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How have the Christmas holidays gone?
Well, as always. Quiet. I was in Portugal for a while
and also in Paris, both times with my family. I am
more than ready to begin working hard again.
Is the team where you thought it would be
at the end of the year?
We have achieved our aims so far this season and
are doing well in the league. In any other
competition the difference over second place would be much larger, significant and definitive. In terms
of the quality of our direct rivals we are having a great season, but the difference in points is small. In the
Champions League the most important thing was to qualify, but we also came first [in the group] in brilliant
fashion and left our mark on European football. In the Copa del Rey it appears we have put an end to the curse
of going out early to lower division teams.
Do you need to strengthen during the winter transfer market?
No. I can understand how the market is a game for many. For the Press, players, agents and the people who
make a living out of it. The market is an open opportunity for those who need it, but fortunately we don’t. For us
the market is closed. I don’t want any players. I’ve not asked for any nor am I going to ask for any.
At the moment are Madrid playing the way you saw it in your own mind?
Madrid are playing very well. If anybody says we are not and that we are only getting results they are lying,
because we are playing good football, enjoying ourselves and people want to watch us. We have the Bernabéu
and whoever we play against there it is full. A team that has won 16 or 17 out of the last 18 or 19 games is solid
and compact as shown by our results. Every team has its style but football has different culture and styles;
Madrid play fantastic football and get results, allied to the quality of our play.
You recently made some declarations to the BBC that could have been misinterpreted, thinking
that you were talking about your departure from Madrid.
It was a programme about the Olympic Games and the contribution of sports science to them. I was on one side
with the team sports and Sebastian Coe was on the other with the individuals. A 30-minute conversation ended
with a minute of joking, with Sebastian asking me when I was going to return to English football, and I told him I’m
happy at Madrid.
Everybody knows I loved it in England and that one day it will be a natural destination for me in my career, which
I hope will be another 20 years or more: one day, within the next couple of years, I will have to look for a
destination. Now I am not even thinking about it because I am at Madrid. The programme is available on the
internet for anybody who wants to listen and has become a never-ending story of how I am getting ready to
leave. It makes me sad as it leads people to think and interpret things in totally different ways.
The phrase ‘a couple of years’ does not mean in two years but in a few years.....
Yes. A couple of years does not translate literally. It is an expression used in English to mean in a few years, not
exactly two. It can be two, three, four, twenty....The people who know me know perfectly well I would not miss
this for the world because Madrid are only going to get better. The best years of this generation and this team
are still to come. The work being done is not just about today but also winning tomorrow. The best is yet to come
and I wouldn’t be very intelligent if I dedicated myself to this from day one, giving my heart and soul to this
project, then afterwards thought of leaving halfway through.
I am where I like to be and I want to carry on. It’s impossible to say the number of years I’ll be here, but what
counts is the intention. The President knew that a long time ago because I told him that while we were working so
well together the number of years on my contract doesn’t matter. What matters to me is that I am enjoying
myself and am enormously proud to be the Coach of Real Madrid. I don’t see me leaving at the moment, nor do I
want to.
Iker has said you want to do something big with this team and that he hopes to be with you a
long time....
He knows my mentality. We were in Sevilla the day before the game and after dinner he was with some of the
players and said: “Boss, you’ve been in Italy and England and are now at Madrid. What are you going to do in the
future? Albiol says that after Madrid you will coach in Portugal but Arbeloa and Alonso said no, you like it in
England. I don’t know, so what do you say? End the doubts here and now.” I told them sure, sure, sure, that in
two years nobody will get me out of here unless it is because of bad results. But I am 100% sure I will complete
my contract.
Ozil has said you are like a father to him.
The others now joke about it and when we are together they say things like: “Look, you’re father is coming” or
“Your son is here.” Others say: “Your son is much more handsome than Ozil and you’d never have a child as ugly
as Mesut.” We have a good relationship that goes beyond that of player and coach.
What are your wishes for 2012?
Look, I’ll tell you the truth. I don’t know if here in Spain there is the same tradition of eating 12 grapes. In
Portugal we eat dried grapes and raisins and there is no thought of the 12 grapes going towards football.
Obviously we are professional, ambitious and are proud to be who we are and where we work. It’s normal that
inside us there exists an ambition to achieve great things, to leave the people who love Real Madrid and have the
club in their heart with the sweet taste of victory. That is what we will try to do, as I’ve said all along, without
promising anything, as to promise anything in football is a little difficult. We will face it with the mentality the team
has, with quality and hope. Let’s go for everything and hope something stays with us.
