Our fitness coach, Marcos Alvarez, talking to Guillem Balague [my emphasis]:
This week's Revista de la Liga caught up with Tottenham's fitness coach Marcos Alvarez, who filled Guillem Balague in on life at White Hart Lane.
The old stadium has been rocking recently as Juande Ramos has overseen an upturn in Premier League fortunes and delivered a first trophy in nine years.
The former Sevilla coach is getting used to delivering silverware following back-to-back UEFA Cup victories with the Andalucian club, so what is the secret of his success?
"He came with his philosophy - to play a quick, passing game with wingers, but compact," Alvarez told Guillem.
"He brought with him the way he played in Spain. His philosophy is to attack, to keep moving forward with the ball.
"But the main reason he is a top manager is because he understands very well the mentality of the players. He tries not to speak a lot, but when speaks he speaks very clearly. That is the most important thing."
Ramos is still getting to grips with the finer points of the English language, and he and his coaches have ahd a useful buffer in the shape of former Spurs player and current coach Gus Poyet.
"I think Gus was very important for us when we arrived," Alvarez said. "He knows the mentality of the English players, English clubs and the mentality of a Spanish coach."
And what of the Sevilla Ramos left behind? The importance of their former manager has been illustrated by a relatively lacklustre La Liga cmpaign to date and a Champions League exit at the hands of unfancied Turkish side Fenerbahce.
Alvarez said: "I was surprised they went out because they are a very good team and have players with a lot of experience of this type of match. I'm really sorry for them.
"When you win things, all the supporters want you to keep going and win more, but it's really difficult. The top teams in Europe sometimes play two or three years without winning anything."
http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11675_3288587,00.html
This week's Revista de la Liga caught up with Tottenham's fitness coach Marcos Alvarez, who filled Guillem Balague in on life at White Hart Lane.
The old stadium has been rocking recently as Juande Ramos has overseen an upturn in Premier League fortunes and delivered a first trophy in nine years.
The former Sevilla coach is getting used to delivering silverware following back-to-back UEFA Cup victories with the Andalucian club, so what is the secret of his success?
"He came with his philosophy - to play a quick, passing game with wingers, but compact," Alvarez told Guillem.
"He brought with him the way he played in Spain. His philosophy is to attack, to keep moving forward with the ball.
"But the main reason he is a top manager is because he understands very well the mentality of the players. He tries not to speak a lot, but when speaks he speaks very clearly. That is the most important thing."
Ramos is still getting to grips with the finer points of the English language, and he and his coaches have ahd a useful buffer in the shape of former Spurs player and current coach Gus Poyet.
"I think Gus was very important for us when we arrived," Alvarez said. "He knows the mentality of the English players, English clubs and the mentality of a Spanish coach."
And what of the Sevilla Ramos left behind? The importance of their former manager has been illustrated by a relatively lacklustre La Liga cmpaign to date and a Champions League exit at the hands of unfancied Turkish side Fenerbahce.
Alvarez said: "I was surprised they went out because they are a very good team and have players with a lot of experience of this type of match. I'm really sorry for them.
"When you win things, all the supporters want you to keep going and win more, but it's really difficult. The top teams in Europe sometimes play two or three years without winning anything."
http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11675_3288587,00.html
