Diego Martínez faces one of the most exciting challenges of his life, ‘building’ and leading a new Espanyol and re-enlisting a parakeet hobby ‘hungry’ for joy and ambitious goals. The media focus falls on the new blue and white coach who has excited the parish but he avoids it, emphasizing that “the only star here is the team”
– It’s been almost two months since you became the new coach of Espanyol. What has surprised you the most about your new ‘home’?
What I like the most is that the illusion has increased, both in me and in the technical team. The relationship with the players on a day-to-day basis is being magnificent because I perceive that illusion and desire to do things together. And on the other hand the dimension of this club. From the outside you already know that it is a historic, a great club, but once inside you realize that the dimension of the club in terms of feeling, following and the social importance it has is something important to me. It has been reinforced and grown even more if possible because I am seeing it on a daily basis.
– How do you re-engage the parakeet fans after a League final with more disenchantment than anything else? How do you see the first game at home?
“I imagine him winning, but to visualize it I prefer this Friday against Las Palmas first. Soccer is present. And a nuance, two do not argue if one does not want to. We are going to try to understand each other, which is the most important thing. Now I do believe that we as a team are the ones who have to take that first step of showing, spreading and being firm in our idea of trying to convey in every game, in every training session that it is special to wear this shirt and represent this club. That must start from us and then everything comes back. As the fans showed on Saturday against Montpellier, being an hour earlier at the Ciudad Deportiva and in full sun on a tremendous day at the beach. He was there. That has to do with the great parakeet feeling there is. If we transmit that illusion that I see on a day-to-day basis, the fans will give it back to us. The fans feed us. With them, we do many more and better things.
Diego Martínez’s team is already training at the Marbella Football Center with the aim of starting to fine-tune the machinery with the focus on the debut against Celta of 13A.
– Was it a warning to the board when you said at the end of the friendly that the team was about to build? Signings missing…
“Nope. We express a feeling of all, club, sports management, team. The market is as it is for all the clubs and we have the reality that we have and from there, the ‘timing’ is not chosen by us. We have clear steps and what we would like to build, but then there are some processes and some ‘timing’ and not everything depends on us. It was not a warning, but a comment on our reality with naturalness and clarity. We are all aware of it.”
– Many fans dream of a forward formed by RDT and Joselu. But they also cross their fingers. you too in case the pichichi flies?
“The team has to be the star and the better players we have to contribute, the better. And the more matches we are able to win, the better. The team is the star. If you name a player, many others who are also very significant are left out”.
– After a report made by a basketball partner of this newspaper, he told me that you did not look like a soccer coach. A rare bird?
“I don’t see myself like that, on the contrary, I’m passionate about the game. What happens is that I like to soak up things that I consider good or I try to be inspired by the best. And I understand that the world of basketball has extraordinary professionals.”
RCD Espanyol training at its stage in Marbella
– You said that if we stick only to ‘Big Data’, Soldier would not have reached Granada. Could such a case occur at Espanyol?
“We go hand in hand with the sports management in everything. All our great intention is to make solid, strong roots and build a good project in the short or medium term. A project that is recognizable, consistent and that generates connection. That’s what we are looking for. And we are making decisions, not so much the ones you would like to make, but the ones you can take depending on the circumstances. Not everything depends on us, our position in the market whether we like it or not, is more reactive than proactive. And you have to accept it as such. But we also have other very good things like some young people who are pushing hard, a group of players that remains, a generational change and they need to take that step forward in terms of leadership. They are all clear about what needs to be done to continue improving, always collectively”.
– One of the keys to managing a locker room is emotion, you said, together with the fact that the star is the team. Rubi’s Espanyol met those conditions and arrived in Europe. Do you look at that team?
“We started from scratch. We respect and admire all the Espanyols that came before, Rubi, Pochettino, Valverde, Camacho, Lotina, etc. Respecting that idiosyncrasy and taking that witness, we want to write our way and paint our picture in our own way. What I would like is for this project that we are starting to go beyond a result or a classification. You don’t have to make castles in the air, I think that’s very important. We have to focus on making the best team we can, that connects and identifies us. Be competitive, move the fans and that leads us to our best version and we’ll see where it takes us. I believe in a process that is built from stability and a good root. We are very optimistic and ambitious on a day-to-day basis. Very good emotions and moments will come if we give our best version every day. It has nothing to do with a specific qualifying goal.”
Espanyol, training at La Quinta, Marbella
– Do you want to put down roots and stay at Espanyol?
“That is what I would like and that is why I am here, to build something. Then football has many circumstances that we do not handle. One of the reasons that brought me here was to be able to build something solid, firm and consistent. Hopefully we have that time and the success that is needed to feed the process. A resounding ‘yes’ to wanting to put down roots”.
– What did you like most about the first friendly and what do you think the team lacks?
“The intention and attitude were very good. But there were many mismatches that must be very well specified, unforced errors, normal at this point in the preseason. And being able to stay focused on the details and sustain it throughout the match. That is the most difficult, beyond fitting in the additions that come. We will be in different times and that requires a time of adaptation. But for a game you can not draw conclusions. In my land they say, ‘a fly does not make a summer’-
– Can Darder be your extension in the field?
“I want the team to be my extension on the field, without proper names. I would like to bring out the best version of everyone. If everyone gives a good version but as a team, the individual will grow, that’s the idea. But without a doubt I want players of this extraordinary level with me.”
– A strong mentality to manage losing streaks is vital in your locker room?
“It would be very good if we knew how to manage victory and defeat in a more intelligent, more balanced way. That there are not so many emotional peaks”
– You were an idol in Granada and you left. Does that high ceiling make you dizzy now and want to repeat that feeling?
“It has nothing to do with it. That we were happy for 3 incredible years, beyond sports results. That is another stage. Now I am excited to build something new from scratch and based on our beliefs of bonding as a team. It is different and hopefully they end up giving the best possible results. I want to plant solid roots, exciting but sustainable over time. That is the idea and it goes beyond a result, a classification”
– Espanyol begins in Vigo, his city. More special?
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“It’s special especially for my family. For me it is because it will be my first game with Espanyol and destiny has brought me to my hometown. It’s a wink of fate and I interpret it that way. I’ve had a few like that. The first The game I won in the First Division was at the RCDE Stadium. I remember saying, what a beautiful stadium! And life has brought me here”.