Julián Calero, the leader of the Burgos revolution: "Since you don't follow the doctrine, they call you 'anti-soccer'"

For Julián Calero (Madrid, 1970) football is the most important of the least important things, as the classics say. His life changed on March 11, 2004, when...

For

Julián Calero

(Madrid, 1970) football is the most important of the least important things, as the classics say.

His life changed on

March 11, 2004 , when he treated the victims of the
Atocha attacks

as a municipal police officer

, and it changed again six years ago, when he was diagnosed with a

tumor

that today, luckily, is history.

Now, while he relativizes the day to day, he trains the leader of the

Second Division

, a

Burgos

that has the

second lowest budget in

the category, which is the

team with the fewest goals in Europe

and which goes beyond what many define as "

play football well

". Talk about everything with

THE WORLD

His defense of what 'playing football well' has gone viral. I think there is a very serious mistake.

An error that comes from years ago, since Spain and Barcelona played football so well in attack.

It has been understood that anyone who did not do that did not play football well and that is the big mistake.

There are many ways of playing and it is not the same to play football well in Spain, than in Italy, than in England, than in Germany... Each country has its own way of interpreting it and nobody is in the power of absolute reason. does it bother you that they call Burgos a defensive team? It's because the people who say that haven't seen us.

We are a team that is powerful in defense, but we are not a team that only dedicates itself to that.

We are offensive, we try to make quick attacks, we do not speculate with anything...

But since you don't follow the doctrine that has recently been generated around what it is to play well, they tell you that you don't play well.

And they call you 'anti-football', which is funnier.

'Anti-football'?

We don't waste time, we don't speculate, we don't manage that more stingy 'other football', which also exists and you have to know how to play it and there are teams that live from it, but we don't.

Teams that waste time, that are thinking about how to harm the rival... The stereotype falls to you and that's it.

Soccer people value what we are doing. Is there envy to see them leading the Second Division? Yes... This is very Spanish.

If you are funny you have no problem, but don't be funny and get results, because you get into a muddy field.

There are supposed to be teams that have to be at the top and it's not up to Burgos,

and since it's not up to him because at first it was nice, people said "how good is Burgos", and now it's: "Hey, this doesn't fit me, let's see how we get them out of there".

We do not vary an inch what we do for the opinions of anyone.

Let them say what they want that we will continue with our identity, and with great honor. Is there demagoguery with that of "playing football well"? set pieces moments.

And in general it is thought that if you do the attacking phase well you are playing football well, and it is not true.

Playing well is much more complicated than just attacking.

How many very good players in the neighborhood were good with the ball and bad at soccer?

The fact of dominating a phase of the game is not playing well.

The goal is to win, and you have to review everything that doesn't lead you to win. For you, who went through the Madrid academy and the national team, does this remind you of the debate on the styles of Guardiola's Barça, Madrid's Mourinho and the champion Spain?

Yes, but not just Mourinho and Guardiola.

They are fashions that are generated as a result of success.

In the 82 World Cup, Italy, who defended phenomenally, was the example to follow.

Why?

It was an easy, tangible example.

The difficult thing was to follow the example of Brazil, who had a lot of talent.

At the time of Mourinho and Guardiola there was debate, but Barça, for example, had a suitable model for its players and a pressure phase after loss that made Guardiola make the difference between him and Cruyff.

Not when he attacked, but what he did when they lost the ball.

They didn't let you breathe

but people only noticed the attack.

Can you play nice and pretty?

That Barça was an example of that. But of course, would Guardiola play that with another type of squad? In the case of Julián Calero, the ideology is above the players? There are two aspects of coaches.

One that dies with its idea no matter what happens, and another, in which I include myself, which is to adapt to what you have.

If I die with my idea as captain of the ship, I kill the rest of the crew and sink the ship.

And what I want is to prevent the ship from sinking.

I have a developed model and we try to play in a certain way, but I do have some characteristics... If you like salad (soccer) and so do I, you might like it with more salt and vinegar and me with more oil and garlic, but it's still salad, it's still football.

Don't sink your ship because of your stubbornness.

You were with Lopetegui at Porto and with Hierro at the World Cup in Russia, how did that influence you? A lot.

Both with Lopetegui and Hierro, who gave me a World Cup that was not my turn, or with Luis Milla, or Míchel, they provide you with knowledge that you recycle towards your way of understanding the game.

You cannot be a crude copy of anyone.

Being with them has been priceless. Has Spanish football evolved since winning the World Cup and the European Championships? It has evolved like football itself.

For 15 years there has been a tremendous evolution and it has to do with certain successes of certain teams.

I think right now there are examples like Liverpool, Manchester City... England right now is the pinnacle of football because the economic power they have has made them take the best coaches.

A high percentage of the best technicians train there,

Klopp, Guardiola, Conte... The best of each country.

Spanish football evolved because we were polyglots, coaches came from all over the world and we have been a melting pot of styles.

We took one for the profile of our players, but now it has changed and evolved with Luis Enrique. What references do you have? I don't have a clear one.

As for attacking football, Guardiola has been the benchmark.

But when it comes to dynamic football, it's Klopp's Liverpool.

And at a conviction level, Simeone's last eight years seem like a team show to me.

He has been a reference for me.

I try to take the best of each one and shoot something from time to time. Is there a lot of psychology in your way of training? There is a lot of football, our office smells like football.

With the players there is a lot of game model and we work on a psychological part in terms of motivation.

We have individual relationship sessions with them.

How are you, if you need anything... All of that is important.

A friend said that you have to be affectionate individually and inflexible in a group.

That is our maxim. How do you deal with criticism and pressure? Look, I had a tumor when I left Oviedo six years ago.

It was a big scare, but I'm recovered, it hasn't killed me and it doesn't seem like it's going to kill me.

But it makes you relativize.

My philosophy has changed, I don't want networks, I don't want noise... I take criticism well as long as they let me give my opinion, because nobody is in possession of the absolute truth. Has the disease made you change? more pragmatic.

I dedicate many hours to work and sometimes I have realized that it is not good.

This week we have made a barbecue with the coaching staff because we also have to enjoy it.

The bad moments come by themselves, you don't have to look for them, they will come, but the good ones have to be looked for and worked on. And it has been found. I am writing a book in which I free myself from some things.

I was a municipal police officer, I was on 11-M at the Atocha station and I have to free myself from that burden.

It was five hours that marked my life.

We got into the platforms and from there there is a story of survival.

It's like a badly made horror movie, outrageous. How can something like that not influence you? It influences your whole life and makes you take everything in a proper perspective.