José Luis Mendilibar has become a classic of Spanish football. At 59 years old, the Eibar coach is one of those who are active in the First Division for the longest seasons (15), a category in which he has played 403 games with 5 teams: Athletic (10 games), Valladolid (96) , Osasuna (94), Levante (8), and Eibar (195). He has 14 consecutive seasons in the 'league of the stars' and that is not by chance. Demanding when working and at the same time close to footballers and their collaborators, he has earned the respect of the profession, because he does his job well without the need to use the whip.
He surpasses other more illustrious professional colleagues: the Chilean Manuel Luis Pellegrini (Betis), the Gipuzkoan Unai Emery (Villarreal), and the Argentine Diego Pablo Simeone (Atlético de Madrid), who have 10 exercises in LaLiga, in almost this last, consecutive
He has 403 league games in the top flight, with a balance of 122 wins, 110 draws and 171 losses, in which he has added 476 points (an average of 1.18 points per game). Although his name is not as well known as that of other 'figures', he surpasses Pep Guardiola in First Division wins (116 victories), who made Barcelona champion.
Mendilibar completes his sixth season in a row at the Guipuzcoan First Club, although in total there are 7, since he made his debut on the Ipurua bench in 2004-05 in the Second Division; and then he trained Athletic, Valladolid, Osasuna and Levante, until in July 2015 he returned to the Eibar team.
He has directed Eibar in 255 official commitments between the two stages that he has lived in Ipurua. Since taking over the team in the First Division in the 2015-2016 campaign, the Zaldibar coach has sat on the Barça bench in 212 official matches (195 league games and 17 Copa del Rey games), garnering 69 victories, 55 draws and 88 defeats.
The 20 coaches with the most matches in First Division
| Luis Aragones | 756 |
| Iruret | 612 |
| Miguel Munoz | 608 |
| Victor Fernandez | 544 |
| Gracious | 511 |
| Caparros | 510 |
| Daucik | 488 |
| Toshack | 480 |
| Marcel Domingo | 455 |
| Valverde | 443 |
| Zamora | 417 |
| Lotina | 417 |
| Maguregui | 415 |
| Serra Ferrer | 413 |
| Apple tree | 411 |
| Antic | 409 |
Mendilibar |
403 |
| Carriega | 397 |
| Novoa | 394 |
| Aguirre | 381 |
He surpasses other more illustrious colleagues: Pellegrini (Betis), Emery (Villarreal) and Pablo Simeone (Atlético), who have been in LaLiga for 10 exercises
The entity from Eibar always bets on the same number, because it trusts Mendilibar, the coach who has established the Catalans in the 'league of stars' with a brave and attractive approach to the spectator. The Eibar ship is in good hands with Mendilibar at the helm.
The Eibar de Mendilibar It is a team that does not lock itself in its area, quite the opposite, and who always seeks victory with his men near the rival goal. He acts with a lot of risk, because there is a lot of space between his defense and the goalkeeper, but that risky daring makes him profitable with good results, because in Ipurua he has achieved permanence on 5 consecutive occasions in the highest category. It may seem little, but considering that the Barça team represents a small city of 27,000 inhabitants, and that it is surrounded by large and historic clubs in the Basque Country (Athletic Club, Real Sociedad and Alavés), this is a great success, comparable to obtaining the league title in a team like Real Madrid or Barcelona.
It is a good group manager. Get the most out of your players, but without whipping them. He demands a lot from his men on the pitch, but he is also a person of dialogue off the field. He is a good 'shepherd' of the 'flock', as he demonstrated in the 2019-2020 financial year, when the league was stopped for three months due to the coronavirus. Last March, Eibar only had two rental points with respect to the relegation places and the alarm lights were turned on. But when the league restart came in June – after two months of confinement at home – the Eibar gave their best. It was necessary to face a marathon (12 games in 5 weeks), and Mendilibar, who trusted his own, used all the available players to keep fresh a team that makes a great physical display, putting a lot of pressure on the rival. Thus, all the footballers started at least once in a return to the competition in which there was only 72 hours of rest between duels. That bet to use all his players paid off, as they all rowed in the same direction. Eibar achieved permanence two days in advance, ahead of historic clubs such as Betis, Alavés, Celta and Espanyol (they dropped). The veteran captain, experienced in navigating rough seas, knew how to bring the Barça ship to fruition.
