It may be that at some point you have slipped some symptom of exhaustion or that sometimes you give the feeling of wanting to step aside to resume some normality in your life. But Imanol Sheriff He continues to be focused on his work and willing to at least fulfill the contract he has signed with Real Sociedad until 2023. He is focused on being able to hold onto or even improve on the current sixth place in order to lead the team to its third consecutive European participation and He is excited to continue being the patron of this great Real in LaLiga and beyond the Pyrenees. The coach’s environment completely denies the rumor that he is thinking of stepping aside at the end of this campaign.
The numbers, moreover, do not fail to prove him right and give legitimacy to his work. He is making history at Real and wants to continue writing it. The Oriotarra is excited to become the second coach in txuri urdin history, after the great Alberto Ormaetxea, to obtain three consecutive qualifications for Europe, such as the Real for titles between 1979 and 1982. On that occasion, the txuri urdin squad was to UEFA after finishing second and to the European Cup after lifting their first two League titles. Now, after sealing their passport to the Europa League in the 2019/20 and 2020/21 campaigns, in which the team was fifth or sixth, they are looking for a place in that competition again and dream of a Champions League that is very expensive.
The accumulated data for this year portrays another very positive campaign for Real, despite their premature elimination from both the Cup and the Europa League. Imanol He is one victory away from reaching the 21 achieved last year with nine more games played. It could reach his record (23 in the 2019/20 season) if Real win four or more of the remaining eight games.
Modest salary for what is styled
Imanol Sheriff he is uncovering himself as an elite trainer. It is evident that his cache has multiplied in these three seasons in which the evolution of the Real has gone hand in hand with an unquestionable professional and tactical growth of the coach, who now has infinite resources more than when he debuted four years ago. He began with very modest fees that were corrected upwards in his last renewal, that of December 2020 until 2023. However, his salary, which does not reach one million euros per year, is still very moderate, much lower than the average of what perceived by the players of the first team and the majority of coaches in the category.
7 debuts and player record
20 wins, 13 draws and 10 losses in 43 games is, for the moment, the baggage of the realistic coach this season, in which, in addition, he has made seven Sanse players debut in the first team –Lobete, Christ Romero, Valera, Turrientes, Karrikaburu and Olasagasti-. It is close, but for now it has not reached, the record for debutant ‘colts’ in the same campaign, which is nine in 2018/19, with Garitano first and own Imanol then.
What the coach has done is employ more players than ever, due to injuries and the accumulation of games. 34 have already participated, three more than in the two previous campaigns, which are the only complete ones from Oriotarra at the head of the team.
Fifth alone
After the game against Espanyol, Imanol remains as the fifth coach with the most games in the history of Real, already alone, surpassing Artigas. He would have to have an outstanding campaign in 2022/23, going far in the Cup and Europe, to be able to surpass the fourth, Andoni Elizondo (235 games). for now, Imanol continues to be the one with the third best percentage of wins, 45.29%, only surpassed by Ormaetxea and Benito Diaz.