The words a physio says slowly. 15 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Real Sociedad B know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
23 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Real Sociedad B lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.20 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Real Sociedad B will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Jon Garro is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
38 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Real Sociedad B lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Real Sociedad B is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Coba was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Javi Puado. 1‑0 against Osasuna Promesas, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Coba’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Real Sociedad B needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Real Sociedad will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Las Palmas will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Real Sociedad were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Two goals and a mark of 8.46 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
11 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Jon Eceizabarrena has agreed terms with Levante for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
There is a particular helplessness in conceding 2 times before the twentieth minute. Las Palmas tried to reorganise, Real Sociedad did not allow it, and the result was written long before it was confirmed.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Hércules? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Real Sociedad B know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.99 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Marked 8.02 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Roberto Alonso had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
Not a new contract, not a new number: a new place in the manager’s thinking, which is the only promotion in football that actually matters. Coba has moved up it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Real Sociedad B know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jon Eceizabarrena is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The phone has started ringing about Roberto Alonso again, and this time the name on the line is Guadalajara. Real Sociedad B are listening politely and promising nothing.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Real Sociedad B this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jon Eceizabarrena is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
In brief
The dugoutMateo Mejía asks for a word with the manager
The offer from Oviedo for Gorka Gorosabel was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jon Eceizabarrena was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Real Sociedad B, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Real Sociedad B know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The offer from Eldense for Javi Puado was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
350 appearances across 8 seasons in one shirt. Nobody builds a career like that on purpose any more; it happens to a certain kind of footballer at a certain kind of club.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Real Sociedad B this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jon Eceizabarrena was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Cristian Caballero trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jon Eceizabarrena is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
In brief
The dugoutMateo Mejía knocks on the manager's door
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Real Sociedad B, and it is not being withdrawn.
The name of Coba has come up in conversations Real Sociedad B were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The offer from CE Europa for Javi Puado was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Roberto Alonso had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Carlos Soler and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jon Eceizabarrena was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Antonio Giménez signs something — a contract at Real Sociedad B or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Aihen Muñoz and Real Sociedad B agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jon Eceizabarrena is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Real Sociedad B will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jon Eceizabarrena was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The board was up, the win was priced in, and then Ourense CF scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 12 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jon Eceizabarrena was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The goal that put Ceuta ahead was still being replayed on the concourse when Real Sociedad B equalised, 4 minutes later. Leads are only worth what you do with them.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Coba trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“I am not asking anybody to be better than they are. I am asking everybody to be as good as they are, every week.” Said out loud, in front of everybody, and the room at Real Sociedad B was different afterwards.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Real Sociedad B can pretend not to have heard.
Carlos Soler and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Involvement in 2 goals, from a player who spent the ninety minutes doing the thing a manager actually wants: being where the ball was going to end up. 7.98 beside his name.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Javi Puado. 3‑1 against Osasuna Promesas, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Mouctar Diakhaby. 2‑1 against Barakaldo, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.23 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jon Eceizabarrena is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Two goals and a mark of 8.41 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Arenas Club held the lead for 1 minutes, which is not long enough to enjoy it. Real Sociedad B answered before the celebration had properly finished, and the shape of the afternoon changed with it.
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 9 actions, 7.57, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Real Sociedad B this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Antonio Giménez is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Real Sociedad B know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
They sit in position 19 and they will be waiting. Away form is where a season shows its true character, and this side has a point to make about its own.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jon Eceizabarrena was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Cristian Caballero trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Real Sociedad B has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.23 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Carlos Soler and Real Sociedad B agree another 2 years.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Real Sociedad B this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 7.94. There is a kind of forward whose value only shows up when you count what he was involved in rather than what he finished, and this is the day that argument makes itself.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 16 goals between Real Sociedad B and Ponferradina, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
100 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Coba was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Roberto Alonso
A brace, and Carlos Soler takes the afternoon — 7.02
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Carlos Soler provided it, and the 7.02 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Jon Eceizabarrena was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
8 goals in one match, Carlos Soler on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Real Sociedad B and Arenteiro.
Successful dribbles: 18. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
3 saves does not settle the argument about whose fault it was, and the argument will run all week. Goalkeepers carry these scorelines whoever caused them.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jon Eceizabarrena was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Marked 8.02 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
13 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Antonio Giménez trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Antonio Giménez signs something — a contract at Real Sociedad B or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jon Eceizabarrena is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Roberto Alonso and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Unionistas next, and one man in the Real Sociedad B dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
“If we are going to be beaten, let it not be because somebody in here could not be bothered.” He stood up and said it in front of everybody, which is a thing a squad remembers about a man for years.
