Real Valladolid receives the team that is surely more antagonistic to its ideology this Sunday at the José Zorrilla, an Amorebieta that already defeated the blanquivioletas in the first round with that very different style that has taken them to the Second Division. Despite the qualifying situation in which the Basque team finds itself, it is surely the match with the clearest specificity of the remainder of the coursegiven the conditions of this model, which deals with a good part of what happens in the field in long air shipments.
This is indicated by the statistics, which clearly reflect the arts of Íñigo Vélez’s painting: he is the leader in disputes over the top and in long passes and he takes his style to the extreme to the point of having sought out this type of association no less than 71.95% of the time. The result of this and of those overlooked shipments are the disputes of this type in which she has participated: 1,455, of which he has won more than half, 51.48%. And if that was not enough, only 34.94% of his passes are in his own fieldbeing the one who least tries them.
All of these statistics threaten to turn Zorrilla’s duel into one often identified with northern football, based on the physical and direct game that Pucela already suffered in Lezama. Pacheta’s team has changed a lot since then, especially if you think about the vision it offers as a local, which does not alleviate the precautions to be exercised by the coach. “They have a simple model but hard to fight all the time and we have to be prepared for the work”, he asserted, before appealing to “confidence with the ball and in attack”.
Faced with Amorebieta’s threat of darkening the sun with those frontal and high balls, as the Persian emissary would say in ‘300’, the blanquivioletas will have to accept that battle and, using the film and the Spartan response, fight in the shade. The intensity that is presupposed in the previous actions must go hand in hand with those things that Pucelanos know how to do: look for a pressure causing leakssince Amorebieta is the team that makes the most mistakes with the ball and Pucela is the third with the most interceptions.
Certainly, the Basque team is the one who gives the most passes in the opposite field, but also who commits more losseswhile the people from Valladolid are the fourth team that lose the least amount of leather, the second team in number of passes in the opposite field, the fourth in passing quality, who puts more and better centers… In other words; the key, for Real Valladolid, is to be able to identify with itself, just as the coach warned at the press conference this Friday. It sounds obvious, but it does not make it any less necessary to do so.
In addition to continuing with leading role with the ball, exposed as a rule (and more at home)as well as seeking to improve the effectiveness facing the rival goal, referred to on so many occasions, a final aspect that needs attention is the set pieces actions. The centimeters of the Girona or Cartagena attackers brought more than one problem to Pucela, the second squad that fits the least like this and the one that generates the most corner kicks (yes, without taking advantage of them). Amorebieta has scored nine goals in this way… and conceded nine like this, including five of the last six.