The last time I’ve spoken about Sociedad they were on the brink of breaking up the top 3 within La Liga. The ‘Txuri- Urdin’ (very odd nickname, lol) are a team located in the Basque country of northern Spain who have always been all about progressing to a higher level. They are one of the goldmines of Spanish football when it comes to producing players who have the potential of becoming superstars, but, like with many other clubs of the same elk, they tend to get absolutely ransacked by elite clubs for their best players with the likes of Antoine Griezmann, Asier Illaramendi (who has returned and is now captain), Inigo Martinez, and, most recently, Alexander Isak all making what seemed like big money moves to “better” clubs than Real Sociedad. Because of this, the Txuri- Urdin have been consistently rebuilding squads over and over and I must say they have been pretty successful at doing it considering the circumstances.
A different look at the La Liga table as we take a glimpse at the teams who were battling it out for the 4th spot as well as those Europa and Conference league spots
Here is the starting X1 that started majority of the matches during the 22/23 La Liga season. Down below, we will go into more depth pertaining each player’s role Real Soceidad always aimed to keep the ball on the floor (which is what almost every Spanish team tends to do), so they knew the importance of having more technical players over physical ones. The back 5 (Including the GK) is filled with players who are all good defenders but are also capable of keeping the ball within rotation throughout the course of the 90 (especially against any potential high press). In the Midfield, the double pivot positions are occupied by Zubimendi, who was the orchestrator from deep and a good defensive protector of that backline, while Merino, who might not of been the most physical Box to Box Midfielder, offered yet another technical advantage and rarely gave the ball away when in possession. The 3 behind the F(C) continued the trend of having players who are technically sound with Kubo and Mendez floating around to link up with their teammates, while the 35 year old David Silva tended to stay in central positions since he no longer has the mobility to be a floater. Up front, Sorloth was the perfect No.9 for Sociedad with his exceptional strength and hold up play being used in effect to ensure that all of the better technical players around him played off him as they attempted to serve him with as many balls as they possibly could
STRATEGY
In accordance to almost every Spanish club, Sociedad used their technical prowess to start their build up play right from the goalkick which allowed them to begin their patterns and pass their way toward the opposition’s defensive third.
INSTRUCTIONS
With Assier Illaramendi not playing as many matches to make this starting X1, Mikel Merino takes the captain arm band, while the dead ball creativity was left for the left footed little magician
GENERAL
Since Sociedad are a possession based team, they kept a slow tempo in order to dominate the ball while seeking to get on the attack as much as they could. Their biggest weakness was their lack of explosive players so they rarely attempted to get too fluid with their formation as well as not trying to make too many risks on the ball. But, they instead stook to trusting the abilities of their players as well as their system to make opportunities against any of their competition
ATTACK
It was all about central progression since it was the true strength of Sociedad when they were on the ball. With them keeping it on the ground for majority of the play (in addition to having a Robust Target Man upfront in Sorloth), it allowed them to mix things up in terms of when they were in the attacking third. But for majority of the attacking scenarios they were involved in, they often kept it predictable in possession.
DEFENDING
As I mentioned, Sociedad is not the most physically gifted team which meant that there was no need for them to apply a heavy dose of pressure upon their opposition. Instead, they aimed to stay within a “Mid Block” for majority of the match in order to stay as close to each other as possible which had the added bonus of them being in better positions to begin their attacking play whenever they won the ball back
If we take into consideration all that I have mentioned above, a 4th place finish for this club is very respectable. And with Champions League Football on the horizon for the first time in 9 years to look forward to, we can expect Imanol Alguacil’s men to continue to punch above their weight in their pursuit to become one of the elite within Spain ¡Hala Sociedad!
The Soccermanager Experience 