Sporting has gotten into a mess that few had a few months ago. The ghost of relegation threatens more strongly after the image and the result of the match against Sanse, the same one that has left the rojiblancos six points from the penalty spots. The situation is reminiscent of the one experienced in the 1998-99 campaign, with the team located then three points from the relegation zone consumed by matchday 30. The final reaction of the team led by Braojos, the fourth coach of that campaign, saved the category with thirteen points of difference. “Moments like this always happen in football and you have to know how to withstand the pressure, be calm and show your face”, agree Monchu, Dimitri Cheryshev, Vicente and Rubén, members of that squad.
Fran Villalba, yesterday, with coach Eduardo Domínguez. | Angel Gonzalez Angel CabranesA. c.
“The most important thing now is the dressing room,” says Monchu. The phrase is repeated as the conversation flows. With him and with the rest of those who were his companions. The one from Luanco warns that that campaign had the prior condition that, the previous year, the team had dropped to Second in a catastrophic way: last and with a negative scoring record. “It was believed that in the Second Division we were going to wear it on the street, and for nothing,” warns who was a teammate of José Luis Martí in Mallorca and now in charge of the TSK Roces teams.
“I don’t think they’re going to be in trouble. It doesn’t enter my head”, says Rubén Suárez about Sporting’s compromised situation. “What happens is that when you fight to get into the play-offs at the beginning, and then you find yourself there … That’s the worst,” he continues. “The confidence you had before to do things, now you don’t even try. It is time to maintain a certain calm and to have more union than ever. We were lucky that Braojos had a good ‘feeling’ with the veterans and he knew how to get us back on track. There was a good team”, recalls the man from Gijón, dedicated to representation work and based in Valencia.
“We got into a negative dynamic that we didn’t know how to get out of. People like Lediakhov, who came back in January, gave us a plus”, adds Vicente Fernández Pujante. “The group must be united to the death with the coach. They are not going to have a problem getting out of there, because they have a much better team than what the classification says, ”says the now member of the Girondins de Bordeaux technical secretariat.
“Having achieved the leadership, as happened at the beginning of the season, is much more difficult than saving the category. They have to stick together and improve concentration and something else, ”slides Dimitri Cheryshev. Turned into a coach, he is based in Valencia from where he claims not to have missed a Sporting game. “In defense they are leaving a lot of space and they should practice finishing more. In Second you need more aggressiveness, more intensity and more speed. I would love to train this Sporting. I know what El Molinón likes and I know that together we could achieve beautiful things”, assures the Russian. “It is also time for veterans to step forward,” says Monchu. “The fans have to change the chip and know that now the objective is to save the category”, Rubén remarks. “Costume united and personality, there is no other”, conclude the four.
Four are still in the club. From the squad of that Sporting from the 1998-99 season, four of its players continue in the club, working in other functions: Manolo, director of lower categories; Mario Cotelo, delegate; Isma Piñera, member of the technical secretariat and Sergio Sánchez, coach of the subsidiary.
Fran Villalba, ready against Tenerife
The presence of Fran Villalba on pitch number 2 was the big news in yesterday’s training session at Sporting. The Valencian exercised alongside his teammates, completing the session playing the ball with Eduardo Domínguez, physical trainer. He aims to reappear against Tenerife after being low in San Sebastián. Neither Jony nor Marc Valiente jumped onto the green, as they continue to recover from their physical problems, while Berrocal exercised on his own due to being suffering from a feverish process. The day was attended by the players of the subsidiary Mecerreyes, Jordi Pola, Aspra and the goalkeeper Joel Jiménez.