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Elordi, the rookie who shines in Couples

Aitor Elordi returns a ball to the width of the Astelena fronton before Zabaleta’s gaze. / iñigo royo

With 54 goals scored in four games, the Biscayan player signs a spectacular start in the company of Zabaleta

His numbers are scary considering that he is a rookie in the Couples. Aitor Elordi from Biscay was a bet from Aspe for the tournament which, for the moment, is working out. In four games he has managed to extend the form he had from Cuatro y Medio, a championship that ended in third place on the podium for the first time in his career, and he has managed to compact perfectly with his teammate Zabaleta. The man from Mallabia has scored 54 goals halfway through the first round of the tournament group. And he alone has missed 8 times, most in attack, a really low number for a finisher.

Having a defender with the potential of Etxarren is one of the keys for Elordi to have achieved such records. The Navarrese dominates and he finishes. But it has been shown in recent years that it is not so easy to play with a striker who often takes center stage in matches. Capturing his control on the bright slope, and that is the job that the malabitarra is doing perfectly.

He has shown that he is a quick learner because until the start of the championship the times they had played together were few. And since the first meeting they have improved their ability to understand each other on the pitch, something that for some is not so easy.

You also have to know how to handle the pressure that comes with being in a relationship with the best bodyguard because many eyes are always on the theoretical weakest link in the chain to see if he fulfills his mission. And so far in competition he has managed to balance the role.

The improvement that he has experienced in defense over the last few years has also been evident. Because a striker not only has to finish off, he must also apply himself to other tasks to prevent gaps from being created where a match can escape them. His physical preparation is much more consistent, which allows him to reach difficult balls, and his shot has gained shine, so the balls served that he leaves the rival striker are counted.

good reads

And the reading he has done of the meetings has been very good. Because to the innate qualities that he treasures to shoot, with one of the most effective hooks on the circuit, we must add that he almost always chooses the right moment to enter. In this way, Elordi and Zabaleta have managed to overcome all the combinations they have faced so far with great authority. The ones who managed to score the most goals against them were Urrutikoetxea and Albisu on the previous day in Irurzun, leaving them eleven.

The collected harvest has given them the necessary peace of mind to work as they wanted, although the Biscayan is aware that in such a long and demanding championship there will come difficult moments because it is not easy to maintain peaks of form like the current one. However, by then they may already have qualified for the next round more than on track, so he has to make the most of the moment.

This Monday (4:30 p.m.) at the Beotibar fronton in Tolosa he has a new exam. This time it will be against Laso, the manomanista champion. An extra motivation for the one from Mallabia. They will come out as clear favorites for the chair because they have earned it hard.

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