The unchanging dependence on Kubo…R Sociedad, 18th in the relegation zone, only 5 points in the opening seven games. What is the reason for the slump? – Soccer Travel from Spain – Overseas Soccer Column: Daily Sports

R Sociedard finished 18th in 18th place with 1 win, 2 draws, 4 losses, and is the lowest in the last 10 years. What is happening to a team that has recently participated in the European Champions League and the European League, and has advanced to the top in the Copa del Rey?

The completely new manager and sports director this season has marked a major change for the team. There was a possibility that the season would struggle before the start of the season, but no one would have thought that it would be this much.

■No reinforcement of the center forward

Sergio Francisco, who leads the new team, was chosen as the new manager of the first team this season, thanks to his skill in promoting the B team to the second division last season, but this is the first time he has been in charge of the first division league. Naturally, it was unknown how far we could go.

Furthermore, the reinforcement movements were slow, and it took until the final day of the transfer market on September 1st. This is also one of the major reasons for the continued sluggishness to date. Despite selling Subimendi, the team's pillar, to Arsenal for 70 million euros (approximately 11.9 billion yen) in early July, they began reinforcing players in August, when the preseason approaches the end of the game.

Furthermore, it was urgently necessary to reconcile personnel due to overbooking of members, and the three members, de Zarate, Orasagusti and Traore, were sold for a total of 10 million euros (approximately 1.7 billion yen). They released Magna Seraia and Becker in the free time, and Javi Lopez, Pacheco and Carlos Fernandez were transferred on a loan. Meanwhile, Sadik and Odriosora, who were not involved in the team, remained on the team.

Recent reinforcements have long been criticized locally as being ineffective. It has been pointed out that despite selling key players one after another and earning huge income, they are not able to make good use of the funds. In particular, for teams whose lack of scoring ability was a challenge, reinforcing center forwards was supposed to be the number one priority, but no one has acquired it.

The transfer fee was 80 million euros (approximately 13.6 billion yen), but the investments to acquire Croatian national team defender Chaletta Tzal (on a temporary transfer), former Portuguese national team forward Gedes, Venezuelan national team midfielder Janher Herrera, and former Spanish national team midfielder Carlos Soler were 21.5 million euros (approximately 3.655 billion yen).

Of the four players, only Janher Herrera, the type of player that coach Sergio Francisco had prioritized as a regular player. His debut in Venezuela was 18 years old and has an international experience, and he has established a steady position as a midfielder and inside half for Girona, which has achieved success in recent years. Although he is expected to perform well, the team is having to wait for his return until mid-October due to injuries he has to wait for his return due to the start of the season.

■Finally winning in the 6th match

Carlos Soler, who was previously hoping to acquire, has been out of the position at Paris Saint-Germain and has moved without playing in a minute in the preseason. It's hard to say that the condition is still in perfect condition, but the amazing collaboration between Kubo and his debut match was a sign of a brighter sign for the new team.

Although Chaleta-Tsar immediately won the regular spot, it is hard to say that he has been delivering such a satisfying performance along with Geddes, who is the backing of Kubo.

Coach Sergio Francisco also promoted Gorochategi and Goti to the top team. Gorochategi, who was nominated as Subimendi's successor, has secured a regular spot, but due to the team's slump, he has not been able to receive that high rating.

The team has also made a tour of Japan without being able to deal with many issues, such as becoming the new manager, slow reinforcements, and the fact that it is impossible to confirm the team's members, and the lack of preparation has begun this season like a nightmare start, as if to spur the slump that has been going on since the end of last season.

They scored the first goal for five consecutive games since the start of the season, and they had no wins, and they had to wait until the sixth round of the match against Mallorca. After seven league games, he has only five points, and is 18th in the relegation zone. This low point was the worst in recent years, matching the 2014-15 season and last season. The worse situation than this must be traced back to the 2006-07 season, when they were unable to win until the 15th round and had two points in their first seven games, with two draws and five losses, and they ended up being demoted to the second division.

The above mainly cited problems due to the club's structure, but the defensive aspects where mistakes are particularly noticeable on the pitch are particularly problematic. This was a major improvement in the sixth round match against Mallorca, where he achieved the only clean sheet this season, and in the seventh round they were persistent against Barcelona, ​​but they revealed their weakness in set pieces.

■Changes to Kubo's play zone

The offensive side is still as plagued by the lack of scoring ability as last season. Due to Kubo having an ankle problems this season, there are views that he is dependent on Balenechair (1 point, 3 assists) and Oyalzabal (2 points, 1 assists).

Among them, Barrenechair has shown the best performance he has made in his career and has transformed into one of the best dribblers in the Spanish league. As a result, R Sociedad's attacks have been skewed towards the left side, especially recently. For example, in the victory against Mallorca, the attacks from the right side were 30.6% and the center was 22.3%, while the left side was 47.1%, accounting for about half.

Barrenechea has attempted dribbling in the Spanish league this season with 36 attempts (average 5.1 per game), third in third place behind Barcelona's Yamal (39) and Real Madrid's Mbappe (38). He has 21 successful dribblings (average 3.0 per game), finishing second in second, tied with Yamal, after Mbappe (25). As shown by his assist in the opening goal against Barcelona, ​​he shows overwhelming strength, one-on-one. Furthermore, he finished fifth with 36 crosses.

One factor in the increase in attacks from the left side is that Kubo has expanded his playing area than he was with manager Imanor Alguacil, not only has to hold the right, but has also increased the number of plays inside, which has resulted in fewer vertical moves.

Kubo's averaged 3.9 attempts to dribble last season was 2.1 successes, while this season has been 2.4 (17 in total) and 1.0 (7 in total) respectively.

Furthermore, as he suggested that he may miss the next match against Rayo Barjecano and this month's national team match (Paraguay and Brazil), after the match against Barcelona, ​​saying that he would “want to get better when it can be fixed,” and that he will miss the next match against Rayo Barjecano, as well as this month's national team match (Paraguay and Brazil), it is believed that the fact that he has continued to play his last four games despite suffering ankle problems that he suffered from in the match against Mexico has had a major impact.

After this, R Sociedad will be playing against Rayo Vallecano and will be in his second international A match of the season. After that, with Janhell Herrera returning, all the members will finally be together. I would like to take a look at how the team will change from here on.[Takahashi Tomoyuki](Nickan Sports.com/Soccer Column “Soccer Journey from Spain”)