Rafel Navarro is living his first months as the manager of the Swiss women’s soccer team, after many seasons on the technical staff of a Barça Femení team that he helped become the icon it is today. In a recent interview for Flashscore, we spoke about his glorious Barça years, and also about this new chapter in his career.
About the evolution of the team, from a good side that made it to their first UWCL final to a world reference, Navarro explained, “I think that from within the team it was experienced very naturally. The process has been developed little by little; it has not been from one day to the next, but we have been adding expectations every year, also adding new challenges, achieving more things year after year, and I think this slow process allowed the players to behave naturally, with professionalism, and not change.”
However, the staff changed some training methods and routines. “Yes, I think there was a turning point, which was the 2019 final, just before I joined the team. In that final, the team lost against Olympique Lyon, who were clearly superior. I think that was a turning point for the club, for the team, and for the players. Because from that moment on, the foundations were laid for what the project was for me, the foundations of trying to train more, trying to train better, trying to demand more.” And he continues, “We also began to do more meticulous work at a tactical level, we also began to do more demanding work at the gym, because we also saw that at the conditional levels these big teams in Europe were surpassing us.”
In that regard, Ballon d’Or winners Aitana Bonmatí and Alexia Putellas are “good examples of players who really try to improve every day, they are players who train well, who are always welcoming feedback from coaches, and also always pay attention to the videos, and watch videos of their performances in order to improve”.
Looking back, Rafel Navarro also spoke about how the players received the arrival of Real Madrid to women’s football, “I think it was a motivation for us. Besides, we also had a lot of people brought up in the club, a lot of people who really feel the colors. Therefore, for all the players, for the staff, it was an extra motivation to be able to compete with Real Madrid.”
There has been criticism toward the team and the management this past few months, but Navarro trusts the players and the staff currently at Barça, “I believe that this team has enough level to continue competing for all the titles, as it has done in recent seasons. For me it would be no surprise if this team wins the Champions League again this year, reaches the final again, is present in the semifinals again, or wins all the national titles again.”
