Imanol: “Who rules at Real Sociedad? The usual one”

It starts to be a very nice habit. In all Zubieta's open-door sessions, Imanol Alguacil approaches the journalists who regularly cover the news of the Real Sociedad before they start The collective exercises with the training ball. While the players do warm-up work under the orders of the physical trainer, David Casamichana; the oriotarra approaches the area reserved for the media and talks with us for a while. In a relaxed, relaxed and fun way, without the intention of getting any headlines from there, except for something anecdotal.

We ask. Imanol smiles and responds. “Is Anoeta's lawn going to change, Imanol?”, it is heard from the press area. “It seems that it is, doesn't it? It seems that way,” replies the smiling Real coach. “But let's see, who decides that? Who is in charge at La Real?” Imanol laughs, fiddles with a ball and laughs back. “Who is in charge of the Real? The same as always,” he says intriguingly. Obviously, it refers to the president, Jokin Aperribay, the person who has led the radical change of the San Sebastian club from the Second Division to being a reference in the fight for European positions.

Precisely, Aperribay later approached Zubieta, with very advanced training. He arrived at the training facility in his car and went out onto the pitch to chat for a long time with Imanol Alguacil. It was a cordial and fun talk, judging by the gestures of the protagonists; but there was also time for the serious part, because the president of the Real was interested in the state of the injured and also informed Imanol of the latest news about Anoeta's change of turf, such as that Sanse is going to play in Ipurua as local this Sunday or that the pitch will be changed again from November 1, after the Real plays the Basque derby against Athletic. This new turf change is a direct request from Imanol after talking with his players and seeing that such a soft field does not help the football that he wants to put into practice.