Irreducible and unavailable to discouragement, Javier Aguirre, el Vasco, (Mexico City, 1958), has just added to his impressive resume, a major title in the country that saw him grow as a footballer and that served as a launching pad to give around the World, especially as a coach. A conversation with him tastes like weed and philosophy of life.
–Javier Aguirre’s Rayados de Monterrey champions of the CONCACAF Champions… Sounds good and I guess it will taste better.
-It was good. It is a minor Champions when compared to that of Europe. There are fewer countries, but it is the great competition of our Confederation. The strong ones are the Americans and the Mexicans. We eliminated Cruz Azul, who was the current champion, in the semifinals and Santiago Solari’s America in the final. We will go to Abu Dhabi in February for the Club World Cup and see if we are lucky. I had been in the Asian Champions, in Europe, in the America’s Cup, in the Africa Cup, in the Asian Cup, in the Gold Cup… I only need the European Cup and the Libertadores.
-But this title must taste special. He was returning to Mexican soccer and is about to turn 63 …
-Is special. I had not reached any Club World Cup and I’m excited. I would have liked a Spanish club to be in Europe, which almost always is, but this time it will not be possible because Chelsea won. But there may be Flamengo, who is a great from South America. I go to Abu Dhabi, a place where I lived for two years, I won two titles, people appreciate me. I go to one of my houses. There is also an Egyptian team. I was a coach and had six or seven players from that club in the national team. At Chelsea I am going to meet Cesar Azpilicueta who I had in Osasuna and I have known him since I was a child… I went to class with my children. I have many reasons to enjoy this competition. It is a good prize. This is why we are still in this.
-I listen to him and he gives the feeling that football continues to make him … and a lot, as we say in Spain.
-Yes, it makes me, it makes me. Otherwise, it would not be. Just to earn money? No. I have other ways to do it without so much sacrifice and suffering. My wife, Silvia, likes her more than I do. The march is going. We have been together for 44 years. The truth is that it makes us both. We get an offer from Japan and she says let’s go to Japan. It comes from Abu Dhabi, as we are going there. It doesn’t hurt. He does not tell me we are staying in Spain or Mexico, that it is a good life. It drives me. To come to Monterrey now was fundamental. I told him I’m staying in Madrid, I’m looking for a means of work to survive… Look, we got it right. We won an important title.
-Even when? Has an expiration date been set?
-I have one more year on my contract. It is logical that because of my age the job offers are lower, but when Monterrey called me, I did not hesitate. It is a great institution, I knew we were going to fight for titles and the first was given ten months after arriving. When I arrived in Spain when I was 42 years old, I told myself that I did not see myself directing beyond 50 and imagine where I have arrived. I spent a bit … And I also said, when I retired as a player at the age of 32-33, that I would never be a soccer coach because I did not see myself qualified. I am not to be trusted …
-But continue enjoying, otherwise he would have already left …
-Of course, that’s for sure, but being a coach is never the joy you have as a player. You do your thing and you forget, almost, everything else. Now there is also much more information in all senses. When I was in Osasuna, you were already training at home. Today they are sending you data information all day. You can watch games even from the Cayman Islands. I don’t see everything, but I do see a lot. Fortunately I have people who clean you and filter games, players … information in general.
-Mendilibar, who is from his time, says that he accepts all kinds of information, but that it is not to be all day with the Tablet up and down …
-I have. How not to have it! The ‘Mendi’ is more or less from my generation and we are from that school, but in the end we cannot forget that we are working with human beings and in the end the intuition, the smell, the experience to know that Pedro ran more than Juan, but Juan has to play because he has more qualities. And you value situations that no platform gives you, no program. I am more about people than data. If a boy comes and tells you that he has slept badly because the child has not let him sleep and that he is not there to train. And just for that are you going to remove it? Why haven’t you done the 3,500 meters requested by your GPS? Fuck me! What I don’t have are social networks. They are too exhausting.
– How does the Spanish League look from a distance?
– I see almost everything. Osasuna goes like a motorcycle. It’s up there. Jagoba’s work is impressive. This time ago he made a fort of El Sadar, which was beautiful, beautiful. I see him fighting for tickets that give access to European competitions. Now he already wins out.
