“It is difficult to say that new Cueva or Carrillo will appear”

—What are the conclusions you drew from the international tour of the national team? Was he satisfied with what was seen, beyond the negative results?

It is not about being satisfied but about analyzing. I don’t pretend that in these games we have played everything is solved and say that we are going to qualify for the Pan American Games or the World Cup (NdR: both tournaments will be played next year). One analyzes, sees the place where we are and today we are far from being able to compete. The idea is that we compete, improve in the time we have, but not only with the work we do in the national team, which is very little. We have the boys for about a week a month. We inherited the work of the clubs, so the idea is to work hand in hand with the clubs, which we are trying to do.

—Is it enough to dream of the Pan American Games or the World Cup?

As I told you, we are far from being able to compete. I want the Peruvian team to compete at the South American level. On the tour we played our first games and maybe what happens to the teams that in their first game sees that there are differences with the rest happened to us. Even more so in a country like ours where the issue of minors is not going well. But I am fully confident that we can become competitive. You have to work very hard for it.

—When does the microcycle start for the friendlies against Chile in July?

July 7 begins. We will try to see footballers that we have not had. We want to see them in competition. The games against Chile are going to be important because it will allow us to evaluate the boys. Keep in mind that training is one thing; another, friendlies. So there we are going to draw conclusions to try that, when the year progresses, there comes a time when we have a solid group with which we will work for the South American 2023.

—Does not go to the World Cup in Qatar affect the process of the youth teams?

I think it affects everything. Going to the World Cup gives you many benefits in general terms such as economics, image. Doors open when a team is in the World Cup. Logically, not going affects a lot, but not only the youth teams but the entire country.

—But speaking of the Sub 20, is an already planned process or path cut short?

Not directly because it does not prevent us from working as we have been doing. We will continue in the same way. But there is collateral damage such as the economic issue, for example. Classifying gives you an economic injection that can be invested. But later the objective and the programming that we have will not change.

—During almost half a year at the helm of the Sub 20, were you able to talk with Ricardo Gareca about how to work or if there is a line drawn?

We have exchanged opinions, quick conversations, but we have not touched on any project topic. I fully understand what it is to be in charge of a major team and the attention that is required. In addition, the team was playing the Qualifiers and then the playoffs, it was not enough to be talking about other things. Ricardo’s head was obviously focused on those important games and I’m not going to be interfering with him either.

—In case of renewal, should Ricardo Gareca monitor the football side of all divisions?

I do not know the truth. It is quite a personal matter. It’s like when you work in an institution and they tell you that you have to watch the training, but after two games you lose and you leave. More than that, I think there needs to be a structure. Later, logically if the coach has clear ideas, experience, it is good that he contributes. It has happened to me when I have worked in a club in which they have asked me for an opinion and I have given it. But from there to force work in a way, I don’t know if it’s right.

—Is Gareca one of those technicians who usually gives his opinion seeking to contribute his idea?

Ricardo has been very respectful of everything. He has never gotten involved in trying to change things that were being handled. He yes he has given opinions and advised when they have asked him. He was always ready for it.

—Juan Carlos Oblitas spoke that next year there will be more demands on the clubs at the minor level. As a U20 coach, did he propose any ideas?

We have our attention focused on what is current. I think it’s one more topic of Ernesto Arakaki (director of the Technical Unit for Minors of the Peruvian Football Federation) than mine. As a coach I am focused on what this process is going to be until the South American, which is next year. Obviously there is a major restructuring to be done. Things are not going well at the minor level, but it is not an issue that includes me directly. I focus on what I have to do now rather than what may happen in the future.

—What should be that first big step to start the restructuring?

The issue of minors should be formalized. Clubs, once and for all, must have training divisions. Today there are few clubs that have it. It doesn’t happen like in other countries. In Uruguay, for example, each institution has its minor divisions. It is a fairly broad topic that will not be resolved overnight. But yes, once and for all, you should take action on the matter to see if that issue can be formalized.

—In the four microcycles he had, he summoned 57 players. Marlon Perea, Gilmar Paredes, Leonardo Díaz and Flavio Alcedo are the ones he called the most times (4). Are you worried that none of them will get minutes in Cristal’s first team this year?

