Real Sociedad goalkeeper Alex Remiro is the latest to earn a Spain call-up, as the Txuri-Urdin continue to populate the national side. A presence that the former Athletic Club goalkeeper credits the club with.
La Real are in excellent form this season, and look as if they will cruise through the group stages of the Champions League, while still maintaining a strong European challenge in La Liga. Remiro was asked by Relevo what their secret was, with 16 players in the first team having come through at their Zubieta academy.
“The secret is Imanol, Zubieta, how they train… During the week we kill ourselves, we train a lot and we believe in that way of working, of trying to be the best from Monday to Friday. Then the competition decides, but from Monday to Friday we try to be the best. The club has been working with that philosophy practically since the president, Jokin (Aperribay), came in. This has been transferred to Roberto Olabe, Imanol and everyone who works at Zubieta, that we have to be the best on a daily basis because then we will be great on the weekend. It is a base.”
Barcelona and Spain defender Inigo Martinez has spoken about naturalising the conversation around mental health, something Remiro too has spoken about in the past. With footballers receiving more abuse than ever online, Remiro was asked whether it was a mistake for footballers to distance themselves from fans, as many tend to do as a mere method of protecting themselves.
“It is not the right thing to do, given the times we are in. On social networks you have the ease of sending a message to your followers, to the people who are interested in you. We have a very important speaker and we have a small responsibility to do it in a good way. It is a mistake to distance yourself, due to what happens when you make a mistake. We have a small responsibility that we must assume and always set an example, be close to the little ones because we were once them too.”
He was also highly complementary of the way the people in Donostia-San Sebastian treat their footballers though too.
“The environment of the city and how the fans treat us… They are very respectful, they are not at all intrusive and they always wait for us to be in a good moment to approach us or send us a message of support, to interact with us. It is a spectacular city. For example, with Mikel Oyarzabal, with Ander Guevara, with my partner or with my family, on match days I always have breakfast in a normal cafeteria with everyone. Sometimes people stay… I’ve been doing this for five years. And they tell you ‘but you’re just about to play’. And I… ‘Yeah, yeah, but it’s no big deal.’ That naturalness that the city and the fans give us is appreciated.”
Certainly the pressure of the standards that La Real have set in recent years are yet to weigh on the players. In spite of their youthful squad, Real Sociedad have continued to get better and better each year. Evidence of which is the fact that so many of their players are with La Roja now.