José Luis Mendilibar Etxebarria (Zaldibar, 1961) relies on its coaching staff, that has been completed over the years, made up of Toni Ruiz (physical trainer), Iñaki Bea (second coach), Josu Anuzita (goalkeeper coach) and Andoni Azkargorta (analyst of rival teams and technical assistant). Most of them have worked with Mendilibar in other clubs and have followed him to Ipurua. The exception is Andoni Azkargorta, who began working as an assistant to Gaizka Garitano (current Athletic Club coach), spying on opposing teams, in the 2014-2015 campaign, when Eibar made their debut in the First Division, and continued to perform this role when he arrived. Mendilibar in the summer of 2015, but over time he has also served as a second coach when Iñaki Bea still did not have the necessary qualification; although it already has it in the current fiscal year (2020-2021).
The five active coaches with the most matches
Mendilibar |
403 |
| Pellegrini | 337 |
| Simeone | 329 |
| Emery | 328 |
| Alcaraz | 274 |
After his career as a footballer (he was a midfielder) in Bilbao Athletic, CD Logroñés, Sestao, and Lemona -Second Division and Second B clubs-, the Biscayan hung up his boots in 1994 without having been able to play in the First Division. He remained linked to football as a coach by inertia, since he never thought of such a possibility when he was a player. At the age of 33, he started in a modest way, at Arratia (1994-1995 season), a Biscayan Preferential Regional club, to which in his second campaign he was promoted to the Third Division. This allowed him to lead teams from the Athletic quarry (Athletic cadet B, Basconia, Bilbao Athletic, Basconia again, and Aurrera de Vitoria).
It is a good group manager. Get the most out of your footballers, but without whipping them
His life changed when he decided to leave the Basque Country to accept the offer of Lanzarote, a Canarian group from Second B, which he directed two campaigns (2002-2003 and 2003-2004). and in which he coincided with Toni Ruiz (physical trainer), both competing in the promotion phase to Second. He had moved away from his family to carve out a coaching career. The bet turned out well, since Eibar trusted him for the 2004-2005 season in the Second Division, directing the Canarian David Silva, aged 18, who learned a lot at his command. On the first occasion that Mendilibar took the reins of the Catalans, they fought for promotion to First until the last league match, although they did not succeed. Almost a decade later, Gaizka Garitano, whom Mendilibar trained as a footballer at Ipurua in 2004-2005, achieved success with Eibar.
The good performance of Eibar 2004-2005, allowed him to fulfill one of the dreams of any Biscayan coach, to coach Athletic Club. Its president, Fernando Lamikiz, after being unable to renew Ernesto Valverde -with whom Mendilibar coincided as a footballer at Sestao-, gave the Zaldibar coach the opportunity to make his debut in the First Division on the rojiblanco bench in the summer of 2005. His experience at Athletic 2005-2006 was very short, only 13 official matches (10 in the league, 1 in the Copa del Rey , and 2 of the Intertoto Cup). Everything started to go wrong when Lamikiz entered Athletic in the Intertoto, a European competition invented to reward the best with a place in the UEFA Cup. The problem is that the Intertoto started on July 2, too early, which forced the preseason to be upset. On July 9, Athletic was eliminated on penalties in a two-legged tie against Romanian Ecomax Cluj, in which both teams won 1-0 in their respective fields.
