With the season over, it's time to take stock. Manu Díaz, president of the Guipuzcoana Federation, reviews an exercise mediated by the pandemic, but that despite everything has left an excellent taste in the mouth thanks to the successes achieved by most of the province's clubs and the ability they have shown to survive in such difficult circumstances. The hope is that as of September some normality will regain.
What balance do you make of this season?
The schoolchildren have not been able to train all year, there have been months in which they have not been able to train. We were able to get the competitions going at the end of February and the experience has been very positive. We have recovered the illusion to play, to watch games and we are going to see if in September we can recover normality.
Is it going to be possible to recover that normality of which you speak?
The approach is to start with a standard season.
How do you assess the Real season?
It has been a success in two ways. One, sports, which means that it is a reference in European football and that the Real quarry at this time is a quarry that is being studied and analyzed by many experts of the highest level and that prestige is something that must be put in value. And two, this also supposes the success of a management model for training football in which all Gipuzkoan football participates, which is absolutely aligned with this project in which Real occupies an indisputable leadership position. This model is worth and worth without the results of high performance, but that the Real is every year being an aspiring to play in Europe, that it has played a Cup final and that it is in all the pools to do great things also supposes that Through this model you can achieve a brilliant sporty result.
This is a successful model that will be copied by more clubs and we will see it soon in other places
Can this confirmation lead you to delve even further into this model?
This is a successful model that will be copied by more clubs and we will see it soon in other places. We are very happy that those of us who have been working on this model for a long time have been rewarded for this effort.
This model is also ensuring that there are fewer and fewer leaks to other clubs …
It is that when you get an excellent model, who treats people well, who takes care of players, both those who have high performance and those who do not arrive, people become loyal. Those of us who are parents of soccer players want our children to be in clubs in which they are treated well, that personal training on adventures prevails that often lead nowhere and the Gipuzkoan clubs are achieving it. The boys are comfortable, they stay at home and if they achieve optimal performance they will have the opportunity to play in the First Division because there are teams in the First Division that do not have players from their homeland and that is a privilege for us. It is normal that there are fewer and fewer leaks and on the contrary it will be more and more normal that players like Silva or Merino want to be in our teams.
A boy who is at the Beasain, San Marcial or Mutriku until the age of 14, living in his close environment, with his family, with his friends, training at home, can play at the highest level
Players like Oyarzabal or Zubimendi also confirm that you can reach the highest level playing for Real …
Absolutely. A boy who is at the Beasain, the San Marcial or the Mutriku until the age of 14, living in his close environment, with his family, with his friends, training at home, can get to play at the highest level and that model we like it and it is the one we defend.
What value do you place on the Cup title?
We give it an important value because although ours is more a territorial and amateur football, we know that the measuring stick is in the qualifying achievements and in the titles and just as we place great value on having two teams in the Iberdrola League in girls, the Cup title has put Gipuzkoan football in an absolutely global showcase.
Not everything has been positive. There is the descent of Eibar …
Yes, the small blur has been Eibar's relegation to Second Division but we understand that it is a club that has achieved an absolutely professional structure and it is a team that at this moment aspires to return to the First Division. Hopefully I can get it soon.
Winning a title or that the first team is fine may be due to more circumstantial factors, but having a subsidiary in the Second Division, where no team in Spain has a subsidiary, is the confirmation of a successful model
How important is the rise of the Sanse?
Obviously it is of paramount importance, especially because it is once again another sign that we are facing a model of success. Winning a title or that the first team is fine may be due to more circumstantial factors, but having a subsidiary in the Second Division, where no team in Spain has a subsidiary, as it is the confirmation of a model of success and a higher level of training.
The staircase is completed by Real Unión in 1st RFEF, Real C in 2nd RFEF and Pasaia, Tolosa, Beasain, Anaitasuna and Lagun Onak in 3rd RFEF. This is another extraordinary achievement …
We are the only province that has representation in all national categories. At a professional and semi-professional level, it can be said that Gipuzkoan football is at an excellent level. The Tercera teams' season has been exceptional, absolutely brilliant. In a season with many descents, we have achieved that none have been from Gipuzkoa, which has not happened in a long time. There are clubs that are working very hard to bring out these performance teams, clubs that have made a very important qualitative leap.
We are the only province that has representation in all national categories. At a professional and semi-professional level, it can be said that Gipuzkoan football is at an excellent level
Let's talk about women's soccer. What flavor has fifth place in the Real given you?
The season has been a bit long for Real, but it has been very complicated and very hard because it has been where there have been the most postponed games. Maybe he could have been a little higher, but he would still rate his season as brilliant. The penalty has been that ten players left the team and that a major restructuring of the squad had to begin.
There are players who for one reason or another decide to end their career at La Real. Others will come. There will always be people from the house and surely there will be a suitable replacement
That 10 footballers leave, many of them from home, can't it make you lose a certain sense of belonging?
We have a lot of direct relationship through various projects with those responsible for women's football at La Real and I don't believe in coincidences, but it wouldn't be very dramatic either. These things happen in football that is not completely professionalized. There are players who have a much greater offer than what the Real can offer because they move in insurmountable economic parameters and there are players who want to access them. Then we also have to start thinking that in women's football there is also renewal and quarry and players who have been hitting very hard. Better players are coming every time. In the Real there have been important appearances and there is more fight for the positions. I think it is more a matter of competition, that more talent appears and there are players who for some reasons or others decide to end their career in the Real. Others will come. There will always be people from the house and surely there will be a suitable replacement. Of course, the players who have been around for so many years deserve special treatment and eternal gratitude because they are the generation that gave us an unforgettable Copa del Rey.
There will be no disappearances of clubs, I do not see a problem that cannot be overcome
How is regional football after this pandemic?
The problem is not so much economic as it is emotional. There are some who have had a bad time but in general the clubs are quite well managed. There will be no disappearances of clubs, I do not see a problem that cannot be overcome. On the emotional level, we have had a very stressful competition for a year and a half. There have been players who have advanced their age to leave football, there has been no entry of new schoolchildren and in girls we can have problems because new players do not enter. Now the challenge is to maintain the illusion with which we have finished and I believe that we are going to overcome this bump. The feeling we have is that there is hope, there is a desire to start. It is palpable.