Baracalds focuses on the home game against Sestao River ponferradine sd
The former Lugo player now competes in the Lugo rival this Sunday in El Toraln
14 mar 2024 . Updated at 10:48 p.m.
Antoni López Saratxo (Barakaldo, 1996) signed for Ponferradina at the end of August with the league already started. The Bercians are third in Primera FEF and host Lugo this Sunday (8:00 p.m., TVG2 and FEF TV). On January 31, 2023, he signed for Lugo in the Second Division, with which he played 16 games, 12 of them as a starter. The left back debuted in the First Division with Athletic Club in the 2017-2018 season, playing as a starter.
—At what time of the season is Ponferradina?
—Facing the final stretch, we are still there in the top positions. The team is realizing that everything is more difficult, that things are getting more complicated, that even those at the bottom now earn more points. We are very excited, we see ourselves strong, we see ourselves up.
—How do you value your individual performance?
—Very good, I’m very happy. Since I arrived I have been very happy with the project. In the first weeks I already realized the human quality that was in the locker room and the competitive level we could have. I am very happy with what I have been able to contribute to the team. The most beautiful thing of the season remains.
—To what extent did Igo Vlez, who was already your first coach in Amorebieta and Lugo, influence your signing?
-I have no idea. I received the first call from the club. Before the call I had offers from other places, but they could not be given. When I received the call from here, with the project that there was, with colleagues that I already knew and who spoke very well to me about the club, it was a tremendous illusion. The objective is ambitious, the club wants to return to the category where it was last year. It was a bonus to arrive and know the coach’s philosophy and for him to know you. Having that foundation obviously helped me.
—What is Igo Vélez like as a coach?
-Good. He is a coach who focuses a lot on competitiveness, that we are a rocky team, whether we play better or worse, that it is difficult to get our hands on it, and I think we are achieving it. We are one of the teams with the fewest goals conceded and we have kept many clean sheets. And then we must be strong in transitions.
—Are you more comfortable defending five or four?
—It depends on the philosophy and profile of the team and the characteristics of the players around it. If you asked me a couple of years ago or even last year, I would say in a line of four, but now it doesn’t matter to me because, even playing in a line of four, my objectives and my characteristics are practically to make a line of four. five. Right now in football the movie doesn’t change much either. Yes it can change in defense because you can feel more supported with a center back closer, but in attack when a midfielder goes down to receive and gets between center backs you practically position yourself as a winger. I don’t give it much importance, although there are variants. I adapt.
—And do you see yourself playing as an interior player in front of another left back?
—As an interior… Yes, I have had situations in which I have had to play there as a double winger. It will be at very, very specific moments. I remember in Elche having few and leaving the bench in that position for many minutes because the game required it. I’m a winger, I’m a winger. Sometimes I have even found myself more comfortable playing as a center back in a line of three than as an interior player.
—I signed for Ponferradina on August 29 with the league already started. How was your summer mentally and last season between Tenerife and Lugo?
-Complicated. It is the most difficult part, not having a contract in force. Seeing that options are emerging, it seems that every summer the clubs take longer, the teams at the budget level have more problems, the signings are made later. The previous one was my first summer without a contract in force and I ended up signing in Tenerife on August 31. I haven’t had such a bad time this market because I was about to sign for two or three teams and it couldn’t happen practically at the last minute. Last summer I did have the feeling of being able to sign. When you see that the teams start the preseason, colleagues who tell you when they start, that July passes, that August arrives, it is complicated. What you want to do is the preseason.
—Did you have the option to renew for Lugo?
—No, no, I didn’t have any. We finished the season and I didn’t have any calls, any messages or anything. I don’t know if any of my colleagues had a call, but I don’t know. I’m here with Pablo Clavera and he didn’t have it either. And speaking with several teammates who were without a team during the summer, I know that they did not have a call from Lugo.
—What would stand out about Pablo Clavera?
—Tactically, a very, very good player, also very supportive, a huge job in the midfield. Many times it is not appreciated from the outside. When he is on the field it shows. He manages the timing of the game very well, tactically he is very organized, physically too, in one-on-one he is strong, it is difficult to surpass him. A player like him always gives you a balance and possibilities that are not always easy to find. Very happy with him, with how predisposed he always is and on a human level he is very important in the locker room.
—How do you remember your half-season at Lugo?
—A little clouded because when I got involved with the team and the ideas, the situation was already very difficult, but there were five months in which I was very comfortable and the fans supported us in the situation we were in. Both the locker room and the club supported us. I don’t have a bad word or a complaint. That’s when you realize why clubs like Lugo spend so much time in the Second Division. He had been in the Second Division for ten years. You realize the human quality there was and that is very important to achieve the objective.
