Monchi adds colour to Ernesto Valverde’s black-and-white view of Espanyol | OneFootball

Ernesto Valverde, the Athletic Club manager with a photographer’s eye, leads his side into a crisis-hit RCDE Stadium with Espanyol in free fall and needing a win to stave off relegation. As reported by as.com, Monchi has arrived as director general deportivo. Espanyol are 18 games without victory.

Athletic travel after Sunday’s defeat to Valencia, on 44 points, hovering near Europe yet stuck in no man’s land. They are without Nico Williams, Yuri and Sancet, while it is the first outing for ‘one club man’ Lekue since announcing his retirement. Espanyol also miss Calero and Dolan through suspension.

With his 500th match in the dugout already ticked off, talk of Valverde’s farewell is edging into view. Today marks 20 years since his miraculous escape against Real Sociedad, and he later reached the 2007 UEFA Cup final. The following league campaign he sat fourth on 36 points at halfway, but collected only 12 more. This season Espanyol have fallen from 34 after matchday 19 to 39 with three left.

Valverde’s passion for images began at 17 at Alavés, when a friend brought him a camera from the Canary Islands for 40,000 pesetas, about 240 euros. Only after signing for Espanyol in 1986 did he study and graduate at the Institut d’Estudis Fotogràfics de Catalunya. He could easily have made a living from photography.

He still carries a camera, favouring black and white, and has exhibited in Barcelona, Athens and Bilbao under ‘Beste aldea’. His books include ‘Medio tiempo’ and ‘Frontera’. He reveres Daido Moriyama, an artist of the imperfect, a sensibility that fits football.

Source: as.com