and Illaramendi also provided Sociedad with the means to control possession, and the combination of a swift attacking game with a composed, ball-retention based one meant that Sociedad ended up with the league’s 4th best defence and 3rd best attack. It’s easy to see why they deserved their fourth-placed finish.
There will be a sense of uncertainty when Sociedad kick-off their new campaign, as the loss of Illaramendi followed the somewhat surprising departure of coach Montanier to Rennes. However, whilst Illaramendi was charged with conducting Sociedad’s speedy switches from defence to attack, it is likely that Pardo and/or loanee Esteban Granero (who is a better player than his displays at QPR might suggest) will be more than adequate replacements. Furthermore, Montanier’s assistant Jagoba Arrasate is the man who has assumed full control and, as he has previous experience with both the senior and youth teams, his familiarity with the squad’s playing personnel and tactics means their successful style is unlikely to change.
Indeed, by the time that their group stage play-off with Lyon has come around, Sociedad may well be back into the swing of things and, if they are, don’t bet against them exacting their revenge on the French team for 10 years ago. In fact, if they do continue from where they left off last season, Sociedad will be a fun, pacy, attack-minded, free-scoring, technically gifted team that only gained promotion three seasons ago, hardly spends any money on transfers and is built around a series of exhilarating youth players and loyal academy alumni.
What’s not to like?
