Fran Rico, second coach of Sevilla: “That call was milk”

At the age of 35, Francisco Manuel Rico Castro (Portonovo, 1987) knows what it is to play in the First League – he did it 127 times and scored 12 goals -, to work as a technical secretary – he joined Eibar and Sporting after hanging up his boots – and to win the Europa League as an assistant technician . He did it with José Luis Mendilibar’s Sevilla, against Roma, at the Puskas Arena in Budapest. After confirming the continuity of the technical team on the bench, Rico spends his annual vacation with his family in Portonovo.

— The Europa League title guaranteed them a continuity that some did not count on.

— Before the final, they contacted Mendilibar and told him that they wanted us to continue for another year. I want to understand that if we hadn’t won, they would have decided on the same thing because they appreciated our work. It is now signed.

“What did you bring back from Budapest besides the champion’s medal?”

— It was all new for me on the bench. I remember the nerves before the start and during the penalty shootout. It is indescribable. We came back, so during the game many situations went through my head. Reaching the final is something very big, but if you don’t win it, as complicated as it is, everything remains at a quarter of what was achieved. That’s right.

– In March, when Sevilla invited you, you were at home. Sporting fired him two months after hiring him. Did you feel cheated then?

“I have great confidence in Javier Rico, who was Sporting’s sporting director. He was also surprised. He doesn’t sign me as technical secretary and give me a salary if he knows that next month the club will be sold. They fired him too. I didn’t feel cheated by anyone. It is normal when someone buys a club that wants to put trusted people.

— He left his place in Eibar to board.

“He was a scout for years. Eibar gave me a lot. It was difficult to leave, we risked placing in the First League. But it was a very good opportunity. I wanted to grow and they offered me the position I was looking for in Gijon. I made a decision with all the consequences and I don’t regret it. It’s a shame that he didn’t manage to complete the summer market either. Life has things like that. If they hadn’t kicked me out, Sevilla would never have called me and I wouldn’t have experienced this. When I was fired, I returned to Portonovo with the idea of ​​continuing my preparations. I went to watch the matches of the Portuguese league and the second league. A lot of time has passed and nothing has arrived. That day my agent changed everything. That invitation was milk. I never would have expected that, especially when I wasn’t focused on it.

“What did your agent tell you?”

— It is also from Mendilibar. They were in Sevilla, negotiating the signing. He asked me how I see the option of going there, if there is anything stopping me. I knew Mendi from my time in Eibar. He was his player for two years. They called me at four in the afternoon. At eight I went by train from Santiago to Madrid, and then by plane to Seville. It was as soon as I could come. I didn’t ask anything, I didn’t even know the conditions. I packed two suitcases and left.

— What did Mendilíbar convey to you?

– As soon as I arrived in Seville, I sat down with him. That was the first thing I did. I asked him what he wanted from me. I asked him to be clear with me so I could try to live up to it. He told me that as a player he saw football very well, to see if the same would happen to me as a coach. Our personal relationship played a role. We talked about the settings, about what he wanted him to contribute on a daily basis. He is a coach who assumes a lot. He is always in the middle of every exercise. He is not one to watch from the sidelines. He taught everyone a lesson in normality.

— Do you now see yourself returning to the technical secretariat?

— I am lucky that I am ready for both professions. What I enjoyed on the bench I did not enjoy in the offices. I never reached the point of enthusiasm and motivation that I had in these two and a half months. But I’m not fooled either. I’ve only seen the good part, I lack perspective when things don’t work out. Now I see myself more concentrated on the bench, but I’m not ruling anything out. Hopefully, whatever happens, I won’t miss working with the ball around.

Why didn’t you enjoy the offices?

– The work is much harsher. You don’t even enjoy the victories. When you win, there are players who didn’t participate and you have to put up with their representatives. You are aware of the secondary, feminine… You constantly have a thousand things on your mind. Weed is bad and they call you. The phone rings 24 hours a day. It’s great. You work all seven days, you hardly have any rest, and that is very little appreciated. The prizes at the end, if they arrive, are taken by others.

“I can’t do squats, the prosthesis is closer”

In 2019, due to the ordeal of injuries, after a football career that took him to Portonovo, Pontevedra, Castilla, Eibar and Granada, Fran Rico hung up his football boots.

— It is complicated to retire as a football player and continue working the next day.

– Eibar was the foundation of my career. The club treated me in an unusual way. I was still a player on loan who spent a year and a half injured there. They shouldn’t remember me well. Already in that season, when I had two years left on my contract in Granada, they told me that they wanted to count on me when I left football. Imagine the detail. I returned to Granada and at the end of the season they called me back. They offered me to be an assistant coach of the branch or to enter the technical secretariat as a scout. I liked the latter better.

— Was it easier to make the decision to retire this way?

– The decision would have been the same, my knee was not strong enough. It was difficult for me to walk without pain. I was going to leave it yes or yes. The offer helped me focus and gave me confidence. But football ended the same. I couldn’t do it anymore.

— What consequences did it have?

– I have been operated on seven times and I have significant consequences on my knee. I would do it again, it was a dream come true. I pushed too hard Today I can’t do continuous running, nor weights, nor squats. I know how to ride a bike and swim a little, I support myself with that. The musculature of that leg is lost. I have no cartilage. Prosthesis is closer than far, at 35 years old.

What did your injury teach you?

— There are many moments of solitude. You see people who were really just going through good times. I really appreciated the physical aspect, the good feeling. I knew any carelessness would affect the knee. I became obsessed. My family helped me.

—His family is Galician. Can you see yourself working here?

“They’d be delighted, I’m sure.” But now it’s time to go back to Sevilla and hopefully we’ll be there for years to come. My wife is from Portonovo, and my children were born in Pontevedra. Work will take us anywhere, but life will always be here. The goal will always be to return home.