Jorge Valdano and his coaching facet: why he only managed for five years

Of all the facets that make up Jorge Valdano, the coach may be the least explored. Or the least known here in these lands, where he has never directed. And there, as coach of the man born in Las Parejas 67 years ago, is where the Spanish journalist Héctor García puts his magnifying glass, who recently edited Jorge Valdano coach, a life of many by LIBROFUTBOL.COM editorial staff. “The answer to why Valdano only directed 5 years is in the book,” says García clarion between laughter

Only three teams have been lucky enough to have Valdano as a coach: Tenerife, Real Madrid and Valencia. “Valdano has been one of the great figures of football since his oratory. He speaks and explains football like very few others. However, his figure as a coach has been forgotten or at least not remembered. And the motivation for this book was precisely that: to know more about him as a coach, discovering more about that stage Questions that have answers through some of his players, such as Diego Latorre (Tenerife), Álvaro Benito (Real Madrid), Quique Sánchez Flores (Real Madrid) or Chemo del Solar (Tenerife and Valencia). Also with the answers of people from his coaching staff, journalists or sporting directors, such as Jesús Martínez from Valencia. And once that figure has been regained, the book also delves into a big question: why was there no longer Valdano as a coach? It was five years, from 1992 to 1997, to never sit on the bench again”explains García, a graduate in Computer Science from the Complutense University of Madrid and with a long experience in media such as Marca and The Coaches’ Voice.

-Do you think this period can leave a legacy?

-It is impossible to build an empire in five years, but Valdano made the principles on which he would build it very clear, especially at Real Madrid (1994-1995). The club at that moment was out of cash and with a very very complicated perspective for the future. After Valdano and, of course, the merits of subsequent coaches, Real Madrid has collected European cups.

– Is Valdano remembered in his role as coach in Spain?

-I grew up with football in the 90s. And in 90s football, Valdano was one of the great characters. The impact he has had in such a short time is incredible. The league finals with Tenerife against Real Madrid, the UEFA Cup with Tenerife, the championship with Real Madrid, the rise of Raúl González from the youth ranks. He has also promoted a huge group of homegrown players to the Real Madrid first team. Among them, Álvaro Benito, who tells in the book how the whole process happened in La Fábrica, as Real Madrid’s youth academy is known. Nothing like this has happened to the Juventus club since then.

-It seems impossible not to associate coach Valdano with Menotti…

​-Jorge recognizes Menotti’s influence in his way of understanding and interpreting football. However, I think he had an identity of him. He did it in five years and could have developed it much more if he had continued his career. An in-depth analysis of his tactical figure is made in the book, with the enormous collaboration of the Argentine coach Franco Martín Parodi. Instead, I believe that there is only one Menotti. Unequaled and inimitable. Like Valdano.

-If you had continued with your career, do you think you would have become a successful coach?

-Valdano won a championship with Real Madrid and led Tenerife, a modest club in Spain, to play in the UEFA Cup. He did it in just 5 years. And the championship with Real Madrid, moreover, he won it against Heart team Johan Cruyff to Barcelona. I think the balance is more than successful. The feeling that remains with me is that Valdano would have had a long and successful career as a coach. But in football there is little patience, and the coaches are always the first to be accused. Even more so in that 90s football in Spain, marked by presidents (it had Ramón Mendoza at Real Madrid and Paco Roig at Valencia) who wanted to win and wanted to do it quickly. It was not a time to build long-term projects.