Domènec Torrent (Santa Coloma de Farners, 59 years old) has been commissioned to get Galatasaray out of the creek, one of the three greats in Turkey that barely lives in the epicenter of the table.
They live together in a multi-ethnic dressing room, with six translators (from Spanish, Turkish, French, Egyptian, Romanian and English) so that their players understand the instructions. The seventh translator, who was Catalan for the press conferences, was fired on the fourth day for an intervention on social networks. Pep Guardiola’s former assistant lives near the sports city, away from the center of Istanbul. “We’ve come to work,” he says.
“I feel a mixture of emotions, to think that you face the worst possible rival and that you will be at home”
-What did you think when you saw the pairing of the draw?
-That we had played the most fit team in Europe at this time and that you mightn’t do anything. It is not the same Barça of two months ago. It was the worst possible option for us, although in the round of 16 you can always find difficult rivals. The day before I had commented with my staff, watching the game with Napoli: ‘They’re out of it’. And Barça falls to us…
-Have you thought regarding returning to Barcelona and sitting on the visiting bench at the Camp Nou for the first time as boss?
-In Barça I haven’t thought regarding it yet, really, because we have a much more important game in the League. That thought that you return home and sit on the bench as a rival coach is a mixture of emotions: it is the worst possible team as a rival but you will be at home… We will compete, that’s for sure.
“Galatasaray was emotionally affected. They are usually in the top four and were thirteenth”
“Extrapolating the situation, it is as if Madrid or Barça were three points from relegation”
-Why do you practice once more and in Turkey?
-Because they called me. This year many teams have passed me by: Europeans, two Turkish teams, from the MLS [estadounidenses], Argentinians… I wanted to wait, and all of a sudden Galatasaray called me. I watched seven or eight games in two or three days and talked to my staff. Although I said that I would never take on a team in the middle of the season, because I need 45 days to convey what I want to do, how to play, it was Galatasaray, a great European and the greatest in Turkey.
Was it curiosity, adventure, a challenge, the boredom of being at home that led you to hit?
-Because it was Galatasaray, the only club that has four stars on its chest for having more than 20 Leagues, winner of the Europa League, the Super Cup, with a solid history behind it, the one with the most fans in Turkey… The spectacular city , because I am very interested in where I am going to live. The surprise is that Istanbul is more beautiful than I thought and the friendliness of the Turks is greater than imagined.
“You can lose in many ways, but if you don’t have a style or you abandon it, you have nothing left”
“The last game brought the game closer to what we are proposing, but that doesn’t mean that we will win everything from now on”
-He has directed first New York City, Flamengo and Galatasaray. Haven’t more opportunities come your way?
-Yes, they came out, but I rejected them because I wanted to rest more, they didn’t fit me or it wasn’t what I was looking for.
-But you assume to catch Galatasaray when they were thirteenth in the League. What are the team’s problems?
-We have improved a little, a position. It was a emotionally affected team. It is a club that is normally in the top four or five. These times sometimes happen in football, and since things didn’t work out, they called us.
-His predecessor was Fatih Terim, a legend.
-Exactly, he is a legend in Turkey for the number of titles he has won. Players and coaches pass, but the club remains and must continue to function.
“A coach proposes what happens on the field from area to area; what happens within them corresponds more to the footballers”
“The style is a differentiating feature of Barça that I was proud of when I was at the club. I perceived the healthy envy they felt in the other coaches”
What is the team lacking in terms of football?
-Sometimes a lot of circumstances happen. For example: if they reached the round of 16 it is because they were the first in their group, without losing a game, and having rivals like Spartak Moscow, Marseille and Lazio. They might play differently, more to wait and once morest, than in the League, where sometimes the rush to win leads you to lose. Turkish clubs have very fast strikers who damage you on the counterattack. They were eliminated in the Cup once morest a ‘second’ to which they might score ten goals. Our first three games were in seven days, without being able to train with each other. We played once morest the leader, and we lost in 94 because of a mistake.
-Has the trend changed?
-The last match brought the game closer to what we are proposing, but that does not mean that we will win everything from now on.
-Do you notice the weight of the greatness of the club in such a bad campaign?
-Yes, it shows in the field and outside. The people is so kind. But imagine if we extrapolate the situation to Barça or Madrid and they were three points from relegation. Now to eight.
-A drama comparable to Barça?
-Barça have not reached that much.
-Saving distances, is there a parallelism?
-I mightn’t say exactly because he wasn’t there. I know that it has been difficult for us to start and that we have won two games in a row for the second time this season. This is typical of an abnormal year, different.
