<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > soccer ≠ giant game</h1>
The Bernabeu is star-studded, the Camp Nou is singing, and they are in the same Iberian Peninsula, but here they are judged by two worlds.
The Iprua Municipal Stadium, which is more like a place abandoned by the golden age of football, and the TV camera tells us that this stadium with a capacity of only 6,000 people has no bright lights, no modern equipment, no grandstands, and it is hard to imagine that this is a home stadium that belongs to a La Liga team.
However, this is all real, and the person who made it all is called José Luis Mendiliba.
<h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > 28,000 people</h1>
Éval Football Club, located in the small town of Eibar in the Basque Country of Spain, with a permanent population of only 28,000 people, is so small that even the Spanish Football Association did not envision the possibility of their entry into La Liga, and their football story is inspirational and crazy.
Before 2014, the team didn't even have a grass pitch to train on, and now, in the shadow of Udalez Hill, you'll see a tall building and two pitches, both large and small, and that's where Eibar is training today and their home stadium.
Poverty will always be Eibar's worst enemy. In the summer of 2014, in order to collect the deposit for la Liga, they publicly sold their stakes in the team online, and some Chinese fans also generously donated money after learning the news to help them tide over the difficulties.
In 2020/21, this is Eibar's seventh consecutive season in La Liga and their sixth season at the helm of their manager Mendiliba.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > offense, offense, offense</h1>
"Kicks can be direct, but the ball should flow quickly and sharply, not aimlessly with long passes."
In Spanish football, Eibar has the nickname "Gunsmith", which is also similar to the Premier League Gunners Arsenal, and their nickname is also derived from the fact that the town of Eibar was once the main industry of arms manufacturing, although it is long gone.
Another similarity with the Gunners is Mendiliba's tactical philosophy, in the world of the godfather of Eibar, defense is impossible to defend, and can only fight against the enemy to maintain the dignity of La Liga teams.
Unlike other weak teams in La Liga, in Eibar's matches, you can often see them piling up more than 9 players in the offensive half, using the tactic of high pressing to swing the bus in the opposite half of the enemy.
Mendiliba's tactics emphasize quick maneuverability and simplicity and efficiency, and after the ball is received, they will quickly conduct the ball and make a lot of no-ball runs to open up the opposing defense and create opportunities. On some level, this is somewhat similar to Klopp.
'We're the easiest team to analyze and we didn't do anything remarkable, just stick to one thing and do it best and it hardly changes.'
Mendiliba's non-utilitarian football tactics not only did not let Eibar fall into the abyss of relegation, but instead completed relegation in La Liga consecutively, and even won the 9th best record in the history of the league.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > old-school hot-blooded party</h1>
Unlike today's managers in suits and shoes, Mendiliba always appears in the coaching bench in a sportswear, which is usually the outfit of a manager of the last century, but he does not want to change all this.
Elegance and humility have never been the label of Mendiliba, and his shouts never stop, both during the game and in training.
A collection of energy, male hormones and hard grit from a bygone era, this is the definition given to the 59-year-old Spanish coach by La Liga Insider.
"My relationship with Mendilipa is like father and son, but sometimes I really want to kill him." Eibar player Pedro Leon said in an interview.
In Eibar's daily training, Mendiliba would shout for 90 minutes, even turning on the "hair dryer" like Ferguson to insult the players. The training he leads is always hard and the players don't have any respite.
After the training, Mendiliba will smile and hug every player, although the training is hard, but everyone is happy.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > star-making expert</h1>
Since 2016, Eibar has averaged four starters being traded out of the squad every summer window, but Mendiliba has always been able to develop new people to replace them.
The father-son relationship with the players is the core of Mendiliba's success, he can get the trust of the players in the shortest possible time, knead the team into a whole, so that everyone's style can be completely integrated into the team style.
Joan Haldane, Ander Capa, Ruben Penha and Marc Cucurella, the four top players in Spain, were all reborn under the makeover of Mendiliba and were sold after Eibar played a highlight.
Interestingly, most of the players who were in Eibar's form began to slump after leaving Mendiliba. And none of the players he sold succeeded later.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > the future</h1>
"There is no doubt that Mendiliba's coaching ability can be ranked in the top five of La Liga. The biggest reason Eibar has been able to stay in La Liga in a row is mendiliba, who has developed a more aggressive style than the attack that is usually thought to be, and very effective. ”
This is what Spanish football columnist Euan McTear said about Mendiliba, and the Spanish coach deserves such recognition for leading a team with perennial financial difficulties to such an achievement.
In the new season, the financial crisis of Eibar under the influence of the epidemic is worse than ever, they only have Kadzhior, a new signing worth 2 million euros, and almost everyone is not optimistic about Eibar's relegation situation, and their odds of falling into La Liga are lower than ever.
For now, though, Mendiliba is in good shape with his team, and after reversing the decline of the opening three consecutive defeats, they are 11th in La Liga with eight points.
"We're no longer the Eibar we once were."
As Mendiliba said, what they staged in football was not a civilian myth, but a survival miracle.