He grades it rather than describing it. Good players see one play, very good players see two, and the very best see three. Two plays means knowing who will pass to you, who you will give it to, and where that player goes next. Santi Freixa is his example of the third kind, reading on the first pass where the ball would end up. Read the full write-up of this conversation.
Clip is only visible when you’re logged in as a member.
Asked where the game is heading, he refuses to name a system and says watch the best teams instead. He points at ball control and possession, midfielders rotating constantly, and forwards forming a triangle or a diamond in the circle, moving in and out, taking deep positions so they are already in an attacking body position when the ball arrives. Preparation itself, he argues, has to be integrated. Read the full write-up of this conversation.
He calls it good fortune to have coached outstanding players in both squads, then turns the question into a complaint. The international federation gave no individual award to any of the men who won Olympic gold in Rio. He names most of that squad from memory and says any one of them deserved it. The medal is the real prize, but the omission tells him something. Read the full write-up of this conversation.
What he builds a squad on is a bond of trust. Lead with common sense, put yourself in the other person’s position, and give players full confidence, and they will respect an invisible line that neither coach nor player crosses. He also frames the starting point as a privilege: coaches and players have their health, which is the one thing a person needs. Read the full write-up of this conversation.
During lockdown he is not sending the squad a plan. Each player has a treadmill and a bike, they are restless and want to move, and he leaves them to it. There will be time to build the Olympic team once confinement lifts, second by second. For now he treats it as a moment for reflection and personal growth, and jokes that this is what getting older does to a coach. Read the full write-up of this conversation.
Argentina locked down on 19 March, before the case numbers rose, and he credits that early move for a flatter curve than friends were seeing in Spain, Italy, Germany and the Netherlands. His ask of athletes is to put the feeling of the team above the individual and stay home, chiefly to protect the doctors, nurses and security staff carrying the risk. He is training at home with his two children. Read the full write-up of this conversation.
Retegui reframes the question before answering it. This is perception rather than a trait you measure. What he wants is the player scanning while a team-mate is still executing the pass, so the decision is already made when the ball arrives. His group calls the area you cannot see the blind side, and reading it early is the skill. Read the full write-up of this conversation.
He describes what Argentina played in Rio. Three at the back, individual pursuit, and one of the two central midfielders dropping in as a free defender on the line of the ball, with zone from the twenty-two forward. He prefers mixed because chasing a man through a rotation frees the space you just left. The fix is swapping marks in front instead of following your player across. Read the full write-up of this conversation.
Asked why squads pick older players in an Olympic year, he starts with rowing, where the best reach their peak after thirty-five, and triathlon, where it is the same. So why, he asks, does hockey decide at thirty that a player is finished? Experience cannot be bought. The condition is absolute: an older player trading on seniority is out. Read the full write-up of this conversation.
There is no secret he is willing to dress up. Give your best, with joy, and bring nobility, transparency and honesty to the group, even when directness creates conflict with people who would rather not hear it. Teams have to improve day by day. He credits his sister, who fights daily for a disabled son, with teaching him what that actually costs. Read the full write-up of this conversation.
Asked how he survived coaching both squads at the 2014 World Cup, he says it was the best thing that ever happened to him. He lists the load honestly: two sets of team talks, opposition analysis, hotels, food, training venues, equipment and staff. Then he puts it in proportion, saying it is far harder to drive a taxi for twelve hours or to nurse in a hospital. Read the full write-up of this conversation.
Told he is a figure in the sport, he refuses it with a story about his father. He once called someone a star, and his father took him by the shoulder and said the stars are in the sky, and he had never seen one walking down the street. His conclusion is that there are no stars and no figures, everyone is equal, and what counts is bringing out your best. Read the full write-up of this conversation.