Ignacio Martinez, head coach of Levante, this veteran coach who was born in 1954, started his coaching career in the youth training, took over the regional league team, and was promoted to La Liga, La Liga, La Liga. Coaching experience
Rich.
He coached the Spanish second division team Cartagena last season and led Cartagena to the 13th place in the second division. After the season, he became the head coach of Levante.
After he came to Levante, he gave the team a new look, with a positive playing style and outstanding results. He once occupied the top spot in La Liga, making Levante the biggest dark horse in La Liga this season.
In the Copa del Rey, they defeated the former La Liga powerhouse Deportivo La Coruna and advanced to the fifth round.
The team is now in a stage of rapid improvement and has strong morale.
Undoubtedly, drawing Santa Malaga, a D-level team, in the fifth round was a good draw for him and his team.
After the draw results came out, he said in an interview with the media immediately: "For us, this is a good draw, so there is no reason for us not to enter the next round.
It is really surprising that Santa Malaga can eliminate Zaragoza, which shows that they have certain strength.
When I was coaching a regional league team, I often played against Class D teams, and I knew that some of them were pretty good.
There are also many players in the D-level team who have received professional training from professional clubs and have a certain level.
Santa Malaga is a strong team among the D teams, otherwise they would not be where they are now.
To be honest, D-level teams can only be considered amateur teams.
Professional and amateur are two completely different concepts. Although Santa Malaga is a strong amateur team, there is still a clear gap between it and the professional team.
I studied the video of their last game against Zaragoza and found that there are indeed several players in their team who are very good and have almost reached the level of professional players.
This is also the main reason why they can enter the fifth round.
But in terms of overall strength, there is still a clear gap between them and professional teams.
Of course, we will not underestimate any opponent, nor will we make the same mistake as Zaragoza, so we will take this good D-level team seriously.
I think it's not a big problem for us to advance to the next round.
My main job now is to compete in La Liga, this is the focus of my work, at least this round of the Copa del Rey I don’t need to worry about anything, and I won’t pay too much attention.”
Levante head coach Ignacio Martinez was very confident in the interview. Although he said that he would take Santa Malaga seriously, his words were full of disdain for Santa Malaga.
Just call Santa Malaga an amateur team.
As the coach of a team that ranks fourth in La Liga and has defeated Real Madrid, of course he can do this, and no one thinks there is anything wrong with what he said.
The first leg of the fifth round of the Copa del Rey is scheduled for January 4.
At noon on January 3, Levante, who had finished his winter break, took a plane to Malaga.
In an interview at the airport, Levante head coach Ignacio Martinez said: "Malaga is a very beautiful city. The air and sunshine here are fascinating."
Talking about tomorrow's game, he said: "We have not played against Santa Malaga and are not familiar with them.
But I heard that many players in this team received training at the Malaga youth academy, so from this point of view, I am still familiar with them."
The local reporter looked grim. In the eighth round of La Liga this season, Malaga challenged Levante away from home and lost 0-3 at the Valencia Municipal Stadium.
Ignacio Martinez deliberately mentioned Malaga to reflect this game.
His meaning is very obvious. Your regular army in Malaga was defeated 3-0, and now this "miscellaneous army" wants to kill us?
What a joke!
We are here for vacation. Didn't you hear that the first thing I said was "the air and sunshine here are fascinating"?
A reporter from Valencia thought that there was nothing to talk about in this game. It was better to take this opportunity to talk about La Liga, so he asked: "How is the situation of the team during the winter break? How about the team after the winter break?"
What does an opponent have in mind?”
Ignacio Martinez glanced at the reporter who asked the question with admiration and said with a smile: "We took advantage of the winter break to summarize the gains and losses since the start of the season and conducted targeted training. Now all
The team is in very good shape and we are confident about the second half of the season.
Our first opponent is Mallorca.
Their recent form is recovering, but their away results this season are mediocre, and we are confident that we can win them at home!"
Another reporter asked: "What Levante has achieved before the winter break is astonishing. Where do you think you have succeeded?"
Ignacio Martinez was very satisfied with the reporter's question and said with a smile: "The reason for our success is that we made sufficient preparations before the season.
In addition, in terms of personnel, I have made some changes, no longer fixing who is the main player and who is the substitute.
Those who are in good condition are the main players, and those who are in poor condition can only sit on the bench.
This has enhanced the competition within the team and allowed the players to adjust their condition to the best, so we have achieved some results.
We are currently ranked fourth, and I think we can rank even higher!
Some people may think I'm kidding, but I'm not, we were at the top of the list for a while!"
This is clearly the highlight of Ignacio Martinez's coaching career, so he doesn't want to keep a low profile.
Now he is full of confidence. In his opinion, as long as Levante reaches a higher ranking this season, it is possible to qualify for the Champions League next season.
If he performs well in the Champions League next season, he can use Levante as a springboard to coach a more powerful team.
I came to Malaga today to prepare for the Copa del Rey match. The opponent was a D-level team. This must be a pleasant journey.
So he was in a good mood, so naturally he had to keep a high profile in front of these reporters.
The coach of a strong team should be high-profile.
My strength does not allow me to keep a low profile.
Next, Ignacio Martinez happily answered the questions of those "sensible" reporters before leaving the airport and rushing to the hotel.
After taking a short rest in the hotel, Ignacio Martinez led the team to the Rose Garden for training to adapt to the field.
Why so positive?
After the training, he said in an interview with reporters: "We adapted to the venue so quickly, on the one hand because we attach great importance to this game, and on the other hand because this is our style. We will actively adapt to the venue before the game.
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The point mentioned later is the fundamental reason!”