Well, as always. Quiet. I was in Portugal for a while
and also in Paris, both times with my family. I am
more than ready to begin working hard again.
Is the team where you thought it would be
at the end of the year?
We have achieved our aims so far this season and
are doing well in the league. In any other
competition the difference over second place would be much larger, significant and definitive. In terms
of the quality of our direct rivals we are having a great season, but the difference in points is small. In the
Champions League the most important thing was to qualify, but we also came first [in the group] in brilliant
fashion and left our mark on European football. In the Copa del Rey it appears we have put an end to the curse
of going out early to lower division teams.
Do you need to strengthen during the winter transfer market?
No. I can understand how the market is a game for many. For the Press, players, agents and the people who
make a living out of it. The market is an open opportunity for those who need it, but fortunately we don’t. For us
the market is closed. I don’t want any players. I’ve not asked for any nor am I going to ask for any.
At the moment are Madrid playing the way you saw it in your own mind?
Madrid are playing very well. If anybody says we are not and that we are only getting results they are lying,
because we are playing good football, enjoying ourselves and people want to watch us. We have the Bernabéu
and whoever we play against there it is full. A team that has won 16 or 17 out of the last 18 or 19 games is solid
and compact as shown by our results. Every team has its style but football has different culture and styles;
Madrid play fantastic football and get results, allied to the quality of our play.
You recently made some declarations to the BBC that could have been misinterpreted, thinking
that you were talking about your departure from Madrid.
It was a programme about the Olympic Games and the contribution of sports science to them. I was on one side
with the team sports and Sebastian Coe was on the other with the individuals. A 30-minute conversation ended
with a minute of joking, with Sebastian asking me when I was going to return to English football, and I told him I’m
happy at Madrid.
Everybody knows I loved it in England and that one day it will be a natural destination for me in my career, which
I hope will be another 20 years or more: one day, within the next couple of years, I will have to look for a
destination. Now I am not even thinking about it because I am at Madrid. The programme is available on the
internet for anybody who wants to listen and has become a never-ending story of how I am getting ready to
leave. It makes me sad as it leads people to think and interpret things in totally different ways.
The phrase ‘a couple of years’ does not mean in two years but in a few years.....
Yes. A couple of years does not translate literally. It is an expression used in English to mean in a few years, not
exactly two. It can be two, three, four, twenty....The people who know me know perfectly well I would not miss
this for the world because Madrid are only going to get better. The best years of this generation and this team
are still to come. The work being done is not just about today but also winning tomorrow. The best is yet to come
and I wouldn’t be very intelligent if I dedicated myself to this from day one, giving my heart and soul to this
project, then afterwards thought of leaving halfway through.
I am where I like to be and I want to carry on. It’s impossible to say the number of years I’ll be here, but what
counts is the intention. The President knew that a long time ago because I told him that while we were working so
well together the number of years on my contract doesn’t matter. What matters to me is that I am enjoying
myself and am enormously proud to be the Coach of Real Madrid. I don’t see me leaving at the moment, nor do I
want to.
Iker has said you want to do something big with this team and that he hopes to be with you a
long time....
He knows my mentality. We were in Sevilla the day before the game and after dinner he was with some of the
players and said: “Boss, you’ve been in Italy and England and are now at Madrid. What are you going to do in the
future? Albiol says that after Madrid you will coach in Portugal but Arbeloa and Alonso said no, you like it in
England. I don’t know, so what do you say? End the doubts here and now.” I told them sure, sure, sure, that in
two years nobody will get me out of here unless it is because of bad results. But I am 100% sure I will complete
my contract.
Ozil has said you are like a father to him.
The others now joke about it and when we are together they say things like: “Look, you’re father is coming” or
“Your son is here.” Others say: “Your son is much more handsome than Ozil and you’d never have a child as ugly
as Mesut.” We have a good relationship that goes beyond that of player and coach.
What are your wishes for 2012?
Look, I’ll tell you the truth. I don’t know if here in Spain there is the same tradition of eating 12 grapes. In
Portugal we eat dried grapes and raisins and there is no thought of the 12 grapes going towards football.
Obviously we are professional, ambitious and are proud to be who we are and where we work. It’s normal that
inside us there exists an ambition to achieve great things, to leave the people who love Real Madrid and have the
club in their heart with the sweet taste of victory. That is what we will try to do, as I’ve said all along, without
promising anything, as to promise anything in football is a little difficult. We will face it with the mentality the team
has, with quality and hope. Let’s go for everything and hope something stays with us.
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