Ernesto Valverde will continue one more season at the head of Athletic. The coach has valued this decision today at the press conference prior to receiving Barça tomorrow in the last game of the 2024-25 season. “I wanted everything to end and everything was realized. The last weeks have been very busy with so many games, in the end we have done it when it is over. We had already spoken before, it was to communicate it and that's it. Easy, let's go,” he said.
Gasteiztarra will meet ten seasons at the head of lions in three different stages. Two in the first when it amounted from the Bilbao Athletic, four in the second (2013-17) and many others in the current one to complete the mandate of Jon Uriarte. “When I sign a contract I always say that I would like to fulfill it. Already fulfill a contract for a coach is a lot. At the moment there are nine. The tune is that things are going well or so far they are going well for us. We will see what happens next year. You have to start again, create another dynamic based on the players we have and see how we can solve the competition and their swings. And I would also like to repeat it, which is difficult, ”he said about the great performance of the team in this campaign, a fourth league and semifinalist of the Europa League.
“If a coach remains in the position, it is because he gets results. It is like that. It is also true that this club has chosen to try to achieve results in a different way, which gives you many benefits but also demands some resignation. The result is always a consequence of the work you do and what you want when you do a job is to see yourself reflected in it, in which you can identify. Not only the coach but also the players. All have to feel the We like it, it helps us to win and at the same time we believe it, which is the most complicated, ”he explained.
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“What you are looking for is that, trying to convey to a team that doing it in a way we will be happier, look for that style that we like and that our people also have to like. But if you do not win it will not be worth. We are always happy in the way we get it but in the end you have to get it,” he added.
The classification for the Champions League has not influenced its final decision: “I have not waited for that, it is more the feeling, how you find yourself, how you see the group, if you see that being able to continue will be good for everyone. I am not speculating if we are going to stay above or below. That in the end sometimes depends on a spark. Five positions above or five below does not depend on a spark, it depends on a much more. It has to be. ”
