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Creating a winning mindset
Rufete insists that "our fans must be proud of how we deal with things" and adds that "we should not just wait to see what happens. We need to get to work”
“Football has taught me that, when you have an opportunity, you have to go for it. What I have seen at Espanyol is that you have to focus on the day-to-day, on not being afraid to win. That is a process. I will try by all means possible to get Espanyol moving towards this mentality. It will not be easy, but we need to go in that direction. We must stop talking about investment, money, things that hurt. The club needs to be talking about pride, that our fans are proud of how we deal with things. The fans are so smart that they focus on the how. That is the present and the future of Espanyol. There is no waiting to see what happens. We need to get to work. Then our opportunity will be real because if we wait until the end, I think we will have wasted time, and in football that catches up with you.” This argument from Rufete, during the press conference that he offered today, perfectly summarises the new mentality and the way of working that he imposes as head of the sports area.
During his speech, he considered different aspects of both the club's current reality and the new way of working in the different sports areas. He pointed out, for example, that "if I have to walk to Madrid to have Bernando's card taken away, I'll start walking tomorrow", he stressed that "it is an unfair and disproportionate sanction. I have said it before and I will always say it”. And he added that the VAR, as a tool, “should make the referees better. If we all listen to each other, we will grow. I cannot change that, but together we have to make sure that in the best league in the world all the clubs come out of this with as little damage as possible”.
He also explained that his idea is based on “a transversal structure so that, from below, everything that the first team demands is understood. And the players and the coaches need to understand it. A seven-year-old boy comes to fulfil his dream, but for that he needs a route. We're all here to have a winning mentality, and to make Espanyol bigger and better. It's that mentality that will lead us to important challenges”.
In the same way, he commented that the club will work to create “a unique sports identity, in which we all have to help each other to create the present and the future of Espanyol. That all that is a content that all of those who come in the future can take advantage of”.
Regarding issues of the immediate future, Rufete has argued that “we only use the words present, day by day, objective. No one is thinking beyond that. That was our challenge. There is nothing more important than the community that will give us success, and the goal for the end of the season. For the rest we will have plenty of time later. We are aware that it is about Espanyol, its history and achieving the objective. The more we look at that, the better we will do.”
Based on this idea of the present, the top sports manager added that "I will work at 150 percent for the success of this club", and he explained that in these months of confinement and illness "we have all been positive. We have made a big change and we have to keep it going. All together, looking out for the club, our chances will be much better."
Finally, he emphasised that "this is a multi-phase project" in which future inclusions may be added. "We are in the midst of a change in dynamics and there are people who will bring us many things", he insisted, finally pointing out that the conviction of the president "will give us great strength. We will work to make them proud of us. There is a medicine for growth: humility and work”.