“Juan Reynoso must be given the same support as happened with Ricardo Gareca” | INTERVIEW

-How did you dare to direct in a football like that of Sweden?

Grateful for this opportunity in such a soccer country and with a lot of soccer history. The Swedes always had great footballers and I have shared with some. When I arrived at Newcastle with Andreas Andersson who came from Milan. Then he played me at Aston Villa with Olof Mellberg and Marcus Allbäck. I came to Sweden to do preseason with Aston Villa in Gothenburg for 15 days and then coincidentally with the national team I had to play a friendly. Also, many Peruvians live here. I am grateful for this opportunity. It is a Second Division where one is taught to grow as a coach.

-How much did you learn from working alongside Ricardo Gareca?

I am very grateful for the opportunity that Peru gave me, to the team that gave me the opportunity to work alongside a great coach like Ricardo. Personally, I took a lot of advantage to finish consolidating myself as a coach and learn many things. The truth is that it was a nice experience, since there was a World Cup and so many things happened. The country raised us up again from the soccer side, to continue believing in the Peruvian soccer player, thinking that things could be done better and thank God I had to live this beautiful stage. Now I am in this challenge as a leader, no longer as an assistant.

-How do you work with the group to lift AFC Eskilstuna from Sweden that is fighting for its permanence in the category?

You have to take it very calmly and with commitment. It is day to day, field work, psychological and everything, since it is a difficult experience to save the category, but the acceptance has been good with very professional and responsible guys. There are 14 dates left and I have the entire second round to face. Looking at the rivals, I think there are chances to save relegation. I have good footballers and you have to raise your mood. The team hadn’t won for 6 games, now comes the confidence after a good result at the weekend.

-How is Nolberto Solano as a coach?

In this case looking at the team one has to adapt. I want to play good football with the ball. Today the style has been modernized. You have to start playing from the goalkeeper. But sometimes you have to be realistic about the quality of the soccer players that at different levels in Peru at a professional level, sometimes it is not similar. So, from simplicity, I always liked to play soccer in the simplest way that I could. The geniuses say that simplicity is genius and sometimes you don’t have to do so much show to do something effective.

-You came to AFC Eskilstuna because of Alain Goma, your former teammate at Newcastle, what convinced you in this project?

With Alain Goma he had already been talking a month ago. He knows the owner of the club and was looking for it because the previous coach was not doing well. From there I was looking at the team in case it came out. Due to circumstances in this life, Ricardo Gareca was very close to winning the Bahrain team, I was able to accompany him, but in the end Ricardo did not decide to stay. So it was that after two or three days the call from my friend Alain appeared. He is French and now he is a businessman. He showed up all fast and I had to move, I came to be with the team.

-So, if you were going to work with Ricardo Gareca in Bahrain, it means that the bond between you is still intact despite the fact that you did not accompany him when he took over the reins of Vélez Sarsfield…

They made up to me that I was in a fight and that I was ungrateful to Ricardo, and I have had contact with him all my life since he left. He is a person to whom I am very grateful for the opportunity he gave me to work alongside him and for the beautiful relationship we have had in these almost eight years. We were with Ricardo throughout the meeting, I have been the translator and I had to be speaking everything that Ricardo had to hear from those people in Bahrain, but he is a person who has a lot of perception. Bahrain is a small country, which does not have many soccer players around the world and its league is amateur. Then there will have been a sense from that side that it was not the right selection.

-And why didn’t you go to Vélez with him?

The Vélez thing was something quick that happened to Ricardo. A club that is in many difficult situations, he loves that club very much, he is a fan of Vélez. It was a subject that was presented to him and he did everything very quickly.

-I imagine Ricardo Gareca congratulated you on this new challenge you have in Sweden…

I always appreciate the advice and the good relationship. I am grateful for all that time that I had to spend with him. I take a lot of positive things from Ricardo, and now I have to express it with these guys that I lead.

