Today we share with you our conversation with Matías Navarro, professional football analyst and currently managing the account Pizarra Bielsa, an account where he has been analyzing Bielsa's teams. He receives us with his arms open and answers our questions very happily. Here you can read the full interview!
Sonrisa de Gol (SdG): ¿Could you please introduce yourself for our audience?
Matías Navarro (MN): I am a video analyst and sports journalist. I studied journalism a the University of Buenos Aires and then I focused on sports journalism. I worked in some websites about economical and political news, but then I redirected my career towards the sports side. I started doing some analysis and I wrote my first book with Pablo Guede ('Respirar fútbol') which openend the doors to the analysis working world. I started working as analyst in Club Atlético Colegiales Reserves (the third division in Argentina) to then move to the first team. I moved to France to follow Bielsa's season (at Lille) from a closer distance and learn from him. I then moved to Madrid to work for Rayo Vallecano, where we accomplished the promotion to La Liga in the 2017/2018 season. When the season was over, I worked in the Argentinian Superliga as analyst and now, in 2020, I joined Quilmes, in the Argentinian 2nd division.
SdG: A common question that many people in amateur football make is how can we arrive/achieve certain categories/divisions that give you a full time job. How was your move to football's elite?
MN: I think that it is possible (not easy, but possible) to work in the elite of football with consistency, professionalism, and dedication to keep learning in each moment. Basically, you must be ready for when that chance comes.
SdG: We know that analysts put a lot of hours of work in their job. How is the daily life of a professional analyst? MN: Every day implies loads of hours of work, from basic work (recording traning sessions, edit them, split moments, phases, etc) to deeper analysis (opponents and own games), and going through individual analyses of our players, for instance. Each staff will have their own work flow and dynamics, but the fundamental part is to be aware of what is going on in the world of football, watch the games with a critical perspective and looking for what can be implemented and what can and cannot work in my team. Obviously, afterwards, the one making decisions is the coach, but we must provide all the information.
SdG: And, on top of this, you have time to write books and create content for social media for your account La Pizarra de Bielsa. Could you please speak a bit about this?
MN: I always liked to write, since I was a boy, and to be honest writing books and La Pizarra are my 'cable to ground' within my daily work. I do it all for personal pleasure. Professionally, of course, but I do enjoy what I do. The reality is that I actually publish the 2% of content that I generate or that I see, but I feel satisfaction when I share certain things that I see and analyze, in generating debate through it and learning from it. It is the same with the books: whereas I do not have the talent to write fiction-themed books, I like to write and structure such a deep and extense work. For instance, I am producing a diary about everything that is happening to Bielsa this season in the Premier LEague (analyzing all the games, press conferences, interviews), something that, hopefully, will end up in a book when the season is finished. I enjoy both the process and the final result.
SdG: ¿Where does this passion for Bielsa come from?
MN: I started watching football because of Bielsa. When I was a boy I loved football, buy I honestly do not know why I felt that attraction for Bielsa's Argentina's National Team (in the 2002 World Cup I was 11 years old) and, with time, I understood why: I really liked that a coach was so focused in his work, with a team that was constantly attacking. In the end of the day, I approached football through a team that prioritized the 'show' and good play.
SdG: “You can't have everyone happy at the same time". This is a very common sentence between coaches but, nevertheless, with Bielsa this is different. It is very hard to find players unhappy with Bielsa. How do you think he accomplishes this?
MN: Everything I can say comes from players I have heard talking about him. I think there are two main things in his work: he speaks the truth (something that players appreciate) and his coaching really makes players improve. The players want to know what the coach really thinks and they can see who speaks the truth and who is not. In the end of the day, players want to find coaches that make them better so they can win more trophies. They all win something when they are coached by Bielsa.
SdG: And Bielsa is not only able to make the players happy, but he also is able to unite a whole community. We can see it now in Leeds...
MN: I think he found the perfect environment in Leeds to do his job: a board that supports him and gives him what he needs, a group of footballers that are not superstars and have the humility to understand that the team is more important, and fans that recovered the good game of their team after more than 15 seasons. Everything seems to be in place for him to be successful.
SdG: And on top of that, he is able to change the identity and/or philosophy of the club, generating a pre- and a post- Bielsa era in the clubs he has managed. What is Bielsa's legacy?
MN: Bielsa's legacy does not only comprises the football part, it also includes a change o the club's identity: the structure and demands of the club generate passion to the players. He usually works in clubs/institutions with slightly lower expectations in terms of results, with footballers that are less expensive and that have less and lower egos. He convinces them to compete equally with the best teams and players. And that lasts, as it happened in Chile.
SdG: Just to finish, how do you think Leeds 20-21 season will be?
MN: I think that it will be a season of adaptation/transition, where they will have to get used to lose more games of what they are used to (as Pablo Hernández said), receive more goals in lesser dangerous chances, and generate less dangerous situations of what they are used to. It will be hard, but I think that if they can handle and manage these aspects, they will have a good season. I wish I am wrong, but I do not think the team is set to get to European competitions, but I also don't think that they will be in the relegation fight. I feel it will be a midtable season, looking for a consolidation to enter European football in the 2021/2022 season.
Comments