Arruabarrena: “I've been taking Benzema's face out for 12 years”

Mikel Arruabarrena Aranbide (Tolosa, 1983) will be pending Eibar-Real Madrid which will be held on Sunday (9:00 p.m.) in Ipurua. He coach of Tolosa, Third Division, and ex-footballer of the Barcelona team, had the opportunity to face the whites three times in the First Division. In the 2014-2015 season (that of the premiere of the Guipuzcoans in the highest category) he faced Real Madrid twice. In the 2015-2016 campaign, in which he coincided with José Luis Mendilibar as Barça coach, he again faced the white team. It was before being loaned to Huesca in January 2016, from the Second Division, in the second round of the league, because it did not count for much for Mendilibar, who also trusted forwards Borja Bastón and Sergi Enrich. Curiously, the tolosarra praises both Mendilibar and Sergi Enrich, because both maintain the traditional identity of the Eibar.

After hanging up his boots in 2019, he began last season (2019-2020) to train in lower categories, and this campaign (2020-2021) he directs the first team of Tolosa, Third Division, the local club, where he gave his first football steps. Last season, with another coach, Tolosa, a recently promoted one, he could have dropped, because he was in a relegation position, but he did not do so when the league stopped due to the coronavirus.

The experience is very good. Last season (2019-20) I coached cadet A from Tolosa (he was also a performance soccer coordinator for the same club). This season (2020-2021) is the first time I have worn a senior team. We are doing well, we have only lost one game out of eight that we have played. Realistically, we are above our means, because we are a very humble team. We have many problems, although not financial. We are sensible, and it is almost an amateur team, because no player makes money. Nobody comes to take a salary. Personally, fine. I try to convey the experiences I have (he says referring to his time at the Athletic Club youth academy and having played in 12 teams as a footballer: Basconia, Bilbao Athletic, Osasuna Promesas, Xerez, Tenerife, Polish Legia Varsovia, Eibar, Leganés, Eibar ( again), Huesca, Cypriot AEL Limassol, Fuenlabrada and Pontevedra). So many years in football you learn many things. We are trying that all the players are better, that we learn to compete in bad situations. It is a very good experience. We have had good results, but I know we are going to have bad times. Although it is difficult for us to win and score goals, Tolosa is also the third team that has received the fewest goals (3 goals in 8 games). The kids are taking it in. I'm very happy. I hope it can be a nice year for the club, and also for me. Staying linked to football is what I like. Training has 'hooked' me a lot more than I thought. I put in more hours as a coach than as a player. It is more 'tied up' than playing. As a footballer it was just training, playing, and going home. You have to dedicate more time to training and 'hook' more. In games there are things that you cannot fix, at most something with a solution, if it goes well. Many times from the outside I want to hit the ball. I am delighted with the experience that I am living.

By becoming a coach, he follows in the footsteps of other footballers with a past in the First Division who have directed him, 'Cuco' Ziganda at Osasuna Promesas, and Gaizka Garitano at Eibar (in Second B, Second Division and First). Is Garitano the one that marked you the most in your career by achieving two promotions in two consecutive seasons until reaching First?

They both marked me. Cuco Ziganda gave me the opportunity to progress, it helped me. I played in Second B with him at Osasuna Promesas. Then I did the preseason with the first team, I was going to stay, although in the end I jumped into professional football, on loan at Xerez, with which I made my debut in the Second Division. It is true that the coach who has marked my career the most is Gaizka Garitano. In some difficult years I had at Eibar, he was my supporter, because he wanted me to continue at Eibar; he has made the most of the performance that I could give. I try to learn from everyone, because you always like things from the technicians who have directed you. I try to convey ways of working, of relating to the players, of how to get the most out of them, how to treat one, the other … For me, Gaizka Garitano had one thing at Eibar, tactically he was a good coach. The team placed him well, he was always clear about where he could harm the rival, and where not. We (for Eibar) had our limitations, but that way what we did has more merit (referring to the fact that a modest team reached the top category). It was much more complicated what Garitano did with Eibar than what he has achieved with Athletic Club (he avoided the relegation of Bilbao two seasons ago and last season he reached the Copa del Rey final). The 'raw material' was not the same. I still follow him. I always try to learn things, because in the world of the coach you always have to acquire knowledge. The coach who thinks he knows everything is confused. Football is changing from year to year. The football of 10 years ago is totally different from now. You have to watch a lot of games, try to catch the good things, and transmit them at my level. They have marked me a lot, and I want to continue their path. It's very complicated. Training in the Third Division is already difficult, so imagine how far they have come, First Division, which is the maximum.