Logically, we are concerned that they do not have minutes in the First Division, but we are more concerned that they do not have minutes anywhere. Before going on tour, several boys have not had minutes at any time because the Reserve Tournament was not played. So it was difficult. We are concerned that they do not play in general terms because we believe that competition is the place where the footballer grows and develops.

“Do you agree with the bag of minutes?”

Yeah. It’s one of the ways guys can have competition. It could be said that the bag forces players who are not prepared to debut, but unfortunately the clubs are not used to giving minutes to young boys. And it cannot be compared with other countries because abroad there is another idiosyncrasy, another structure. In Uruguay, for example, it occurs naturally. If it were like that here, naturally, the stock market would not exist. But it’s not like that. In one way or another, there are guys who have had the opportunity to play thanks to that rule.

—But now the rule allows clubs that give two or more players to the Sub 20 to be given 180 minutes in the bag. Alianza, Cristal and the ‘U’ have fulfilled more for that than for putting players on the pitch…

That is so that the clubs agree to loan players to the Sub 20 because the microcycles are not always on FIFA date. So we have to be talking to the clubs so that they can lend us their players. With regard to the players, they have not played in the First Division, but we have had them. We have won something. Although there are many things to improve, there are others that have been taken steps forward.

—Another peculiarity of the bag is that the four players who add the most minutes -Diego Enriquez and Yimy Gamero from Binacional, Ascues from Municipal and Celi from Mannucci- were not trained in their current clubs…

Sure, but there you go: if there was no bag, those guys wouldn’t be playing. And they are playing today. And not only because of the rule but because they earned the right to play for performance. So, as I told you, something positive is always seen in the bag of minutes.

—But the clubs decide to lend themselves players to comply and do not make an effort to form, a problem that is not resolved with the bag

The issue is that it is not in the clubs to train footballers so that they reach the first division. They don’t have that custom, that way of working to encourage young people to get promoted to the first team, that’s why they have to come from somewhere else. The idea is that each club has minor divisions, that care about training boys.

—Is it better to have a Sub 20 training in the first team but without playing like Kluiverth Aguilar at Lommel in Belgium or one playing in the reserve of a team like David Mejía at Atlanta United 2 in the United States?

Neither plane is ideal. We had Kluiverth now in the last microcycle and I told him that he has to play, compete, because the fact of being abroad does not mean that he is going to be in the national team and be a starter. He has to compete. He is at the age where he has to have minutes, continuity.

—In his club he barely played 177 minutes in the entire previous season…

I remember that when I was 18 years old, I had already made my debut but I wasn’t a starter, Ladislao Mazurkiewicz, one of the greatest Uruguayan goalkeepers, told me: “Gustavo next year you have to play, otherwise dedicate yourself to something else.” It was hard, but it’s reality. And I’m not saying that if you don’t play in the First Division at that age you have to dedicate yourself to something else, but rather that competition is the most important thing. So the player also has to see the possibility of looking for another place if he doesn’t play where he is. The competition will always be above everything and all the boys always have to have minutes, in one category or another. Logically we would like it to be the first division, but if not in Reserve or Sub 18. But that they are competing.

—There is a lot of good talk about Sebastien Pineau. What references could you give us about him?

He is a boy who has many conditions, a very mobile ‘9’ who is not so positional but who puts many diagonals. We are very happy with him, we believe that he has a lot to grow. Hopefully you can have a chance to play in the First Division, it’s what we want most because League 1 gives you another touch, it’s close to the level of a South American tournament where the other teams have almost all their players playing professionally . They are not starters, but they are there, they have minutes, they are training with the first team.

—Another name is that of Quembol Guadalupe, an 18-year-old defender of Peruvian parents who has been invited to train with the U20 United States. Did you talk to him for the next microcycle?

I am not going to anticipate who will be in the microcycle, but yes, I spoke with him and with several guys who are abroad. Quembol is one of the players that is within our radar to be able to see them at some point.

—Today more than ever you will see the work in minors with a view to the next World Cup. Is there a new Paolo Guerrero, André Carrillo or Christian Cueva in the Sub 20?

It is difficult to say that new Cueva or Carrillo will appear. It depends a lot on the job. In other words, there is raw material. That is certain. Peru has always had good soccer players. The issue is to have good training in every way, which is the part where we are headless. Not all teams work in the same way, not all teams have psychologists, coaches, a children’s home… not all care about the footballer’s nutrition, about his comprehensive development. That’s the part where you have to attack.