Győri ETO Storm the Hungarian League as Efraín Juárez Reveals the Key Lies in Their Legs

Inside the press room in Győr, as every question circled around formations and high pressing traps, Efraín Juárez gave an answer that made the room pause. He did not talk about the system. He talked about legs.

"We have a good physical base," Juárez said, calmly. "We don't perform magic. You can't fix football in a week."

For a Mexican coach beginning to leave his mark in Europe, that was a strange answer. People expected him to draw arrows, to outline pressing principles, to offer fresh ideas worth quoting. Instead, he pointed down at the physical foundation — the thing the media treats as mundane, the thing no one wants in a headline.

Győri ETO is the hottest story in Nemzeti Bajnokság I. Third place, 15 points from 8 matches, a record of 4 wins, 3 draws and 1 defeat. They are chasing the leading pack, competing with Vasas and Puskás Akadémia for European qualification spots. But their key, according to the man who leads them, lies in their lungs and their legs.

I spent a long time in front of the screen watching this team play. I noted every move, every time they pushed high, every moment they ran out of breath. And what I found was anything but romantic: Győri ETO do not play the football of inventions. They play the football of lungs.

Nemzeti Bajnokság I is a league Ferencváros has turned into a private domain for years. They are the benchmark. When people discuss title contenders in Hungary, they talk about Ferencváros first, and only then about the rest. Győri ETO sit within that rest — but not in a modest position. They are third, level with Vasas and Puskás Akadémia, forming a distinct second tier behind the giant.

What stands out is that Győri ETO featured in European qualifying this season. They entered Champions League qualifying, only to be eliminated by Víkingur. Then, in the third qualifying round of the Conference League, they fell to Riga. Two eliminations in a single summer. For many, that is the end of a season. For Juárez, it is the starting point.

This team plays fierce football. Attacking, high pressing, built on a robust physical base. Over 8 matches, they have won 4, drawn 3, lost 1. Their only defeat came against Ferencváros — the strongest side in the league. That is the classic signal that class and money make the difference: Győri ETO can beat those below them, but have not yet proven they can match the top.

Behind those numbers lies a harsher reality that Juárez himself admits. Since he took over, every week someone has left or picked up an injury. A thin squad, in constant flux. Amid that instability, he chose to build the physical foundation as the root — before thinking about anything more sophisticated.

And that is where the real story begins.

I want to say plainly something many may not like: Győri ETO have not invented anything new. The model of high pressing plus a physical base is the standard formula of modern football. It has existed for decades. There is nothing revolutionary here.

But precisely because of that, it is worth analysing.

When a coach builds success on physicality, he is doing what many of his peers avoid: accepting that football is first a sport of the body, not of the drawing board. Juárez does not try to reinvent the wheel. He picks a proven model — high pressing — and ensures his team has enough energy to execute it. It is a pragmatic decision, not a glamorous one.

The figure of 1.875 points per match (15 points from 8 games) says little without process data. And here is the crux: there is no expected goals (xG) figure, no PPDA, no possession data. I looked. There is nothing. That means anyone claiming Győri ETO are "dominating" through a superior tactical system is lying — or being lazy.

What we have is an 8-match sample. Moderate. Not enough to define a season. Three draws show this team drops points along the way. It may be untapped potential. It may also be a sign of a side not sharp enough to finish opponents off. The truth lies somewhere in between, and there is no data to adjudicate.

The physical base Juárez mentions is not an empty slogan. It is logical. High pressing demands high aerobic and anaerobic capacity. To have a team run non-stop for 90 minutes, you need a solid physical foundation first. Juárez understands that. The line "You can't fix football in a week" is an admission that his system is still in a gelling phase, and the physical base was set as a prerequisite before tactical refinement.

This is when I remember the 2026 World Cup. I sat in the Luzhniki stands, watching France beat Belgium 1-0 in the semi-final. The entire Asian press corps hailed Didier Deschamps as a tactical genius. I looked at the expected goals: France managed just 0.8, while Belgium had 2.1. I called a data analyst in Brussels to verify, then published within three hours: "France won on luck, not philosophy." The piece sparked fierce debate, but after the final, many began to reconsider.

I tell that story for a reason. When people praise a team, they usually praise the story, not the number. With Győri ETO, the story is "a Mexican coach leaving his mark in Europe." But the real number is far more modest: an 8-match sample, a physical base, and a squad in constant flux.

