Pako Ayestaran accepts he’s not everyone’s preferred choice as Valencia Coach but ‘I’ve shown I have the capacity.’
Ayestaran was in interim charge at Mestalla after Gary Neville was sacked in March and was given a two-year contract earlier in May, with some supporters complaining that the club ignored higher-profile options.
“It never rains to everyone’s taste. But I know I have the ability and it’s not arrogance. I don’t think about [the critics of his appointment]. I started coaching in 1989. In Israel with Maccabi, we won the treble, something that hadn’t been done in 81 years. And this year they haven’t won anything,” he argued in an interview with AS.
“I’ve shown I have the capacity. I recognise the challenge of Valencia is important. This is a dream. I think that at a difficult time I gave answers to players. Peter Lim asked for performance and professionalism, and respect for the club. Something that is standard.
“We have to start with the habits. The behaviours of everyday life generate your habits. In my time I saw a player having trouble doing things and when he changed clubs he was like another player. One day I asked him why. ‘Here everyone does it,’ he replied.
“I don’t need a revolution. There are players I know that in another context would be valid. With two or three changes we could compete, but there are conditions. The budget is reduced for not being in Europe.”
