The best mistake of my life

My playing career changed completely because of a mistake.

It was at Espanyol. I had signed for the club in 2005, after two good years at Girondins de Bordeaux. In the pre-season I had a conversation with the manager, Miguel Ángel Lotina, about my position on the pitch.

He wanted me to play as a wing-back, but I told him no, that I was a winger. Lotina replied: “Yes, but I don’t play with wingers. I play with wing-backs.”

“Well, then I won’t play,” I said.

“No problem,” came his next reply. “You sit on the bench and someone else will play.” With that, he ended the conversation.

It only took me three games to realise that I had screwed up. That’s why now, as a coach, I tell my players that they should be able to play in different positions. They have to do it, because it will be better for them. They will have more knowledge of the game, and more chances to play.

Luckily, from that mistake came the best thing that could have happened to me to make me better: going to Manchester City. I went there on loan in the winter transfer window of the 2005/06 season, after playing very little under Lotina. At that time, City didn’t have the money they do now. But they did have the same incredible fanbase.

The manager was Stuart Pearce (above): a coach who had a very direct philosophy of play. We kept the back protected and we had to attack quickly up front. Pearce wanted back-and-forth games because he understood that was the way we could win, especially against the bigger teams in the Premiership.

"in the press, there was a lot of talk about the 'spanish liverpool' – inside the team, there was none of that"

It was a completely different game to the one City play now, but back then it was the only way we could play with the players we had. You can’t try to play a certain way if you don’t have the players for it.

That more direct game made me a much better footballer. I was used to football in Spain, with less pace and enough time to think on the ball. In England, the pace is frenetic. There is no pause, and even less time to think with the ball. The defender goes after you. I remember duels against Gary Neville (below) at Manchester United. He was pure heart and soul, protecting United’s right flank.

The following pre-season I returned to Espanyol. Ernesto Valverde was the manager, and I was a different player. I no longer avoided going into clashes or duels. Physically, and in terms of pace, the Premier League was great for me.

Two years later, after good performances with Espanyol and the Spanish national team, I returned to England. This time, to Rafa Benítez’s Liverpool. But the transfer was delayed until late in the window because of the research Rafa was doing on me.

“Benítez called, me asking me about you,” I was told by people I had known throughout my career. “Let’s see what you’ve told him – I hope it was good!” I joked with them.

But why did Rafa do that? Because he wanted to get to know me as a person. As a player, he already had the reports and videos of my matches, but he didn’t know what I was like. For me, that was a wise decision. Getting to know the human side of a player when you are going to sign him is very important.

"we were a dominant team. rafa wanted us to play wide, to create space inside for torres and gerrard"

I arrived at Liverpool, and what surprised me most was the group dynamic. There were already other Spanish players in the team: Fernando Torres, Xabi Alonso, Pepe Reina and Álvaro Arbeloa. In the press, especially in Spain, there was a lot of talk about the “Spanish Liverpool”. Inside the team, though, there was none of that.

At Melwood, Liverpool’s former training centre, there was only one group – and they only spoke English. This was, without doubt, another of Rafa’s successes.

If you ask me about the coaches I played for, Rafa (below) is one of the best – especially on the tactical side. I learned a lot from him on the pitch. When to stop, when to join in to generate an overload, or when it was the best moment to go 1v1 against the opposing full-back. I learned all of that with him.

I had other managers who were very good in other areas. Valverde, because of his simplicity; often in football, doing something simple is the most complicated thing. Or Luis Aragonés for his character, and his way of motivating players.

I really enjoyed my time at Liverpool, because I love English football and the atmosphere on the pitch. At Anfield, even more so. Funnily enough, my first home game with Liverpool was against Manchester United, as it had been with City. And I was lucky enough to win both games, 3-1 with City and 2-1 with Liverpool. However, that Liverpool team was very different to the City I played for. We were a very dominant team. Rafa wanted us to play wide, to create space inside for Torres (below) and Steven Gerrard.

I spent only two seasons at Liverpool. In the second year, I couldn’t play in the second half of the season because of injury. Results were not good either, despite the quality of the team.

"the spanish federation wanted to organise a course with recently retired players: xavi, xabi alonso and raúl all attended"

Rafa left, and Roy Hodgson arrived. And there, in another pre-season talk with the head coach, I realised that my time at Liverpool was over. He said he wanted to make the team more British. It didn’t take much to realise that he was going to change the dynamic and the style of play.

