COLUMN: Ernesto Valverde, an Athletic Club manager like no other – Gracias, Mister | OneFootball

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After four years, it was time. Ernesto Valverde announced last month that he will leave at the end of the season, hinting that he is not the club’s chosen one to continue, ahead of President Jon Uriarte’s second mandate. Athletic Club are 11th, and although disappointing, a drop was expected after Valverde brought the team back to the Champions League.

It’s been a difficult season. Star winger Nico Williams has struggled with injuries during the majority of the season, followed by the absences of centre-back Aymeric Laporte and playmaker Oihan Sancet. Valverde’s Leones never felt drier and more uninspired. His success in his third stint had been marked by an unusual intensity, a physical performance from start to finish, which most teams struggled to cope with. All of this has been gone this season, mixing injuries and mental exhaustion.

Valverde will be remembered for bringing the Copa del Rey back to San Mames and raising Athletic Club to a 4th-place finish. Not all seasons can be filled with youngsters like Mikel Jauregizar breaking out, or the Williams brothers finding the breaks through the flanks. His side was known for outrunning most teams, but that isn’t been the case anymore. It’s challenging to motivate a squad that hasn’t changed much in four years, especially after winning the Copa del Rey and finishing fourth in La Liga.  

El Txingurri is a rational man who calculates decisions as much as he can. He is aware that the elections later this year could cost him his job, after four years, it’s better to let go. He leaves not only as a coach, but as a historical figure of the club: few managers united Athletic Club as much as he has. Refusing to continue, despite being asked to by Uriarte to continue, is the sign it is the end of an era. Reliability personified, both as a man and as a manager.

It’s not that the season is gone. Only three points separate Athletic from European spots. They’ve got everything to fight for, which Valverde underlined in his press conference after announcing his departure at the end of the season. More than his resume, he impressed the crowds by upholding the Athletic’s homegrown tradition, aware of the limitations, which include never finding a top-level striker. It has explained so many of the team’s shortcomings, with the team pressing high but struggling to convert chances.

It’s unknown what the future holds. The media immediately turned to ex-Atletico club player Andoni Iraola as the natural successor, which he has so far denied. It’s something Football Espana has already previously mentioned; after all, his focus on intensity at Rayo Vallecano and Bournemouth has earned him the respect of the Basque fanbase. Yet luring a coach who has been spoiled with transfer funds in the Premier League may be more difficult. The other options would be Iraola’s ex-assistant, who currently coaches…Rayo Vallecano, with noticeably similar ideas.  

Valverde solidified Athletic Club’s position in Spanish football as a regular challenger for European spots, even giving Barcelona and Real Madrid a hard time. Los Leones have become always been a major reference for how Spanish clubs can rely on their academy graduates instead of splashing millions on youngsters, but Valverde brought tangible silverware with it too.

Valverde knows it, as much as the club did – trying to sail the Gabarra together again would have been a mistake. Athletic could rely on Valverde to take the right choice for the club, part of what makes him so unique. His third stint outdid his second, where he led the team to a Supercopa win in 2015, ending a 31-year trophy drought.

As professional as he has always been, he declined to comment on what’s next for the club. Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola called him his ‘number one reference of football’, while many first-team players have called him the best coach they have had. To replace Valverde won’t be limited to changing the tactics boards in the dressing room; it will require someone with the vision to guide an ocean liner, with technology produced right in the Bilbao dockyards.

Gracias, Míster.