Victor reveals Depor player revolt

Victor Sanchez has revealed the extent of Deportivo La Coruna ructions this season as Luisinho “threatened me” and Alberto Lopo “refused to train twice”.

Victor’s position as Coach continues to hang in the balance, despite keeping Depor up for successive campaigns, but he asserted his job was made all the more difficult due to bad eggs in the dressing room, with Luisinho’s agent recently accusing the trainer of trying to ruin the defender’s career.

“[Lopo] refused to train twice,” he began at a Press conference ahead of Saturday’s final match against Real Madrid in La Liga.

“After a sensational season of great performances and exemplary conduct, Lopo displayed bipolar behaviour: he was good when he saw he was going to play and the opposite when he saw that he wouldn’t play.

“We tried to motivate him, but his behaviour has been getting worse,” he added, before confirming the defender was excluded from two training sessions.

On the topic of Luisinho, Victor explained: “He was involved in conflict situations with colleagues and employees of the club, and his aggressive character made him difficult to control.

“We lost [to Atletico Madrid last season, in Victor’s second game as Coach], we made changes and replaced some players.

“As often happens with players whose behaviour changes in the face of adversity, he became heated and asked for explanations in the dressing room in a disrespectful manner.

“Luisinho then caused a second fight in the dressing room [after one on the pitch with Alejandro Arribas in August], which ended with [German] Lux taking a blow to his back, and [goalkeeper] Fabricio had been seriously injured.

After a four-day suspension, Luisinho returned “very well”, until he asked to leave the club the following winter.

“I can tell you that he informed the club [about wanting to leave] but not the Coach.

“His attitude changed. When he saw that he wouldn’t play, his knee would ‘hurt’ every Friday and he’d be able to play again on Monday. He’s repeated that trick many times.

“I tried to tell him that he couldn’t work in this manner, and I gave him opportunities [to play].

“He then threatened me, saying he had to play, and if he didn’t then he was going to create a lot of problems.

“Then, in the week before the game against Getafe [in April], he engaged in his worst act of indiscipline.

“When we announced the punishment for the incident [between Lucas Perez and Oriol Riera], there was a tremendous discussion.

“He wouldn’t shut up, disrespected his colleagues and the Coach and also disobeyed our sporting director.

“Faced with this rebellion, we gave him a chance to calm down, but he didn’t take it and we took him out of training.

“These players have been given many opportunities to redeem themselves, so much that the squad feel offended.”

Tags Alberto Lopo Deportivo Luisinho Victor Sanchez
La Liga - Club News