Julen lopetegui, coach of the Seville, has explained the reasons why it has been so hard on the managers of The league in the criticism that he has poured towards them with the issue of schedules, which he believes have harmed his team every time he has come from playing in Europe. The Andalusian team has had to compete in demanding matches in the league tournament with less than the 72 hours of rest established by the protocol and the Gipuzkoan has denounced that the criteria for the arrangement of the time slots have not been the most appropriate. The coach exploded at the end of the duel against Osasuna, played on Saturday after Sevilla played Krasnodar on Wednesday and which could be played on Sunday.
“I think that is something that can be changed. What cannot be changed is useless to complain. But there are things that can be qualified, ”he declared in an interview with‘ Abc ’. “What I ask is in favor of football and footballers, obviously, and it is also for competitive equality. We cannot give our opponents unnecessary advantages or put our players in difficulties. When you can, you can. In this case of the match against Osasuna it was clearly possible. You could play the next day. It is not something for us. For any team I would have said the same. Playing on Saturday was something avoidable. And in what is avoidable, I believe that all competent bodies have to bear that responsibility. We cannot forget that the final protagonist of all this is always the footballer and we must take care of him ”, he added.
For Lopetegui equality in the Spanish League is maximum and these details in the end end up deciding a match. “It has a lot to do with coming from playing the Champions League. The group stage of the Champions League has nothing to do with that of the Europa League. There are levels of demand. Playing in LaLiga after doing it in the Champions League, with this very condensed calendar that we have and now adding that the internationals play three games with their national teams and not two… all that affects. In LaLiga you face teams that have had eight days to prepare for the game and in our case we have less than 72 hours on many occasions. It is an important handicap that is there and we have to be able to overcome it. All of this leads to the part you are telling me, to that equality. LaLiga is already matched and there is a high level in all the teams ”.
With “stiff ears”
The coach, after three negative results in the League, understands that the expectations created by Sevilla, of which it was even said that he could fight for the League, forces us to always be on alert. “The requirement forces us all to be with very stiff ears. Permanently. That is the only way to grow and improve. But that does not mean that things are seen in perspective. The emphasis is on the fact that the seasons are very long and demanding. Very harsh. The objectives arrive in the months that arrive, at the end. The demand is good to grow, not to do harakiri. I fully identify with the demands of Sevilla. It is also good that the media themselves convey this demand to us. We have to accept that situation naturally. We have to demand ourselves, always be able to turn criticism into flattery ”.
Finally, he also spoke of his current moment at Sevilla, where he is very happy after winning the Europa League. “This is the profession that we like and are passionate about and all of that is part of it. What you are telling me is also being told by my wife: 'Aren't you going to be able to enjoy a day?' I only enjoy having dinner after I win a game. Later at night I start to think about what is coming, what is there … this profession is like that and we are lucky that the families accept it. They help us so that we don't feel like weirdos. I am happy coaching Sevilla FC. I am happy in Seville. And I am very happy to have already been able to intervene in a small part of the history of Sevilla FC. And now I am happy to continue feeling that at Sevilla FC the best times are yet to come ”.