Quique Speaks

Quique Flores conceeded an extensive interview to "A bola", which was printed today. In this interview Quique adresses everything from his relationship with Rui Costa to Katsouranis. I have translated the whole interview to english, you can read it by expanding the post. Hopefully i was true to the content of the interview and didn't lose anything in the translation..

Were you waiting to find what you found at Benfica? The clubs dimension and the pressure that exists to succeed?

That was my initial perception. I knew that Benfica is Portugal’s biggest club, I knew of its history. But at an infrastructure level, the club exceeded my expectations; they are on par with the best clubs throughout Europe. It’s very important for the club to maintain this growth dynamic, and I hope that I can contribute.

Have you felt that at Benfica there’s a certain haste to do things well?

It was one of the challenges that influenced my decision to accept the invitation. Big clubs have an ample outlook. Teams with that type of an outlook, can’t be worried about their day to day only, they have projects with lengthy horizons. It’s with those horizons in mind that the team progresses, sometimes there will be obstacles, but it’s by surpassing those obstacles that the club gets to where they want to get. I don’t like being at a state of urgency, because with a sense of urgency there are rushed decisions. A coach may even win a title under a state of urgency, but if he happens to leave, and another coach enters the club without the same level of season planning, the title you just won doesn’t really mean anything in the scope of the clubs’ outlook.

You knew you were going to have a tough championship start. Were you waiting to reach the second round with only two points?

When we start a championship, we always want to have strong start. But what you do in two games can be misleading. It’s not the best start, but it’s a normal start. The championship is a competition of endurance not of speed.
Before the season got underway, you said that you needed another month of work.
We’re still very far from the team we want to be. In these two months we changed the team’s dynamic, new players entered the team and the team needed to be assimilated. We had a tough pre-season where we played strong teams. For example, the team lost some of its dynamic now, with the many players leaving the team for international duty, but we’re doing everything to turn the team into a winning team. A team like Benfica has to have the habit of winning, but for that the team needs time.

But do you feel that you have conditions to fight for the title?

It is our obligation to be at the highest level, and the fans have expected high hopes. I want a controlled ambition. Everyone has ambitions, but the most important thing is the project, the work rate, and the “know how”. We want to look for titles, be at the front line, but too much pressure can work against the players. If the players play under too much pressure and tension, normally they will not play well, they will not be able to put together three consecutive passes. Let’s not mix pressure with responsibility, I will do everything possible to keep the pressure away from the players, but they will have to be totally responsible for their playing. When I signed with Benfica I was impressed with the stadium. It was big, modern, capable, and prepared of hosting great events. At the time I told the president and Rui Costa, that our objective was to create expectations, but for that we need to win games, and if we win games we are candidates to the title.

You helped create projects at Getafe and Valencia, but you did not finish. Would you like to build and finish your project here?

When a house is built too fast, I always have doubts. It’s important to know if its bases are solidified, and its walls well placed. At Benfica we are currently working on the base. We have a two year project and I hope that we can look back and be happy with the base we are laying down as they will be important to the future.

Aren’t you afraid to fail?

I know a lot of people in the futebol world, that are afraid to fail, but I am not one of them. I will be honest, I went through very dramatic and hard situations in my personal life to the point that I learned to relate them to futebol. I don’t think of futebol as a game, because it relates very closely to life. It’s important, it brings people happiness but it’s only futebol.

That way of thinking, goes against what we had initial thought of you, a workaholic.

[Laughs] We can work a lot, but doesn’t mean that we can’t relate to what we do. That is why I am not afraid, and I will not be afraid, because fear paralyzes people. If I am not afraid, I can be secure of what I do. That security is hard to obtain, but I have reasons to have it. First because I have a great work group, and second because I feel prepared to do what I do.

What lacked to win against Porto?

The fact that we went down to 10 men is what lacked. If we had played with 11 players the whole time, I think we could have finished the game like we started. Several circumstances change the game. I get upset when the game reaches the end and I realize that the game plan was changed too much from our part.

What changed in your game plan?

We were ready for our game plan but we deviated from it. We tied the game and I felt that we could get to the 2-1, but we went down to 10 men and at that time I had to make adjustments to the team.

You took out Cardozo.

It was one of the hardest substitutions I had to do in my career, I was afraid that it was misunderstood, but was happy that people understood the circumstances. I made the change because I had the feeling that we were going to suffer a lot with two forwards.
Was going down to 10 men, the determining factor for so many physical breakdowns?

It’s different things, it has nothing to do with that. When you play with 10, there’s a tendency to give more, when that doesn’t happen, it’s necessary to find out why.

There was a lot of talk about the team’s physical preparation. Was it the change in training methods that caused the physical breakdown?

