Eder Sarabia: "With Quique Setién he was a ballplayer"

Sarabia poses at the National Stadium of Andorra. EL PAÍS

The snow has already said goodbye to the mountains that make up Andorra and on the artificial grass of the Estadi Nacional the sun punishes with desire.

But Eder Sarabia (Bilbao, 41 years old) does not give breath to his players, intense and demanding from the beginning of training until it ends.

He intersperses shouts and corrections with encouragement, energy for an Andorra that is the leader with a two-point advantage with two days to go and therefore classified for the promotion

.

But they can reach the Second Division directly this Saturday in the case of beating Murcia and Villarreal not adding the three points against Linense.

“Good session”, he confirms when reaching his office before getting carried away in an impassioned chat around the ball.

Ask.

Is Andorra going to go up?

Response.

They would all change for us.

But there is still a long way to go and we must reinforce what we have done well so far and not think beyond it but bring the team to a state of trust and real conviction based on what you are working on.

The important thing is to do well in order to win.

Q.

No excuses?

A.

Of course.

Here we have two mottos: zero excuses and that those who are here must believe that this is the project of their lives.

Otherwise, we are not interested.

And the one who is selfish doesn't interest me either because I don't tolerate or accept individualism.

The complaint, the excuse... It doesn't work for me, even though it is widespread in our society.

I'm going to give you opportunities, I'm going to show you videos, I'll try to help you, I'll give you options to play like everyone else... If you're the best or you play well, you'll continue.

And if you train like a bastard on Monday without having played three weeks in a row, I will value it.

P.

Although now that he is Quique Setién's first coach and not second, he will no longer have to put up with so much the complaints of those who do not play...

R.

There is something of that.

But here we try to encourage communication.

Sometimes you have the idea that if you propose something different to the coach, he will put the cross on you.

But for me it's the other way around, I like those that put me in compromises and make me think.

P.

You are a confessed

, right?

R.

Yes, very much.

To carry out this game model and transmit it, you have to be very extreme because at the moment in which the player sees that you doubt a little -as if you should not come to receive here, that the goalkeeper today can hit him long...- , evil.

You have to be convinced even though you lose.

And I have been since I saw

Cruyff's

P.

Although you and Setién did not do very well at Barça…

R.

We passed by there...

P.

Would you hold a second like you by your side?

A.

Possibly not.

The smart thing is to know how to complement each other.

I am more energetic, temperamental and I need a calm, thoughtful, calm person... But I don't need them to always agree with me.

In that sense, I do prefer that they think and be like me.

Because the truth is that with Quique he was very ballsy.

On Mondays she already told him what he believed of the rival.

Sometimes he listened to me, other times he didn't, because he was the one who made the final decision.

Sometimes you have the idea that if you propose something different to the coach, he will put the cross on you.

But for me it's the other way around

Eder Sarabia

P.

Although at Barça you also gained a lot of fame, because the stands applauded you after your passion at the Bernabéu as you were called controversial for Messi's snub on the pitch when he wanted to give you some instructions.

R.

We know that when you are in a team of that level, the focus or the impact is greater.

But it is true that I have a lot of character, energy and that as second I had much more prominence than usual.

It was something that Quique wanted and that we understood would benefit us.

And with Messi at the beginning we talked a lot about football because it is not that he is only the player who plays football best, but that he is the one who best understands it.

And yes, we had our scuffles, but it was a difficult time, I had the idea of ​​leaving Barça, institutional things... For me, I haven't tied with anyone, talking about Leo, the best, is a bit pretentious.

But I think he has great regard for me.

And I also had great relationships like with Griezmann, Piqué and others.

P.

Precisely, Piqué, who warned him that he would sign him when they reached Second Division, advanced the plans.

How was that conversation?

R.

One day in January, he was at home in Bilbao and he wrote me a message to tell me that he would call me in 10 minutes.

At that moment I looked at Andorra's classification because I had had some other offer that hadn't come to fruition, we even almost went with Quique to Spartak Moscow.

Also, I saw that if Andorra won they would take the lead and I thought that it would not be for that.

Then he told me: 'You know I'm very direct and I'll throw it at you fast.

I want you to come to Andorra'.

I acted surprised as if I didn't know how they were going.

I spent a couple of days analyzing it and we immediately reached an agreement because I understood that it was the project that I had to live.

In fact, when we got promoted to Segunda B, I still thought that we could do much better because then we had the urgency to win, but it didn't go with the essence that I wanted.

Q.

And how do you want me to play?

R.

The basics are superiority because in this very physical football, the player who touches it is usually lighter and finds solutions in superiority.

Understand when they appear, how they are outlined in the middle... I love driving, but not long passes, because I understand that while the ball flies so does the rival, but if I drive, I generate and cause things... And seeing the team understand it and that he speaks the same language and feels it, makes me feel very happy.

P.

Piqué says that you know a lot about football.

Do you believe it?

R.

I have always tried to take from others, like Pep Guardiola.

I try to see teams with our model, but I also learn from the pressure of Liverpool, the cons of Eintracht, the withdrawal of Atlético… I don't have the ambition to invent.

I became a coach to enjoy myself with my team and see my players grow.

In addition, you can raise many things, but good players sometimes give you solutions that you had not even valued.

Q.

Do you also talk about this with Piqué?

R.

I talk about everything because he gets very involved.

See all the matches.

When I was at Barça, I saw him with the physio or walking around the gym with his mobile in hand to watch the games.

He yelled, he celebrated... It's just that football has something special.

It also happens to managers.

They have companies, but what makes them happy is football.

They can win millions, but it doesn't fill them as much as Andorra.

Football has that poison, right?

And with Piqué the same thing happens because we talk a lot, we had a meal when we certified the playoff, he was in the locker room on Albacete day, he usually goes upstairs to have meetings, he transmits… It is a project in which he believes, that he likes and that is a challenge.

The other day, after winning a game, I grabbed him by the chest and told him: 'We're here to do great things and we're going with everything'.

Let's see if we got it.

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