THE REPORT The 100 club gets big

The damn pandemic and its corresponding direct and collateral damage have not respected football competitions either. Both at a sporting and economic level, the clubs have been directly affected both last season and this season and the reduction in income has forced them to contain expenses. Patience and sanity have been installed in most of the projects and have been reflected in their decisions.

One of the groups that has seen its fluctuating dynamics altered has been that of coaches. Less resources, more trust and fewer dismissals. The crisis has softened the vocation of the clubs to throw their coaches to the first of changes and this is confirmed by the statistics. Of the eleven coaches dismissed in First in the 2019-20 season, to the six graduates in the current one. Almost half.

A fact that directly influences the striking continuity existing in the benches of the honor division in recent times. Half plus one of their coaches have reached 100 consecutive games at their current clubs, adding all competitions. It does not seem like a coincidence but the faithful reflection of reality. Continuity affects the big clubs and the less big ones.

The Argentine is the absolute leader in continuity records under his match-to-match philosophy. Since January 7, 2012, which debuted in Malaga (0-0), it has recorded 522 consecutive games (312 won, 123 tied and 87 lost). In the League it reaches 359 (220/85/54) ​​with a title, 2013-14, as the highest award. In the Champions League, two finals, he has directed 79 games (41/20/18). In the Cup, 50 (26/13/11). The Europa League has its best numbers: two titles in 26 calls (21/1/4). Their figures are rounded off with half a dozen duels in the Spanish Super Cup (2/4/0) and two in the European Super Cup, both of which resulted in triumphs that led to another two titles.

“I don't know what I'm going to do in a few years, the only thing I know is that I won't be a coach.” These words of Zinedine Zidane, now retired, in his biography “The elegance of the simple hero” have been struck down by his successful career as a coach. Beyond his three Champions League, two Leagues, two Club World Cups, two European Super Cups and two Spanish Super Cups, the French coach shows two centuries-old strokes on the white bench.

In the first stage, it was planted in the 149 games in two and a half seasons (January 2015 / June 2018) and in this second experience it has already reached 107 games from March 2019 to the present.

The last to dress centennial. The coach was emotional, tears included, when he heard his father's words on the day he completed 100 games as a coach at Nervión. “Congratulations on all the games you have played with Sevilla. We are with you,” whispered the eldest son from a distance.

With his 103 meetings as a Sevilla coach in two seasons, Julen has surpassed himself. He had never chained such a number of consecutive games in his career as a coach. Neither in the lower teams (52), nor in Porto (68), nor in the Absolute (20), nor in Real Madrid (14).

His current balance marks club records: 63 victories, 21 draws and 19 defeats. No Sevilla coach had previously won 60 games in their first 100 games. Juande Ramos reached 57 and Manolo Jiménez, 59. A full contender for the league title, the team, five days to go, is also six points behind its historical record of 76 points.

Against Eibar it was his first game as Real's coach and against Eibar it was his last last Monday. Between one and the other, 122 official meetings in two stages. The first experience resulted in nine games at the end of the 2018-19 season. He returned to the subsidiary of his own free will and was required again before the end of the following course. Now he already has 123 consecutive appointments in all competitions, becoming the seventh coach in the history of the Gipuzkoan club that has become a centenary. No other coach in the Aperribay era, who became president in 2008, had been so consistent. He has just surpassed Eusebio Sacristán's 112.

As if it were not with him. “I am proud and happy, but success belongs to the players and my team.” With those few words, the Galician coach settled his 100 games as Granada coach. He did not even attach importance to the time of the centennial investiture with a commemorative plaque. Diego fulfilled the figure in no less than a Europa League match. In Nicosia against Omonia in the third tie. An exemplary trajectory. From Second to Cyprus to later enjoy, despite the elimination, Old Trafford himself in the quarterfinals after a superb international experience.

Revalued and listed, it is three steps away from also rounding the 100 games in the First Division. To those 97 meetings in the last two years, we must add the 42 in the Second Division of 2018-19, which served for promotion to the elite. In Granada, the previous best record on the bench was held by the always well-weighted Joseíto who, between 1974 and 75, had led 68 games in the highest category. When this season concludes, Diego will become the first manager to complete three consecutive seasons on the bench in the club's 90-year history.

The Biscayan coach, with the team saved and one more year of a signed contract, is prepared to overcome his longest streak as a coach in the same club on the Osasuna bench. Centenario already in Numancia in Second (138 games) has already collected 121 appearances with the red box: 42 in the silver division and 79 in First. His name is already inscribed in the history of the centennial club. He has already surpassed technicians who had made history such as Udiroz (101), Mendilibar (102), Camacho (105) and Ziganda (106) … but Pedro Mari Zabalza is still unattainable, reaching 340 games. Arrasate replaced Diego Martínez on the bench.

Paco López is collecting on the Levante bench all the work accumulated in his long experience as a coach in lower divisions: Benidorm, Alcoyano, Cartagena, Mestalla, Valencia B … When on March 10, 2018 he took over the team with eleven days ahead, replacing Muñiz, few could bet that he would complete that course with the salvation of the team – eight victories, one draw and two defeats – and the next three to round off 134 games and become the first coach in the club's history in reach 100 matches in First.

