Real Sociedad secured their return to the Champions League on Sunday night for the first time in a decade after Villarreal failed to beat Rayo Vallecano. It continues their remarkably consistent rise, which has seen them qualify for Europe for four years in a row, and bring home a Copa del Rey, their first trophy in the 21st century.
Manager Imanol Alguacil takes plenty of plaudits, but on the whole, the La Real operation is being lauded as one of the best if not the best in Spain. He has the blend of being a fan and simultaneously an astute coach, which he has been able to channel into the right mix of expertise and passion to inspire his players.
Above Alguacil is Sporting Director Roberto Olabe, who is responsible for bringing in the likes of Takefusa Kubo, Alexander Isak and David Silva. Olabe’s work has been impressive and throughout the last four years, have made a profit while continuously improving the side. That in part has been down to the excellent academy work, which has seen much of the current squad come through Zubieta and become important parts of the first team.
Even Olabe’s manner of working could be described as counter-cultural though, with several of his team coming from non-footballing backgrounds. Four the scouting and analysis department all arrived at the club from media backgrounds, some with humble beginnings. In the case of Abel Rojas, he used to put together videos, something that can be done with a simple video and editing production tool, which analysed teams for a site called ‘Ecos del Balon.’
Rojas joined La Real in 2018, and his colleague there David Leon would join a year later. They weren’t the only examples, with Xabi Esnaola also brought in as an analyst. His beginnings came from writing a blog which analysed Real Sociedad’s squad and matches, apparently counting on Olabe and Head Scout Erik Bretos amongst their readership according to Relevo.
Similarly Guillermo Villaverde found fame for his analysis on Twitter, breaking down the Real Madrid academy players, and would work for Leganes before the Txuri-Urdin signed him.
Tomas Martinez also spent a number of years writing about games across Europe, and would eventually find a job with Orgryte in Sweden. They now have a partnership with Real Sociedad and Martinez can now act as an extra set of eyes for La Real in Scandinavian football.
While it may not be conventional, and no doubt Real Sociedad have their misses too, Olabe’s department of former writers and video analysts appears to be paying major dividends five years down the line.
