Oscar Fernandez (June 2, 1987, Villacañas, Toledo) uncovers in an exclusive interview with AS the keys to the successful Madrid CFF, revelation club of the Primera Iberdrola this season. The Toledo coach has changed the face of a team that has gone from fighting until the last moments for salvation in past seasons to being one of the candidates to qualify for the Champions League.
After 14 years at Unión Adarve, Villacañas coach she took the reins of Madrid CFF in the previous season without having experience in national women's football. You don't need to know the terrain when this is countered with a lot of documentation and analysis. This is how Óscar Fernández's coaching staff started its career in this category, in which they have implemented new Big Data techniques to detect talent.
Your formula has worked. You just have to see the position of your team (4th) in the classification of the Primera Iberdrola. And with the unexpected success (“We didn't think we could fight for the Champions League”) The good atmosphere of a dressing room arrived that transmits very good feelings in their game and in their attitude on the green. “The girls are enjoying it a lot and that is very important,” says Óscar Fernández, student of soccer and teacher in the School of sports technicians in soccer, Afen Escuelas.
Did you imagine being fighting for the Champions League at this point in the season?
The preseason gave us very good feelings and we thought that we were not going to have so much trouble being close to the relegation places. But we do not even think that we could now be fighting for the Champions League.
They are two points behind Real Madrid with one game less, the one that is pending against Barça. Do you think of that game as a wild card or does Barça's level make it of little value?
We think that any team can be beaten. Barça is a super-elite team and it is evident that it will not be easy, but we are going to compete and go all out. We know we have one more game and we are not going to throw it away. They have an unheard-of streak, but one day it has to end.
Getting here has not been easy. How has this whole project been cooked?
We have done a very thorough and meticulous job of the coaching staff. We came from men's soccer, from training in Second B, and it took us a bit to get to know all the teams, all the players and, above all, know what was demanded at a tactical and physical level. At the moment when we knew how to detect the necessary patterns to compete at the highest level, we got to work to see many games in Norway, Sweden and Brazil, especially, which was where we were allowed to sign in at Christmas last year. Through Big Data, video analysis and other tools we managed to sign players who adapted very well to what we were looking for. That was what made us move forward in a project that we continued in the summer, in which we strengthened the squad with national signings like Priscila and in the end I think we got it right. Proof of this is the performance of the team.
Comment that they used Big Data techniques, is there another tool or technique that they use?
Regarding scouting, my partner Jorge and I have developed a special Big Data program to detect talent in women's football. To do this, we have had to detect the patterns that are important to be successful in the Primera Iberdrola and through this a filter is made to know which player fits our way of playing and the League. And then the human eye enters, which has to give the go-ahead that the player falls within the team's needs. On this subject we have come a long way as we have better known the category. Tactically, I have also managed to have a lot of control, although I have to keep studying hard to keep improving.
It has become a custom to see Madrid CFF players celebrate their goals with dancing. Is there as good a atmosphere in the team as it seems?
I always say that a healthy group is better than 100 hours of tactics. In our case the group is hyper mega healthy. We all get along great and that makes everything better. In the end it is all a party. The music plays everywhere, except in the talks, from training to arrival at games. That makes for a special joy and they have fun playing soccer. And, in the goals, you can see the dances they do during the week. It's amazing. The joy in the dressing room having achieved the goal is immense. The girls are enjoying it a lot and that is very important.
You made the leap from men's to women's soccer two years ago, had you had contact with this category before?
The real story is curious. I am from Villacañas, from a town in Toledo. There were two twins, Patricia and María, who became international with Spain when I was young. They were friends of the family and I already had contact with women's football at that time. In addition, I used to play soccer and they always came to play the indoor soccer marathon in my town with friends. Among them Jade Boho or Natalia. I used to play with them then and that link with women's football was born there. I later focused on men's soccer but I always had the little thing that I had always liked women's soccer and wanted to follow it.
He is a young coach, is that better or worse when managing a dressing room?
