For years, Real Sociedad has established itself as surely the most credible team behind the Real Madrid-FC Barcelona-Atlético de Madrid trio. With a high-quality training center and having always been able to rely on the recruitment of very good players in the past (Isak, Odegaard), the Basque club was a team that regularly qualified for the Europa League and then even the Champions League. A rise in power which was also the work of Imanol Alguacil. A fine tactician and extremely close to his young group, the Spanish coach was able to give consistency to his team and logically appeared to be one of the best coaches in La Liga during his time at San Sebastian between 2018 and 2025.
Ultimately, the adventure of the 54-year-old coach ended in disaster. At the end of his contract last June, Alguacil was not extended with Real Sociedad. Eager to turn the page after a frustrating eleventh place last year, the Txuri-urdinak decided to bet on Sergio Francisco. Having passed through the Sociedad reserves, the Spanish coach had a path quite similar to that of his predecessor, who left for Saudi Arabia this summer. Finally, several months after his arrival, the transplant still does not take place between Real Sociedad and Sergio Francisco.
Real Sociedad are bottom of La Liga
Despite a final vintage that fell short of expectations, Real Sociedad is undoubtedly having its worst start to a season in a very long time. Orphaned by a Martin Zubimendi who filled a huge void in midfield, the Basques are also paying for meager recruitment where the arrivals of former Parisians Carlos Soler and Goncalo Guedes serve as flagship arrivals. Currently, Real Sociedad is simply in last place in La Liga with five defeats in eight matches. A complicated situation after eight days of La Liga and which inevitably creates frustration around the new Basque coach.
Sometimes showing his anger, Francisco explained after a defeat against Barça last month that the referees had played against him: “Their first goal really made us angry. It seemed like the whole stadium saw that it was a six-yarder. Only the referee saw it as a corner, so conceding it was frustrating, everyone saw that.” A complicated situation for the coach who is more than ever in the hot seat. According to our information, a defeat this weekend against Celta de Vigo could spell the end of his adventure with Sociedad. For its part, the Basque club is working on replacement tracks. Still according to our sources, Garcia Pimienta, former coach of Sevilla FC and Las Palmas, is a profile closely observed at San-Sebastian while Thiago Motta revealed not to be interested in the position.
