Eight managers of La Liga in the Premier League! Why is Coach Basque so fragrant?
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Managers from the Basque Country have collectively performed well in the 2022-23 season, with three generations of old, middle and young people achieving considerable results. The fierce tide is related to the Basque football tradition, and it can be found in the social culture.
The new coach of the Spanish national team, Luis de la Fuente, is undoubtedly a lucky old gentleman. After the Matador Corps were out of the World Cup at the end of 2022, De la Fuente was changed from Spain Under-21 manager to senior team manager, and in just four games, he seized the qualification obtained in the Luis Enrique era and led the team to win the tournament for the first time by eliminating Italy in the UEFA Nations League final and beating Croatia on penalties.
Spain's revival of the cup after 11 years is of great significance to De La Fuente, who celebrated his 62nd birthday three days after winning the championship, having been deeply involved in the national youth team at all levels, winning the 2015 U19 European Youth Championship, the 2019 U21 European Youth Championship, the silver medal in the men's football team at the Tokyo Olympics, and the first time he has won the cup in charge of the first team. And for the Basque coaching community, this is also the latest achievement.
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In the course of history and the changes of the times, the borders of the Basque Country have undergone considerable changes. Nowadays, the Basque Autonomous Region at the level of Spanish administrative divisions, bordered by the Bay of Biscay in the north and the Pyrenees in the east, including the three provinces of Arava, Biscay and Guipuzkoa, with a total area of 7,234 square kilometers, accounting for only 1.4% of the entire Spanish region, and a population of 2.21 million, accounting for only 4.9% of the country. The historical and cultural "Basque Country" is much larger than the Basque Autonomous Region, including the Autonomous Region of Navarre, and even covers part of France on the other side of the Pyrenees.
De La Fuente was not actually born in the Basque Country, but came from the neighboring province of La Rioja, but he grew up in the youth system of Athletic Bilbao, and left a key mark on Basque football as a player and coach, and is now regarded as a member of the Basque coaching community (this article Basque Country refers to the historical and cultural "Basque Country", not the Basque Country). The UEFA Nations League trophy he lifted will also inspire more Basque coaches to continue their 2022-23 season.
1/4 La Liga manager
The old De La Fuente was far less experienced than his disciple Scaloni, who led Argentina to the crown of World Cup champions, who was his course instructor when he obtained his UEFA Pro (superlative) coaching certificate in 2017. Among the students in that course were another Argentine celebrity, Redondo, and another Basque, Ilora. But De La Fuente managed to seize his chances in his first years, just like his peer Mendilivar, who was his teammate with Bilbao B more than 40 years ago.
Mendilivar from the province of Biscay, has been in charge for nearly 30 years, and his previous honors were only the 4th, 3rd and 2nd tier titles in Spain, but after coming to Sevilla in March to "put out the fire", he not only quickly led the team to relegation, but also continued Sevilla's Europa League DNA, all the way to the final penalty shootout to defeat Roma and help the team win the title for the seventh time! At 62 years and 78 days, he became the oldest champions manager in Europa League history, and with this magic, he also received a new contract that will be his first Champions League appearance.
As the number one team in the Basque Country, Bilbao, its current manager Ernesto Valverde is also a Basque (actually born in the provinces, but moved to the Basque Country with his family as a child), and his playing days and coaching career are regarded as the legend of the "Basque Lion", who has coached Barcelona and Olympiacos to win multiple titles, and now he is in charge of Bilbao for the third time, which also brings stability to the team.
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In recent years, more surprises in Spanish football have been Bilbao's "Basque derby" opponent Real Sociedad, whose manager Imanol Alguacil is a Real Sociedad youth trainee, where he spent the most important period of his playing career and is also a staunch season ticket holder, after retiring, Imanore started as a coach of the Real Sociedad youth academy, once substituted to coach the first team in 2018, and officially became a first-team manager after returning to the second team, and finally led the rise of the team based on its own youth players, in April 2021Real Sociedad beat Bilbao 1-0 in the postponed 2019-20 Copa del Rey final and the first ever final in the Basque derby to claim their first top title in 34 years. Last season, Imanore led the team to 4th place in the league and played in the Champions League in the new season!