In the physical aspects of training we have full confidence in Pako Ayesteran’s work. He is someone with a vast European experience, with a lot of successes to his name; he’s been training top clubs for the past 20 years. When we both analyzed the Porto game, we reached conclusions on 2 to 3 situations, which provoked a chain reaction of events, those situations will be discussed internally.

Do you want to explain, what you meant when you said that the players are not used to working this way?

I think I was misinterpreted, because I don’t like making comparisons with what other coaches do. The truth is that the players have been subject to a very high physical demand, both in training sessions and in games. We have asked them a lot - good physical condition, good recovering ability, capability to attack the opposing box and pressuring. We are in the beginning of the season and those things take time to achieve.

Are your physical preparations based on your tactical model?

We require that players have a great physical capacity. If we need to keep a higher defensive line, we need the forwards to have the capability to stop the opposing to team from having time to think their game when they are in possession. If we want to attack without being subject to opposing counters, and defend 40 meters back, we have to have a good recovering capability. For those things we need to be well prepared physically, have strength, speed, and resistence. We are at a time where Pako’s work can’t be considered good or bad yet, as the players are still adapting, and making that judgment would be inaccurate at this time.

Do all the players need to work defensively, in your opinion?

They have to work. The mechanics of a team is all connected.

Can Cardozo and Suazo play together?

Perfectly, At Valencia I played Villa and Morientes together for example. During my time at Getafe I also played with two forwards. But there’s something that that needs to be said – our way of playing is not conditioned by the results. The preparation for our games is based on what is good for our team. We also have Nuno Gomes.

Would you ever play the Cardozo, Nuno Gomes, Suazo trio?

It’s complicated, because they are 3 players that don’t match up well if I were to make an inverted triangle with them, or two of them playing on the flanks, being that both Cardozo and Nuno Gomes are not flank players. It’s very important for a tactical system to be put together according to the quality and abilities of the players.

What do you expect from Reyes at Benfica? He was, at one point, considered one of the world’s best attackers, but seems to have progressively gone down since then.

Reyes is here because we consider him as an important player, which can create mismatches. But we have to be careful in managing each player’s contributions, because they are almost at the limit and can breakdown. It all depends on the will of those players. I don’t promise them more than others. I offered Reyes the understanding that he can explode at Benfica, but inside of the plan we have drawn up, meaning, he is at a good club, with a good technical staff.
I’m not a player psychologist, I am a coach that must manage their emotions, but not when they decide to go the wrong way. When that happens they become stone statues.
In the case of the players that I asked for, like Reyes, I always think the positive – That they are talented players, with the opportunity to explode, and if they are able to do it, they will be at a superior level.
Is he finding happiness at Benfica?

Yes. He only worked with us for two weeks before the Porto game. I liked the way he came in against Inter and he had a good game against Porto. Not so much for his mismatch ability, because it was a hard game, but for his physical contributions, something that was noted once we analyzed the game. We know what he did these past years, so it was a good start for him. It’ll be a mistake on his part if he feels he did enough though. He must continue to work his emotional system to get his confidence back as a player, just like Suazo, as they both live similar circumstances in the past year.

You once said that Aimar is “a player that decides plays, not games”. Do you still see him like that?

I said that at the time in which I was asked to compare him with Riquelme. I remember the good times we spent at Valencia. He and Villa formed an incredible tandem; he thinks fast and is accurate. There are a lot of players that think fast but are not as accurate in their execution.

He hasn’t shown is true value?

There hasn’t been enough time to see all of the player’s potentials. There’s a great curiosity in seeing what the new players can do. If I was a fan I’d think I still have a lot to find out about the new players. There are things that the players show little by little, but that are still very far from what they can do in the future.

Does Aimar need specific training, because of his injury prone past?

With Aimar you have to be very delicate, because he has a different history, but we have to remember when he was at Valencia with us he never had any physical problems. There’s also the conception that the best Aimar was when he was at Valencia, when he worked with Pako Ayesteran. Aimar will be in good conditions to help us win a lot of games.

In what positions can he play?

As a midfielder, second forward (as he has played) or playing on the wings.
What’s going on with David Luiz

He has been stopped for a long time, and when that happens the players “oxidize”. It’s normal in this type of process. The “oxidation” in a player is not easy to recuperate. I see a lot of good quality in David, one of them being the able to play through pain, as he does so many times in training. In his best conditions, David has the talent to reach a very high level, and be one of the best center backs in Europe. First we have to take away that “oxidation” that affects his muscular mass as well as his psyche.

When can he comeback?

We don’t know. This week we changed his training program in order to help him surpass this phase.

A lot has been said about Diamantino and Chalana. What are their true functions?

When we arrived, what was discussed was that each one had a spot where they could be the most efficient, because other than the work that’s done on the training ground, there are a lot of thing that need attention. The results of what they have done have me as, if not more, pleased with the work that’s been done on the training ground.