His league premiere was best, with a victory in an Athletic-Real Sociedad derby (3-0) in San Mamés on August 27, 2005. It was the only victory he achieved in the 10 Primera Division matches he led (1 win, 3 draws, and 6 losses) before being dismissed by Lamikiz and replaced by the then more experienced Javier Clemente. Mendilibar paid for the hazing. The 'heavyweights' of the rojiblanco dressing room did not support a technician who forced the players to get into a tank with cold water (with ice inside) after training to prevent muscle injuries. Some “experts” said then that the First Division was too big for him. They were wrong.
Mendilibar's career was relaunched at Valladolid 2006-07, which was in the Second Division and wanted a team that played with the same impudence that Eibar had done two seasons earlier in the silver division. The Pucelano team, where the current Barça second coach (Iñaki Bea) played as central defender, achieved a streak of 29 league games without knowing the defeat – an unbeaten record in the Second Division – which gave them promotion to the First Division with 8 days remaining league championships for the end of a historic 2006-2007 exercise in which Valladolid was the league champion, beating the mark for the best score (88 points).
Thus, Mendilibar returned to First, achieving permanence with the Castilians in the following two campaigns (2007-08 and 2008-09). He was dismissed in his fourth year (2009-2010) at Nuevo Zorrilla after matchday 20, on February 1, 2010, due to poor results. His substitute, Onésimo Sánchez, could not straighten the course of the blanquivioleta ship, which ended up descending to Second. In Valladolid they keep a good memory of him and a rock still bears his name.
In Levante 2014-15 he only spent 8 league games, his most bitter experience
He spent more than a year without stepping on the pitch, since on February 14, 2011 he replaced the dismissed José Antonio Camacho in Osasuna 2010-11. He made his debut on matchday 24 with a win (4-0) against Espanyol at El Sadar. In 15 league games he won 8 wins, a draw, and 6 losses, enough to achieve permanence without trouble. That allowed him to complete two other full exercises (2011-2012 and 2012-2013) in Pamplona, in which it was found that Mendilibar's 'claw' adapted well to the brave Navarrese team. In the 2011-2012 campaign, Osasuna finished seventh, just one point away from entering the European competition. The change in the presidency of the rojillo club hurt him -Pachi Izco left him after a decade and in the elections of June 30, 2012 Miguel Archanco won-, because although he started the 2013-2014 season on the bench, he was dismissed by Archanco after 3 consecutive defeats in the first 3 league games. His replacement, Javi Gracia from Pamplona (current Valencia coach), could not raise the Osasuna ship either, which dropped to Second after 14 consecutive seasons in First.
Mendilibar's next adventure was also short-lived, since in Levante 2014-15 he was only 8 league games, in which he won a victory, 2 draws, and 5 defeats. He was relieved by Lucas Alcaraz, with whom the Valencians achieved permanence. Mendilibar's way of playing, with the team defending very high, was completely different from what Levante had acted before with Joaquín Caparrós as a tenant on the Levantine bench, with the rear more retracted. In addition, he had run out of one of his props, goalkeeper Keylor Navas, an insurance behind.
Being dismissed so soon, Mendilibar had time to get to know Eibar well, who in the 2014-2015 campaign made his debut in First with Gaizka Garitano, his student, as coach. The Zaldibar coach was a regular in Ipurua, taking advantage of the proximity to his native Zaldibar (9 kilometers), where he continues to live with humility, as before becoming a classic in professional football.
Curiously, Mendilibar relieved Gaizka Garitano at Eibar, who did not continue after relegation to the Second Division in May 2015. However, shortly afterwards it rose in the offices due to the administrative decline of Elche. A judge from the Professional Football League (LFP) made the decision on June 5 to descend to Elche for its repeated defaults to the Treasury. On July 1, 2015, Mendilibar (it was presented the day before) returned to the Eibar team with Alex Aranzabal as Barça president. At that time, it was not yet known whether Eibar would play in the First or Second Division – in mid-July the TAD (Administrative Court of Sports) ratified the LFP's decision – but Mendilibar opted for an entity that he knew perfectly. Eibar continued in the First Division and with Mendilibar they have established themselves in the elite.
