Vilanova: "Pep and I are ready for the bad times"

Barcelona assistant coach Tito Vilanova gave an interview to Spanish sports weekly paper Don Balón.





Is it possible to win the treble: Liga, Champions League and Copa?
At this moment, this possibility isn't crossing my mind. Two of those competitions are cup competitions with direct elimination and in those you have to be good ànd have some luck. When you're doing everything you should in the league, you have a big chance to win it because you depend more on yourself. In a cup competition a detail can decide everything. It's just very difficult and I'm not saying this to give a good image.

Who are the most dangerous rivals?
There's a lot of league left and if we drop back, each of the five or six teams behind us can come close if they win some games in a row. Historically speaking, Real Madird has of course always been the big rival but that doesn't mean that a team like Valencia is going strong, with a great squad and a coach who knows want he wants. We'll see how the other teams will deal with playing several competitions.

And which teams will be the biggest rivals in the Champions League? Manchester? Chelsea? Real Madrid?
As we speak, our most dangerous rival in the Champions League is Lyon. Sincerely, if you don't pass this round, you won't be able to think about the other teams.

Which of the two competitons would you like to win most: the Liga or the Champions League?
I would like to win both but having a closer look, I would prefer to win the Liga. In the Champions League you need to have some luck at certain moments. The Liga on the other hand means work, regularity, and the club didn't win it for two years. I think we should make a special effort to win the league again.

Are you prepared for when the bad moments will arrive?
Yes. I'm ready and I think Pep is too. We didn't change after the loss against Numancia and the draw againt Santander. I continue to think that the latter was one of our best games of the season, but we had problems scoring. When we prepared for the game againt Sporting Gijón, we were reminded several times that in case we lost that would be the worst start in the history of the club. So I think we're prepared. Since the beginning it's clear to us that we should do what we believe is right. So when we make a mistake, it will be our mistake. It won't be about the ideas of others.

Barça has the best squad in the world?
No. I think that, at this moment, the best squad, or one of the bests, is that of Manchester United and that's why they are the European and Intercontinental champions. At the end, the best squads are those that win, the others don't count.

You're a former youth player yourself and the youth players are very important for the current team, right?
They are extremely important. When you're away with the group and you see there are eight or nine players from the academy eating at one table, you're thinking: "This is Barça's first team, this is the highest you can get". It's impressive. Our players know each other for years, they know very well how the club is functioning, you know they will be united, that nothing can surprise them about the club, because they've been here since they were younger and they've lived everything. That's all very important and it makes our work easier.

You don't feel like everyone in Europe is jealous about you right now?
No. I think that people see Barça as a club that plays good football, both with and without the ball. It's very satisfying that they like our way of playing but good teams, good squads, are those that win and this team hasn't won anything for two years. We cannot consider ourselves the best as long as we don't win something.

There's talking about Villa or Van Persie for next season, although it doesn't seem the current squad needs to be changed a lot...
Well, the results will determine what will happen. When the team wins, people will think that one or two changes is enough and if the team stops wnning, everyone will say that players who are here for a long time will have to leave. And the same happens with the coach. Barcelona has an excellent squad and there aren't many changes needed, and even less because our players are quite young.

There's a lot of pressure coaching Barça?
I personally didn't notice that pressure. In fact, last year, in the fourth division with Barça B, the first year of Pep, where we had a difficult promotion play-off, the pressure was even higher, because everbody expected that we would promote. This year we know that we have a quality squad and that it will be our fault if the teams doesn't do well. So that's why I didn't feel the pressure until now. When we will start losing games, that's when we will start feeling the pressure of this club but at this moment, I'm just enjoying myself.


This was the second and last part of this interview. You can read the first part here:
Vilanova: "We might only be here for two years"

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