Vilanova: "I am very proud of this team"

 
Tito Vilanova will be Pep Guardiola’s assistant for the second year running, this time with the first team. The assistant coach is grateful to Guardiola and also happy with the way the players have performed in this first week back in training.
After their first week’s training, Barça are travelling this week to Scotland to play friendlies against Hibernian FC and Dundee United FC. Before leaving, Tito Vilanova spoke to Barça TV and www.fcbarcelona.cat about his first impressions as assistant coach.

What’s the first week of training with the Barça first team been like?

"Very good. It’s our first contact with the players and they’ve been able to get used to the way we do things a bit. They are all very ready to work and we are very happy with all of them."

Have you worked more on physical or tactical issues?

" At the start of the season you normally work on the physical side, though we’ve also dealt with tactics. A lot of ball work, moving the ball around and positional play. We’ve also worked hard to bring in tactical considerations."

Pep Guardiola has said more than once that people will be very proud of this team because the players give their all on the pitch. Although they still haven’t played a match, can we be proud of the first week?

"We are, much more than we expected. There’s been no change in the training or in the demands we put on players. They’re young and really want to play. Training has been at the same level and with the same interest and excitement. They need to come along and work hard, but they also need to have a good time as when they do, they work more, which is what we’re after."

There have been some changes, such as switching from La Masía to the Miniestadi ...

"It would be ideal if we had 4 or 5 pitches, like you get in the Ciudad Deportiva. The Ciudad Deportiva is great but maybe lacks some things for the first team. It’s true that the team has achieved a lot of successes when it trained at La Masía. But the distances at La Masía, and especially the way we organise the training sessions, don’t allow for it. We try to ensure there is time between exercises to drink some water. You can’t do that at La Masía because there’s no room and you waste a lot time changing the cones and fences. We do get that at the Mini but not as much as we’d get at the Ciudad Deportiva, with two pitches. We try to make the time the players spend out on the pitch as intense as possible but they don’t need to be out there for two hours to do that."

What are your goals for this week in Scotland?

"In the first week we worked on defence and defensive tactics. In the second week we’ll look at the attack, when we have the ball and how to lay out the team. In the first week they have to get used to the typical soreness and niggles, so we begin the harder work and the games in the second week and that’s what players like because training morning and afternoon gets to be a bit of a pain. In the second week we make more physical demands and they feel increasingly comfortable as the soreness and niggles start to disappear and they feel better."

You’ll be playing two games in Scotland and people are anxious to see how Pep Guardiola’s Barça will play. Will we see a bit of that style or is it still too early?

"Things have changed over the years. Years ago people didn’t see the first team’s preseason games. The Gamper came along and we all went along very excited to see the first team for the first time. Now everything’s on TV right from the word go. Sometimes people expect to see the level you only reach in October or November, when the team has played with the new players, the new system and the new methods, and done the new training sessions. That’s impossible because some players are still missing in the first week. People need to see us over time and see how we do then."

Before you said you were looking for fun in training sessions. Is playing games in Scotland part of this new way of working to stop the players getting bored?

"Well, there’s also the question of temperatures. It’s true that we had good temperatures for the first week in Barcelona, which is not usual. I think it’s easier to play friendlies in places where the temperatures are better. So what you’re looking for is better temperatures and playing away from Barcelona."