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FOOTBALL 16/17
amaia zabalo (DAILY AS)
Iñaki Bea Jauregi (Amurrio, Álava, 1978) is the only person who has known José Luis Mendilibar in two different facets in the same team, as a footballer and assistant coach. Thus, Iñaki Bea in his time as a player (he was a central defender) coincided with Mendilibar at Valladolid in three seasons (2006-2007, 2007-2008 and 2008-2009). Both started with the Pucelano team in the Second Division and together they achieved promotion to the First Division – remaining champions – and the permanence for 2 campaigns in the highest category. They got together again in Levante 2014-2015, when he started working as an assistant to Mendilibar, as assistant coach. The experience lived in Valencia, which only lasted 4 months, was repeated in Eibar from the 2015-2016 campaign. He is one of his faithful 'squires' and a fundamental support of Mendilibar due to his good relationship with the players, to whom he is closest due to his age (42 years). In his time as a footballer at Valladolid, the Zaldibar coach would abroncado him when he tried to dribble, something that was not his thing. This does not prevent him from praising the human side of Mendilibar.
How is Mendilibar as a coach?
There are coaches who have changed the way they play or the way they see football. There are people who as a coach have started to play in one way and with the passage of time it has changed. On the other hand, Mendilibar, within the nuances that you have to give to the teams, because you cannot always play what you want, maintains some hallmarks of identity. I, both in my time as a player and as a coach, perceive that the 'coach' is still faithful to the football that he likes: playing in the opposite field, trying to recover the ball as soon as possible and as high as possible after the loss of the ball . What we are seeing in Eibar, he has tried to transmit in his previous teams, such as Valladolid and Osasuna.
They met for the first time at Valladolid in 2006, 14 years ago.
In the 2006-2007 season, we both arrived at Valladolid; him as a coach and me as a player. The campaign did not start well, because in preseason it was difficult for us to start playing. Although we started the league with two good games, beating Sporting de Gijón (1-3) in El Molinón, and UD Las Palmas (2-0) in Nuevo Zorrilla. Then we lost the next two league games against Ciudad de Murcia in La Condomina (1-0), and at home with Poli Ejido (0-1); we tied with Xerez in Chapín (1-1) and suffered a defeat in Nuevo Zorrilla with Salamanca (2-3). From then on, we had 29 league games without losing, which is the record for undefeated matches in the Second Division, and we achieved promotion to the First Division while also being Second Division champions. Then we followed another two campaigns together in the First Division. Valladolid was a team that had some super marked identity signs. The fans when they went to Zorrilla knew what they were going to find, a Valladolid without complexes, a very brave team that played face to face with any rival.
Is Mendilibar still the same when they meet again at Levante 2014-15 and Eibar 2015-16, already as assistant coach?
Fundamentally it has not changed, although the training has changed somewhat. There are people who evolve and others who regress. If you've been in First for so long, you've evolved. You still want to play a little higher, but there are moments in the matches when you can interpret that you cannot be so high. The 'coach' has changed some nuances in training, such as possessions playing with a 4-4-2, which before were not as structured as now. But it is that football has changed. Although we play with several schemes, a 4-4-2, a 4-2-3-1 or a 4-3-3, the idea of football remains the same: try to get to the rival area early, give great importance to the second plays, squeeze the rival after the loss of the ball, that the wingers do not 'sink' (referring to not backing down), press up to avoid passes between the wings and the centrals. That remains the same. The game idea is the same. I have good memories of him as a coach. He would scold me when I tried to haggle, and it reminded me that I didn't know how to haggle. He was content with me hitting the ball up. I can only be grateful to him. He is a person who is heartfelt in dealing, easy to work with, demanding when he has to be, super human. All of us who are at his command, or around him, players, technicians, doctors, utilleros will speak well of him, because he is a very human person with many social skills.
