Jorge Vilda is on the bench for the Spanish women’s team. “It’s a worldwide ridiculousness”, said the coach referring to the decision of fifteen footballers to ask not to be called up to the national team due to the working methods of the staff from Vilda “The players need to reflect and know what they have done. Everyone can step forward to recognize the mistakes. They are not well advised. Everything that has been set up makes no sense. Do we deserve this? I think no”, he said in a press conference after announcing the first call-up without the players in question, most of whom are from Barça.
Vilda has presented herself as a victim and has said that she is being judged unfairly by the internationals who ask for professional preparation when they are called up with the absolute. “I don’t know what they want. They have thrown the stone and hid their hand. I would have liked them to have spoken clearly and for sure we would not be in the situation we are in now. Because of their lack of clarity it was possible to hint that there is something extra-sporting. From here I challenge any of the footballers I have coached in my career to deny that the treatment on my part has not been exquisite”, said the coach forcefully, who took his chest out of his career on the benches and his methods, much questioned.
The players who have asked not to be called up are Blaugrana Sandra Paños, Mapi León, Patri Guijarro, Mariona Caldentey, Aitana Bonmatí and Claudia Pina; the Atlético de Madrid goalkeeper Lola Gallardo; Ainhoa Vicente, of the Athletic Club; Nerea Izagirre and Amaiur Sarriegi, from the Royal Society; Ona Batlle, Laia Aleixandri and Leila Ouahabi, from Manchester City; Lucía García, from Manchester United, and Andrea Pereira, who has just signed for the Mexican América Femenil. Alexia Putellas, despite not being able to be summoned due to the injury to the cruciate ligament, also shared the statement and publicly stands by her teammates.
Vilda dusts off her fleas
“For sure there has been a lack of dialogue, but not on our part”, the coach reaffirmed, adding that “at no time” has he considered resigning. “It would be unfair because of everything we’ve achieved and because of what I know can come. It’s a complicated situation, difficult to take. I’m not taking it badly, but I’m suffering for my family. When you tell the truth and you think you’re doing things are fine, you don’t have to leave,” he said, without acknowledging that neither he nor his company had made big mistakes staff as reported by the fifteen.
Vilda’s position is clear: she does not plan to leave and he is not to blame for anything. Nor the elimination of Spain with a rather poor role in the European Cup, nor the numerous injuries to players due to questionable decisions. Nor does he take the defeats as his own, while he takes credit for the fact that the national team has become “the only international stimulus before the Champions League was five years ago”. “Do I take responsibility for the results of the selection? Yes, I am the most responsible. Am I guilty? I doubt it.”
“If someone has the feeling that they are wasting their time when they come to the national team, they don’t deserve to come”, he said, referring to Marta Torrejón’s statements on TV3, where the player defended that going to the national team was to lose ten days of the his career In addition, Vilda added that “for merits, maybe someone else should have come” in a direct attack on the Blaugrana player. The coach has also asked for respect for the other footballers who are not the fifteen who sent the email, since “everyone must be free”. Vilda remembers that her phone is open twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, in case the players want to admit their mistakes in order to return to the national team. The war is fully open.
