“The icing on the icing is that Nico continues at Athletic”

what is your life

I am an unemployed coach. Now I have time to do things that I wouldn’t be able to do normally. Lots of family time, trips to visit friends and family, watching lots of football, lots of cycling, running…

It’s been a year since he was fired from Huesca.

That didn’t go well. Last year, we maintained the type, but last year we encountered many difficulties at all levels: extra-sports and sports. That second year we didn’t even have a proper preseason, didn’t even get started.

Osasuna, Xerez, Athletic, Oviedo, Huesca… What assessment do you make of your journey as a coach?

Well, one goes through years and stages and we continue to be football loving people.

And what do you keep on that trip?

anyway. These are life lessons that you try to give to your daughters because in life not everything goes well, but you have to learn from it and appreciate the opportunities they give you. If you talk about what I enjoyed, I don’t know what to say. You are in a medium that you will return to the next day when you stop there. It would be unfair to single out a specific team. In the first team of Athletic, for example, things were very bad and I did not enjoy it, but in Bilbao Athletic it was a joy to be there.

Has football changed much during your years as a coach?

Especially in the First. There is a lot of media, the teams manage significant budgets and it is quite normal that there is more and more information, more knowledge. Great teams want to have the most and the best and the close ones don’t want to be left out either.

Xabi Alonso, Valverde, Arteta, Emery, Mendilibar, Arrasate, Iraola… What do the Basque coaches have?

We don’t make a lot of noise. Then there are the levels and, by extension, the results. There is a lot of training at the highest level in the best teams in Europe; but Ernesto (Valverde) may be different from Xabi Alonso and Xabi Alonso different from Arteta. Our way of being shows.

You were with Valverde in a dressing room in Lezama. Did you see him as a future coach then?

As a player I never saw him as a coach. So we had a group that really loved football. Ernesto is a very curious and restless person. He is fond of photography and other fields. I never saw him in this world; but it’s also clear to me that if I get involved, it’s worth it. Very intelligent, very sane, he knows how to deal with group management, he has a lot of capacity and his career depends on that. If I had a different way of being, I wouldn’t be Ernesto. I like how it is. When I see someone selling donkeys, I am drawn back. Ernesto represents me because of how he leads and how the team plays.

Nico Williams was nominated for the Ballon d’Or and Unai Simón for the best goalkeeper in the world. What do you think of both designations in the Athletic code?

It puts you in a showcase that’s great for Athletic. To Nico, I don’t know if I remember anything like that. I want to think about Kepa, about Muniain… I equate him to what Julen (Guerrero) was in his day, but taking into account that there was no social network back then. The sporting, professional and image level that Nico has achieved is more than all that and more.

And the fact that he chose to continue with Athletic?

The cherry on top of what has been a year, an amazing year on all levels. That Nico made that step and withstood all the pressure he had to endure from the best teams in the world and from stratospheric offers, and that he stayed here for his family, for his mother, for for everything he gave…! Everyone here is proud of that step he is taking.

And Muniain took 10!

Iker is an example of examples in Athletic.

Do you feel part of this great moment for Athletic?

Nope. I coached a lot of players and we spent a lot of time training with them. No, I’m not participating, I feel lucky to be there, to have lived all those years with them. It turned out to be a lot of luck.

In the final win after many wasted and barge attempts.

I have received so many messages from outside! Everyone was amazed and then the Cup weekend was something you had to be there, to be there. On the day of Gabarra, however, I was not there.

What memories do you have of your time at Athletic, first as a player and then as a coach?

The memory I have as a player is unbeatable because I only remember the good things and the not so good stories ended without serious problems. They still remember him on the street and with affection too. Very lucky. My best years of my sports career. As a coach, the first team year was very difficult, but that’s football. If the result is not good and you don’t play well… They remember me more as a player.

Well, nothing remains until 30 years have passed since his famous goal against Newcastle

Next November 1. When I go out in Bilbao many people come up to me to tell me ‘I’m there’. And how old are they! (laughs).

Unai Nuñez, one of the almost permanent players with you in the first team, has returned to Athletic. What do you think?

A central defender was needed and he arrived at the last minute. Players should be measured by the yardstick of their good performance. When Unai debuted he performed at a very high level and we should wish him that level. Repeatability.

In Lezama, fewer and fewer former lions are serving as coaches.

Some of my stage was there, starting with Ernesto, but then at the base there were some that didn’t continue. That depends on the sports management of the winning candidacy. Whatever is done is fine as long as it is done with good intentions and so far it seems fine.

You, Joseba Etxeberria, Gaizka Garitano… What has been broken is the tradition that the Bilbao Athletic bench includes a former Athletic player who, if necessary, can jump to the first team. What do you think?

Ideas are good depending on the people. Someone who played in the First Division seems to have more of an advantage, but that doesn’t mean there are other more qualified people. Yes there is. Those in the club now have experience and know what it’s like to have things go wrong in the reserve team and they choose the person who best fits their thinking. I don’t know the current coach.

Do you think Bingen Arostegi, your representative until then, was fired too soon after he was signed as coach of Bilbao Athletic?

Yes because of that short time and he told me that the team is still very young. Furthermore, subsidiaries, if things are done properly, go from less to more.

Raúl García is with you in the youth team and he hung up his boots this summer. How time flies!

that’s how it is. We started with Raúl, Nacho (Monreal), Azpilicueta, Javi Martínez was also there… It’s something you remember now with a certain gratitude and pride.