The success of Julen Lopetegui: from misgivings and prejudices to winning over the Sevilla fans

Sevilla announced Lopetegui and there was an uncomfortable silence. Between surprise and anguish, a wasteland of misgivings, prejudices, statistics from the past and opaque episodes. Porto, Rubiales , Real Madrid. Scribbles and studs. Julen Lopetegui (Astesu, Guipuzcoa; 1966) was not anyone's favorite, except for Monchi . Nor did he need more. The sports director was looking for a competitive, analytical and mettle professional in the locker room. Within his plan to modernize the club, was to find a trusted coach to rebuild a dilapidated squad, without a clear scheme, which lived on arreones, sparks from the shield and kidnapping of talent.

Monchi wanted pause, hunger and a work method inspired by the hard work of the quarry and not by those of those star coaches with spicy verb, lax strategies and slick wardrobe. It was a return to the origins to gain momentum. Albero in the heart and stars in the eyes. Not only the Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán was under construction, but also the football identity of a club condemned to the requirement.

"We are not roofing ourselves," Julen said in his presentation. They are things that are said when one has to justify oneself before a chastened hobby. But the invention started well. The team finished the first round of the League in the Champions League place and with a handful of brilliant matches. A compact, self-sacrificing and fighting block was looming, and only doubts up front obscured his exciting performance. Chicharito was an anecdote, Dabbur flew looking for minutes, Rony Lopes never proved to be anything from the other world and De Jong was disconcerting at times. As the new year started, those ghosts were embodied in poor results and uncertainty.

In the first months of 2020 they were eliminated by Mirandés from the Copa del Rey. In La Liga, they tied three games at home, against Athletic, Alavés and Espanyol, and lost away against Celta and Real Madrid. In the Europa League, Cluj put them in trouble to qualify for the round of 16. The fans asked for the divorce papers. The team was falling off the fight for the Champions League positions, it was inoperative, flat and finicky. Lopetegui was beginning to be insecure, with disconcerting changes, reservations; certain vertigo when it was time to squeeze. Something similar happened with Pablo Machín in the previous season, that collapse of a team that was exciting. The sevillistas got their nails done. Deja vu. They were complicated weeks for the coach, who wanted to convey calm, even without succeeding. Julen is a powder. He gestures, he suffers, he feels what is happening on the grass in his bones. It is transparent in victory and in defeat. "The season is long," he said, as if he had a plan, as if he were chewing a piece of meat with beef. The punishment of the stands began, the colored spur.

The Sánchez-Pizjuán stands whistles and is like a well-spoken voice in the dining room. Like a father who scolds his son, who shows him with severity and dedication the path that goes from bad to good. With that same affection, with that same distrust. In times of frazzled hobbies, of a stretched correction, so far removed from this sport, not only do we not have to ask for forgiveness, but also claim this tireless guardianship. Whoever beeps feels responsible. Educating requires persistence, patience, doubts and mistakes. No one is born knowing. The love of colors should not cover everything, it is not a safe-conduct towards immunity. Lopetegui reacted with poise. He did not antagonize the stands. He did not play the victim. He gritted his teeth and the costumes showed their affection. They were with him and they demonstrated it on the grass scaffold. He gave Banega stripes again. Koundé was huge in the center of the defense. Ocampos did not stop shining. A hard-fought victory against Getafe, a competitor for European places, redirected the situation. Then the virus arrived, and football dozed.

Competitions resumed in June, and Sevilla were already unstoppable. Unbeaten in the League, with a place in the Champions League and tied on points with Atlético de Madrid, Lopetegui's men landed in Germany stepping on the grass like elephants. Roma succumbed to their granite football. A pestle hammer. Then Wolverhampton and Manchester United in the semifinals, who found themselves with a providential Bonus. They all add up in a team worked with hammer and chisel. "What is there to do to a final that has to be done?" Lopetegui asked his players, with Luis Aragonés in his memory. The answer will be given tonight, against Conte's Inter Milan. A team that has also grown in this last and improvised stretch of the season. In Cologne, Sevilla will seek to extend its rich track record in the Europa League, a competition won five times: 2006, 2007, 2014, 2015 and 2016. Navas , Ocampos and Banega (he says goodbye to play in Saudi Arabia) are basic pieces in the Lopetegui block. He will face one of the most successful clubs in Europe, with three UEFA Cup champion trophies: 1991, 1994 and 1998. Godín's seniority and the offensive power of Lautaro and Lukaku are the main assets of the prepared squad. by Antonio Conte . The Italian coach was the architect of the rebirth of Juventus at the beginning of the last decade, and champion of England with Chelsea.

Julen, whatever the result in tonight's final, has returned to Monchi the affection deposited in him. It has built a complex with a future, with a destination port, with identity and toughness. Who knows how to jab, who knows how to fit in, who is united from doors to the inside. Then the market will come, new names, painful goodbyes; but the house will remain intact. It will be cozy. You will live great nights. Hares and dreams. In a season for Lopetegui of redemption and happiness, of hopeful harvest; your home tomorrow.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

• Seville
• Julen lopetegui
• Real Madrid
• Germany
• Antonio Conte
• Saudi Arabia
• Atlético de Madrid
• Chicharito
• Europe
• Guipúzcoa
• sports

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