Has he calmed down over time or is he still a 'beast' when it comes to demanding intensity in training and games?
It remains the same. The years do not pass through him. It still has the same energy. As a coach I had three seasons for him, and now I have been with him since 2014, when we trained for a few months at Levante. I have never seen him a day when he 'lowered the piston'. It may have a better or worse day, but when it reaches 'green' it transforms. For him, soccer more than a job is a passion. It's what you like. The 'green' loves it. It can already be cold or rainy, that he, during the hour that the training lasts is incredible, he never lowers the piston. That says he is 'hungry' to continue being a coach. There are others who over time fade, or are more observant. Some coach is getting older and the players say: 'he is getting old', because he does not have the same energy to direct. On the other hand, Mendilibar is pure 'fire', the same as when he coached Valladolid, because I have lived it then as a player and now as a coach.
“Mendilibar is natural, a sincere and fair person”
How does Mendilibar win the attention of a squad in which some are happy (the players who play) and others, not so much?
I played a lot the first season at Valladolid, the second a little, and the third a lot. When a footballer does not play, he always thinks: 'this bastard does not turn me on'. That always happens, but Mendilibar makes things natural, he is frank with people, sincere and fair. He is a fair coach. With Mendilibar, a player who trains well, if the incumbent in that position cannot play, and the substitute does a game well; his pulse does not tremble to continue lining up the substitute. Mendilibar is 'natural', a very sincere and fair person. With those qualities and values that he has … We all want to be like him, but we still don't have those values, or we don't know how to transmit them. It is one of the things that most identifies you. Some time ago I was at the house of an old teammate who did not play with Mendilibar, and who told him that he did not have him at the time of Valladolid. Talking to him, he told me that he was fond of Mendilibar: 'he didn't count on me, but he treated me well.' The human side of the coach is important; and the human side of him is very good.
What is Mendilibar's secret so that he has never lacked work as a coach, despite the fact that, like any coach, he has been fired on several occasions (4), over time he has become the oldest or longest-serving in the First Division Division?
In the end he had 3 very good seasons in Valladolid and was dismissed in the fourth season. He is very faithful to the teams he has been in, such as Valladolid, Osasuna or Eibar. He has been following a minimum of 4 seasons and has been at Eibar for longer (5 complete exercises and the sixth consecutive season is beginning). When you sign 'Mendi', you know what he is like, and you start a project with him. What can 'kill' coaches (in quotes) is the wear and tear they can have, with players, sports management or president. Mendilibar has a very simple and easy treatment, which also helps. As you have an easy relationship with him, the players are comfortable and the people who make up the club, too. He is a very demanding person, but also very much about giving awards, and recognizing work. That doesn't wear out and that's why the clubs like it. Mendilibar is a coach who sees solutions to problems. Instead, other people do not see solutions, but problems. That is important in any area. If in a hardware store or a workshop, the boss has a worse character, there will always be wear and tear. And that wear and tear will make the group's coexistence not so good. That has helped everything flow, that almost everyone is happy. He is a coach, a boss, demanding and with character; but at the same time it gives prizes and recognizes the work. If almost everyone is comfortable, you can get out of difficult situations as a block, without individualities.
Eibar and Mendilibar are made for each other. The 'Mendilibar spirit' has turned Eibar into a classic in the First Division. Can that 'marriage' between Eibar and Mendilibar last for many years?
Eibar is a small city of 27,000 inhabitants, which stands out for its sacrifice. I am referring to Eibar society in general. There has been a lot of 'miscegenation', it has been an industrial city to which many people have come from outside to work. The boss was going to 'have wines' with the workers in Eibar, that is a story that is always told. That is what the 'mister' is, a super natural person. You go on the bus playing cards, but the next day if he thinks he shouldn't line you up, he won't put you on. That the employer alternates with the workers is the best example of what the industrial city of Eibar has been. And Mendilibar is that mirror. In the team there have been great footballers, who have helped us. To be a good coach, you are in the hands of the players. 'Mendi' has brought out good performance from great footballers, who have taken a step forward. They came to Eibar as players who had not acted in the First Division, and the 'coach' has made them play in leading teams. They were good? Yes, but Mendilibar has convinced them that with work and sacrifice, you can go much further. Those footballers were technically good, but there is another part of football that 'Mendi' has given them, the intensity, the rhythm, the wanting, the 'squeezing' the rival close to their goal. That competitive drive is what has made these players mature.
