“We want to convey our way of playing respecting the philosophy of the club”

It was Álvaro Tito’s turn in the Uruguayan League coaches’ round, Defensor Sporting seeks to be the protagonist again.

It is your third league in Defensor Sporting, even with the change in management they kept you at the head of the team. How do you feel working at the club?

Very well. Working with enthusiasm and with a very good relationship with both the previous board and this one. So let’s hope to deliver, to be able to develop a good game for us and to put Defensor Sporting in a good situation in this League.

A few days ago there was a rumor that Tintorelli was in doubt, Is the campus closed?

The campus is closed. What we did was wait for the evolution of Damien’s injury, who was also the first foreigner chosen by us. He had two consecutive injuries in Cordón, so we had to wait for his evolution, but everything is confirmed.

How are practices and friendlies coming?

We have played a few, the friendlies are to draw conclusions. We still could not do it with a full squad, but they help us to discover things, reaffirm that we are well, and that they put us on track to know what we have to correct. To look for rhythm, we essentially look for that, they are necessary to keep improving.

What style of play will you try to give this Defender Sporting?

We want to be a team that plays around 80-85 points, that takes good care of both ends of the game. With an intense defense in the last third of the field. With understanding, quality of pass, commitment to our knowledge and understanding, and of course with our heart.

Reviewing the integration of the team we see as an internal replacement to complement Tintorelli and Alessio only Verrone, will you have minutes for a youth or how do you plan to cover that area?

We will have Lema of “3” and “4”, in addition to Alessio and Tintorelli as interns, there is Fernando Verrone and we also have Mateo Bianchi, I think we can give the team a good layout with the different characteristics of each player. We will be covered.

What did you go looking for with “Panchi” Barrera and how do you see him on the team?

He is very well, training in a good way and with a lot of courage, we are satisfied with him. What we went looking for is what he is, his offensive talent, his assist, a player who is also defensive. We want to respect his characteristics, and try to amalgamate him with the team to build a stronger collective. That is our ambition, to think from the team so that everyone can help us.

Perhaps Leonardo Lema is not a well-known player in the country, but he played for Argentine youth teams, he is only 23 years old. What are his main characteristics and why did he choose to come to Uruguay?

It is his first outing, he plays “3” or “4”. Powerful, versatile. I think it was what we lacked, because of the tone that it can give us more than anything defensive. Strong in the open field, a young player who had the ambition to leave his country. We took him because we thought he fit very well for the team, beyond being a young player, he has many things that the team needs.

It is often said in our midst that Argentine players provide a bonus of camaraderie, collective play and defense; Do you think that is so or is it a prejudice? Did it influence your decision of the foreign trident?

The item that we manage to choose foreigners is first that they are good people, then the understanding of the game and the commitment. These three essential points are a differential that we are convinced that our foreigners can give us, we do not say that others cannot do it, but we think that according to what we have budgeted we are making a good decision.

Do you set objectives in terms of results?

We all set goals. From how we want to do it, because the consequence will be of better results if we do things better and we have already talked about how we feel that this task should be done. In terms of results, primarily the objective is to enter among the 8, and as another objective is to get 100% from this team. The most important thing is how, to later achieve the result.

Does the return of the people to the stands and of the teams to their fields give you extra spice or motivation?

Sport without people in the stands is like something is missing. Playing already puts you in a competitive situation, of well understood stress, previous nerves, etc. The seasoning he was lacking was people. We also want to transmit from inside the field with our game to the outside, to respect the history of what Defensor Sporting is as a club that has more history in this country. People are obviously important and we hope they can help us, but we want to transmit our form from the field while respecting the philosophy of the club.

It seems that it is going to be a fairly even League, with many good teams. Do you see it that way, or are there some teams that are better?

It is difficult, even not seeing the foreigners of the teams, which is 60% of their starting five. You can take known nationals and foreigners as a reference, but there are many who are unknown, it is very difficult to stop from that place. We think it’s going to be even, it tends to be more and more even. There may be exceptions for up or down but generally equal. Then you also have to see what is achieved at the level of synergy, of chemistry that each team can achieve as a group to get the most out of it. We primarily see ourselves getting into the eight and then reading the League.