But do you get upset when, during a game, an assistant coach sits in the VIP area next to the sporting director?

I don’t waste my time with that sort of things. Those things are the subject of speculation by the media. During the game I’m concentrated in what goes on the pitch and how I can help the team, nothing else. Those situations hold no value to me.
Does DiMaria figure in your plans?

Off course. I think it would be bad for Benfica and the team, if we couldn’t count on him.

The issue is that only 11 can play, will you have problems with players that will not accept a bench role?

I never had any problems in relation to that. For me there’s no drama involved in making the game roster, or picking the 11 starters. That dram does not exist because that’s my job. I won’t say that occasionally I won’t have doubts, but that is normal. I don’t forget the players that are not called up and I worry about them, but my conscience is clear when I make the team.

Wasn’t it risky to start DiMaria in the classico, due to the fact that you had worked very little with him?

It was an attempt to take advantage of a positive dynamic. We’re talking about a player that had just finished winning a gold medal, a player that arrived super motivated, and we tried to take advantage of that. Not to mention that he is a player that knows Benfica well and the atmosphere that surrounds big games.

The European colossus suddenly found DiMaria, being that he is a young player, do you think that will affect him psychologically?

I don’t think so. His head is at Benfica, and he knows that Benfica brings him bigger visibility in Europe. He will know what to do when he has offers, but the best for him right now is to stay at Benfica.

In the past couple of years Benfica lost Simao and Petit, two players that had deep roots in the club. Who can be a leader in the locker room?

I prefer to have leaders on the field than leaders in the locker room. I knew very few locker room leaders in my career, as a player I remember a few of them at Real Madrid like, Hierro, Sanchis, Butrageno, Michel. It’s not like what people envision, and I really don’t believe in that. There are unique cases such as Beckenbauer and Bobby Charlton, but those were two players with very strong personalities. What I really like are players that go into the pitch with a strong personality, with the capacity to decide situations. In the locker room we can all be courteous or rude, but it’s up to the coach to analyze each situation. On the field, I can’t do anything, as coaches we are on the other side of the boundary, and players are the ones who decide games. It is in those situations that leaders are born

Who can be that leader on the field?

It’s too early to tell. Luis Aragones has said this for many years:”I don’t want one leader, instead I want 4 or 5 men of trust inside the field” and I totally agree.

But do you like having a player that is an extension of the coach on the field?

Yes. Sometimes it’s impossible to speak to 4 or 5 players at the same time and that player is a fundamental part of the team as he can communicate easier. But that player appears in a very natural way. At Valencia I had Ayala.

Can the leadership on the field be different from leadership in the locker room? How does a player give another one instructions if he is not seen as a locker room leader?

From a game system level, all players start from the same point. But there are players that will quickly realize the method and how they can influence their teammates. I don’t like to single anyone out, but Luisao is a player that understands or methods well, and is helping out so that everything comes together. It’s not by the fact that he has been the captain in Nuno Gomes’ absence, but for the fact that he has a panoramic view from the back and can identify what is being done well and what’s not.

Is your futebol is an attacking futebol?
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My futebol has an ample vision. My teams can either play more back or more forward. I’ve been coaching for six years, and there have only been one or two games, where I have been surprised by what I’ve seen from my teams. My way to be in futebol is the following – no surprises. At the end of the season, and after sixty games, I want the players to think that they played exactly how I asked them. That’s very important. As far as the more offensive futebol, that will depend on the players.

Whoever plays better comes close to winning?

No. Whoever has good players is close to playing well. But you don’t always win by playing well.
A lot of times coaches are heard cursing their luck, when the duty of their team is to play well.
I’m a bigger believer in the idea – the more you work, the more success you’ll have. Because good or bad luck have little to do with success. Work and luck can be a successful partnership…

Do you want all of your teams playing with two center midfielders?

My vision varies. It doesn’t affect the balance if we have a player playing behind two players, or if we have only two center mids, or only one center mid and 4 players in front of them, like the Spanish national team had.

In the future will you be making tactical changes, or the current system is to keep?

When you are raising a child (an analogy that’s often applied to the new project) we can’t change a lot before knowing how he will turn out. We have to perfect the system so that later on we can adjust its variables. We want have confidence in that system, so that we can later work the same movements but either a few meters up or a few meters back.

Is the quality of the futebol different between Spain and Portugal?
Especially at a resource level. The midlevel teams in Spain have grown a lot in the past years. They have high budgets and that’s where the difference is between the two leagues. There’s a higher level of competitiveness because of that, and that is justified by the ability of any team being able to beat any other one at any given Sunday.

How is the Quique Flores/ Rui Costa relationship?

