Sevilla are struggling this season and for many, part of that is due to their recruitment in recent summers. However, Sporting Director Monchi is still regarded as an authority in the field.
As such, he was invited to speak at the World Football Summit in Seville this year, where he spoke on a panel with Esteban Granero. The former Real Madrid player is the CEO of Olocip, an analytics company dealing with football statistics.
During the panel, Monchi spoke about how he landed the job, Diario AS relayed his words.
“I always say that I am a Sporting Director by coincidence. I studied law while I was a goalkeeper but at a difficult point, Sevilla offered me the chance to be the Sporting Director, in 2000, when I had no idea what it really was.”
The Sevilla legend then explained his approach as he was handed the reigns.
“I thought about creating a scouting network in order to get things wrong as little as possible and being close to the people that win games, the professionals. I consider a Sporting Director a tool of the manager, I am a very much a Sporting Director of the dressing room.”
The last words are an interesting insight into where Monchi sees himself within the dynamics. Against Almeria earlier in the season, it was Monchi who dragged the the team back out the dressing after defeat and asked the players to open a dialogue with the fans. Clearly, he feels he has a role to play with the dressing room beyond just being a tool for the manager, unless that action was requested by Julen Lopetegui.
