The alarms in Oviedo are not yet on – there have been seven league games – but the unease is palpable at all levels. There is a state of “great concern” about the signals that the Bolo team emits, in an identity limbo in the first two months. This start was unexpected: 9 points out of 21 and a record offensive drought, only three goals.
Oviedo faces the visit of Cartagena, which is in fourth place, with the usual nerves after a month without winning. In the coaching staff there is full confidence in reversing the situation, without hiding the bad feelings. It is perceived more self-criticism than before at all levels. Behind the scenes, the focus is also on the positive: defensive solidity is still the order of the day. In the different levels of the club, the internal analysis that explains the evil flows on several fronts and points to various areas of work.
The lack of ends for the Bolo plan. It was the only position that was left unfilled after the transfer market, the first with Tito Blanco at the helm. Oviedo waited for Ureña, a Girona winger, but made no other move. It was understood that with what was on, it was enough. The result is that the squad has a deficit on the wings that now attracts attention internally. Especially considering Bolo’s plan.
The coach, in the week before receiving Ibiza, wanted to reset the team and insisted on the importance of reaching the bottom line and putting crosses to the two forwards, Enrich and Bastón. The problem is that the only classic winger is Viti, on the right. Bretones, arrived from Vetusta, has been the surprise of this start of the League and he does have that profile. There is no more, with Sangalli and Borja tending to go to the center. A plan without specialists seems difficult to achieve.
Borja Sánchez continues without contributing inside. It was one of the substantial changes that could be sensed in the preseason. Bolo planned to put Borja Sánchez, now injured, in the center and thus move him away from the band. This is how the coaching staff transferred it to the player from Oviedo before his expected renewal, which kept the club on edge and therefore sports planning. At the moment of truth, the change of position has not happened. Ziganda did not dare last year and Bolo, for the moment, neither. Borja, it is true that with more freedom, he has not moved from the left wing. Meanwhile, Oviedo, according to the club’s analysis, is still missing someone to liaise with the forward. It could be Marcelo Flores, who came with the title vitola but has clearly lost his position.
Brugman’s figure. The shadow of the Uruguayan is becoming elongated in Oviedo. The midfielder took the lead last year with Ziganda and Tito signed two pivots in his place: Montoro and Koba. The first is called to be the organizer and, although there is confidence in his performance, it is costing him to get in shape more than expected. The Valencian still needs to connect with those around him so that the rest of the team’s game flows. Bolo and his coaching staff have insisted a lot in recent weeks on his movements. In addition, with the departure of Brugman, the offensive arrival of the second line has also been lost. The Uruguayan scored 3 goals last year. Montoro does not have that profile that Koba could provide. The challenge is to fit the pieces well.
An offensive couple that needs more chances to score. There is a key piece of information, handled by Oviedo, which serves to put the team’s offensive drought in context. The blue team is the second team that generates fewer “expected goals” in the category. Oviedo and Huesca de Ziganda are the only two teams with less than one expected goal per game, according to data from the Asturian portal Dirfut. Expected goals is a metric that measures the quality of scoring chances and is highly valued at clubs for its accuracy. To understand it, an example is enough: an occasion from the small area is not the same as a distant shot on goal from fifty meters. Oviedo fails in that section, which indicates that they barely generate chances for their pair of strikers: Bastón and Enrich. The first of them has scored two goals, both from penalties, and Enrich has scored a goal. They are the only goals that the carbayón team has achieved.
