In the 1960s, the press consisted only of paper newspapers printed on a rotary press, or weekly or monthly magazines, so the first times that a radio station tried to access the invitation of a football club, it was met with reluctance from those who did not yet consider themselves colleagues in the written media. “This is a press conference,” they argued, notebook and pen in hand. In the end, they made their way, as it should be.
But sometimes we go back to the past. It happened in San Sebastian, where the Real Sociedad sporting director, Roberto Olabe, called the media together, and did not allow the radios to record and the televisions to capture images. Only notes in the notebook, as in the days of Erostarbe, Luis de Andia or Porriño, the historic San Sebastian chroniclers of the Atocha mud. “Maybe I made a mistake in the format,” he admitted later, but his choice may be a reflection of the nerves that hover over the team. txuriurdinafter a less than buoyant start to the League, also spiced up by incidents such as the one involving the Surinamese Becker, for which he had to apologise after confronting several young people who had accosted him outside a nightclub.
However, the Europa League, in whose new format Real Madrid is making its debut, could be a balm for the team managed by Imanol Alguacil, although without ignoring the paradox that appears in the shorthand notes of Olabe’s appearance, even if it is true. “In this football you cannot ask for time, but you need it.” The San Sebastian team makes its debut at the Allianz Riviera (9:00 p.m.) against Nice, in which Mohamed-Ali Cho stands out, who is an undisputed starter in the French team, after two seasons in which he barely contributed to Real. Nice thrashed the historic Saint-Étienne 8-0 on the last matchday, although they have only won two of the five games played. The French Riviera club had its fans’ hopes raised when petrochemical giant Ineos invested more than 100 million euros in the club, and owner Jim Ratcliffe promised to bring the team up to the level of the Parisian club within five years, but that’s now the case and Nice has not moved beyond fifth place. Furthermore, it is now closer to being sold than it was initially promised, since Ineos acquired 25% of Manchester United’s shares, a much more attractive option.
But the French will find a Real Madrid with existential doubts. “The departures of players have occurred at a certain moment, surely not at the desired moment,” confesses Olabe, who asks for moderation in the judgement of the team. “Smiles and pats on the back have been the norm and now we have to be calm and serene, but also have enough personality to face this start that has not been good in terms of results and irregular in terms of play,” although he entrusts Imanol to reverse the situation. “Right now there is no one better to continue carrying out the work. I see him doing well and he transmits tranquility.” In Nice, they trust in Donostia, the solution begins. Or the problem increases, of course.
