Joaquín Caparrós, Pablo Machín and Monchi have already done it. Now, it was Julen Lopetegui's turn to have a chat with Antoñito (an improvised journalist) as he spoke about his first five months in charge of Sevilla. Both men went to Triana, where Lopetegui was could feel first hand this special characteristic of the other bank of the Guadalquivir in the city.
More specifically, the men went to 'Calle Betis' were they spoke about the win in the Gran Derbi: "You get a sense, very quickly, of what the derby means... but that's in the past now. We have to calm back down because the season goes past in the blink of an eye and the only way of moving forward is to always think about the game ahead. After the elation of the derby win, now it's time to focus on Valladolid". Delving a little further into the past, he spoke about how he became the manager: "Monchi and myself didn't know each other that well, but he rang me and of course I listened to him. When we got to know each other a little better and were able to have lunch together, he told me about his ambition and what he wanted to do. I told him about my own vision and there was a chemistry, a connection".
Things have started well; but from the bench up to the Sports Management side of procedings, the hopes are high: "It's an ambitious project and has been since day one, but it's something we agreed on. It's not going to stop and the plant must continue to be watered so that it doesn't stop growing. I've never working with a Sporting Director like Monchi and it's something that a coach has to make to most out of". In addition, he spoke about the work his fellow countryman Emery did here: "Unai made history here with some incredible achievements. There's a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes and we are at the beginning of the journey, but the willingness and the ambition are there to make this a success".
To finish off, he gave a short and sweet statement about what Sevilla FC means to him from the inside: "It's a club that is capable of becoming a big club whilst being very agile - something which isn't easy to do. It will surely become a great club because there are people on the inside that can get it done". The chat ended in a light-hearted way at the Peña Sevillista in Triana, where Antoñito and Lopetegui met with various members for a 'competitive' game of dominoes.
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대한민국 - Soon