-Regarding the road to the World Cup in Qatar, do you think overconfidence worked against us in the playoffs against Australia?

Before we had New Zealand, a selection compared to Australia. Everything was done similar, that’s why we got to those instances. Nothing was ever changed or anyone belittled, but that’s how football is. Australia played in the World Cup and almost left Argentina out. What happens is that I think they took us to a dimension when we always said in the message that we are a humble team. However, what you (journalists) didn’t realize is that Australia was a tough opponent. He endured the game and the best teams in the world can lose on penalties. Look at France that was a candidate and Argentina beat them on penalties. You should never look for excuses when things are not achieved. We Peruvians, even more so when there is a lack of achieving things, we must value the little that has been done in recent years.

-What do we need to grow in football?

Peru is a country that is lucky that soccer players appear by nature, history, but unfortunately as long as we do not progress in all stages, let us not make that change that Ecuador or Colombia made, that from the clubs they have to feed and work seriously, no we will improve. Everyone talks about replacement, but that is done by organized countries. That is why there is an Under 20, Under 17. As long as we do not do that and continue in the same way, we are going to continue suffering and be hopeful that a Christian Cueva will come out, like a wine from Huamachuco or another from the jungle, but it is not like that, have to work. For this reason, instead of criticizing and talking about the other, we have to understand that it is not the Federation’s fault. For me, it’s the clubs that have to dedicate themselves to training players from below so that when these guys reach the First Division they are well trained. The selection is to select, not a football academy.

-Peru with Reynoso, how do you see it? Is there improvement? Do we have a squad to dream of the 2026 World Cup?

The good thing is that Juan has found a team with a lot of experience. In this time that he has had during these months he has been able to personally meet the footballers. In the style that he wants to bring to the national team, he will have these footballers who are used to playing Qualifying games. It’s going to be hard, yes. In our stage, after having gone to the World Cup in 2018, when we started the Qualifiers for Qatar, it seemed that we all had to go. Now, let’s hope that all that patience, from the experience we have lived, we have to give all that support to Juan, it will not be easy to start against Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina as he touched us. So, you have to have a cool head and pray that these guys, with all that experience already lived, can face this Qualifier as they already know it and that the results can be achieved.

-Does Reynoso’s tactical approach seem ideal for the team that Peru has?

I have seen the games, but Juan wants to live his own experience. He has the right to want to move a little, change the system. He is an intelligent person and by the time all this starts, which he is sure clear, we must give him support, as we were given throughout Ricardo Gareca’s stage when at the beginning of the Qualifiers it seemed that we were out and we knew how to get up because we have to have that humility. I believe that the journalist has to be humble and recognize, as Ricardo said, that we are a team that can beat the one we least expect and lose to the least expected rival. It seems that we cannot lose to anyone overnight, the journalist has to be humble. Peru has always had to suffer since the days of the great soccer players. When have we been a selection that we have all passed over? The only teams I know of in South America that have been like this are Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay.

Can Lapadula and Guerrero play together in the Peruvian team?

First of all, Juan Reynoso is going to decide. Then we can all have an opinion. They are two footballers, forwards with a lot of experience, that’s why Juan made them play together against Japan as a test and he will have to draw his conclusions. They are both great footballers, you have to see the scenario, the moment, where to use them and surely Juan will have drawn his conclusions.

How is your relationship with Juan Carlos Oblitas going?

One of the best, I have great affection and respect for Juan Carlos. He influenced my entire career, when I started playing professional soccer he gave me the opportunity to join Sporting Cristal. Now he gave me the opportunity to be in the national team as a soccer coach next to this technical command for which I am very grateful. There is always respect. Juan Carlos is one of the people who knows our environment well, the most intelligent person we have in football, so he is healthy and strong, we must continue to support him. He in the Federation is a good image for everyone.

-Can we ever see a Peruvian signing for AFC Eskilstuna?

Let’s hope that opportunity can be given. Always open, even more so for a compatriot, I’m happy.