Former Barcelona boss Gerardo ‘Tata’ Martino has reflected on his time in charge at the Camp Nou and says the club never saw the best of him.
In an interview with El Cano the 52-year-old, appointed Argentine national team boss in August, spoke of his coaching career to date and his spell with the Blaugrana.
“My time at Barca doesn’t really count because nobody was able to see what I was able to contribute,” insisted Martino.
“They didn’t see the real Tata Martino during the season I was there, the man who did such a good job with Paraguay or Newell’s Old Boys.
“I’m proud of what I did with Paraguay as it’s very difficult to achieve the relationship between Coach and players we had at that time.”
Martino stated that his priority when coaching was to emphasise the needs of the team over any individual.
“It’s important to create a good team and when you have that then maybe you can get rid of the best players, like Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguero, Angel Di Maria or Carlos Tevez.
“If you have a team you can win all the same. But, of course, it is better if you have good players. That surely means you will have a better team.”
However, asked if he could get rid of Javier Mascherano from the Argentina set-up, Martino replied with a firm “no”.
