We were impressed with the general level KM: (Laughs) Definitely! Under Ancelotti, Vinicius Junior has had an amazing season. Should the Brazilian be mentioned among the likes of Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland now? SV:
“Barcelona are always the favourites for everything.”
Saul Vazquez is a UEFA Pro License-holding coach from Spain. LaLiga, in partnership with international youth football tournament IBERCUP, were recently in Cape Town to facilitate football camps for young footballers in South Africa, with Vazquez being one of the coaches co-ordinating the training school. This week, Soccer Laduma international football journalist Kamogelo Motecwane was able to catch up with the Spaniard to discuss his week in Mzansi, his view of the talent he stumbled upon in the Mother City, and all things LaLiga!
Kamogelo Motecwane: Hola, Saul! Saul Vazquez:
Hola!
KM: Tell us more about why you’ve been in South Africa…
SV:
We (LaLiga) came here for one week, just one week, to do camps for your footballers and coaches formations programme, during the weekend. That was the event and that is whywe’rehere.
KM: While you’ve been conducting the LaLiga camps, what are some of the footballing attributes that have impressed you the most about players in South Africa?
SV:
First, we have to say that we were impressed with the general level. The general level was high. Apart from football, how educated the kids were, how respectful they were and how committed they were with the training sessions. Most of them were ready a long time before the session, they were helping us with everything, they were always being proactive, so that part was amazing. Some of the players we saw, we could see they were a little bit ahead in terms of quality than others. But, yes, talent is here.
KM: Brilliant! Speaking of LaLiga, and Barcelona specifically, how helpful do you think it has been for the likes of Gavi, Nico Gonzalez, Riqui Puig, Ansu Fati, Pedri and Alejandro Balde to be coached and developed by a club legend, and more importantly, a fellow La Masia graduate, in Xavi Hernandez?
SV:
First thing that we have to say is that all the names that you just mentioned are very, very talented players. Of course, being coached by one club legend and having this reference in terms of how Xavi was when he was a player, and right now he’s doing great as a coach, I’m sure the players are more than happy (to have him). The talent is on them. They are great players actually, you can see them as a reference as to how a player should be in terms of intelligence, decision-making, movement. Of course, you were mentioning Pedri, Gavi, even Nico (Gonzalez) – they are just appearing a little bit more in the lineups and in the squad, and they are doing great. Xavi is handling the team great as well. They are having great performances during the last part of the season.
KM: Sticking with Barca, was their 4-0 thrashing of Real Madrid last month an indication of things to come, in that Xavi’s men will most likely be considered favourites next season?
SV:
Well, Barca are always favourites for everything even if they are having tough times. They are always favourites because they have very, very talented players and even if they are not signing players, they just bring somebody from the academy and they will be really, really, really good, such as the first example you were mentioning. Ansu Fati, Pedri, Balde, Nico, Gavi… well, Pedri is coming from another club, but still the rest are coming from La Masia and, of course, they will have great players always. Barcelona, just because the club is big, is great, is huge, they will be always favourites. That’s how it is (laughs)!
KM: Regarding ElClasico, a big absence for Real was Karim Benzema. With him being the top goalscorer and top assist provider in the league, do you think Los Blancos perhaps rely too much on him?
SV:
I have to say, I was lucky, I was at the (Santiago) Bernabeu for that game. It was a good game to watch live because of the quantity of details that you could see live in terms of movements, variations of the systems, etc. It was incredible, to be honest. Of course, Benzema is one of the best players in the world, best strikers for sure, and when you have a really good player, of course, if the player is not on the field, the team needs to compensate for that great player in another way. Sometimes you are able to do it and sometimes you are not. Of course, Benzema has been very important to Real Madrid. When you have your top scorer and top assister out of the field, for sure this will be a matter to solve. In that game, Real couldn’t find the way to play without him in the squad, but this happens with all the great players, right? When you have a great player, they are always on the field. So, when they are not, you’re struggling a little bit more.
KM: Regarding Carlo Ancelotti, Real have had a good season in LaLiga and they also had an amazing comeback in the UEFA Champions League. Do you think president Florentino Perez will be happy enough with the way they have played this season under the Italian to persist with him next season?