“In the 2004-2005 season, Eibar helped me to make myself known, because then my career began. When I returned to Ipurua in the 2015-2016 campaign, I was coming from worse times, and I have realized that I am not as useless as technical”
“Sometimes it is said that second parts were never good. But for me it was going back home, although when I signed with Eibar in 2015, I still didn't know if we would play in the First Division or the Second Division. I didn't think about it much. When it became known that Gaizka Garitano did not continue, go ahead. I knew we could put together a nice team, because Eibar's economic situation is very good and television revenues are very large “
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“You play the way you train. I like to train with a lot of intensity. Compared to some other coaches I've seen work, I demand more intensity. I don't know if that's good or bad, because the important thing is that the team arrives with nerve and spark to match day “
“I am well known as a coach. I want aggressive teams with the ball and without the ball. When we have it, we try to speculate little, arrive quickly on the wing, serve centers, occupy spaces near the rival area … And when we lose it, We intend to recover the ball as soon as possible by pressing in the opposite field. We prefer to avoid retreating. We do not want to wait for them to approach our goal to press. That is the idea of the game of this Eibar “
“Barcelona has triumphed with a style of having the ball, of combining … And it seems that everything that is not that is no longer football. Let's see, this can be played in many ways. And football is also defend”
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“As a footballer, I was a 'mingafría' who thought he was good, fast; although my physical and psychological weakness prevented me from being tall enough to get to the top. I have that thorn in the middle. So, now as a coach, I don't want the players with conditions stay on the road “
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“All footballers like it is impossible. I try to treat them without excessive differences, or deceive. When I talk to them, I tell them what I think, my truth, and then they can tell you little. I don't give anything, I only reward the merits of each one. “
“I have always been a coach close to the player. Since I started. I am one of those who thinks that it is better for the footballer to go to training happily, and not reluctantly. Perhaps those who know me only from the games will see me with a face bad milk, but I think I'm an easygoing guy, before games, after, and also in training. I try to give the player confidence “
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“The staff identifies with what we work and that is crucial, because otherwise you end up falling sooner or later”
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“My ideas about the game have not changed. I do see things calmly, I'm not that hot. Before, after 20 minutes I would still change a player, and now it costs me more”
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“It is a privilege to train in the First Division, probably the best league in the world, because there are only 20 teams and above without moving too much from my environment. I cannot ask for more at Eibar”
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“The coaches know that, when the results do not arrive, we are there, about to be kicked out”
“In football there is no memory. It has happened to many coaches. You go up to a team that has not been in a category for a long time, and on the eighth day they kick you out. You are the same as four months ago, the one who was promoted to the team. The same is not only the coach's fault (referring to someone else making the signings), but he is the one who pays “
“What I like least about professional football is the environment. When you do well you are a phenomenon, and when you do not do well you are very bad. There is no middle ground because the middle ground does not sell. And it is difficult for me to accept that. Even when I'm doing well, I prefer to isolate myself “
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“When I arrived at Valladolid I spoke with the captains and told them about my idea of training and playing. They told me that they wanted to play, because they had been thinking for two years that they were going to ascend doing the tiqui-taca. They told me it was time. that someone asked them to run and press. Of course, apart from the 'feeling', it is essential that the results accompany you at the beginning. The players can believe in you, but if you lose a game, and the next, and the next, the people are beginning to wonder if you are selling them a milonga “
