The art form of a winger has often been lost in the recent decade of Spanish international football. Do not think of me naïve to the attacking might which brought so much success between 2008 and 2012. The fruits born of offensive movement and passing majesty were those not of rigid wing-play but of free-flowing attacking midfielders interchanging passes as if connected telepathically. Mikel Oyarzabal, a 21-year-old Basque-born winger, looks to break that mould with a collection of his compatriots.
Born in the municipality of Eibar in the Basque region of Spain, Oyarzabal was swallowed up by the Real Socieded youth academy at the age of 14. A fast development led prodigy to earn a call up to the B side in 2014. Scoring his first goal less than a year later during the opening rounds of the 2015/16 season, Oyarzabal earned his first appearance in the senior squad by October. He has not looked back since.
La Real had realised the talent which had been buried in their youth team. He signed a new deal just six days after his senior debut until 2021 and extended it for a further year at the end of the season.
Oyarzabal has represented the Spanish national team from the under-18 setup right through to the senior side. He made his full debut at 19 years of age in a friendly against Bosnia & Herzegovina.
Evolution
Oyarzabal does fall into the category of many modern wide Spanish wingers. He is not blessed with rapid speed, but with ferocious agility which he uses to disorientate defenders to take them on and inevitably beat them. La Real’s number 10 has used these traits to be an extremely versatile attacker. Whilst strongly left-footed, the Spaniard is comfortable playing on either side of the field.
Mikel Oyarzabal heat map for 2016/17 (left) 2017/18 (centre) 2018/19 (right)
The above heat maps show Oyarzabal’s evolution in the last three seasons positionally. Heavily featuring on the left wing during the 2016/17 season, building on from his break out the year before, Oyarzabal made the position his own. The characteristics of La Real’s attacking stereotype were compounded by the runs made by the Spaniard. The left flank combination of Yuri Berchiche, who would leave Sociedad the following season for Paris Saint-Germain, and Oyarzabal ripped through opposing teams.