Many times the work of the coaches is not valued, or only the latest results are looked at, forgetting about the above. Gaizka Garitano caught Athletic Club with the 'water around his neck', he avoided relegation, has led the team to the Cup final, and is now being questioned. Every game seems to be a final for him.

That's what makes me a little sorry. He has done a lot of work. Last season (2019-2020) it reached the Cup final, which has not yet been played due to the coronavirus. Now it could happen that they fired him, and that another coach was champion of that Cup. It's complicated. Every game for him is a final. A month ago it was already being said that they were going to bring another coach, when Athletic was not so bad. It is true that he has lost matches at San Mamés, but he is competing well. And most importantly, that Athletic is showing a lot. Although he is taking young players out of the quarry, he lacks the reference, Aduriz, who has given a lot in recent years. Note the absence of an experienced center forward that he did have in the last 20 years, such as Ciganda, Urzaiz, Ezquerro, Llorente, and Aduriz. You don't have that now. That is missing Garitano or any other coach who comes to Athletic. I feel sorry for that, because Gaizka works harder than anyone. I know that a coach lives from specific moments, and from being lucky in some situations.

What memories does Eibar-Real Madrid bring you in the First Division?

Buf (snorts). It was a dream for us to play against Real Madrid. We were a team recently promoted to the First Division in 2014 and we faced some of the best footballers in the world (referring to Cristiano Ronaldo, Benzema, Bale …) The live sensation was incredible. Before jumping onto the field, you see those players in front of them, their physique, their pose, everything. Then what happened to me is that when you play, you feel a little … You say, where am I playing? Because you saw that you didn't get to the ball before them, that they were far superior. We played the first game against Madrid in Ipurua, and it was beautiful for the people. For the fans, seeing that match was a dream come true. Now Eibar has been in the First Division for 7 consecutive seasons, enjoying themselves, and hopefully it lasts longer.

This season it will not be able to be with the public, since the games are played behind closed doors due to the coronavirus. We have to wait for Eibar to repeat to be able to see Real Madrid again with Ipurua full.

Yes, hopefully we will make Ipurua a complicated course again. Because it's costing us, and we still haven't won at home. Although outside we are much better. I always say that as long as we last in the First Division, the dream is longer. We all thought it was going to be a year, two years … And we've already been seven. It is normalizing that Eibar is in First. Hopefully it will be many more years. In the season that is not successful or that we have a very, very big downturn, not like those of previous years, we can go down. As long as we continue up, we have to fight and enjoy. Because the sensations that the Eibar fans and the players are experiencing are unique to many people. What are we without an audience! You enjoy the same. If your team plays a good game against Real Madrid, you enjoy the same. Luckily, we have already seen a victory in Ipurua against Madrid two seasons ago, which was very good. Now, they come with the 'alert ears' and it is going to be a complicated party.

Real Madrid have been perfect for two weeks, in the league they have beaten Sevilla, Atlético de Madrid and Athletic. In the Champions League they beat Borussia and qualified in first position for the round of 16.

This season, when Real Madrid had to win, they won. But it is also true that when he has relaxed, he has given away many points, which he has not done in other years. Cádiz and Alavés went to Valdebebas and won. So did Valencia at the Mestalla. It is a campaign in which when they have had to win, Real Madrid have played at an incredible level. But there have been a lot of games where he has been off-center, and he has lost a lot of points. It will be necessary to see which Madrid is coming, because it has two faces. If Madrid comes from the last two weeks … It has many players who have won three Champions League and it is a very difficult opponent. But if a relaxed Madrid arrives, Ipurua is what it is. Eibar's desire to win their first game in Ipurua can help them.

The season is very atypical, the same due to the fact that the games are played behind closed doors due to the coronavirus. Real Sociedad has been a solo leader (now it equals with Atlético de Madrid and Real Madrid), Barcelona is far from the first. The First Division is similar to the Second, a very even category in which the bottom can beat the leader, and in which someone who is a little careless can go down. Can Real Madrid win the league and drop a 'big'?

It is so complicated … Osasuna is going last and last season, being a recently promoted, he did a 'season'. With almost the same team, this campaign is suffering. There are no fans in the fields, and that is being noticed a lot by some teams, such as Osasuna and Athletic Club, because their stadiums are filled with fans who 'push' a lot. Real Madrid started badly, and now they are better. Barcelona does not have, by any means, the team it has had in recent years. Small teams are well 'worked', they are doing damage. Powerful teams, like Valencia, have sold many footballers … It is a very rare league. Neither the top ones are doing well, nor the bottom ones are bad. The league has been leveled a lot. Removing the top three teams (Atlético de Madrid, Real Sociedad, and Real Madrid), who are also losing points, anyone can win. Real Sociedad is doing good football and is at the top. Things go well for him, his coach makes five changes, and the new ones perform well. He has a good dynamic and is playing very well, it is no coincidence that he is at the top. It is showing that it is a great team. It is the season with the least differences in the classification between the top and bottom. It may be because fans are lacking in stadiums, because situations are different.