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“My first two years in Pamplona were the best, but everyone went a bit crazy with the change of management at Osasuna”
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“I had David Silva at Eibar. There are many very good players, but David fulfills everything I like in a footballer. Technically he is very good, he is cheeky, brave and never hides. He is very competitive. Off the field it seems a dead fly, but inside he is a bastard for the opposite. Perhaps he lacks a little goal, but he will have it “
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“There are times when you ask the players to lose weight, and at first they don't obey you; but then they show off the dressing room”
“At the beginning of my career, they prohibited piercings or other adornments to footballers. Now you can't tell them anything. It is what it is, and we had a laugh”
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He did not count on Leo Messi being able to rest in a game at the Camp Nou thinking about the Champions League next week and he joked. “Rest in the game, the bastard of him. He knows when to rest, when to participate, if they give him the day off, he would have a worse time watching it from the stands and he would get more tired. I don't count on that. “
In fact, he explained an anecdote from the past that explains his theory. “Once with Osasuna we went there in Copa, that morning he was called off because his guts were bad, he was sick, with a fever. After lunch he called himself up, he was on the bench, we were losing 2-0 and I see him warm up. I say: 'What is he doing, wasn't he at home?' He comes out and scores us two goals. I don't count on him not being there ”.
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Mendilibar and Inui have starred in a thousand anecdotes: “You have to be more cheeky!” I yelled at him once. And the bastard laughs at me! Entonces le pregunto: ¿Qué te he dicho? Y me contesta: ‘Por la derecha’. ¡Me cago en la leche! Suerte que Sergi Enrich le insistió a su manera: ‘No, 'Taka', el míster dice que seas valiente, que hagas lo que te salga del rabo con el balón’.
“Taka' es muy reservado, muy tímido… Es incluso demasiado obediente, a veces le tengo que decir que no me haga ni puñetero caso (risas). Le digo que centre y centra. Le digo que pase y pasa. No improvisa. Es japonés hasta la médula. Pero todos los compañeros están encantados con él”.
“Taka es salao. Es buen tipo. Es japonés, pero es muy salado. Hay que entender su humor. Nos mete un gol y luego me pide perdón… ¡Pues no nos lo metas! Nos hemos llevado muy bien y nos vamos a llevar muy bien. Es un buen tipo. Algo habrá aprendido en el Betis, ¡Ay, en el Betis no, que no jugaba! Lo habrá aprendido en Eibar…”.
En una ocasión tras un partido en el que Inui tuvo varias ocasiones que no pudo materializar, señaló: “Claro, tiene los ojos tan pequeños el cabrón que no ve bien la portería”.
Cuando se fue al Betis, le dedicó: “Estamos contentísimos de cómo ha estado con nosotros. Es un jugador que no entendía ni papa cuando llegó, que ahora tampoco habla el idioma, pero el fútbol sí. Es de los mejores jugadores que he tenido, de los que mejor ha entendido mi percepción del fútbol”.
“Creo que Muto es mucho más abierto que Taka, creo que va a aprender incluso hasta euskera, así como el otro no ha aprendido nada, no sé si le ha olvidado el japonés incluso”.
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0-3 al descanso. El preparador armero, tal y como captaron las cámaras de ‘El Día Después' en Movistar, aprovechando que el madridista Lucas estaba cerca de él le dijo en tono jocoso: “¡Parad un poco, cabrones!”. El jugador le contestó y acabó esbozando una sonrisa antes de proseguir con su carrera en la banda de Ipurua. El Madrid, por medio de Valverde, anotó el 0-4.
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Rara vez el videomarcador suele ser protagonista en el mundo del fútbol, pero el del José de Zorrilla mientras se anunciaban los suplentes del Eibar, aprovechó para cambiarle el nombre a José Luis: Mendilibar Simeone. Y es que el último equipo que visitó Zorrilla fue el Atlético de Madrid. La afición pucelana se hizo eco en las redes de este lapsus, incluso imitando el habitual cántico del Wanda Metropolitano: “Ole ole ole Mendilibar Simeone”.
