Rino Matarazzo, the quiet catalyst of La Real’s two-month revival | OneFootball

Rino Matarazzo has jolted Real Sociedad back to life inside two months, steering them into a cup final and reviving their league campaign.

According to Diario Vasco, he has improved training and match plans. Players, and Mikel Oyarzabal, stressed Sergio Francisco was not the main culprit, the squad simply needed different energy.

He arrived after the Girona defeat, Francisco’s last game, as president Aperribay and director of football Bretos swiftly turned to a New Jersey-born mathematician who does not speak Spanish. Matarazzo had been studying La Real for months.

Since four January he has overseen 13 games, three against Athletic, plus Barcelona and Atlético, with only one defeat to Real Madrid. The record is eight wins, four draws and that loss, leaving La Real well placed with several bottom-half visitors still to come to Anoeta.

In the Copa they trailed Osasuna 0-2 on 74 minutes, levelled through Zubeldia on 92, then won a penalty shootout after decades. At Mendizorrotza they were 2-1 down, Toni Martínez had a penalty to extend, Remiro saved, then Guedes and Óskarsson reversed it, Guedes from Turrientes’ pass.

He stresses synergies and relationships, progresses organically by setting priorities, tailors tactics to the club’s identity, and builds players’ confidence through video and conversation.

Belief has spread, some fans held devotional cards reading In Matarazzo we trust during Oyarzabal’s penalty. He has embraced the city, visiting a sidrería, running at six thirty in Gros and unwinding by La Concha and the Paseo Nuevo.

Source: Diario Vasco