a écrit le 28 août 2010 à 14h43 Javier Clemente, Il gran stratega, made his name in the early 80s conquering two consecutive La Liga titles while managing an all-Basque Athletic squad (the 'I'm sure this kid from Extremadura has heard of Bilbao's Guggenheim Museum, so he's eligible to play for Athletic' trick was not accepted back then). Good old times, when the championship race included more than two candidates.
During that glorious phase for Basque football (Real Sociedad won the following two titles) wins were worth two points, which meant that a team could mount a serious title challenge by winning their home matches and drawing the away ones. This was exactly Clemente's approach.
I was travelling around Europe while USA '94 was being played. I watched Spain v Switzerland in Italy, obviously with Italian commentary. My limited knowledge of the local language was just enough to understand the commentator's confusion when he read Clemente's line-up. As it was his habit with the national team, Clemente started three centre-backs and two full backs in defence, and another two centre-backs playing defensive midfield positions. Yes, that's five-centre backs out of 11 players, and the kind that looks more like a ju-jitsu fighter than like a football player. Google 'Roberto Rios' if you need an example.
His logic could seem bizarre, but was effective. During the first 45 minutes, Spain scored in their only attack (Hierro), but the focus was to physically grind down the opposition. In the second half, Clemente replaced two of the five ju-jitsuers with two football players and destroyed what remained of a worn-out Switzerland squad. Final result: 3-0. The Italian commentator couldn't stop saying: "Javier Clemente, il gran stratega!"
Clemente's CV includes two Liga titles with Athletic de Bilbao in the early 80s, six years coaching the national team with the second longest streak of matches unbeaten (no titles, though), and the largest collection of enmities in Spanish football. He's probably the most hated boss at the Bernabeu, although personally I always found him fascinating. In the last few years he hasn't been lucky, and besides his controversial spell at the helm of the Serbian national team, has only managed to get jobs to coach struggling/desperate teams, such as Murcia two seasons ago.
Well hope he does well for CAMEROON! Good luck "Il gran stratega"
During that glorious phase for Basque football (Real Sociedad won the following two titles) wins were worth two points, which meant that a team could mount a serious title challenge by winning their home matches and drawing the away ones. This was exactly Clemente's approach.
I was travelling around Europe while USA '94 was being played. I watched Spain v Switzerland in Italy, obviously with Italian commentary. My limited knowledge of the local language was just enough to understand the commentator's confusion when he read Clemente's line-up. As it was his habit with the national team, Clemente started three centre-backs and two full backs in defence, and another two centre-backs playing defensive midfield positions. Yes, that's five-centre backs out of 11 players, and the kind that looks more like a ju-jitsu fighter than like a football player. Google 'Roberto Rios' if you need an example.
His logic could seem bizarre, but was effective. During the first 45 minutes, Spain scored in their only attack (Hierro), but the focus was to physically grind down the opposition. In the second half, Clemente replaced two of the five ju-jitsuers with two football players and destroyed what remained of a worn-out Switzerland squad. Final result: 3-0. The Italian commentator couldn't stop saying: "Javier Clemente, il gran stratega!"
Clemente's CV includes two Liga titles with Athletic de Bilbao in the early 80s, six years coaching the national team with the second longest streak of matches unbeaten (no titles, though), and the largest collection of enmities in Spanish football. He's probably the most hated boss at the Bernabeu, although personally I always found him fascinating. In the last few years he hasn't been lucky, and besides his controversial spell at the helm of the Serbian national team, has only managed to get jobs to coach struggling/desperate teams, such as Murcia two seasons ago.
Well hope he does well for CAMEROON! Good luck "Il gran stratega"
