We live in a society that is largely results-oriented and largely driven by the use of statistics. One player is better than another if he scores more goals, regardless of the influence he has on the play of a match. One team is better than another only if it has won more titles. An Excel sheet is used to draw conclusions instead of enjoying the game, and these numbers are only used as any other argument.
Javier Aguirre is in danger that, for some football fans, his time in Mallorca won’t be considered a success because he lost in the final of the King’s Cup. But, at least, half of the fans in LaLiga would sign up to this role and reach a final in which you go down to a superior team.
“No, it’s just that there’s no point in reaching a final if you don’t win it…”. Of course it does. Ask any RCD Mallorca fan if they would have changed that illusion and everything they had experienced in the previous days because they had not managed to finally lift the title.
Ask the Osasuna fan if he would have changed the experience of competing in a Cup final like last season and the illusion of being able to lift a title for the first time in their history.
Football isn’t just about winning or losing. Football is about the moments that excite you like nothing else in life and the experiences that your team gives you. To base it on winning or losing is too simplistic. If you only care about winning or “losing”, you don’t understand what football is.
Aguirre understood better than anyone else how important it is to be able to adapt to the style that represents each club. Some fans prefer one style of play over others and that makes the union between the stands and the team total.
Rafa Benítez didn’t manage to get Balaídos on board because the ‘Celeste’ fans understand that their own football, and more so in a year as representative as the centenary year, must be offensive.
Any coach who sets foot in Athletic Club must understand that he can’t play passive football and that San Mamés will demand great intensity, pressure and a game of constant transitions.
Valverde understood this perfectly and this explains his success this weekend. Every club has its identity and when you manage to translate what the fans love about a team onto the pitch, that is the moment when that team will be most dangerous and when the fans will be most proud of their players.
Javier Aguirre understood the importance of uniting the 11 on the pitch and that number 12, and he does it not only through intense, direct and slightly more defensive football, but he was also aware of the need to adapt the message.
In Mallorca he found his home as a coach after a spell that seemed to be over at the top level of European football, but despite the fact that it is only two years since he agreed to take the Balearic team mid-season, it seems an inseparable pairing.
Aguirre and Mallorca, Mallorca and Aguirre will always go together. Defeat or victory is the least of it. The Mexican has understood what the fans feel and has poured it into a team that has made everyone on the islands happy.
Honour to Javier ‘Vasco’ Aguirre and to players who have made their fans happy throughout the whole process. Those who only look at the final result don’t truly love this sport.
Translated by Marcos Rodríguez.
Main image: Edit Marta Calle.
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