Arsenio Iglesias, strategist

Much has been said about the merits of Arsenio Iglesias who is very close to the fans, loved throughout Spain and for whom thousands of people lined up to say their last goodbyes at the city’s Riazor Stadium. A wonderful man, who as a coach he achieved several promotions and the Copa del Rey. Players and members of his coaching staff at Deportivo talk about this aspect of Zorro de Arteix and appreciate how much he was the man they describe as “Advanced, sometimes, up to the time he had to live and who knew how to adapt perfectly over the years.”

If anyone knew him well, it was him Carlos Ballesta. First he was a player, and then a commissioner, as a second coach. At both stages, he insists on keeping him away from the mark of amarrategui that has sometimes been hung upon him. «In the eighties, when I was a soccer player, I already played 4-3-3, which today is seen as a super offensive. It must be remembered that he lined up Vicente, Pancho García and Traba at the top, with Moreno and José Luis behind. Five attackers. Later, when I was with him as a coach, he always played with two strikers, mostly Bebet and Claudio; then two bands, Fran and Aldana, very aggressive; and a wing that also made a lot of progress, which was Nando. How can you say that someone like that was restrained? Another thing is that he liked the order when the opponent has the ball. However, he was one of those who, first, defended possession of the ball. That Superdépor didn’t play behind, they wanted the ball. Of course, when I lost it, I wanted it to be free of cracks.

He was his second trusted man in the dressing room Jose Angel Franganillo. The physical trainer emphasizes his intelligence above all else: “He was very independent. He had very clear things and was extremely intelligent. I have rarely seen a coach who is so involved in the game on the bench. It wasn’t like those of today who spend the game on their feet, running, giving instructions all the time. He chose his moments well and suffered a lot sitting.

Influential in parties

It was also according to paco liana, a coach who had a big influence during the matches: «Just as before the match he was not one of those boring people who tell you for a long time to make people fall asleep, during the match he had a big influence. It’s hard to remember a trade of his that went so badly that the team ended up losing. On the contrary, when he intervened with a substitute, the team generally improved.

He also left, in Liaño’s own words, a lot of freedom to the players: «It doesn’t mean that it was just an equalizer, period. Not. But he worked so much on the tactical aspect that he trusted the players he put on the field to make decisions. In my case, always under his supervision, he gave me the freedom to set up the fence, according to the indications he previously gave me of how the opponent, for example, takes free kicks.

Some instructions Arsenio left for the last minute. During the week, he dedicated himself to working on the tactical aspects of the team itself, according to what he expected from the opponents, and the night before and the morning of the game he already stopped with the players.

“He used to go through the rooms at night. Even then, he already gave us some personal hints and wished us good night. Then on the morning of the match, I had a board of those sheets on which I wrote with a felt-tip pen. First, four basic but fundamental concepts about how the opponent plays. Then he wrote the route, putting us in the delimitation. And there he stopped again at the players he considered suitable. For example, he could say to the goalkeeper: “You have to be careful with this guy who is doing very well at the top.” The problem with this was that you were there waiting to see if it hit you. Because, instead of giving the lineup in a row, it stopped… It was strange,” explains the man with a smile. Jose Ramon matching Franganillo in the way the man from Arteix lived football.

«He did not get to enjoy the victories. He faced so many decisive games in his career, many of which ended in misfortune, that he always put himself in the worst possible scenario.. You just won, the whole dressing room was delighted, and he managed to say: ‘Yes, very good, but be careful with the next game, let’s see if they will disturb us’, explains the man who first picked up the ball. The king’s cup.

Order back, freedom offensive

The second great captain of Dépor, Fran, affects such a shabby order and the talent that Arsenio instilled in his players. He had that philosophy and the success of our team was based on it. He made it very clear that those behind it cannot take any chances. Defensively, he set you up very well. Then talent came into the attack. He trusted us. In Aldana’s step down the wing; in the last addition I could give; in Claudio, who was also talented in running away from rivals to open holes for Bebet; and, of course, in the Brazilian who turned on the ones that no one thought he could put on. Because he knew we had all of that, he just qualified us in some respects and focused more on us having that order. That defensive frame when the ball was not ours.

Martin Lasarteanother one of Arseni’s historic penalty kickers, points out the closeness, but at the same time, the seriousness, that he kept in the dressing room — a place that, according to Ballesta and Franganillo, “was sacred to him and he did not allow that he would not enter before Neither in matches nor during breaks no one who is not a player or the two of us. Eventually the president and managers would come, but until then he did not let anyone in. The Uruguayan tells how he despaired when he saw that someone was not paying attention: “Sometimes in the middle of a conversation he saw that a colleague was distracted, so he returned ask him what he said a few minutes before about what he had to do. on the field and a football player that I had to be aware of ».

And in those conversations, especially when there was an important meeting, he always found a moment for motivation. For this he always used the resources of his family and fans. Sometimes he would take his players aside in the middle of a conversation, but when it was a big date, he would make them think of their wives, parents and above all of those children and grandparents who were expecting joy.

two different celebrations

“Dan Betis was an example. For me, when I saw it more outside myself. In the morning, my brother and I met him in the elevator. We showed him the telegrams we had received, among them from Paco Vázquez. His answer was that we should think of our parents and family in Ribeira, of the people of Coruña, of what the descent might mean… So as not to let them down. I was very worried about a possible return to Druga. And when we won, he jumped onto the field like a madman and asked all the players to thank us. For him it was an obligation to win. The celebration of the Cup was like the release of the previous year’s undefeated league. But he was no longer so tense,” recalls José Ramón.

Johan Cruyff, the only rival who managed to win the psychological battle

Retranqueiro. smart. Quiet. bold. Arsenio’s character was always of great help to him when it came to dealing with parties and public interventions. But those who knew him well agree that there was a man who managed to win the psychological battle. That was Johan Cruyff. For weeks, the Barcelona coach put such pressure on Deportivo that Zorro de Arteixo went crazy. The Dutchman was his special kryptonite.

“Two things happened with Cruyff: one sporting and the other psychological. And in both, Arsenio found himself with a very difficult opponent. He, who knew how to read matches very well, both before and during, never managed to assimilate Barcelona’s game. He could not have guessed that Cruyff would field so many strikers. He missed the players who gave the famous order. And then, in the final days of the 1993-1994 League, he found himself texting him every week. That annoyed him. put him in a bad mood», recalls José Ramón. Such a state of mind was caused by the messages of his colleague from Barca, who a few weeks before the end of that League, Arteixovac announced at a press conference: “Let him continue with the lollipops, we’re going to win the League, damn it.”

breakfast races

Meal control is one of the aspects on which Arsenio has always stood out as a coach, and this is confirmed by his players: «You have to put yourself in the times they were. Football has changed a lot. Now they take care of themselves from a young age. Apart from the wine he controlled or the messages he left us on the locker room board during the week, I remember the preseason. We had three sessions. The first, very early, which consisted of an hour of continuous running. We would finish and leave all hungry, running to try to eat the pastry before he arrived. But even he, who knew them all, ran. Wow, if he would run away. He was about thirty seconds behind us, so he didn’t give us time for anything,” the captain recalls with a smile.

Dépor’s 10 also highlights how he gave his players time to rest at stoppages before giving instructions for the second half. “I didn’t bother you. Only when he was very, very angry did he start cursing. But usually that time he respected us to calm down.