At 21 he has made the position his own, and the man he took it from has to find something to say about it. Real Sociedad B have a decision that made itself.
Hércules will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Real Sociedad B were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.33 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
The offer from Racing Santander for Coba was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
At 19 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Marked 8.05 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
The name of Gorka Gorosabel keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Real Sociedad B say nothing, which says plenty.
Market9 Feb 2032
The window shut and Javi Puado is still in the building
Real Sociedad B spent a month trying to move him and nobody rang back. He trains with a squad that has told him where he stands, and both sides start counting down to the next one.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.91 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Real Sociedad B hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
13 combined actions and 7.20. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
He is 22 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
9 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.91 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Chances created: 15. Not on the scoresheet and not remotely anonymous — a passing performance that pulled a defence apart without leaving a mark on the column that gets read.
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 93. Real Avilés had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Cristian Caballero trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Antonio Giménez signs something — a contract at Real Sociedad B or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
8 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Successful dribbles: 17. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Every debut is a small story about the future: Diego Pérez, 21 years old, off the academy pitches and into the first team. The parents in the stand will keep the programme.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Cristian Caballero trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“I am not asking anybody to be better than they are. I am asking everybody to be as good as they are, every week.” Said out loud, in front of everybody, and the room at Real Sociedad B was different afterwards.
1‑4 to Ourense CF, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Position 18 and 12 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
7 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Roberto Alonso had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Half the programme played, position 18, 12 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
A goalkeeper’s error has no defender behind it to tidy it away. He knew before the ball crossed the line, the crowd knew a second later, and there is nothing anybody can say tonight.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Antonio Giménez signs something — a contract at Real Sociedad B or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“If we are going to be beaten, let it not be because somebody in here could not be bothered.” He stood up and said it in front of everybody, which is a thing a squad remembers about a man for years.
Successful dribbles: 16. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
“Nobody outside is coming to save us.” It was short, it was not comfortable, and by all accounts the Real Sociedad B squad were quieter afterwards than they had been all season.
1‑4 against Pontevedra, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
Beaten 4 times, 4 saves, and an afternoon that will go on his record whether it was his fault or the defence’s. It is the quiet unfairness of the position.
Nobody at Real Sociedad B is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 5 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Match6 Dec 2031
Nobody could stop scoring
10 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Real Sociedad B and Albacete in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
The young player of the month award goes to a 19-year-old at Real Sociedad B who has looked like the finished article for four weekends running. The next four are the ones that decide whether he is.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Javi Puado trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between Real Sociedad B and Arenas Club, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
He is 21 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 22 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
0‑10 to Ponferradina, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Real Sociedad B has to find a result from somewhere.
Match1 Nov 2031
Nobody could stop scoring
10 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Real Sociedad B and Ponferradina in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
At 34, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
There was no pressure on him and nowhere he had to be. Real Sociedad B lost a goal to a decision that took half a second and will be discussed all week.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 15 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Real Sociedad B and Cacereño, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Real Sociedad B, and both men came out saying it was fine.
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
“If we are going to be beaten, let it not be because somebody in here could not be bothered.” He stood up and said it in front of everybody, which is a thing a squad remembers about a man for years.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jon Eceizabarrena is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Real Sociedad B they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jon Eceizabarrena is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at Real Sociedad B than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
A goalkeeper’s error has no defender behind it to tidy it away. He knew before the ball crossed the line, the crowd knew a second later, and there is nothing anybody can say tonight.
There was one mistake and it ended in the net. Defenders are judged on the worst thing they did rather than on the eighty-nine minutes either side of it, which is unfair and is also the job.
“I am not asking anybody to be better than they are. I am asking everybody to be as good as they are, every week.” Said out loud, in front of everybody, and the room at Real Sociedad B was different afterwards.
Chances created: 4. Nothing on the scoresheet and everything in the match: the pass before the pass, over and over, until the defence stopped guessing right.
The suspension is over, which is the half of a ban nobody prints. He has watched from the stand for long enough to have opinions about the shape, and the manager now has a decision he did not have last week.
8 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Real Sociedad B and Villarreal B in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Héctor Martínez has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Every signing waits for it and every press conference asks about it until it comes. It has come, Real Sociedad B have their man off the mark, and the second one is always easier.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Successful dribbles: 15. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
There were 88 minutes on the clock and Zamora had all but banked the point. Football rarely reads the room, and Real Sociedad B did not stop to explain themselves.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jon Eceizabarrena is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Izei Soto has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
Adu Ares was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jon Eceizabarrena is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Adryelson will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Real Sociedad B the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The phone has started ringing about Adu Ares again, and this time the name on the line is Real Murcia. Real Sociedad B are listening politely and promising nothing.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Real Sociedad B this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Real Sociedad B, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Adryelson was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Real Sociedad B, and it is not being withdrawn.
