The Athletic Club coach reflected on the Barça club’s football style in an interview on ‘Relevo’
“With Cruyff we hit Alexanko with balls when we were losing”he recalled
Ernesto Valverde, former coach of FC Barcelona, has considered that he does not know what “Cruyffista DNA” is. and that, for him, “that Barcelona DNA thing is a bit of a milonga”. In an interview with ‘Relevo’ prior to the Basque derby this Saturday at the Reale Arena (9:00 p.m.), the Athletic Club coach recalled his time as a player at the Camp Nou and did so with a strong opinion about the football style.
“Do I have Gasteiztarra DNA? I guess, that’s where I grew up. They claimed that I was a cruyffista 500 times and I suppose I have something because, a little or a lot, having had him as a coach marks you. But I also tell you that with Cruyff we hit Alexanko with balls when we were losing. But that DNA thing is a bit of a mess. When a good player comes out, they say: ‘That one has Barcelona DNA’. When there is a bad player: ‘That one doesn’t have DNA.’ Clear”, Txingurri reflected.
In the same interview, Valverde also explained how he managed the fact of directing a dressing room with Leo Messi. He has assured that it is not so complicated to be his coach if “you take into account who he is”: “a player who you know is going to give you everything on the field”. “The players have to see that you can help them win. Footballers like Messi, competitive animals, have a certain amount of responsibility, they have been carrying the team on their backs and solving the problem for a long time. “They have a status and you have to earn it little by little,” he recalled.