The locker room takes on the challenge. Sporting players openly talk about the “final eleven”, although not everyone likes the term. What no one doubts is that the decisive stage of the league is underway and it is time to do everything possible to be in the positions that give access to promotion at the end of the season. The squad is beginning to feel the tension that all this implies. It was seen in moments of need such as against Albacete, or in the whistles during the match against Alcorcón. Knowing how to manage this demand, on a mental level, is one of the keys for the head and legs to respond. The red-and-white club has this in mind.
Group dynamics, personal talks and consultations, at a more individual level, with sports psychologists or coaches. These are three of the keys from which Sporting tries to form a group, free the mind and find tools to know how to handle moments of maximum mental demand. It’s not new. Rather, it has been the working formula since the beginning of the season. A routine linked to preparation. It is now, however, when both the previous work and what remains to come take on special importance due to what the competition involves. Obtain maximum performance in a sustained manner, the end.
Getting closer to the dream of getting into positions by moving up a category means an extra amount of adrenaline and frustration at certain times. In this sense, the vast majority of Sporting players share having found in the figure of Miguel Ángel Ramírez that of a coach very open to dialogue. Both in sports and personally. From the regulars in the eleven, to those who have had fewer opportunities. Beyond the conversations before, during and after each training session, the coach usually schedules periodic meetings with each of his players to discuss matters more directly. On some occasions, on a weekly basis.
The staff also carries out group dynamics periodically. In them they try to share some issue that may affect the group and try to find a solution together. Miguel Ángel Ramírez and the footballers are not the only protagonists. David Guerra, executive president, and Gerardo García, director of sports management, are also involved in listening to or debating points of view with coaches and players on aspects that may affect their performance.
On another parallel level is dealing with more specific figures such as the coach or the sports psychologist. The Orlegi Group worked, until a few weeks ago, with Imanol Ibarrondo, who has already completed his relationship with the Mexican group after providing services at both Atlas and Santos Laguna, as well as at Sporting. In any case, Ibarrondo maintains a personal and professional relationship with Miguel Ángel Ramírez, with whom he already collaborated before his arrival at the rojiblanco club. He also maintains contact with a member of the staff with whom he has already worked in a more specific way, complementing the sessions developed with different levels of the entity. He is not the only coach the squad deals with. Other footballers trust psychologists. A well-known case in Sporting is Gaspar, with a special link with Emi González Nosti, also from Gijón. More have followed in his footsteps.
If the first round is taken into account, Sporting is capable of putting up numbers that ensure, at least, the play-off. Against the same rivals, the red and white team achieved 19 of the 33 points remaining at play. A striking balance because they only gave up two defeats, against Racing and Cartagena. As for the rest, the Gijón team beat Mirandés, Elche, Villarreal B, Espanyol and Eldense. And they drew against Amorebieta, Andorra, Eibar and Leganés.
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2024-03-21 03:01:05
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