Zubizarreta, caught by Ter Stegen: “Marc always had everything clear”

Andoni Zubizarreta (Vitoria, 1961) is the sports director of FC Barcelona from July 2010 to January 2015. The architect of the team that won two Champions Leagues and three Leagues, among other titles, he led the mission of finding relief for Victor Valdes. Marc ter Stegen He was chosen 10 years ago and next Monday he will be equal to Real society his 410 games as Barça goalkeeper. It will only come first Victor Valdes (535). From Bilbao, the Dream Team goalkeeper recalls how Ter Stegen was signed and assesses his evolution before settling in Port in a few weeks as the new sports director after the electoral victory of André Villas-Boasthe coach he signed when he was manager of Olympique Marseille.

First of all, how are you doing in your new professional career?

Excellent, this is a club used to win. They have two Champions Leagues and two Europa Leagues and it’s a great challenge.

Let’s talk about Ter Stegen. In doing the chronology of the signing you did, who first told you about him?

First of all, I didn’t sign him. It’s a team effort like everything else. The first to tell us about him was Jordi Melero, because he is responsible for the German market. I told them that we have no need in terms of goalkeeper, because we had Víctor and Pinto in 2010. Behind them are Masip, Oier, Miño and there are other positions that have a major need. What is sought is the hope of the future.

What did those early reports highlight?

The personality he has in a Borussia Mönchengladbach team that decided to replace its veteran goalkeeper and captain for a young and inexperienced one in theory. Which could mean something.

When will everything activate?

Once Víctor tells us he won’t continue there and then has the misfortune of an injury, the follow-up becomes more concrete and specific. There is Ricard Segarra, who is in charge of the goalkeeping methodology area and that is organized by Juan Carlos Unzué.

Is it clear that he is first on the list?

In fact, he was our first choice among other goalkeepers.

Are they more veterans or some youngsters too?

Let’s leave it without going into it.

What impressed you most about him 10 years ago?

In one on one he is very good. He had always played calmly like that. In addition to playing with his feet, he makes good decisions, he picks well, he is always well positioned. We have Víctor, who from that point of view is a very strong reference. Marc is confident in outings and at his age (22) he has quite a personality. And when you think about a goalkeeper for Barça, you don’t just think about the qualities as a goalkeeper but you try to translate it into your game. And that is always a problem for us because Barça has a clear game profile. Today there are more teams playing like this but ten years ago it was not common. There are goalkeepers who play well with their feet but are not used to releasing the ball and taking these kinds of risks and also understanding the game from a global perspective. Try to bring that to Barça and see how it fits. And the big difficulty everywhere is that you can’t get the goalkeeper in for 20 minutes like a pivot or a forward. The goalkeeper plays or he doesn’t play.

And the pressure of the Camp Nou.

Yes, one of the elements is that when they put you in the Camp Nou to play, you are alone and you have a lot of meters in front of you because your team is usually dominant and sudden, from what you are used to playing to if what did you start with playing on This new team is different. You have to try to see how you translate what you see on a day-to-day basis into what a game will look like.

Did that mental strength prevent him from breaking down because of one mistake?

He had the personality to stay connected to the game because they don’t reach you much and your actions are few, but very decisive. Because I played in that place, I know some of those things but it’s true that the football of ’94, when I left Barça and in 2014, when Marc arrived, evolved a lot. So it tries to think about all kinds of issues. And Víctor’s reference is very important because he is like the perfect goalkeeper for that game system. They are interesting references, as well as Pinto’s personality. These elements give you some time to define your characteristics.

How many trips did you make to sign him?

I am very discreet to talk about that. Yes, I said once that we met in a hotel in Düsseldorf and we talked about what it was like to play as a goalkeeper for Barça, about Barcelona, ​​​​​​​​​not about being a goalkeeper, about the language. He told us about his girlfriend, now wife, and that he wanted me to study (Architecture) in Barcelona. He looks like a serious, organized and structured child. He was very clear about the issues and also about living and getting along in that situation.

How did he handle the first two seasons playing in the Champions League and the Cup and Bravo in the League?

Let’s see, Marc is a great competitor and he also has a lot of self-confidence. He also understood that this change we are making in a central position in the club with a reference like Víctor, in his logic he understands the decision but his competitiveness and the desire of the goalkeepers to play is there. Claudio definitely wants to play in the Champions League too. That created a connection with the competition and that’s where Juan Carlos (Unzué) played a certain role because he’s been there for a long time, he knows a lot about what a goalkeeper coach feels like and he knows that psychology very well. It’s true that Marc and Claudio’s perfect plan would be to gamble everything but as we see things develop, I think the plan worked well.

And in 2016, Ter Stegen stood up and said he would do everything or he would leave.

I’m not there anymore. I saw everything from afar and I don’t know how it all happened.

Do you sometimes talk to Marc?

Sometimes I send him a message, when he had kids or when he breaks some of my records and I tell him it’s not over. And two years ago we met in Bilbao, when Iribar was 80 years old and launched the black t-shirt campaign. Marc played in black and Iribar wanted to give him one and welcome him to San Mamés before Athletic-Barça and he told me to come. I introduced them, explained to me what Iribar was and then we talked for five minutes before the game. An interesting goalie conversation.

In these 10 years, what have you seen improve the most?

He developed in line with what we thought he would be able to do later. He had physical problems that at one point he could lose a point of continuity. And he has also progressed in the locker room with all the generational changes that have taken place and that’s where he occupies the space. He has also grown as a person, he has had children, he has lived in Barcelona and those are things that give you an education about something other than football. It’s alive and it’s not bad at all. We parents or grandparents also notice these kinds of things. He always kept that point of competition, ambition in a positive sense and constantly being there. When games aren’t being won, he’s among those who come out to the mixed zone and talk. That’s also a sign of inclusion in what it is and of weight within what that locker room is.

On Monday he will catch up with him in the Barça ranking and then he will follow Valdés’ 535. Do you think Marc will reach his 410 game mark when he signs?

It is a large number and it is the law of life that they reach those numbers. I could have done it sooner without any damage. It’s a pleasure and I wish everything goes well. And I don’t want to stop remembering Víctor’s stratospheric numbers in Barça’s goal.