At Eibar, from his time in the Second Division there is no one left, and of the team he played with in the First Division, only Sergi Enrich and Takashi Inui survive (after Arruabarrena left on loan to Huesca in January 2016, Kike García arrived), as well as José Luis Mendilibar, who 'pulls the car' for Barça and 'puts the batteries' for everyone.

Of the last six months that I was at Eibar, there are Sergi and Inui and the coach, Mendilibar. I believe that Mendilibar is the identity of the team, and the person who most transmits what Eibar is as a club. And Sergi Enrich, too. He has been around for many years, and he is a very humble and hard-working player, like the footballers that Eibar has had throughout their lives. I am afraid, and I always say it, that when Mendilibar leaves and another type of coach comes, that he does not know the house, that Eibar's identity will be lost. You have to try as a club to transmit that identity, and look for people who identify with that idea. Although later you have different players, but you must not lose the personality that the club has always had.

Eibar started the league badly, but they have straightened their course and improved. Although in Ipurua he has not won any game in the 2020-2021 season, he may surprise Real Madrid.

Yes, it is clear. When you surprise those teams, they are not doing well. To beat Real Madrid you must play the best game possible, make very few mistakes, and they are not right. But in any meeting that can happen. Eibar already demonstrated it in the 2018-2019 campaign when they beat Madrid in Ipurua, and 'went over it'. Eibar can fight face to face with anyone. Although he has not won a home game, Ipurua is Ipurua. In addition, Real Madrid has been very irregular this season. Eibar have to try to take advantage of that.

Sergi Enrich, who closed (along with Borja Bastón and the arrival of Kike García) his step at Eibar 2015-2016, ended last Sunday when Real Sociedad scored the equalizer (1-1) with a scoring drought almost a year without marking. The forwards need goals, and from now on another Sergi Enrich can be seen.

The truth is that I was very happy that Sergi scored 1-1, his first goal of the season. He is an incredible kid, humble, and always ready to help his teammates. Being a forward I know what he has had to live, and the 'liberation' that he will have suffered. He was not playing many minutes, but, even if the penalty against Betis failed, he came off the bench against both Getafe and Valencia in Ipurua, and made danger. I saw him well. He was regaining confidence, against Getafe and Valencia he finished off the wood twice, another opportunity in which a defender took the ball under the posts, a goalkeeper stop with his leg … What he needed was to 'open the can'. Eibar is going to need goals from all its forwards. Only with those of Kike García he cannot survive in First. Hopefully the Barça attackers achieve many goals, so that the fans can see the team in the First Division next season in person in Ipurua.

Frenchman Karim Benzema is the foreign footballer who has played the most games (529) for Real Madrid in his 12 seasons, and this season he has scored 30% of Whites' goals (6 in the league and 4 in the Champions League). Is he one of your references or is Arruabarrena wearing the number 10 on his shirt for Maradona?

I've been 'sticking my face out' from Benzema for 12 years. I am in love with Benzema, since I was a player. He is the footballer who has surprised me the most live on the pitch. The things he does, the ability he has to turn difficult into easy. He is a footballer who makes the whole team play.

Sometimes they deny him bread and salt.

Benzema's only 'mistake' is that he bears the number 9 (meaning that he is a 9 with a soul of 10). He is asked for goals like a 9, and for many years at Real Madrid he did not play as a center forward (in the time of Cristiano Ronaldo). More than a 9, it has been a 10 or an 11. Now he is playing in the position of 9, and he is showing it. Apart from scoring goals, he does a lot more things. He is the ideal striker, he is elegant. He is an attacker who has everything. If I were a kid, I would be my reference. I've been 'sticking his face out' for many years, when he didn't achieve so many targets, and they gave him 'cakes' everywhere. It is no coincidence that he plays with all the coaches, that he has been Real Madrid's starting striker for 12 years. That's crazy. I have read that they are evaluating that he could be the best forward in the history of France, and his team has been without him for 5 seasons. For me it is a reference. I put Benzema as an example of how he plays, of how easy he does what is difficult in football. It is in a style similar to that of Zidane in his time as a footballer. They both do amazing things simply, and they seem easy. You have touched my 'weak point'.