-He debuted losing 4-2 once morest Hatayspor. Did you think ‘where have I been’?
-We advanced twice and with the 2-2 they marked us in the 80th and 94th minutes. We found ourselves in the first games that in the 75th minute we ran out of strength because the players suffered ramps. Now we have also improved in this aspect and the team holds up until the ninety-odd minute.
-They chained three defeats from the start.
-Three defeats in seven days, with trips in the middle, without time to train.
“You can lose in many ways, but if you don’t have a style or you abandon it, you have nothing left: just sign great players and have them solve you”
“Xavi is the great supporter of style. He has a very clear idea and now, with the winter signings, he has hit the jackpot”
-How do you want Galatasaray to play? Do you have to command in the field?
-As he showed in the last few games: exerting high pressure following the loss, having possession, playing between the lines, controlling the rival’s counterattacks…
-I hear the same thing that Xavi says.
-It is what I believe in, what I have experienced, in which I feel comfortable and what I have worked with Pep and before being with Pep. It was my idea of football and then I was lucky enough to perfect it with the best coach in the world. Imagine the master’s degree I learned with Pep.
-Then you see a recognizable Barça now.
-Absolutely. Xavi has a very clear idea of her and doesn’t move away from her. People don’t understand it, but the worst thing for a coach is to abandon your idea. You can lose in many ways, but if you don’t have a style or you abandon it, you have nothing left: just sign great players and have them solve you. If you respect an idea and a style, and that grassroots football plays the same way, everything is easier. That’s why guys like Gavi or Nico play by heart. That is something that sets Barça apart and one that I was proud of when I was at the club. I perceived in the other coaches the healthy envy that they felt for that very recognizable style. That is a great compliment. And Xavi is the great supporter of all this: he believes in it, knows why he uses it, how to apply it. He has a very clear idea and now, with the winter signings, he has hit the jackpot.
“Now it’s a stronger Barça. Xavi is very important, but no one can escape the fact that goals are scored more easily now”
“With a clear idea of the game and good footballers you can play well anywhere”
-Have the signings influenced everything?
-Now it is a stronger Barça. They played more or less the same, they reached the area well but it was difficult to score goals. Xavi is very important, but no one is unaware that now not only are chances created, but he marks more easily. The test was seen once morest Athletic. You have the game dominated in the 70th minute, Dembélé comes out, which is a luxury to have him on the bench, and at one point they scored three goals. The idea is the same, but there is much more gunpowder upstairs.
-To what extent does the hand of the coach influence?
-A coach proposes what happens on the field from area to area; what happens inside them corresponds more to the footballers. And Xavi is very recognizable, he is very similar to what we met with Pep and the home coaches above all.
-Had Barça departed from that style?
I respect a lot what all the coaches do; I can say what I like and what I want to do, but I respect everyone. It’s like when there is a debate regarding whether modern football should be played this way or that.
-What does it mean?
-When Pep went to the Premier it was said that he might not play in the same way. And he has shown that he is. With a clear idea of the game and good players, you can play well anywhere. What he worries me is when we begin to question ourselves, if football has changed or can be changed. Let’s go to the current Barça: you have to believe in the idea, you have to train it and sign the right players for the system. The Gavi, Nico, Pedri and others would find it much harder to be recognized in other defensive, physical or direct play teams. They are ideal for Barça football.
“The Gavi, Nico, Pedri and others would find it much more difficult to be recognized in other teams. They are ideal for Barça”
“I haven’t thought regarding Barça. I have the experience that if you think regarding the game following the most imminent one, you’re wrong because you’re not paying attention to the details”
Football hasn’t changed…
-Football changes every day.
-The great guidelines of the game, I mean. Or is it fashion?
Pep did different things at Bayern compared to Barça, and at City too. You can be a proactive or a reactive coach: the reactive one is the one who waits for the error, which is also very good, and the proactive one is the one who causes things to happen, wants the initiative, dominates the game… You win games anyway. What do I like to me? I like City, I like Barça, there are many teams that I like.
Related news
-Is Galatasaray proactive or reactive?
-I do not know. I haven’t thought regarding it. I have the experience that if you think regarding the game following the most imminent one you are wrong because you are not paying attention to the details. Before Barça we faced the second in the League [Konyaspor, este sábado a las 17 h.], who is a rival who plays extremely well. It will depend on our state of mind if we are capable of winning this game and what we talk regarding with the staff, we share everything.