Olympiacos was my next destination, to continue adding more experiences outside Spain. It used to be difficult for Spanish players to go abroad, but that was only natural. Why would you go abroad if you’re playing in one of the best leagues? Now that has changed; it’s more normal to see Spanish players overseas. When I did it, there weren’t many of us.

It was the same at Galatasaray. It was an important period for me to gain more experience and in which, curiously, at the age of 30, I played at both full-back and wing-back under Roberto Mancini and Fatih Terim. Several years earlier, when I had a lot more stamina, I had said no to Lotina. This is what football is like...

After spells at Watford, Mallorca and Udinese, my last team was Koper in Slovenia. I had offers to play in Asian countries – financially significant offers. But I wanted to be close to my family in Europe.

Finally, the moment came when my head just couldn’t take it any more. I didn’t stop for physical reasons, even though I was 36 years old. It was because of my head. If you’re not motivated, there’s no point in continuing to play.

However, I wasn’t out of football for long. The Royal Spanish Football Federation called me a few months later, because they wanted to organise a coaching course with several internationals who had recently retired. Many of us attended: Xavi Hernández, Xabi Alonso, Raúl González, Marcos Senna and Joan Capdevila.

"fans with masks burst into the press conference. they came towards me and started shouting"

The lessons were amazing, with very intense discussions about football between us. Everything started with a question. For example: “If the ball arrives in a zone between the defender and the midfield, who should come out?” That would lead to debate, each giving his own point of view – and often from the perspective of the position he had played.

We still keep in touch today, through a WhatsApp group. It’s called UEFA Pro. The group is primarily for congratulating each other on birthdays, but also for commenting on something one of us has done in a match. It’s all done very tactfully, though, because everyone sees the game in a different way. And that’s the good thing.

For me, there is no perfect style. In the end, I come back to what I said about the City team I played for. It all depends on the players you have.

After I did my badges, I got a call from Terim (above). He had been my coach at Galatasaray, as I said before, and he called me after he knew I had my diploma. “Albert, if you want to learn, you have to learn with the best,” he told me. Terim is amazing. At that time, he had changed the coaching staff. He understood that he needed former Galata players, who the players would recognise, to help him.

I learnt a lot with Terim, as I did with Domènec Torrent in my second year with the team. Let’s say that Terim gave me a lot of knowledge in group management, and Torrent a lot of knowledge of the game, in line with what Pep Guardiola does. Of course, Domènec spent a long time with Pep – first at Barcelona, and then at Bayern Munich and Manchester City.

In the third year, Galatasaray changed president and signed Okan Buruk, who already had his own coaching staff. There was no option for me to stay there, but I also needed to be a head coach. That opportunity came at Olimpija Ljubljana in Slovenia. I returned to the country where I finished my playing career.

"controversies are always resolved with results. there are no complaints from the fans then"

However, the start was far from what I expected. I arrived at the presentation and was already surprised to see fans wearing masks. “Well, it must be their costumes,” I thought.

The press conference progressed with a very aggressive tone from the journalists in their questions. The previous coach had been Robert Prosinecki, a club legend.

I avoided entering into any controversy in the questions about the previous coach. I just told the journalists that the results and the games would tell whether I was the right choice or not. All of a sudden, those fans with masks burst into the press conference. They came towards me and started shouting at me. I didn’t know what they were saying, because I didn’t understand them.

I left the press room. It’s clear that this is not the presentation you dream of when you start out as a head coach, but I wasn’t going to quit because of that.

After a great year, we won both the league and the cup. In football, controversies are always resolved with results. And we did that. There were no complaints from the fans about our performance then; instead, just a lot of support.

But the key was to be clear about what I could do with the players I had. They dictated how I set the team up to play. And that’s what I do at Bordeaux, a club I know well after being there two years as a player.

Sometimes I still like to remember those moments when I was a player in training. From time to time, I get together with the players for a rondo or a training match, but I make one thing clear to them: “I’m not the coach now. I’m just another player, like you.”

It motivates them a lot that I take part in training sessions, and it helps me to stay fit in the process.

Of course, I don’t go into clashes or duels any more. Or the constant back and forth. That’s a long time ago for me. Now it’s their turn. And, as happened with me, it will be the best way for them to become better players.

Author: The Coaches' Voice

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