(laughs) I share an age with many of the players and some are older than me, but for me it is something positive. We are all on the same page. I have to lead from knowledge and help the players to improve as much as possible. In that emotional bond that I have with them, I try to get them to have a feeling of belonging to the project. Age makes everything easier because I encourage communication a lot in training and they tell me all their opinions, whether my ideas go well or if there are things that could be improved. I like that we tell each other everything, even the things we don't like.
Madrid CFF is one of the few independent clubs of a male entity and is committed to a structure formed only and exclusively by female teams. What is the club like from within?
It is a 100% family club. In the end, the club is managed by two or three people who do everything possible day by day to make the club go so well. And in the end everyone who enters here knows that you have to row a lot to help the ship reach the desired port. It is a club that encourages the quarry and that is very nice.
Does the quarry also work from the first team?
We try to get players like Vicky, whose talent we have been following for several years, to get into a dynamic with the first team. In these days they have trained several with us. The idea is to improve that talent by transferring concepts to them so that when they reach the first team they know well the dynamics to compete to the fullest. Then we have something very good. And the thing is that many of our players are the same ones who train the quarry teams. That means that the knowledge they acquire on a day-to-day basis is transmitted to the quarry.
It is also very common to see the players from the quarry following the matches and cheering on the first team …
In the end, it is very important that a player has a feeling of belonging to a club. And that the girls are trained and raised in the quarry and come to watch the games and even train with the first team makes the bond greater and makes the club bigger.
The club has bet on its project, renewing it last summer. How did you receive this trust from the club?
The patience of the directive on a coach is necessary for the team to achieve results. I am a project coach and I like to spend at least two years in office to prove my worth. Last year I had the opportunity and I keep trying to get the most out of it until the last day I'm here.
We know that the pandemic has been a serious blow to football, but do you get something positive out of it?
The pandemic has made us clear that adaptation to the environment has to be fast and live even more in the present, giving great value to the day to day. It is a tremendous illusion that the girls can dedicate themselves professionally to this sport and that they are treated as such. You have to enjoy it until you get where you need to go.
How has the team's spirit been mentally managed in the face of stages of great load of matches after postponing matches due to Filomena or COVID-19?
In January we understood that it was an important moment to take that step forward and we succeeded. With the game Wednesday and Saturday, we didn't even have time to think about what would come next. We set a small goal at 36 points as if we were running a marathon. Luckily we got it in February and now we have to continue, without pressure but without pause.
He has been at Madrid CFF for two years. Have you noticed that comparison that always exists with Real Madrid?
Yes. The typical question always arises when I say that I am a Madrid CFF coach and they tell me that it is Real Madrid (laughs). We live with it on a day-to-day basis. The entry of Real Madrid has been a media boost for the category, but it has also made teams like Barça, Atlético and the rest of the teams take a step forward in women's football. The key is that we create female references that did not exist before and I think we are already achieving that. And that's what is making us grow. If the players are referents of the youth, they create a base from which they will continue to grow a lot.
There are several days with direct rivals, with a derby against Real Madrid included and the Cup to come. Are there nerves? How is the physical level of the players managed so that they endure this decisive stretch?
Facing the streak that comes from matches against direct rivals, I am very happy because I always like to compete with the best and try to show that we are at the level. As for the physical, luckily I have Blanca Romero as a physical trainer, who is a benchmark at the national level. We carry out a very exhaustive job of marked work week by week so that the players are physically and mentally well.
The CSD has announced that the Professional League is a reality as of next season … What do you think of it?
The Ellas League is good news because it will make all of us work even more professionally. And that is going to be good for everyone, for fans, athletes and clubs.
What is the goal of your team's game?
Playing football well means that they do not generate scoring chances and you generate the maximum possible. That is our main objective and our plan must always be clear for it.
What would you say to a fan who has never seen a women's soccer game?
Soccer is soccer. There are details that differentiate men's football from women's football, but the latter is showing that there is and will be a lot of talent. Technically the player is amazing and is growing brutally because they are sponges who want to increase their level. The difference is in the physical, but in the end, those who want to see good football are not looking for physicality but for talent. And they are full of talent.