And here is what no one wants to say: a team playing fitness-based pressing, with a thin squad and frequent injuries, is running a life-or-death gamble. If injuries strike, the system collapses. Juárez admits someone leaves or gets injured every week. That is an unstable squad. For a mid-tier Hungarian club, that usually means relying on free transfers, loans and short-term contracts — a low-cost squad-building model, not heavy investment.

No signing is named in a report about a positive season. That is itself a signal: Győri ETO's progress comes from coaching and conditioning, not money.

There is a paradox here. A fitness-based style delivers short-term results, but it is also a long-term burden. The more you run, the more you get injured. The more you press, the more you need rotation. And with a thin squad, rotation is a luxury. It is the loop many mid-tier clubs get stuck in: they play football that demands fitness to compensate for a lack of quality, but that fitness is not guaranteed by squad depth.

The Hungarian league landscape is monopolistic at the top. Ferencváros are the recognised elite club, with superior resources. Below them sits a cluster of contenders — Győri ETO, Vasas, Puskás Akadémia — fighting for the remaining European spots. Győri ETO occupy the "best of the rest" position, not the role of title challenger. It is a respectable standing, but a fragile one. And their operating model appears to rest on low-cost transfers and internal or loan solutions, rather than expensive recruitment — a pattern common to Hungarian clubs below Ferencváros.

I followed Cerezo Osaka through four months without football in 2026, when the J.League was suspended because of COVID-19. Every reporter went home to write predictions. I stayed in Osaka, noting how the club switched to online training with GPS data from smart vests, how the coach completely changed his programme. I wrote "Cerezo Osaka will win when the ball rolls again" and was mocked. When the J.League restarted in July, Cerezo won six straight and climbed to second.

The lesson: the real story lies in the process, not the result. For Győri ETO, that process is the physical base. It is not glamorous. It does not make pretty headlines. But it is the truth.

Beyond the league, Győri ETO are also progressing in the domestic cup. They have reached the round of the best 32, where they will face Zalaegerszegi. It may be the most realistic route to silverware — and a sign that their season still has several doors open. Meanwhile, Juárez is a young coach in the early stage of his career, seeking credibility in European football. This "stepping-stone" appointment is familiar: a foreign coach arrives in a mid-tier European league, builds a résumé, then looks for a bigger post. If his results keep improving, he will attract attention from bigger clubs — or from his native Mexico. That is a silent risk for Győri ETO: their success could push out the very man who created it.

But I could be wrong. And I will say where.

The most fascinating thing — and the one the majority overlooks — is that the two European eliminations may be a disguised blessing. For a team playing fitness-based pressing, being knocked out of Europe means a lighter schedule. No long flights, no midweek games. The team can pour all its energy into the domestic league. For a fragile collective, that is an advantage.

But here is the trap: if I praise the eliminations as a strategy, I am fooling myself. The two defeats to Víkingur and Riga show this team lacks quality and depth at continental level. That is a harsh truth. That they can compete domestically does not erase the fact that they were eliminated by clubs from Iceland and Latvia.

And there is something no one wants to admit: is Győri ETO's "domination" an illusion of an 8-match sample? Three draws may signal a side that is not quite there. A small sample. A ceiling not yet proven against Ferencváros.

I once wrote: "The whole world praises good defending; I only see a team hiding behind fear." This time it is different. Győri ETO are not hiding behind fear — they dare to attack. But daring to attack without depth is also a kind of gamble. And football is the only thing I know where people worship safety as a feat — while those who dare to risk are often punished when fitness runs dry.

People ask why, at 68, I still write as if the apocalypse is coming. I just laugh. Because I have seen too many beautiful teams vanish over a single winter of injuries. When I was thrown out of the press room in Tokyo, my question stayed on the table. And that question, this time, is for Győri ETO: how long will their legs hold?

The 2026 season was wiped out, but I still kept my bet on a second-tier club. I learned nothing from that mistake — or perhaps I learned everything. Sometimes you bet on a process, and the process does not betray you. But sometimes the process is more fragile than you think.

My prediction: Győri ETO will hold their place in the European qualification group if their physical base does not collapse through injuries. But if that thin squad shatters in winter, the story of "a Mexican coach leaving his mark" will quickly become a lesson in fragility.

And I leave one question: can a team build success on legs, when those very legs are not guaranteed?