When a footballer is still developing as a player, it’s never easy competing against older players. At this ‘juvenil’ age, 16-year olds can compete against 19-year olds. It’s even more difficult in this category, the tough Liga Nacional Juvenil, for a team made up of only first year boys to be leading the standings. That is precisely what the ‘Juvenil B’ team is doing, headed up by Nacho Pérez de Santamaría.

The former Málaga CF player spoke to MCFTV about his team’s good sensations during the start of the season: “I’m satisfied and proud to see the evolution of these players, but the standings are somewhat anecdotal. Our objective has been very clear from the start; getting all the lads, or nearly all of them, into the División de Honor. So far, it’s going pretty well as five of them have debuted up to now”, explained the coach.

It is precisely that capacity for evolution that, for Nacho, is the most important thing. “You have to seek that balance between competing and training”, he said. In regard to the age difference the Liga Nacional coach recognises that “at the moment it hasn’t been noticed that much”, although he points out that when the rivals are third year boys and changes are made, it’s when the players suffer the most. “Calf problems, muscular problems…it’s happened to us in more than one game as they notice that small difference. However, we try to remain ordered, knowing what we need to do and what I can do with the changes”, he added.