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Cuestionado por el VAR, Mendilibar fue tajante: “No confío para nada en él ni en quien echa las líneas de este. Las máquinas las manejan las personas y habrá gente que sepa manejarlas bien y gente que no, o gente que no quiera hacerlo bien. No tengo ni idea. Lo que está claro es que cada vez hay más confusión, y es señal de que no se hacen bien las cosas” afirmó.
“Me da la sensación de que el que arbitra es el de Madrid. Es muy difícil fallar con el VAR porque tardan mucho en pitar, dejan seguir y cuando les chivan toman la decisión. Al final esto va a parecer fútbol americano y llegará el día en el que podamos cambiar a los once jugadores en cada jugada”.
Preguntado por si metería a algún exfutbolista a la sala de videoarbitraje, resolvió: “Yo los quitaría a todos. Es verdad que hay ocasiones en las que se han pitado cosas a nuestro favor, cosas que no se ven a simple vista y el VAR ha aclarado. Pero nos prometían que se iba a aclarar todo y es imposible”, sentenció. Entre sus compañeros de profesión cada vez hay más adeptos que se quejan del VAR. Algo de lo que Mendilibar es consciente: “Según como vaya afectando el VAR a cada uno, hay entrenadores que se van sumando poco a poco a la protesta”.
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Un futbolista que estuvo mucho tiempo a sus órdenes suele decir de él que es un entrenador fantástico, de los mejores, pero que jamás podría entrenar a un grande: “Las estrellitas no le consentirían las broncas que echa y los periodistas lo matarían si diera en el Barça o en el Madrid las respuestas que da en el Eibar”.
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A Orellana también le reservó una sorpresa: “Es un ratón verde colorado. No sabes cómo pillarle. Si tiene el día malo es un cabroncete. Le tienes que entender porque si no te puede mandar a tomar por saco y le pierdes. Y entonces es peor».
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“Ramis no se mueve rápido ni hacia delante ni hacia detrás, tampoco hará ningún 'sprint', pero siempre está bien colocado. Podría ir en silla de ruedas y seguiría siendo el mejor central que tenemos”, indicó en una ocasión. Y en otra: “No cambiaría a Borja Bastón por nadie, ni por Luis Suárez”.
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“Hay campos de entrenamiento que parecen aeropuertos, llenos de conos, muñecos, vallas, cinturones para hacer arrastres… Igual que los porteros. Que si pelotas de tenis… Cualquier día alguien empezará con bolas de golf. Estamos perdiendo la sencillez en el fútbol”.
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“Aquí, en Eibar, conservamos ese aroma del fútbol antiguo, con un estadio tan pequeño, tan lluvioso, pero es verdad que el fútbol cambió tanto que el único que no lo hizo fue el balón”
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“No me gusta el elogio. No te sirve casi nunca para corregir errores. Por eso es verdad que me asusta un poco cuando ganamos varios partidos seguidos. Tarde o temprano, llega el batacazo. Por eso siempre les digo a los futbolistas que debemos tener las orejas tiesas como los perros”.
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“A mí siempre me ha gustado entrenarme. Eso no quiere decir que siempre lo hiciera a tope. Me gustaba ir a los entrenamientos. Luego igual me tildaban de tener poca sangre… Como decía Javier Clemente, de mingafría, pero no por vago. En la competición tenía más responsabilidad encima y no rendía igual”.
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“Siempre me he llevado bien con los árbitros. A ver: se me ve hablar mucho con ellos, pero el 90% de las veces es para bien. Otra cosa es que, por mi forma de ser, los gestos sean más ostensibles, pero hay otros que por lo bajini son más cabrones que yo”.
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“Espero que desde el 4 de enero no preguntéis, tocando los huevos, que si me quedo, renuevo o me voy. Esta es la tercera vez que lo digo. Aquí se planta este asunto. Y al próximo que la pregunte…”.