Julen Lopetegui is about to complete three months on the Wolverhampton bench, which took him from last place in the Premier League to the current 15th place after three wins (on Saturday he endorsed Liverpool 3-0), a draw and two losses in six. day.
After this rocky first spell, Lopetegui insisted he wants to continue managing Wolves for a “long time”, as he relishes the “exciting challenge” of keeping them in the Premier League and continuing to improve.
Ahead of Saturday’s trip to Southampton, Lopetegui gave an interview to Guillem Balagué for the BBC in which he discussed a wide range of topics, including self-improvement and how Johan Cruyff influenced him.
Lopetegui took over on November 14, when the Premier League took a break for the World Cup in Qatar. He was the club’s first choice to take charge after Bruno Lage was sacked on October 2, but initially chose to stay at home to be close to his elderly father.
The decision to sign for Wolves
Lopetegui is debating his decision just a month after being sacked by Sevilla on October 5. “Why not now and why not Wolves? First of all, I want to stay here for a long time because it’s a good place for any coach . For me [la Premier League] This is the best competition in the world. I want here because Wolves wanted me to come here, they worked hard,” said the Basque coach.
Three months later, the former coach of Porto, Real Madrid and the Spanish team is also happy with his experience. “We are here and I am happy to be here. It is a big challenge for me and also for the club and for the players, because of course we know where we started in the table.”
“We had a very difficult task in front of us -continued Lopetegui- but it is a fantastic challenge, so we feel the energy and that it could be a good time to go here, knowing that it is a hard, hard work. , but just as exciting. An exciting work that we try to enjoy and of course achieve our goals.”
Lopetegui explained in the interview what a working day is. “We start at 8 in the morning and finish at 9 in the night. We have dinner and then we sleep before the next day. I enjoy my job. It’s not difficult for me because this is my life and it’s fun to try to help. the team, to the players, to the club, to work in different situations”.
Lopetegui qualified that “it’s probably harder for the family and I understand them. I’m very lucky to have this kind of family that understands me.”
At 59 years old, the Asteasu coach is a perfectionist to the max. “I enjoy coming here to work. I think you always have one thing to do, improve, always, always as a coach. I always tell players that it’s impossible to be perfect.”
“It’s a good target for us,” he continued. “Always, whether you win or lose, you have to improve and you have to be balanced because it will be a very difficult and long race. It is very important that we are capable and ready with a good mentality and strength to reach the last moment of the season.”
His experience with Johan Cruyff
Lopetegui also remembers his signing with FC Barcelona during his time as a goalkeeper. It was in 1994 and Johan Cruyff joined him. Although he could not stand out as a Barça player, he had an invaluable experience.
“I heard that many coaches worked with Johan Cruyff and we were very lucky to work with him because he was the first coach who started me thinking about football,” admitted Lopetegui.
“Until now I have not asked myself why I should do it or not. I thought why would I want to do this, why not? So it was easy. For me this is key. Many coaches worked with him as a player.”
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
