The Queen moves the piece: Alexia Putellas, between Vilda, her companions and the sponsors

Against Vilda since August 29

The situation has remained officially entrenched since last August 29, although behind it there are movements to promote a rapprochement that has not yet materialized. The two parties remain firm in their positions, with a Spanish Federation that he does not give an inch in his defense of the continuity of the coachto which the soccer players point out, with a measure of force that denounces sporting results in the final stages of major events that are questionable.

Within the group of 15 players who refused to be called up (Aitana Bonmatí, Patri Guijarro, Sandra Paños, Mapi León, Mariona Caldentey, Claudia Pina, Amaiur Sarriegi, Nerea Eizagirre, Ainhoa ​​Moraza, Lola Gallardo, Lucía García, Ona Batlle, Laia Aleixandri, Leila Ouahabi and Andrea Pereira) there is disagreement between those who remain firm in their challenge to Vilda, in which the core of Barcelona players have a greater presence, and others who are in favor of building bridges and solve the problem to be able to be in the World Cup.

Among the first, Barça’s Aragonese defender, Mapi León, was forceful about it in an interview on Catalunya Radio: “I train every day for many things and one of those reasons is to play in a World Cup. I’m not going to miss a World Cup in my life just because… Because I feel like it. No. We are quite a few players and we have been quite clear as far as possible and I have the feeling that we could be heard more”.

The Barça group remains firm

The head office maintains its discourse on Vilda: “There comes a time when you feel that you are not performing at the level that you could perform. When you’re not comfortable, when you’re seeing that there are times when nine Barcelona players have been on the pitch and you still don’t play the same… We are not saying that a person is better or worse, we are saying that things like that don’t work. It is wanting to improve, it is all because we want to improve, we are ambitious and we believe that we have the team to achieve great things. We have spent seven years in which we are not getting anything and in the end, no matter how much they say, football is also results. We want to win and if we were a cheap team we would think that we have no options, but we have a team and we want more”.

In the second group, that of the soccer players who are waiting for the agreement to take place, appears the captain of Real Sociedad, Nerea Eizaguirre, who after the Super Cup final in Mérida, where she met Luis Rubiales and Jorge Vilda, told Relevo : “I know they are working internally so that we can come back and things will improve. If this happens, surely we will return because we all want to play that World Cup. It has been a joint decision because, many times, it is necessary to go hand in hand. More than half of the group have gone in the same direction. In the direction of improvement, of growth, making a difficult decision”. This second group finds itself in a more worrying situation, because while among the Catalans there are players who would be the undisputed starters (Bonmatí or León) in the event of a hypothetical return, in this second group there are players who see their position jeopardized by the players who they have supplied and are showing a good performance in the selection.

The role of Amanda Gutierrez

One of the people trying to close the deal is Amanda Gutiérrez, the president of the Futpro union, who has advised the soccer players in this secret negotiation with the RFEF. Gutiérrez has preferred to be discreet in this regard “for the sake of mediation”: “It has been shown that the more things are leaked, the more cloudy everything becomes. We are taking positive steps, I hope they can come to fruition and that the Federation knows how to listen to the soccer players”.

Other players who “rioted” in their day were Jennifer Hermoso and Irene Paredes, the captain who later stood out when she was identified as one of the leaders of the rebellion. Hermoso inaugurated the way back and is currently the only one that positioned herself in the group of mutineers and has returned to the calls, He made his position clear when he returned to the national team: “These are things that must be fixed internally and I hope they are solved within. Right now I’m fine, physically I feel very well and that’s what I think about”.

Putellas move piece

But the key to this agreement lies in the position of Alexia Putellas, the two-time Ballon d’Or winner, who did not appear among the 15 rioters in her day due to being injured, but did join later by sharing the statement with her colleagues on her networks. Alexia is meeting the recovery deadlines for her injury and the key moment will be when she is available and has to decide whether she is eligible or maintains the position that her fifteen companions have right now.

The return of Putellas is the priority of Vilda and the Federation, since the Catalan has not finished speaking categorically and has measured her statements about the conflict, aware of what is at stake in the event of her eventual absence from the World Cup. Their sponsorship and sponsorship contracts put pressure on them to be in the World Cup due to the media impact of the event in Australia and New Zealand, an unavoidable date for the double Ballon d’Or. That is why the Catalan is key in the negotiations that are taking place between the footballers and the federation, conversations in which Jorge Vilda does not enter, for the moment.

In this game of chess everyone looks at the Queen, the football nickname of Putellas, who has to move a piece and from her movement reactions will be produced both by the Federation and the group of players. Right now it seems difficult for Vilda to have Bonmatí or León again, but it would be even more difficult to explain that Spain appears in the World Cup with Alexia and the rest of the mutineers watch it on television. They are working against the clock to bring the negotiations to a successful conclusion, but both parties refuse to make certain concessions. Neither Vilda will give her arm to twist nor will the players give in for free after exposing themselves to being singled out for seven months for battling the coach. It is her turn to move the Queen’s piece.