Real Sociedad hired Pellegrino Matarazzo in December as the first American manager in La Liga history. His impact has been significant.
It shouldn’t have come as a surprise that, of all the teams in La Liga, Real Sociedad would be the ones to take a chance on the first American manager in the league’s history. This is the club who appointed John Toshack in 1985, the first Welshman to manage in Spain.
They turned to David Moyes back in 2014, as only the second Scottish coach to manage in Spain and the first since Jock Wallace nearly three decades earlier in 1986. For a club so steeped in tradition and identity, La Real have never been afraid of the occasional unconventional choice.
Pellegrino Matarazzo, born in New Jersey to Italian parents, was certainly that. Few saw it coming but Matarazzo had earned the opportunity. He worked with Nürnberg’s youth teams before becoming Julian Nagelsmann’s assistant at Hoffenheim. Sven Mislintat, the man famed for spotting talent, brought him to Stuttgart where he spent three seasons. For good measure, Matarazzo also brought John Maisano with him to the Basque Country as his assistant, the first Australian to coach in La Liga.
Matarazzo, 48, has turned Real Sociedad’s season around. Since taking over in mid-December, they are averaging 2.3 points per game (W4 D2 L0) in the league compared to just one point per game under Sergio Francisco (W4 D4 L12). In all competitions, the only side from Europe’s top five leagues on a longer unbeaten run than Real Sociedad (11, including two games prior to Matarazzo starting) are Lyon under Paulo Fonseca, who have won 12 in a row.
They also took a significant step towards the Copa del Rey final on Wednesday night, beating bitter rivals Athletic Bilbao 1-0 at San Mamés. The tie isn’t settled but Athletic Club must travel to Anoeta at the beginning of March and chase the game against one of Europe’s most dangerous counter-attacking sides. The signs are promising.
Seismic Change at Real Sociedad
Real Sociedad underwent significant upheaval during the summer. Imanol Alguacil, who had been in charge since December 2018, departed as his cycle came to a natural end. He wasn’t dismissed and didn’t leave in the mid-season; it simply felt like his time on the bench had come to an end with so many key pieces from his best sides over the previous seven years having been sold.
The club’s much-lauded director of football, Roberto Olabe, left as well in September to replace Monchi at Aston Villa. Across two spells in that role dating back to 2016, he had been central to the club’s rise under Alguacil.
Even before this summer, the dismantling had already begun. Robin Le Normand and Mikel Merino left in the summer of 2024, Alexander Isak two years before that. Then came the most painful loss of all: Martín Zubimendi was finally prised away from the shores of San Sebastián by Mikel Arteta and Arsenal after years of interest from across Europe.
Real Sociedad’s academy is widely considered one of the very best in Europe, but you can’t just replace a player like Zubimendi or the elegance, control and rhythm he brings to a team. Beñat Turrientes and Jon Gorrotxategi might one day reach similar heights as their former teammate, but not yet and not in the same way.
Erik Bretos, Olabe’s successor, turned to Sergio Francisco to replace Alguacil. He was the continuity candidate. He had spent a decade in the academy, most recently guiding the reserves to promotion into the Segunda División. In a different context, he might have been the right answer. But Bretos misread the question.
What Bretos didn’t understand and soon learned was the club didn’t need continuity, it needed a complete reimagining of what Real Sociedad were trying to do. The names mentioned when La Real were looking for a new manger back in December were telling. Marco Rose, from the school of Red Bull, was considered as was Thiago Motta. Real Sociedad knew the next appointment would have to be a big one.
In the end, Matarazzo was the choice. Early signs suggest they chose well.
Matarazzo’s New Script
Since Matarazzo took over, the script has been torn up. The games are faster, more chaotic. The team presses harder, runs faster, fights for the ball more aggressively and, ultimately, the results speak for themselves.
They average 1.5 shots from fast breaks per game. Only Real Betis, Villarreal and Real Madrid have more. The intensity is obvious. They’re creating and converting more chances, too.
That isn’t to say fortune hasn’t favoured them at times. The win over Barcelona was the headline example. Barça posted the sixth-highest xG total (3.68) in La Liga on record for a losing team.
But last Saturday’s match against Elche was the clearest expression yet of this new identity: aggressive, direct and clinical.
In 17 league games this season, Elche goalkeeper Iñaki Peña has attempted more long passes only against Barcelona and Sevilla. At Anoeta, he was forced into 29, completing just nine, a 31% success rate. Real Sociedad forced Elche to play the game on their terms and won all three points.
