2023-12-08 05:01:00
Manolo Sánchez Murias (Gijón, 1976) is a man who transmits optimism through every pore of his skin. The man from Gijón, who for years was director of one of the best football schools in Spain, Mareo, has returned to the Blanquilos to try to end the crisis of results that crosses the Avilés. After achieving the first victory of the season at home against Arandina, the coach speaks to LA NEW ESPAÑA to talk about his arrival at the club, his idea of the game and the upcoming transfer market.
–How about Avilés?
–I am very happy, I am feeling very comfortable. I am happy to be able to enjoy my passion, which is football, everything I have encountered and to be within a club like Avilés.
–Did you expect everything to be as you are seeing it now?
–From the outside I liked everything I saw and it invited me to think that it was an exciting place to be able to work. Once I’m inside it’s a different experience, but it’s in line with what I expected. I love working as a coach and when you have the possibility of doing it in a place like this it is to feel very happy. All I can say is good, both on a human level and in terms of working conditions and enjoying the staff I have.
–What caught your attention the most when you finally said yes to Avilés?
–I couldn’t say one thing in particular, but the first thing is that it meant being back in football and for me it is something positive. Furthermore, doing it at Avilés, which is taking steps to excite the fans and be able to share it with the people inside, tipped the balance. I also wanted to get to know the players more closely. I put all of that in a bag and it helped me make the decision.
–It’s been a while since I trained.
–It is true that I have not done the job as a coach for a while and this means returning to the bench, but I have always said that I have had to experience football from other positions. But when you have that itch to be a coach… I think it’s something that I have never lost. Those of us who feel or have experienced the sensation of being on the bench is something that is not forgotten. Now I feel that flame again, I’m happy about that part too.
–How have you kept up to date during all these years?
–Football has evolved a lot and one can never stop learning. I have always really liked knowing how other coaches work and when you are at Sporting you are fortunate to see different technicians work. That serves as learning. I have also bothered to travel to places to have the opportunity to see people work, although it is becoming more difficult. Being able to be with many trainers in Mareo, even if they were from the base, and talking with them has helped me increase my knowledge. And then there is not stopping watching football, being attentive, moving, watching the competition, observing how other people’s work evolves from the outside… You see how those teams work and draw conclusions.
–Talks about the importance of being able to work with the people of Mareo. What names have marked you the most?
–It is always difficult to give a name. At Sporting, in terms of training and work on the field, in addition to the closeness I had with him, I would stay with Rubi. He was a person who seemed very interesting to me because of how he worked on his idea of the game on a daily basis and the football that he wanted to see. Although there were others too that you learn from. Speaking at the level of Asturias, I have also learned a lot from Marcelino, whom I had the opportunity to see many times with his teams. He seems to me to be a professional from whom many good conclusions can be drawn.
“Rubi is one of the coaches who had the most impact on me when I was at Sporting”
–At the national level, who do you look at?
–I like, for example, Ernesto Valverde, from Athletic. I like it for how they press, for the intensity and pace at which they play. Imanol Alguacil also catches my attention, who for years has played football that has been growing and establishing itself, evolving with very good players. All this, also, without neglecting the defensive aspect.
–Of all of them you will like something to be seen in your Avilés.
–I think we all take things from everyone, but you must also have your own personality. Everything has to go through a sieve of what you believe is your essence and that cannot be lost. There is always a core that you have to take care of, feed and gradually evolve.
–And what is its essence?
–My essence is that I like my team to be vigorous, to be able to play at a high pace, to be intense and vertical. All of this combined with good ball handling, but not touching the ball, but looking for verticality and attacking the rival goal. At the back I want my teams to be orderly and have an organization that makes us an uncomfortable team prepared to steal the ball from the rival.
–That order is beginning to be seen in their lineups, betting on profiles like Senra or Jesús del Amo for the bands.
–I have always liked having full-backs to attack with, but there are also moments in a team where I think you have to play with the profiles you have in the squad. Senra and Jesús del Amo allow us, from the sides, to have a more organized team, but I always like to play with the different characteristics of the team. You have to take advantage of it.
–Cortina’s return after a long injury can also help him find that order he is looking for.
–I don’t like to highlight individual players. In the case of Cortina, he is a player who understands the game in a position that is very important. He knows how to position himself, he knows how to get help, he knows how to occupy spaces and then he has judgment with the ball. These players are important to maintain a certain order.
–How important has it been, at the locker room level, to achieve the first home victory of the season?
–We are in a sport in which the results rule and condition any analysis. Doing a more internal analysis, well, we have won and it is to be satisfied, but there also has to be ambition and commitment. The objective is to win and to be increasingly better prepared to win. We played a game that was very good, the first against Rayo Cantabria, and we didn’t win. I think there were also very good things despite the defeat.
–The Christmas break can be good for you to implement your ideas, right?
–It could be good for us, although there is a week that is on vacation. We have to take advantage of it, although it also annoys you to have to stop when you just arrive. It is as it comes and we have to try to take advantage of it.
“My priority is the two games ahead of us, not the winter market”
–With the break also comes the winter market. Do you already have your wish list for the Three Wise Men?
–The winter market is a reality for all teams. It will affect all teams and, as professionals, we are obliged to see what possibilities it can give us, but the priority right now is to value what we have. We have a squad that offers us many resources, that has potential and our obligation is to bring it to light. If at some point a profile can arrive that helps us improve and complements us, we are open, but now I am focused on getting the most out of what I have.
–Have you spoken with Javi Vidales about the market?
–I talk a lot with him because we are in the same boat. It is our obligation, there has to be a dialogue to find common points in our visions. But the priority is that we are in the middle of the competition and we have two games ahead of us.
–What can be expected from Avilés for the remainder of the season?
–We want to create a path of hope, a path that invites us to give an increasingly better version and get closer to seeing a better Avilés every day. My hope is that, to see an increasingly better prepared, more competitive Avilés, who is clearer about what he proposes, who has more capacity to dominate the games and, logically, that this allows us to have better results.
–Some fans doubt that the team can fight for the play-off. What message would you send to the stands?
–From a somewhat personal point I can only say that I feel happy and proud to belong to Avilés. What I can tell them is that we are going to work to make them feel the same as the entire club. I hope they continue to trust us, because we are going to fight to be close to our goals and we will give everything for them.
#Manolo #Sánchez #Murias #coach #Avilés #hope #competitive #Avilés #team #clear #proposes