The keys to the laboratory

Girona FC will never forget the year 2023. Not only because of the results achieved in the League – with 45 points it is joint leader with Real Madrid -, but also because of the way in which it has climbed to the top. With an excellent game developed by young players from whom the coach, Míchel Sánchez, knows how to get the most out of them. With a squad formed by its architect in the shadow, sports director Quique Cárcel. With 13,000 members (9,700 subscribers) who fill Montilivi. And with a budget of 59 million that does not appear in the top 10 of the League. “It is barbaric what we have achieved this year; we are very proud of it”, says Cárcel, who attends to La Vanguardia to reveal the formula for a collective success: “I would say that the secret of this Girona is our identity, which is based on our ability to sign talented young players, but also in the evolution that has taken place on the bench”. This evolution was started by Pablo Machín. It was continued by Eusebio Sacristán, Juan Carlos Unzue, Francisco and now Míchel, a technician who had been unemployed for seven months when he received the call from Cárcel in 2021. “I always had him in my mind. I already tried to sign him in 2019, the year we were relegated. But he left for Huesca. I really liked the way their teams played. He overcame a complicated start and achieved promotion to Tenerife”, recalls Cárcel. Patience paid off. The Michel method has been infallible. Known in La Vinya, the team’s training center, as a very natural person who transmits joy and enjoyment in the engine room, he has managed to make the players feel comfortable with him. “He is also someone very demanding. He gets angry at any individual technical error. He is a perfectionist and has them plugged in”, adds Cárcel. There are hardly any rest days in Míchel’s schedule. After winning against Barcelona in Montjuïc, he did grant 48 hours to his players so they could rest. It rarely happens. “This match was without a doubt the best moment of 2023. I think we played great football against one of the best teams in Europe”, recalls Cárcel, who ten years after assuming the sporting direction of Girona continues to tirelessly set foot in the offices of Montilivi. He reveals his reasons: “It was not a professional club even though it played in the Second Division. I had dreams and little by little I have been fulfilling them. And now it’s like having a child that you look forward to seeing grow up close and enjoying it. As long as I believe there are steps to be taken, I will continue here”, says the Girona architect, who sniffs football talent like few others. “I always try to look for players with quality for the team who may be going through delicate moments and who need a close ecosystem to evolve. And it worked for me”, he specifies. He is not alone. Iván Hammouch, Juan Carlos Moreno and Santi Pou work with him, although the latter is closer to the coaching staff. “We also work a lot on grassroots football. I watch a lot of matches from the affiliates. They are important clubs that you have to follow because they all have talent and not all of them fit into the elite of their clubs, like Madrid or Barcelona. This has happened, for example, with Miguel Gutiérrez, a full-back from Castilla”, he specifies. But they also go the other way: “We have our subsidiary in Tercera and sometimes there are players who need more. This is the case of Pau Víctor, who is having a great season on loan at Barça Atlètic”, he says. And then there is the entry of the City Football Group and Pere Guardiola, brother of the former Barça coach and Cárcel’s right-hand man, who acquired the club in equal shares in 2017. 44.3% each. “We grew up with them. If there is a player in Ukraine that we like, we talk to the City people who are in the area and they can tell you who is playing him and how they see it. With this method you have the feeling that you can make fewer mistakes,” admits Cárcel. With this trajectory, Girona will be looking for more in 2024. Cárcel already has a list of pending tasks, so that Girona’s landing in the Champions League is as pleasant as possible. “We will have to make a longer template and change the methodology. This Girona is not used to playing more than one game a week”, he specifies. And the League? Cárcel is clear: “Today, Real Madrid is closer. But why not? The team has shown that it can beat anyone”, he says with a smile.