Very good. I am a commitment of his, that he respects since the first moment. Rui wants the club very much and at the same time is one of the club’s biggest assets. He is doing an excellent job, and has dedicated almost 24 hours a day to Benfica in these last months. You can imagine how determined he is that everything works out. I am convinced that he is going to achieve it, despite knowing how hard of a job he has, but if it wasn’t like that we wouldn’t be here [laughs].

Was he forced to a very quick transition from player to director?

His present functions forced him to change quickly and to see things in a different way. It’s normal, but he is a fast learner. No one would be able to tell, working with him on a daily basis, that this is his first year as a director. In the conversations we have after the games, I tell him that, there are things that he won’t resolve for as much as he wants to. The same thing goes on with coaches, we can do 3 changes in a game, but often times we wish we could do a lot other changes, but we can’t. The same thing happens with Rui Costa.

Would you be comfortable if he sat on the bench next to you?

[laughs] If he is part of my options, I would be more comfortable.

We ask you this because there are people who feel that the sporting directors’ seat during the game should be on the bench.

I have a different opinion, and I don’t think that makes much sense in today’s futebol. The sporting director position, was born many years ago, Valdano at Real, did his job very well, but since then I think the position has lost some of its prestige. That is why people in the know and with prestige, like Rui Costa, are important for such position. It’s necessary to bring back the prestige of a sporting director.

Aside from Luis Garcia, did Rui Costa give you all the players you asked for?

Yes, there was an initial planning of who could come and who could go. Then there was Petit’s case, in which the player wanted to leave.
You’re missing a right back?

We wanted and we would have liked for Nelson to have continued, but it was a good deal for the player and Benfica. We count on Maxi and other players.
Was it hard for you to hear from Luis Garcia that his head was always at Espanhol?

I heard that, but it’s normal that he said that. There are a lot of players that have the desire to change teams, but if they end up staying they have to assume the desire to stay. Just like when they get to another club, they assume that it was always their wish. That’s futebol in its purest state. It’s true that Luis Garcia was an option, and Benfica did all it could to sign him, but it turned out to be impossible, it’s also true that he had a lot of desire to come to Benfica.
Don’t you think Benfica waited too long for him?

I don’t know. Everything that could have been done was done, and when someone gives it their all, I’m happy.

Was the Suazo option a good option, despite only being a loan, while Garcia was a buy?

Suazo is a top player, that fits into what we want for Benfica as a modern and dynamic, with good speed and food skill.

Is Suazo identical to Garcia?

Not at all [laughs]. What we looked for was a finished product, being, we wanted 12 to 15 goals from Garcia, we hope that Suazo can provide the same finish product, whether from free kicks or long range, to us it’s not important, Benfica’s objective is to win games..
With so many players picked by the coach, is there an increase in risk?

By my indications there weren’t many, but when a player comes to Benfica, he won’t have an easier time than the next one, whether you name is Balboa or Reyes.

Katsouranis had two individual errors, and has manifested his unhappiness at the club. Do you feel his subconscious let him down?

Without going into Katsouranis’ specific case, I’ll tell you what happened to me at Valencia, when we felt that a player wasn’t well mentally or physically we would apply the substitution rule, but this can’t be applied to Katsouranis..

If he played is it because you felt he was mentally and physically well?
We only want players that want to defend Benfica’s colors, that when they enter the field they present themselves at the limit of their capabilities. If there are limitations, we assume, but that’s on the coach.

It was only a bad day for him, is that it?

I don’t want to get specific. What I said about the substitution rule, when I feel a player is not at their best, doesn’t apply to Katsouranis. But it’s an example to follow in the future.
But did you talk to him? Had he mentioned that he wanted to leave…

I must say that since the beginning Katsouranis was always very responsible and very frontal. When he arrived, after his vacation, he explained his situation to me, what he thought and what he felt. The club’s position was communicated to me through Rui Costa. After a well pondered analysis it was known that we counted with him, as he is an important player. After the classico, Katsouranis wanted to talk to me and we has a hard conversation, hard but frank.

In what aspect?

Hard….It’s nothing negative, it’s healthy, but are things that are kept internally.

Was it a tough conversation?

Not tough, hard. He has a good attitude when he apologized, but for me there are certain things that when repeated, they lose value.

But do you still count on him for the future?

Yes, off course. I will count on him when necessary.

What of continues to want to leave?

We count on him, and we assume that he is an important player. But that’s only important in certain conditions. If he respects those conditions, everything will go well. It was that that I told him and the club in the beginning. I am the one who defines the conditions, and will have to respect them with time. If he does it he will continue with us, if he doesn’t he will not be a part of the group.

Is it true that he told you that he prefers not to play as a center back?

No, that was never talked about. I see Katsouranis as a utility player, with certain aggressiveness, strong in the defense, able to come out playing from the back, who also plays several midfield positions. He is a top player, similar to a player that I coached at Valencia and that also played for Benfica – Marchena.