On the day he turned 100, Silla's coach was excited. “In the future I will look back and realize how difficult it is to reach these figures in current football, also at home, at my club. Right now I am so involved in the present that I am not aware of what this is. The game that marked a before and after in my career was the debut against Getafe. We won 0-1. In addition, I am left with moments, such as the triumphs against the greats, the 5-4 against Barcelona in the Ciutat, the victory of the Bernabéu 1-2 … “

The tradition of coaches at Carranza has been shattered. The coach born in Fernando Poo pulverizes all the historical records: Ramón Blanco (142), Víctor Espárrago (153 games), Milosevic (159), José González (192) … and Álvaro Cervera (229) all consecutive and those who can Keep adding because you have a contract in force until 2024.

From Second B, 10 games and promotion to Second in the 2015-16 season, at 36 this year in First, practically saved, passing through 183 in the four seasons in the silver category that also ended with the return to the elite.

“I do not consider myself the best coach in the history of the club. I may be having a good time, but I am not the best. What I am clear about is that Cádiz has given me everything. Before I was a coach and now I am a coach of the Cádiz and that is how I want to be remembered “. Recent words from a different coach.

Another case of a coach who arrives at a club in Second, Getafe, in a critical situation, promotes him to First and prolongs his stay until he achieves results that did not fit into the pre-established script. This is the fifth season of the Alicante coach at the Coliseum where he reaches 207 games. The first 36 in Second and the rest already in First (168), nine of them in the Europa League. His figures make him the coach with the most games in the club's history, surpassing the 188 for Fernando Sierra, the 113 for Luis García Plaza and the 101 for Míchel. In his long career on the bench, Bordalás has 756 meetings between Segunda B, Segunda and Primera.

“Who was going to tell us when we came for eight games that we were going to be another three full seasons.” The words of Sergio González when he completed his 100 games in the First Division and was photographed with his president Ronaldo, summarize the disbelief that coaches often experience when their future is at stake. In the history of the Pucela club, only Vicente Cantatore (199), José Luis Saso (161), Pep Moré and Mendilibar (159) have exceeded 131 games, the first 12 in the Second Division with promotion included, which the Catalan coach has chained since replaced César Luis Sampedro in April 2018.

Sergio is aware that the economic crisis has influenced the clubs, at critical moments, giving their coaches a second chance, but he also believes that, in this sense, something may be changing in Spanish football. “I also prefer to be romantic and think that clubs believe in people and in their long-term work. Before the contracts were shorter. Now they offer you two and three years when they believe in the project you represent. I speak for myself and for my club. The easiest thing would have been to dismiss me, but nevertheless in the most complicated moments, Ronaldo has confirmed his confidence and also to my face. It is very important in those moments that you are screwed to hear out loud how you are given the message”.

Relieved by the point of San Mamés, the Pucelano coach values ​​that 11 of the 20 First coaches have reached 100 games in their respective clubs. “That means that among those in charge there is greater emotional stability and that situations are better studied in each case. Either because they do not have a euro or because they have won in patience, the reality is different from other years. In the teams that we fight For not descending it is more difficult to maintain continuity, but there is the case of Mendilibar in Eibar or mine, in which despite the fact that we have spent many weeks in relegation positions, we have been kept. Paco López and Arrasate also They had a bad time at the beginning of the season, there they are and they have reversed the situation. “

Genuine. Endearing. Hearty. Direct. A lifelong soccer defender. Allergic to VAR and new technologies and a staunch defender of his daring football ideas, José Luis Mendilibar Etxebarria (Zaldibar, 1961) is going through one of the most delicate moments of his extensive experience on the bench. His Eibar rides last in the classification and the chances of salvation are slim.

“The only thing we have left is to win tomorrow at Alavés to continue having some illusion. Even winning is almost impossible, but if we do, we will renew the illusion for the next game. If we draw or lose, the last four days will be very hard for us” . His voice sounds resigned on the other end of the phone. For an inveterate winner like him, it is not easy to raise the flag of frustration after 14 consecutive years among the elite of Spanish football.

In the club of First-class coaches who have reached 100 consecutive games, Mendilibar is the president. No other coach has met the requirement on three occasions: Valladolid, Osasuna and Eibar. After the slip on the Athletic bench from which he was evicted after 13 games, 'Mendi' packed his bags. Second. Valladolid. In the absence of eight days to go, promotion is already assured. A streak of 29 games without losing, 21 wins straight. In First, two seasons fulfilling the goal of salvation (15th and 16th) and a third in which he was dismissed on matchday 20. A total of 156 games consumed on the Pucelano bench: 50 in Second and 106 in First.

Next stage. Pamplona. Osasuna. First division. Replaces José Antonio Camacho. He saves himself with 24 points in 15 games and finishes ninth. He ties together two other full seasons, the first being seventh, before being fired at the start of the fourth. Second centenary: 102 games.

“Throughout my career in the clubs where I have been good, I have not been able to leave. Other coaches may not hold out as much because they were more ambitious or because when they saw things badly, they went away before their time. I have always liked to stay where they wanted me. I never told my representative to find me a team. If it was okay, why leave? Being three times a centenary is a pride. Both in Valladolid and in Pamplona I was good, the people loved me and I loved them. “

What is clear is that the coach always ends up being thrown out. “An eternal continuity is impossible. Not even in England you can endure five or six years. The Guardiola thing is already an exception. I imagine that now there is this continuity in the League because the economies of the clubs influence. A hundred games in a row is three good full seasons. Is not easy. In addition, normally, the contracts tend to be annual. “

At Eibar, Mendilibar, in six consecutive seasons, has improved all his records: 243 games. On June 30 the contract ends. The presumed end was not in their plans.