In addition to the three Basque coaches who won important trophies, the juniors are also already in La Liga. As a player, he mainly played in the 3rd division of Alashat in his Basque hometown, and wrote inspirational stories after retiring at the age of 29, he first worked as a teacher at school, part-time as a coach and needed to take time off from time to time, and eventually he concentrated on coaching, starting from the Real Sociedad echelon, and at the age of 35 he had the experience of taking Real Sociedad to La Liga. After a setback, he was promoted to La Liga at Osasuna and led the team to stabilize into the middle of La Liga, eventually earning a place in the UEFA Europa League last season (but Osasuna was disqualified by UEFA due to his early match-fixing history and is currently on appeal), and also reached the second Copa del Rey final in the club's history (unfortunately lost 2-1 to Real Madrid). Even earlier is the 41-year-old Ilola, a Bilbao right-back who has now been in charge for five years and has led his small team Rayo Vallecano to La Liga promotion and two consecutive years in the middle table, which has initially proved his coaching skills. In particular, his team counter-attacked with 68 high tackles last season, second only to Bayern Munich (73) in the top five leagues, and the stats especially reflect style.
The existence of these five Basque managers means that 1/4 of La Liga managers at the end of the 2022-23 season are "made in the Basque". Ilora moved to Premier League side Bournemouth at the end of the season, but the likes of Asher Garritano and Gaiska Garitano (the two are not related), who have coached several La Liga teams in La B, as well as Ilora's old partner in the player era and Etcheberia, who began coaching Eivar in July, will always offer Basque coach options for La Liga teams.
Heading for the giants
Ilora will be the latest Basque coach to land in the Premier League, in fact, Leeds United, who were in relegation trouble, extended an olive branch to him in February this year, but he chose to decline, and Gracia, who eventually took over and left in May, is also a broad Basque from Navarre. Ilora will meet a number of fellow countrymen in the Premier League: Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta, Aston Villa manager Emery, Wolves manager Julen Lopetegui, all four of whom are not only from the Basque Country, but all from the same province and a population of only 760,000.
The two Basque masters Emery and Julen Lopetegui also left La Liga last season to start a new chapter in coaching. Lopetegui's Wolves team has long faded the color of being the "seventh strongest in the Premier League" at the beginning of the promotion, reduced to mediocrity, and even fell into the relegation zone when changing coaches, Lopetegui, who has seen big battles in Spain, Real Madrid and Sevilla, not only successfully relegated, but also finally finished 13th, if converted by the scoring rate during his tenure, Wolves even recovered the first half of the team. When Emery fought the fire at Villa, Gerrard's team was only outside the relegation zone by scoring advantage, and he led the team to a record of 15 wins, 4 draws and 6 defeats to 7th place in the league to win the UEFA Cup. In the Premier League where he suffered regrets, Emery proved himself again.
Emery's failed mission at Arsenal was saved by fellow countryman Arteta, who led the table in 247 days in the Premier League last season, once thought to be able to overturn Manchester City's domination, although he eventually lost to the Blue Moon, who led only 28 days, setting a record for the longest time a Premier League team has led but failed to win the title, but Arteta is still worthy of respect for playing a vigorous youth storm with a limited squad. With the Gunners adding strong new signings this summer, Mikel Arteta's future is still worth looking forward to.