La Real pressed the centre-backs, cut off Aleix Febas, one of the most important tempo-setters in the league, and allowed only the most awkward passing lanes into Leo Petrot. Even for a possession-oriented side like Eder Sarabia’s Elche, those were risks they were unwilling to take.
That is the essence of Matarazzo’s work. Real Sociedad make opponents uncomfortable while thriving in the chaos themselves. Since the American took charge, they have recorded just two build-up attacks (open-play sequences comprising 10+ passes and either end in a shot or have at least one touch in the box), which is fewer than any side in the league apart from Levante (one). They don’t want the ball for the sake of it and have no interest in control without a cutting edge.
This new intensity is also seen in their pressing. Their PPDA (opposition passes per defensive action) has dropped to 10.1, a figure bettered only by Barcelona, Elche, Sevilla and Athletic, reflecting their desire to win the ball back quickly.
Interpreting The Game
We saw earlier that La Real’s possession statistics and number of touches per game are down.
They are more vertical and that change has created space for Turrientes and Gorrotxategi to settle into clearer roles.
Turrientes, long viewed as a potential heir to Zubimendi, suddenly looks revitalised. Before Matarazzo’s arrival, it felt as though he might need to leave to fulfil his potential. Now, he is central to how Real Sociedad play, averaging 7.4 ball recoveries per 90 and winning a significantly higher share of his duels. Since Matarazzo came in, only two midfielders in La Liga (minimum 270 minutes) have won possession back more often on a per-90 basis.
Whenever a new manager makes an immediate impact, it’s tempting to credit them with improving everyone. Some of La Real’s players have benefited simply by being part of a more functional team. Others, though, have improved because their roles and the positions on the pitch they are taking up have fundamentally changed.
Under Alguacil and Sergio Francisco, La Real were highly positional but Matarazzo’s side are a more dynamic, shape-shifting side in possession. Players interpret space rather than occupy zones.
Sergio Gómez is a case in point. The 25-year-old has struggled to define himself since leaving Manchester City. He possesses the technical quality to play higher up the pitch but has never looked entirely comfortable as a conventional defender and so has been stuck on the mezzanine between the two. Matarazzo sees him as an aggressive, attacking left-back expected to step into midfield, provide width and use his technical ability to deliver the ball from the wing.
We saw it against Athletic on Wednesday and last month at Getafe, a side who themselves thrive in manic contests. La Real were willing to meet chaos with chaos, adjusting their structure to suit the contest. Gómez pushed high to the left and Gonçalo Guedes drifted inside and deeper to influence the game.
In fact, Guedes is another beneficiary. This is his best season in years.
Under Sergio Francisco, he was playing high and wide, but now he’s drifting inside from the left (or the right) allowing Gómez to overlap, and then the Portuguese flyer attacks the spaces – it’s a subtle, simple and intuitive change.
Guedes is better when running into gaps and attacking space as opposed to simply standing in it. Since leaving Valencia in 2022, Guedes has played for four clubs: Wolves, Benfica, Villarreal and now Real Sociedad. He has played more than 200 minutes for eight managers but his early output under Matarazzo stands out. He is averaging 0.62 goals per 90, which is his highest figure in that time.
Gonçalo Guedes heat map under Pellegrino Matarazzo.Mikel Oyarzabal has resisted every attempt to lure him away from Real Sociedad, even as the market for him cooled in recent years. At the peak of interest, he suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury and the road back has not been easy.
Until Matarazzo’s arrival, you could argue he was still searching for how he could get back to his best version. Now, the numbers suggest he is back to his very best.
Under five different managers at the club, his 0.57 expected goals per 90 since Matarazzo’s arrival is his highest return yet. He is also on course to surpass his previous league best of 13 goals, which he set in 2018–19. It’s back to the same principle we saw with Guedes; Oyarzabal drops deep, links play and then arrives in the box, where he has been decisive.
It remains a work in progress. Matarazzo is riding a wave, and Real Sociedad are one of the most in-form sides in Europe’s top five leagues, but momentum can be fragile and the ending how not yet been written.
La Real stand on the brink of their first Copa del Rey final since 2019–20, which would be only their second appearance in 37 years.
A trip to the Bernabéu awaits on Saturday against a stuttering Real Madrid. A positive result there would pull Matarazzo’s side to the edge of the European places and provide more evidence he has turned the ship around completely.
Real Sociedad needed a reset, and that’s exactly what Matarazzo has provided.
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