Club advisers, Antonio Benítez, Abdullah Ben Barek and Francisco Martín Aguilar, together with sports director, José Luis Pérez Caminero, accompanied Muñiz, whose contractual relationship will extend until the 2019/20 season. “Thank you for accepting the offer to drive our team. Your luck will be ours. He has accepted a project which we’re all extremely enthusiastic about”, said Caminero, who added that “for me, we have the best coach of the category”. At the end of the press conference, an emotional video was shown with images of Muñiz and the last ascent. “Let’s live it again. It’s a pleasure to be here”, remarked the coach.
Press conference | Juan Ramón Muñiz
Return to Málaga
“The first contact took place many months ago. There were 10 or 12 First Division matches remaining. Now there’s a new situation, the project is very defined, and the future has been clarified. I thank everyone who contacted me to be part of this project. Getting to a new club and getting to know everyone, this is the first time that’s happened to me. Effort, hard work and humility are the guidelines. We’ll have good times, bad times, average times and we’ll overcome them all together. Being a local coach is something I greatly appreciate, and I’m grateful to José Luis for allowing me to be part of the project. We’ll all need to stick together to achieve the set objectives. The first thing is hard work and ensuring we’re prepared for the first match, ready to compete”.
Responsibility and excitement
“I was on holiday here a few months ago and I could sense the excitement, which brings with it more responsibility. You can see that people support the project and will be behind us all the way, which will help. One of the main parts of success are the fans, which every weekend helps to win points and games. How can we respond? By giving our all on the pitch. The fans need to see that we’re giving our souls in every game, which is something we can guarantee. People should be proud of this Club and see that Málaga is another story”.
Work
“There are many things advancing which will be announced as soon as possible. The team will not stop working, we’re at a key moment and will not get distracted. Everything we do now is a very important foundation for the future. First, we need to construct, then we can grow. We need a strong foundation to continue growing. José Luis and I are perfectly in tune with each other, it’s magnificent, we speak the same language”.
Project
“That interest from the first moment to form part of this project. It’s being defined, as the pre-season will soon be upon us. I like to speak clearly, we’ll all speak clearly, we understand each other and can see the light at the end of the tunnel. It was a very hard year, and now we need to begin building, based on effort, sacrifice and a lot of humility. The Club has grown in everything, now we need to have enough humility to take us where we want to go”.
Expectations
“Everyone always has responsibility at work, and you have to respond to that expectation. It’s about maintaining enthusiasm and being willing to improve every day, starting with me. We are the ones on show but there are many people behind us, so we all need to work with complete regularity, in the same direction. We must pave the way to try and help the team achieve the set objectives of the season. It’s not about just one person accomplishing a goal, it’s about a group of people. If one of those parts fails, the project will begin to experience problems. We have to convey to the fans that they are the most important part of the project. Respond to the expectation and respond well, spare no effort and don’t look at the clock”.
Youth teams and Dely Valdés
“The reserve team, juvenil and any team in The Academy is fundamental. I have a fantastic relationship with Dely, he’s a person I’ve always considered a friend, loyal, and focused on the same line of work we’ve set out since the first day. Here we’re working for Málaga and Málaga will benefit from our work. Málaga is made up of a lot of fans who feel both happy and sad and we need to represent them, always by giving our all”.
Second Division
“The category is getting better all the time, there are better stadiums, better players and a higher skill level. I like to see it from the outside, from within you can suffer a lot. Everything is a surprise, there are no favourites in any match… When you see the standings, it can be scary. There are First Division teams that competed in Europe years ago. The teams that believe they can win because of their shield… the shield doesn’t defeat anyone. What matters now is 2018 up until June 2019, and if we’re not up to scratch, the category is most unforgiving. We need to know where we are, from then on we’ll be happier”.
Past and present
“All situations will soon be defined. What’s good at the moment is that the market has stopped. Now amongst us all we need to construct the project little by little. It’s everyone’s project. One person doesn’t win matches. I prefer to have a good team and a good individuality. We need a good team to win games. The team is all of us (…) The past is no longer valid. When the League starts we have to try and win, start to position ourselves and make people believe it’s possible and trust in our work. We have to give before asking. It’s important that we’re better than the rival we’re facing”.
(*) See photo gallery here
