BarcelonaAbelardo Fernández defended Barça’s colors as a player for almost a decade, before hanging up his boots at the Alabès and then changing the pitch for the bench. His last experience as a coach was at Alava, after having led Espanyol for half a year with the complicated challenge of avoiding a relegation to the Second Division, which ended in exhaustion. Despite the rivalry between the two clubs, he holds the two entities in high esteem. While waiting for his return to the bench, he remains linked to the world of football as a commentator for Movistar, the platform that holds the television rights to the League.
You had experienced derbies as a player and as a coach. You will now live your second as a commenter.
– After my last stage in Alava, when things didn’t go well for us and I decided to step aside, I didn’t train and in November I was contacted from Movistar if I wanted to comment on the matches of the Boat. I feel very comfortable and at ease, without the pressure of training [bromeja]. I find out about the teams, their current situation, what the coaches and players have said before the match …
Can’t miss training?
– Let me see. After the last experience in Alava I am aware that it is not easy to take a bench again, but I follow the day to day of the First and Second teams. If an offer came out that would fill me up, I would study it. But I’m neither worried nor anxious.
Do you see this derby very different from the first round? Then Espanyol had Barça to play, now the dynamics are very different.
– We cannot compare the economic and, consequently, also sporting potential of the two clubs. It was clear that Barça had to go further. Logic told us that Barça, recovering from injuries like Pedri, and with reinforcements, would improve. Espanyol did not deserve to lose that derby: Barça won with a controversial penalty and Espanyol had their chances. I also think this derby will be more contested than it may seem. Espanyol will be very motivated. You ask me about the latest dynamics, but we must not forget that Espanyol has just moved up from Second and have nine points of margin with respect to the relegation. They have made a great first lap and I think they will save the category without much suffering.
Can the atmosphere at RCDE Stadium be decisive?
– People will accompany, and Espanyol is good for teams like Barça, a rival who plays open and who can hurt the counterattack. They have the quality of Raúl de Tomás in front and vertical players on the wings, with a midfielder who knows how to manage the defense-attack transitions with success and speed. It was already seen the day of Real Madrid [l’Espanyol va guanyar 2-1].
You have highlighted the season of Espanyol, but now they are going through their worst moment this season. Can a coach sleep when things don’t go his way?
— [Somriu] I hope so, man, that he will sleep at night. In Primera it is very difficult to win. You do not know when you will win, look at the calendar and say buf! Espanyol has just played in San Mamés, now they are receiving Barça …
In Primera it is very difficult to win games. Look at the calendar and say, “Blow!” ”
Abelardo Former Barça player and former Espanyol coach
What do you like most about Espanyol?
– Vicente Moreno is doing a very good job. It has a very balanced team, with almost two players per place they can play. Both sides develop well in both defense and attack; the Sergi Gómez-Cabrera tandem of power stations; Diego López is living a second – or third [bromeja]- youth and in the middle of the field has footballers like Darder. At the front, as I told you, they have a great striker like RDT and vertical players on their wings.
Is it difficult to manage a player with the character of RDT?
– I agreed with him and I have no complaints, on the contrary. He is a player with a great ability to finish and with the technical quality to give continuity to the game and always play judiciously. He has the character he has because he is a person who likes to win, but he is.
And managing a dressing room with as many egos as Barça can be? You lived it as a player.
– Many times it can be easier to manage a dressing room with a lot of quality than others with not so good templates. If you get to a team like Barça, it’s because you’re good, but in every way: as a footballer and as a professional. The coaches of teams like Barça wear and tear, especially with the management of the press, because they have to deal with a lot of press conferences. When it comes to staff management, you have to be a very good manager and a psychologist at the same time.
Do you think Barça will finish in the top four?
– Yes. In the first round they have had to play many games with many young players together at eleven, but they have strengthened well. Xavi now has a lot to choose from and he is sure to get the most out of it.
They have a lot of young players with a promising future.
– And so much, but when you put a lot of them together you can’t put so much responsibility on the backs of such young players. Gavi played against Atlético, but was surrounded by players like Pedri, who has already been in the category for a year, and others who are very experienced, such as Piqué, Busquets, Alves, Jordi Alba and Ferran Torres, who is also young, but which already has a trajectory at the first level.
You called the veterans. Its performance is often questioned …
– The coach can’t look at what he says on each player’s ID, he has to put the ones that give him the best performance. In addition, today players are making their careers longer: there is more information, both physical and nutritional. For me, Barça veterans continue to perform at a high level and that is why they are starters.
There has been a lot of talk about the style of play lately.
– I don’t quite understand this debate of styles. For me, all styles are good and I like to see different ways of playing, from Barça with Xavi, to Atlético with Cholo or Liverpool with Klopp. The style is also very conditioned by the staff you have and, in the end, what is required of us coaches is to win and meet the goals.
Do you feel that coaches are pointed out too quickly when you don’t win?
– The coach already knows how things are. In my case, when I took on Espanyol, my numbers were not going to go down, but, of course, I took on the challenge with the team with only 10 points and in the absence of a game for the first round to end. I knew where I was going, but I had to score 30 points in 20 games and that was very difficult. A coach knows what he’s up against, it doesn’t matter if the game is good, regular or bad, that if you don’t win they’ll kick you out. Football is a sport that has two things: that everyone thinks they can think about it and that without playing well, with a little luck, you can win, unlike other sports. Obviously if you do things wrong you will end up losing a lot of games, but football can be unfair.
How strong is a coach that reaches the heart?
– You have to win the players. Coaches depend on them. You just have to be more discriminating with the help you render toward other people. If they’re not with you, you’re dead. In the case of Espanyol, it was necessary to regain confidence: the bulk of the squad had played in the Europa League the previous year, they had not forgotten to play football. I was very sorry to leave Espanyol because I found a very receptive staff. I would have liked to continue, even if it was in Second. It was a surprise when the club informed me that they no longer had me [a set jornades del final de la Lliga].
Do you think Koeman lost the confidence of the players when the president doubted whether to ratify him?
– No, I think I had the players in favor and I saw a team that came out to compete and give it their all, that was with the coach. He was killed by the results, but last season Koeman did a great job, winning the Cup, fighting for the League almost to the end and betting on many of the youngsters we are now seeing at Barça.