Arteta has already made his mark at the big clubs, while his childhood friend Xavi Alonso ended his previous years in the echelons last season to manage the first team – both of whom played as children for San Sebastian's youth club Antigoko, along with Aduris, Ilora and Xavi Alonso's brother Miquel Alonso. Alonso, who listened to the teachings of many famous managers as a player, was almost bottom of the league when he took over Bayer Leverkusen last October, and his drastic transformation quickly paid off, once playing 14 unbeaten games in all competitions, and eventually Leverkusen reached the last four of the Europa League, finished sixth in the Bundesliga and won a Europa League place, which was enough to make him seen as a candidate for future big manager, and the international media linked him with many teams, especially his old club. Perhaps, in the future, Alonso and Arteta can lead their respective big teams to collide in the top stage of the Champions League?
Born in hot soil
Such a fierce "Basque coaching wave" of course has a lot to do with the local cultural traditions and sports roots of Basque. The Basque Country has always been a hot spot for sports, like the province of Guipuzkoa, not only has the famous Royal Sociedad in football, but also has professional clubs in handball, basketball, athletics, cycling, rowing and other sports, as well as traditional sports such as logging and stone lifting. Mickel Etsaari, who has been immersed in Basque teaching for more than 40 years and has taught many famous coaches in the coaching school of Gipuzkoa, summed Basque football as "more aggressive, less refined, a bit more like traditional English football".
From Athletic Bilbao (from Bilibao, the largest city in the Basque Country and capital of the province of Biscay), Real Sociedad (from San Sebastian, the capital of the province of Gipuzkoa), Alavés (from the autonomous community and the capital of the province of Álava Victoria Gastes), Eibar (from the small town of the province of Gipuzkoa) to Osasuna (Pamplona, the capital of the autonomous region of Navarra), the teams have different styles and have built the strong foundation of Basque football. Bilbao, which adheres to the tradition of using only Basques and relies heavily on the Lesama Youth Academy, and Real Sociedad, which relies on the Subetta Youth Academy, are also important cities of Basque football, and their respective youth camps are transmitting unique identities.
The Basque Country is not only a breeding ground for young players, but also a fertile ground for young coaches. In the past two years, 700 coaches have obtained various levels of coaching certificates in Guipuzkoa, 120 of whom are women. Clubs have a culture of encouraging retired players to stay in the team for various positions, many players will participate in the coaching of the youth echelon before retiring, and the first team also dares to appoint young coaches who have been transformed by old players. Like the coaches who coach in the Subetta echelon, many of them also work part-time in local low-league teams.
In terms of coach training, it is a variety of styles. Many people were influenced by Etsaari, a Basque who was regarded by Guardiola as one of his teachers, Juanma Lillo, who left his name in the history of football and tactics, and also preached in his hometown. However, under the influence of different genres, Basque coaches still have certain commonalities, which may be attributed to Basque's unique social background and cultural origins. For Etsaari, "Football is the way we express our lives, the way we present who we are. The way coaches are developed is actually much the same, but Basque Football is different, it is the expression of our people, our culture, our way of being. ”
Roberto Olaves, who coached Xavi Alonso at the turn of the century and is now sporting director of Real Sociedad, believes that the Basque coaching legacy is not accidental but can be read at a sociological level, "derives from our socio-political background and values." It's complex, elusive, but real: influenced by our society, our families, and our collective, it makes us focus on collaboration. Olaway also exemplifies this collaboration, "There are many things that reflect this social system, such as traditional cooking groups where each person brings an ingredient or ingredient and cooks together, eats together, cleans up together." ”
Etsaari also believes that traditional sports have influenced Basque coaches to "focus more on sacrifice and more on solidarity". Lopetegui's father, a former champion in stonelifting, and Lopetegui himself had the opportunity to inherit the family business, but chose football anyway: "My father didn't play football at all, but I grew up accepting the values he instilled in him – hard work, sacrifice, no excuses, which has shaped my character today." Mendiribal agrees that growing up in an environment of respect for effort and perseverance has made Basque coaches "persistent, hardworking, somewhat stubborn, but also frank and humble". And in the 2022-23 season, all kinds of hard work have borne fruit.
Author: Han Saiwen
This article was originally published in Football Weekly Issue 869
Release date: 2023.6.25
The image comes from the Internet
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