Ernesto Valverde has taken Athletic Club to the Copa del Rey final in his second season back at San ... [+]
They say that a picture is worth a thousand words. In the case of Ernesto Valverde, that feeling is very much the case. In most photos he has the same wry smile, maintaining himself very much on the sidelines. Valverde has never sought to be the star of the show, even though his talents demands that, in many cases, he should be.
This Saturday, he will very much be center stage as he leads Athletic Club, the side who have welcomed him as if he were part of their family, to the Copa del Rey final against one of his former clubs, Mallorca.
It could be the peak of his achievements in the Basque Country, where the Copa del Rey presents an opportunity to add to the 2015 Supercopa de España title, the club’s only title since 1985. Winning the Copa del Rey in Seville, the first major trophy in 39 years, would write another chapter on Valverde into Athletic’s history book.
Despite that, many will know Valverde best for his 145 games in charge of Barcelona, though he is a character who is perhaps most widely-known for two of the worst nights of his career. The comeback defeat to AS Roma in Italy, and the repeat a year later as Liverpool came back from 3-0 down in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final to knock out the Catalans, consigned Valverde to dismissal out the back door.
That was in spite of winning consecutive league titles at Camp Nou and departing with his team top of the table yet again. His career deserves more than those moments to be remembered. This is a man who played for Johan Cruyff’s Barcelona dream team, a man who dared to move across the Mediterranean to win it all in Greece with Olympiacos, a man who has led four of Spain’s most successful clubs in the 21st century with Athletic Club, Valencia, Villarreal and Barcelona.
Who is Ernesto Valverde?
For such a high-profile figure in the Spanish game, it’s unusual that Valverde has been able to keep such a low-profile. In fact, most people know little about the man beyond the dugout, beyond the personification of composure that is seen for 90 minutes on the touchline.
“Valverde is a Basque who was not born in Euskadi, a striker with few goals, a pupil of Cruyff who has rarely been recognized as a Cruyffista and someone capable of exercising at the highest level a profession as absorbing as that of coach without ceasing to be a photographer, a passionate art lover,” Beñat Gutiérrez of Radio Popular in Bilbao told me, underlining how the coach is a figure of contradictions.
But perhaps the best definition of Valverde is one that he offered up himself, once again when talking about his passion for photography, and specifically photos he has taken of soccer fans, "I could be any of those portrayed, I identify with all of them,”he told La Opinión. “That is to say, that passion shown by the people who follow a team, who live with intensity the life of their club, who idolize those players, they can be anything from a judge to a miner, from a doctor to a telephone operator, they are not crazy, no - and I am not talking about the ultras, the rioters, no - they are simply passionate about soccer, their team, their club, their favorite players. And, yes, I could be there, of course, with a camera or a cell phone, but I see myself perfectly reflected in them".
Valverde is a man who is not just a soccer coach, but a soccer fan first and foremost. And while he won’t be drawn on his team, you’d be forgiven for suspecting that it would be Athletic Club.
His return to San Mamés
Following his heartbreaking exit from Barcelona, with the club in turmoil and only just beginning their financial nightmares, Valverde left the game entirely for a break. He took advantage of his time off to publish a book of photography titled ‘Half-Time’, there were those who suspected that there would be no project appealing enough to tempt Valverde back into soccer as he approached 60 years of age.
In 2022 he ended his two-year hiatus, returning to LALIGA as coach of Athletic Club, the club where he cut his teeth as a coach at their B-team, Bilbao Athletic, before leading the first team between 2003 and 2005 and later between 2013 and 2017.
“He has always made difficult decisions with the conviction that it was the best thing for his career, that’s why he left Athletic in his first stage, why he went to Greece, why he returned to Bilbao,” Beñat Gutiérrez added. When Valverde sits in the dugout at Estadio de La Cartuja on Saturday, it will be the 389th time that he does so as the coach of the club, more than any other figure in their history.
"I know what is behind this [press] room, behind these locker rooms. I know what Athletic means and I have made the decision to try it," he explained when he was presented upon his appointment, returning for a third spell. "It is an exciting challenge. The truth is that I'm happy, I know many key points but I know it's not enough. There must be a lot of work behind it."
Valverde arrived at a scene which is not quite what he had left behind five years previously. After four consecutive years finishing in the top seven, he returned to a side who had not broken back into that group since his departure. The squad had aged, legends like Aritz Aduriz retiring, and only a select group of youngsters being good enough to make the step up.
In just 21 months, Valverde has already overseen a remarkable change which has seen Athletic break back into the elite of Spanish soccer, overtaking neighbours Real Sociedad in the league table for the first time since his departure with an energetic and exciting brand of soccer.
“I think it goes without saying that Athletic Club are currently where they are due to Valverde’s brilliance,” Christopher Evans, author of the only English-language book about Athletic, ‘Los Leones: The Unique Story of Athletic Club Bilbao’, told me. “Athletic fans feel that it’s fate. ‘Txingurri’ (meaning ‘ant’ in Basque, the nickname given to him Javier Clemente, the last manager to win a major trophy with Athletic) has come home. They love him. Athletic are playing the best football they have played since that famous double-winning side.”
The 2024 Copa del Rey final
Athletic arrive into Seville as heavy favorites for Saturday’s clash with Mallorca. Valverde’s side sit fifth in LALIGA, only two points behind Atlético Madrid, while the team from the Balearics are 10 places and 25 points behind them.
The Basque club are playing with confidence, with a flowing and rapid counter-attacking style led by the Williams brothers Iñaki and Nico, who balance guile and technique with strength and pace down either flank. But the real strength of this team lies in its unity, rather than any individual talent.
“Valverde has created a team where everyone compliments each other – and importantly – work hard,” Christopher Evans continued. “They have two brilliant goalkeepers, a solid defence, and then attacking flair in abundance with the likes of the Williams brothers, Berenguer, Sancet and Guruzeta.”
In the opposite dugout, Valverde will find an equally experienced counterpart in the jovial Mexican coach Javier Aguirre. They have met on 16 occasions over 20 years, with the Spaniard only ending on the losing side on three occasions.
The Cartuja will be packed with an Athletic fanbase who requested 42,271 tickets, though the capacity will only hold 20,500 of them on Saturday night. They’ll be backed by the full city of Bilbao in the north, which will have seven different sites hosting giant TV screens to show the game to the fans who have not made the journey south.
Of the thousands watching on Saturday, you can be sure that Valverde’s celebrations or heartbreak will be among the most muted. If they’re beaten, you’ll see a gentleman in defeat. If they win, you’re unlikely to see much more than that wry smile. It’s a good job that a picture is worth a thousand words.