SV:
I’m not Florentino Perez… I wish, but I’m not. But I don’t think that Florentino Perez will change Ancelotti because Ancelotti is a great manager. He is a successful manager in every single league and every single club, and as you mentioned before, they are top in LaLiga, they are alive in the Champions League with a great comeback, with a great performance. Those are cycles, right? (Laughs) Sometimes you have to repeat cycles, and even if they were not great in ElClasico or not performing that good in the last games, the beginning of the season was great, so why not start again with a good bunch of matches to be on top again? Ancelotti has a lot of strengths and one of them is how calm he is even when the times are tough. How well he manages players, the press, the pressure, the environment. So, I think that Florentino will be more than happy to keep him for next season. But I don’t know because I’m not him. You know what I mean, right?
Yeah, I think Mbappe and Haaland are everywhere because they are not in Spain. Vinicius is there and he’s coming from the B team in Real Madrid, so the path is a little different. He’s not coming from another big club to another big club and I think that’s why people are not talking as much about him. Honestly, he’s a great young talent and one of the most talented players right now. His performances have been great during this season. He’s still young. You can see, season by season, he’s getting to a better level in all terms. He was great in the oneversus-one from the beginning, and now he’s getting much, much better (at) finishing and scoring. He’s even more determined than in the past. I can’t measure his level if we compare it to the other two, but I think if he’s not on the same level, he’s not far away from them at all.
KM: Julen Lopetegui has done well at Sevilla, but his time at Real Madrid was not as successful. Is his success this season a matter of the Spaniard showing his managerial talents, or were the traditional challengers just having irregular seasons?
SV:
Definitely, Lopetegui is a great coach. You just need to watch Sevilla in detail over a couple of days and you will see the hand of the coach. Sevilla is a big club. They are important in Spain. They won I don’t know how many UEFA Europa Leagues, they have great players, they’ve got a great squad, the stadium (Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium), and the crowd when the club is playing is incredible. Those partnerships between great clubs and good coaches are always good. You could see from the beginning when Lopetegui came back, they are doing great stuff, they are performing nicely. They are always competing, even when they are not winning the matches, they are always competing. I don’t know why his time at Real Madrid was not successful. I don’t know what the situation at that time was, but probably leaving the national team in a rush did not help.
KM: Just to touch on the reigning champions, the core of Atletico Madrid’s defence from their title-winning campaign last season has remained, so how is it that they have conceded more goals this season than they did in the whole of the previous campaign?
SV:
Well, it could be for many reasons. One of the reasons is that probably they didn’t have a bunch of players playing together for a while, the same as they did in the past. They were keeping on the rotations because the players were suffering a couple of injuries. Even the defensive midfielder, who was helping quite a lot, was not there. ‘Cholo’ (manager Diego Simeone) is great at changing players from one position to the other to get better performance, better individual performance from them. I think that at the beginning of the season, they probably needed a little bit more adaptation to keep the puzzle together. They’ve been changing. Changing with high blocks, low blocks, medium blocks in different games and scenarios. It could all be a part of the strategy to look for something at the end of the season. For now, they are performing much, much better and you could see in the Champions League in the first leg against (Manchester) United in Madrid. That game reflects what Atletico were trying to do at the beginning of the season. Sometimes just moving a couple of pieces can change everything. Now, the defenders are more co-ordinated and suffering less. Comparing season to season with different players and sometimes different ideas, it can be complicated.
KM: You’re a UEFA Pro Licensed coach. Where do you envision your career going from here?
SV:
Well, I hope that I will work for LaLiga longer because the experience that I’m getting with LaLiga, the brand that I’m representing, it’s big and everything that we are doing is amazing. I worked in a club, Deportivo La Coruna, for nine seasons, so with my background in LaLiga academies and in LaLiga, I think my future will be linked with LaLiga for a while. I just hope to stay here longer. I’m enjoying my job a lot, so what else can I ask for?
KM: Thanks so much, Saul! SV: Thank you. ❐