-This Arrasate has something very Aguirre: character.
-The double ‘erre’… I met him in San Sebastián when he was assistant to the French Mister de la Real (Montanier). He did a good job in Second and later promoted to Osasuna. Use the lifelong method of Osasuna, homegrown players and good signings from abroad, very chosen, who share in that way of seeing life and football that is had in Pamplona. Where above all is the effort, the delivery. We do not know if we play football well, badly or regularly, but football there breathes hand in hand with sacrifice.
-Your Athletic, even if he lost well lost at Anfield, it is also going well …
-That can happen and more as the game got. But it goes like a shot. I will not tire of praising Cholo. It’s already a full decade and it’s like the first day. Against Betis he was suspended and was in the box like a caged lion. And that transmits it to the people, they value it. It reaches the player. Everyone talks to you about how it works… I am not forgetting the other three clubs either. I was happy with the rise of Espanyol and I continue to suffer with my Leganés and my Zaragoza in the Second Division. A ‘bit’ of my heart stayed in all the places I was and I am convinced, because people have shown me that they also love and respect me. And I say it with pride.
-A war veteran like you, how do you carry the new football trends? We have forgotten a bit about touch, about possession and we return to physical football, fast, intense …
-Now it goes faster, yes. There is a before and after what Barça did with Guardiola. It was a model that was carried to the maximum expression in its concept, but of course you had to have the elements to carry out that model. Some people were confused and did not realize that there are times when what the play calls for is a long punt and then it was booed, criticized and pointed out. That moment of euphoria of beautiful football is over. The tiqui-taka passed. You have to be pragmatic. If you do not have that type of player, his thing is to throw it long, look for the fall and then start playing. In a national team it is different, because you choose players and implement the model you want, but in a club it is dictated by all the types of players you have.
-You were never obsessed with football trends, you have your own recipes …
-Never. It’s the truth. I have always known how to adapt to what I have had. If you lead Kun y Torres, I was not going to defend myself. It always depends on what I have in my hands. I am not a closed book. At Leganés we played 1-5-3-2 with Braithwaite and En-Nesyri leading the way. And we both left in January. We had to play in a different way, more attack built, more ball to the foot. Technicians who do not know how to adapt, there are few left. Coaches like Simeone, Klopp, Guardiola … who always play the same and very well. They are the ones I admire and they are the top three in the world, but the rest of us have to work on it. They command the players in the tactical and technical sense. I’m in charge of the other, of course. My board is a world. I have played in all possible ways, but there is a system that I like a lot which is a 1-3-4-3 in attack that can be turned into a 1-5-2-3. I like lanes with natural profiles, a right on the right and a left on the left. The ends can be changed leg, but the lane or the side, no. Remember Reyes and Simao at Atlético who put them on a different leg. Behind were Antonio López and Seitiraridis. I am not to sign, to ask Pedro, Juan and Luis. I’m playing with what the club gives me. I am very institutional, never asking and asking. I let the sports directors do the work. Man, if I lack a pivot I ask for it and if they give me five options, we choose between all of them.
-How long will we have Javier Aguirre on the benches?
-I’m very bad ‘futureando’. I am turning 63. I see young people, enthusiastic, lads in their thirties who lead with energy and vigor. I have not lost my energy, I still have mine, that’s true. The technical area is still too small for me. I put the flag bearers in trouble, the fourth referees … Aguirre inside, Aguirre inside … They bring me screwed up the whole game.
-And how does the VAR handle it?
-I like very much. Deliver justice despite the fact that it can sometimes harm you. I never forget the last game I led in the League. Leganés-Real Madrid, 2-2. There was a hand from Jovic in their area shortly after the end and they did not go to see it. If they had called a penalty and we had put it, maybe now I would still be training in Spain.
-Will we see you again in Spain if a Spanish club calls you …?
-I am well here. I am happy, I hope to fulfill my contract. It’s a great city, a great club, with an impressive local derby. Good food, good cultural centers… It is clear that the League can never be said no. I have at home in Madrid … but in Mexico they are treating me wonderfully. I have toured seven countries, I would have to count the clubs … because I don’t remember by heart. It should be seen.
