Montse Tomé: "In those days of September it was difficult to see yourself on the bench in this final phase"

Inma LidónSpecial envoy Seville

Special envoy Seville

Updated Thursday, February 22, 2024-22:29

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Montse

Tomé

(Pola de Siero, 1982) barely has a voice left.

Afónica will lead Spain in the most important match in its history on national soil.

Against the Netherlands she is playing for a ticket to the Paris Olympic Games, something that seemed impossible in September when the Nations League started.

Her task has been to accompany the players so that they weather the storm, not without problems, and that only football reigns in the locker room.

If that night in Oliva they told you that you would have the ticket to the Games in your hands, what would you have thought? Just that night it was impossible to think about any of this, only about how to resolve that situation to focus on what we like most, What is football and being able to compete in those two games. But did you see yourself getting here on the bench?

There were those who didn't even give it a week... In those days of September it was difficult to see themselves on the bench in this final phase, but I did have confidence that they could begin to resolve the conflicts little by little, to be patient and dispute those two games.

There was no doubt about what they were going to do on the field.

Once we were able to start playing, it was clear. Has that relationship between the players, the coaching staff and the Federation become less tense during these months? Now the locker room is happy.

At that moment I was sad, because there was a special situation that made it impossible to think about anything else.

As it was something negative, that did not make us happy, that emotion was what was transmitted. He has made an effort to remember that he is not Jorge Vilda even though she was his second.

Have you ever thought that he might have tried to change things from within?

I have always done my job professionally.

I started six years ago and, when you are on an

elite

staff , you have a boss, as we all do.

From there you try to complete your tasks with the greatest professionalism.

I feel that I have done things with a lot of respect, with a lot of humility and with transparency.

Everyone can have an opinion, but I, at least, feel calm about what has been done. Do you get tired of the noise that always seems to surround this team? The coaching staff and the players would like to talk more about football, which is what we most we control and in which we feel safe.

There are questions we are asked for which we do not have answers.

To me, on issues that do not concern me and that, out of politeness, you try to give an answer when sometimes I don't even have one.

That's why I prefer to focus everything on what I can master, which is sports. Is there a danger of identifying women's football with problems? I hope that doesn't happen.

I have felt soccer since I was four years old and I have grown up in it from the mud, from the sand fields.

I have seen the progression and many of us have played out of passion.

With the steps we have all taken, we have achieved that the footballers have the conditions they deserve and we hope to continue transmitting good values. Have you gotten used to the fact that, as a coach, you now ask and the RFEF gives it to you? (Smiles).

It's lucky.

Not all women's football has this opportunity that I enjoy in the Federation.

Right now I feel like I can be surrounded by a

staff

with a lot of capacity, human and material resources.

This means that we can do our job of monitoring the players with great professionalism.

I know what women's football was since I was 16 years old here in the Federation, because I have lived it, and that is why I value the work of the people who make it possible for us to now have a different situation. Is your voice heard with the same resounding than that of coach Luis de la Fuente? Yes.

I have the same respect and great treatment both with Luis and with the rest of his coaching staff, whom I know a lot.

We share offices on the same floor and we talk a lot about football. Was it more difficult to be a coach in September or a player in the early 2000s? As a player I have enjoyed it a lot, there was also precariousness, but since my childhood I have dedicated myself and I have greatly enjoyed the profession.

It's my way of living.

Yes, it is true that when I played I trained for two or three hours, and as a coach you have to think for 23 or 25, manage those heads, a whole

staff.

and that a professional work environment is generated that makes us grow.

That takes a lot of time and a lot of dedication. Coming to soccer as a child, how many walls did you have to jump over? I consider myself privileged because in my parents' house, since I was little, when I said that I liked soccer and I was always surrounded by boys, They never told me anything.

I grew up in that context, my friends respected me as one of their own and never made me feel bad.

I don't have the feeling of having suffered, quite the opposite.

When the first girls' team was created, I said, "I love this."

One of the problems I encountered is that I started when I was 14 because, until then, mixed football was not allowed, something that no longer happens.

I went to sign up when I was 7 and 8 years old and they told me no, but I accepted it and continued playing in my environment and growing.

I was very clear about what I wanted and I have always looked for how to achieve it. I played as a midfielder managing the game, how far do you see yourself from the players you now direct? Football now moves very fast.

I always felt comfortable with the ball, now if I get into a round with these players I don't touch the ball, I'm in it all the time and I don't come out.

The quality, the physical, the mental, the ambition... it has evolved a lot, it is played at a very high pace.

There are more resources, human and technical, and the progression has been seen.

The game is much better. Would any of your teammates have reached this level with more resources? I have had very good ones.

In Levante I was with Laura del Río, who was the top player my age, also Raquel Cabezón, Itziar Gurrutxaga... they had a high level and, with more resources, they could have gone further. Did the coaches leave you something? I remember some very demanding, like Félix Carvallo at Levante, or Xavi Llorens at Barça, where he has trained players for many years.

He took me to Barcelona and I enjoyed those years very much.

In Oviedo Moderno, Jorge Villar made me understand from humility that defeats are part of the process and prepare you to progress.

I arrived at Levante and Barça more prepared with that base. Are there few female coaches on the benches? Yes, it is the challenge that remains.

Perhaps there are no references for a woman to project her life as a coach.

In fact, as a player I had doubts about whether I could make a living from this as a coach. Why those doubts? I studied Physical Education Teaching and, when I stopped playing, I didn't know if that was going to be my professional path.

There the coaching course appeared at the RFEF and I trained with Fernando Redondo, Iraola, Saviola, Scaloni... I saw that football caught me again and I wanted to be a coach even though I had no references.

I feel that there are few female trainers and I think we have to help them encourage themselves if they feel it. Where does Montse Tomé recover and recharge her batteries? In sports, which she uses as an escape measure.

I'm from Asturias, it's where I feel in my world, and I love the mountains.

I channel a lot of energy with the bicycle,

Although since I have been in office I can train less and less than I would like.

And with the family, because they are the ones who suffer the time you are not with them.

They know that I have chosen this type of life and luckily they understand it. The national team is favorite in this final phase, does the team assimilate it well? We have earned that label as World Cup champions, but in a game like the one we are playing To play against the Netherlands, what we convey in the locker room is that there are no favorites.

These players have managed to internalize the knowledge and experience that a long World Cup gave them, consisting of seven games in which they competed very well.

Added to that is his desire to compete and win.

It's what makes them different.