The name of Nicolás Blanco has come up in conversations Real Sociedad B were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Mouctar Diakhaby was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jon Eceizabarrena was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Position 5, 74 points, and a run-in that decides whether next season has Thursday nights in it. Nobody is calling it a race yet, which is what people say during one.
What was a back-page story is now a matter for the terraces, and the terraces do not do nuance. Real Sociedad B would like it dealt with before it becomes the only question anybody asks.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Cartagena had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Real Sociedad B, and it is not being withdrawn.
Mouctar Diakhaby was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jon Eceizabarrena was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Adryelson trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Real Sociedad B will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The offer from Ponferradina for Luken Beitia was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Nicolás Blanco will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Real Sociedad B the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Add another name to the list: Leganés have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Adu Ares. The answer from Real Sociedad B has not changed — yet.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jon Eceizabarrena is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Real Sociedad B will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Real Sociedad B can pretend not to have heard.
The name of Toni Martínez has come up in conversations Real Sociedad B were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Mouctar Diakhaby was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Javi Puado has his answer from Real Sociedad B; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
In brief
SquadA place in the month's best eleven for Tomy Carbonell
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 137 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Nicolás Blanco will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Real Sociedad B the goodbyes have quietly begun.
At 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.81 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Real Sociedad B this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jon Eceizabarrena is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Marked 4.48. Nothing he attempted worked and by the hour mark he had stopped attempting much, which is the part a manager notices rather than the mistakes.
10 attempts, none of them in. He got into the right places all afternoon, which is the hard part, and did the easy part badly — and that is the version of a bad day a manager can live with.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Real Sociedad B will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Real Sociedad B this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
64 points from position 6. The title is somebody else’s business and the drop is somebody else’s problem; what is left is the argument about passports.
Arenas Club will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Real Sociedad B were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
1 for Nicolás Blanco, marked 7.89, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Adu Ares and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
At 21 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Real Sociedad B will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Gorka Gorosabel will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Real Sociedad B the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Real Sociedad B can pretend not to have heard.
Adu Ares was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jon Eceizabarrena is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Real Sociedad B, and both men came out saying it was fine.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.87 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Marked 8.36 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Real Sociedad B know it.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Real Sociedad B they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.89 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Real Sociedad B this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jon Eceizabarrena was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
200 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.80 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Adu Ares and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
There was one mistake and it ended in the net. Defenders are judged on the worst thing they did rather than on the eighty-nine minutes either side of it, which is unfair and is also the job.
13 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jon Eceizabarrena is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Real Sociedad B, and both men came out saying it was fine.
7 shots, and a count that reads like a good afternoon until you check the other column. Strikers survive weeks like this on the understanding that the chances keep arriving; the day they stop is the day it becomes a problem.
Shifted about, taken off before the hour, asked to do somebody else's running — Toni Martínez has had enough of being useful and would like to be picked. Real Sociedad B know, and have known for weeks.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jon Eceizabarrena was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The first defeat in 4 matches. The manager will say it had to come; the dressing room will say it did not have to come against Cacereño; the supporters will say both, in that order, all week.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Real Sociedad B, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Nobody at Real Sociedad B is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Jon Garro signs something — a contract at Real Sociedad B or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
At 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.91 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
12 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
4 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Adu Ares and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
11 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Alexander Sørloth provided it, and the 8.92 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Real Sociedad B they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.94 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Mouctar Diakhaby and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Real Sociedad B and Villarreal B in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Real Avilés will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Real Sociedad B were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 9.62 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
11 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
200 for the club now, each one filed in somebody’s memory with a date and a scoreline. Numbers like this are what supporters argue about in twenty years.
10 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Alexander Sørloth. 1‑0 against Ourense CF, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Position 6, 35 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Real Sociedad B is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The offer from Sevilla for Toni Martínez was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Real Sociedad B will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
9 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jon Eceizabarrena was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 18-year-old it feels ownership of. Antonio Giménez has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 4‑1 against Osasuna Promesas, and it could have been more.
Player ratings23 Dec 2030
A brace, and Toni Martínez takes the afternoon — 8.82
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Toni Martínez provided it, and the 8.82 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.69 for the rest of it.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jon Eceizabarrena is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
8 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.