The step forward of Julio Baptista

Julio Baptista He will train for the third consecutive season at the Real Valladolid quarry. After the 'slam' of Javi Baraja, the land was cleared for the promotion of the Brazilian, an idea that the club was considering before the arrival of Fran Sánchez, who will continue to be part of the white-and-violet structure, ignoring the siren songs that him came from Valdebebas, since his name sounded like candidate for Real Madrid Youth B until a few days ago.

In the absence of being part of a revolution, that of 'La Fábrica', it will be the change in the main steps of Zorrilla after a flowery year, in which 'his' Junior Division of Honor got exceptional results. Not surprisingly, they were third and improved the average of points in a way that could almost be called historical, thanks to a generation, that of 2002, of which, as announced by the entity itself, up to ten members will initially accompany the jump to Baptista.

The presence or not of several of these players, or others such as Aceves and Maroto, who would raise the number of those considered worthy to a dozen, will surely mark the subsidiary model and its competitive starting point. And is that the requirement of the new category, being maximum, it will be variable within the desire to stay the more the type of subsidiary changes with respect to the last seasons, in which proximity with the first team was prioritized over the training in early ages.

In any circumstance, for 'La Bestia' age is not a problem, as he explained in AS in the final stretch of last season: “We are a staff who believes a lot in talent; we do not care if the player is younger, what we want is that he is ready to play. If he is ready, we are not afraid to put him on, to be part and protagonist and show his talent. “In the boots of Diego Moreno, Iker Pérez, Adrián Carrión, Castri and Salvy, those who start with more options, is guaranteed.

Game model and methodology

Recently, in an interview for Roberto Carlos' YouTube channel, Baptista acknowledged that for him preseason is “the most important moment” So what all the work that is done is “just with the ball”. “For us, the physical part is dragged down by the tactical part,” continued a coach for whom “football has become faster and more physical” and that it says “help the player to decide faster” by generating “contexts in training so that they can visualize it within the field”.

To date, what has been seen of the Baptista coach is a clearly propositional proposal, of possession of the ball and of an associative and daring football. “We are a team that wants to be the protagonist, that has players who like to have the ball. We give them the necessary mechanisms so that they have it, above all, with many complementary movements in the center of the field,” he explained months ago about his team, which might look like the next one in spirit, because that's also Ronaldo's wish.

To favor this model, Baptista has been betting on a methodology that includes the viewing and study of the different facets of the game and the rival, a coaching within the coaching staff and, according to his own words, the use of neuroscience to bring the player closer to the best decision making. “If I had myself as a coach, I would improve a lot because of a part of our methodology that includes information”, narrated a few dates ago to an overwhelmed Roberto Carlos.

These statements collide with a current contrary to his management that borders the environment, which criticizes his ability to work arguing habits related to his private life, such as the circumstance that he lived in Madrid training in Valladolid. However, that his model has been successful so far there is no doubt: all the footballers considered potential offered during the past season a performance commensurate with this potential, even evolving, some, like Maroto, in aspects such as the goal.

New context and adaptation

Throughout the past season, Julio Baptista and his team evolved within the same idea. Fundamentalists of possession, at the start of the course they accumulated a lot of possession in the first third of the field, coming out with the leather played with the goalkeeper and with the two centrals very close to the lime. As the days went by, the offensive production increased with the same care, squeezing the third man concept and looking for the depth outside from its sides.

The 'typical goal', a brand of the house, had as an assistant one of these, projected to the bottom line, and as its author a footballer arrived in accompaniment. The biggest nuance came with the recovery of Slavy, which allowed the use of a pure 'nine' after playing with a less referential tip for a long time. Huesca is precisely one of those promoted and one of the great promises that should begin to develop in a First RFEF that will not give truce, by bringing together the best teams from the 'old' Second B.

This new reality can come to condition the bets, which can affect the making of the squad and perhaps the idea itself, since it is possible to think that The Promises will start from a less superior or dominant position than the one known until now by Baptista. Sure, you will want to be the protagonist; It will be necessary to see if with more or fewer players who have made him earn a deserved opportunity, in the absence of Baraja, and that represents another step in his quest to become, sooner rather than later, an elite coach.