—When Igo arrives, do you believe that the team can be saved? The team is much better defensively.
-H.H. From the beginning I saw the potential to achieve it. I do have the memory of the Racing game at home, it hurt us a lot. It was one of the most difficult games on a mental level that I have ever felt in my life because we had a very important deficit in the opponent’s area, when I arrive we gain that defensive solidity that is vital in the Second Division. Until Racing Day I know I saw options. For me, and I think for the team in general, it was a very big blow. Putting you ahead on the scoreboard with what it cost us and that goal in the last minute from the corner, with a possible foul, hurt me a lot.
—Which colleagues caught your attention the most about that Lugo?
—The same Sebas Moyano who is spending a season in Oviedo. He deserves it. Last year he was also a player who suffered a lot from the situation, he rowed all year. I am very happy for him. Also Oscar (Whalley), Javier Avils helped us a lot when (Josep) Se arrived. We were a group of players who had been performing at a level in the Second Division for years, but there are seasons when everything comes together, when you see that you are not going and you are not going, there were also injuries. On an individual level we were a very solid and very competitive team.
—You signed for Lugo on January 31 when the resignation of Carlos Pita, the dismissal of Fran Justo and the transfer of Chris Ramos were announced. Who or who are calling you from Lugo to sign?
—I sign and it is the day that Pita resigns, yes. I have three calls on January 31st. One is from Wagner (Molina), another is from the president and the third from one of the previous two, I don’t remember which of the two.
—Were you surprised by the context of Lugo that day?
—My departure from Tenerife was not scheduled. Nobody had told me anything in Tenerife. Everything was going normally and on January 31 you find out everything. It was all super late. Tenerife tells me at ten at night that they are going to terminate me. When I get the call from Lugo I don’t even think about it, it was to continue in Second. There were not many points of disadvantage (five). I wouldn’t have thought about it even if I was thirteen points away from salvation. It was a very, very good option for me. I wanted to compete and play what I didn’t do the first months in Tenerife. When you arrive you see the transfer of Chris Ramos, the resignation of Pita and you realize that there was commotion those months.
—Did you realize that you were one of the players most valued by Lugo fans during those four months?
—Yes, I was surprised. From the first day he made it clear that he was a player who was going to give everything, that he was not going to leave me a meter or a run. I noticed in Lugo that people supported me on the field, that on the street they gave me a lot of encouragement when it is normal, not that it is quite the opposite, but that they are more reserved in a fan that was used to ten years in the Second Division and that there was a very probable decline. I appreciated it very much.
—How did you live in the city?
—I spoke with several colleagues, like Pablo Caballero. Pablo had spoken to me spectacularly about Lugo. Being from Bilbao, I feel comfortable, like at home. Gastronomically it is spectacular, everything that Lugo has is spectacular, also its surroundings and I enjoyed it a lot. I was very happy, very happy.
—How do you remember your debut in the First Division with Athletic? Owner in Girona in February 2018.
—Over time and with the years I have given it not more value, but more pride. He was having a very good season at Bilbao Athletic, but you see that the position in the first team is very well filled. So, you don’t go crazy. You continue with your work at Bilbao Athletic. We had a super competitive subsidiary, we were at the top, fighting to go up to Second. It was all very fast. A call on a Monday to start training with the first team. It was the second time they called me. I was going to train and they told me to come the next day, the same thing the next day. On Thursday or Friday, the heavyweights approach me, like Aritz Aduriz, Ral Garca and Iker Muniain and they have already started with the talk: “Be prepared to play on Sunday, you are going to the ring.” At that moment my head turns and it’s different, you don’t think so much about the illusion, but about a brutal responsibility. My sense of belonging to Athletic is enormous, for me it is sacred, it is life. It gets inside you and you don’t enjoy it as much as you should. You enjoy it more afterwards, after two or three weeks you say to yourself: “Debut with the first team.” Then over time you realize it. On the day of the game and the days before, that responsibility eats away at you.
—What impacted you the most about that game? Rhythm? Any partner or rival?
—Yes, especially competitiveness. Girona, already at that time, although not with the results now, already had the profile of having a lot of the ball, a lot of verticality on the outside. During the week I felt very comfortable with the rhythm, I saw that the rhythm did not surpass me. I have always considered myself a player who might not have problems physically, but when the competition arrives it does surprise you in the first moments. The ball comes to you and, accustomed to having the opponent five meters away, he already had him one and a half away. If before receiving the ball you didn’t know what to do with it you could have problems. Training with them helps you because it gives you that extra point in the competition. I have the memory of the first minutes, when I had the ball, seeing that it was going at a different speed than what I was used to.
Filed in: CD Lugo Ponferradina
2024-03-14 21:48:00
#Lugo #supported #fields #street #gave #lot #encouragement
