MADRID, 22 Jun. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Spanish coach Pablo Laso is clear that “the only way to learn to win” is by suffering “defeats” and he reiterated that he had a “great time training” Real Madrid, a team where in his eleven years he managed to believe in ” an idea” and that “he transmitted a lot to the people and was very loved”.
“When I arrived, we lost the Super Cup with Barça and one day, speaking with a player, he told me that we always lost against them and I told him that I had to lose to learn how to win. I always tried not to let the road divert us from the final focus and make people see the boys that there has to be continuity to achieve success, but many times the only way to learn to win is to have suffered defeats”, commented Laso at the presentation of his book ‘Win to tell’.
The man from Vitoria said that the Real Madrid coach sometimes has to “receive criticism”, but that this goes with the position. “I’ve had a great time coaching Real Madrid and I’ve always thought that all the things they said to me in 11 years were never personal, they were against the Real Madrid coach, never against me,” he stressed.
Regarding his dealings with the players, he confessed to taking care of them “more than his children”, but that it is his way of being “connected” and getting the best out of each one. “I like that they really notice my attention and that I care about them. Many times the fact of knowing that they listen to them makes them relax and give more of themselves,” confessed the coach.
Laso highlighted his first title with the Madrid team, the 2012 Copa del Rey against FC Barcelona, since it was “very special” for what it meant. “I’ve won Euroleagues, I’ve won Leagues, Super Cups, but for me it was very important because I think it was very important for the team to win like this, that’s why it’s more special for me,” the former player acknowledged.
In addition, he did not want to “draw blood” on the subject of his departure from Real Madrid because it would be “absurd” and that once that stage was over “everything was over”. “In the book, what will interest people is to read it and appreciate the 11 years, not my departure, a lot has already been said about it and I am not going to write a book about it,” he remarked.
Regarding Real Madrid’s 3-0 defeat against Barça in the Endesa League final, he assured that he was “not” surprised since there were three “very even” games and he made it clear that being Euroleague champion does not mean “that you will win the next day”. “Winning the Euroleague doesn’t give you anything, you’re a European champion, you’ve done a lot, but it doesn’t mean anything and you have to keep working,” he said.
Of all the players he trained during his time with the white team, Laso highlights Rudy Fernández above all, a “special” player. “I have been lucky to have trained Doncic, ‘Chacho’ (Rodríguez), Llull and many more, but Rudy has something, he has a vision of the game and a perfect way of being. I always say that he has had very bad luck with the injuries and could have had a magnificent career,” he argued.
Now, his next step is Bayern Munich, a project that, despite how ambitious it is, has not arrived and has told him “spend what you want”, since he believes that sport “is not just about money”. “What I aspire to with Bayern is that people value and respect the team, since it is a world-renowned entity that wants to become recognized in basketball,” he said.
“If I think that with Bayern Munich next year I’m going to play in the NBA and we’re going to win the NBA, I’d say, well no, but at Bayern we have a great opportunity to continue growing as a club, which is for The most important thing for me”, he stressed, stressing that his objective is “to be competitive” in all competitions.
Finally, on the subject of Nikola Mirotic’s departure from Barça, he considered that ‘the timing’ “is not adequate” and that in the Endesa League final he has shown “to be a great professional”. he would train, he is a ‘great player’ and he has played at a spectacular level, but with what Barça pays him he could not sign him”, he concluded.
A BOOK TO TELL HOW HE MANAGED TO MAKE A “VERY RECOGNIZABLE” REAL MADRID
Pablo Laso presented this Thursday his book ‘Win to tell it’, written together with the journalist Faustino Sáez, with a prologue by the Slovenian point guard Luka Doncic and edited by the magazine ‘Gigantes’. In the book he reviews his eleven years at Real Madrid, “recounting the course of an era, how players change, the objectives and how the team ended up believing in an idea and in a style that made it very recognizable”.
The man from Vitoria admitted that he has left “a lot of things” uncounted, after eleven years leading the Madridistas, and that he would even give him “an encyclopedia”. “There are many that I have left out, some very funny, some harsh,” he pointed out.
In the book, he does not stop to count “specific days”, but rather tries to reflect everything that happened during his career in which his team was a reference. “I try for people to see the trajectory and read in the book a time in which Real Madrid transmitted a lot to people and was very loved. I have tried to follow that story,” he said.