Athletic Bilbao Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread

Dolph Starbeam

Europa League Final on the 9th and Barca in the Copa Final on the 24th

Unbelievable performance by the team to get to the Europa League Final.

G.K.

Wish I'd seen more of tonight's game, got the last 5 of the 1st half. Sounds like it was amazing.

Morf

Athletic Bilbao Home



Athletic Bilbao Away

Jax Teller

Marcelo Bielsa has resigned .

CongoPowers

Mental press conference yesterday. I'm a big fan of his, but he does tend to lose the head completely. A loss for the league for sure.

Nuri Sahin

He's known as El Loco for a reason.

@Congo, what happened yesterday?

CongoPowers

He called a press conference in which he said that he hasn't had holidays because the work needed on the training facilities wasn't being done properly. That he needed to call from Argentina for hours each day. Apparently at one point he screamed "the gym should be between the dressing room and the pitch - BETWEEN". By his own account, this lead to him forcefully removing a worker from the site, for which he accepts that the police could rightfully take him away. He also said that he wanted the team strengthened in certain areas - instead, the club brought in López and Aduriz, both of whom he said he didn't ask for.

He said that these things showed he wasn't being respected as a coach.

Athletic made a statement today saying they disagree with his opinions on the work being done etc.

And now he's gone, so yeah.

Nuri Sahin

Lol, doesn't surprise me that story tbh. If you've read his biography, nothing he does will surprise you.

I don't blame him for going mad over Adruiz I'll say that much :pac:

CongoPowers

I haven't read his biography actually. Is it this 'lo suficientemente loco' one?

G.K.

That's a book I want.

kryogen

Crazy! Not exactly surprising, but crazy! big loss I think

Nuri Sahin

.

Nuri Sahin

CongoPowers wrote: »

I haven't read his biography actually. Is it this 'lo suficientemente loco' one?

Indeed it is. As far as I know, there isn't an English translated version unfortunately, would have made my time reading it a lot more easier!

kryogen

-Ade- wrote: »

Indeed it is. As far as I know, there isn't an English translated version unfortunately, would have made my time reading it a lot more easier!

You could um, translate it for us if you liked?

CongoPowers

G.K. wrote: »

That's a book I want.

Same.

-Ade- wrote: »

Indeed it is. As far as I know, there isn't an English translated version unfortunately, would have made my time reading it a lot more easier!

Yeah, I've just been searching and it looks like Spanish only. No worries, my Spanish isn't great, but I'll do the same as yourself.

G.K.

Ah.

My Spanish extends only to 'what is your name?' and 'hello'.

I really needed Bielsa to write it in Latin.

Juniorhurler

G.K. wrote: »

Ah.

My Spanish extends only to 'what is your name?' and 'hello'.

I really needed Bielsa to write it in Latin.

That and "I really admire your dentistry" and "I'd like 1 kilo of tomatoes" from the meteor ad.

Lawrence1895

Coletrickle88 wrote: »

Marcelo Bielsa has resigned .

Terrible loss for the club, I hope, the team is not falling apart now

Professional Griefer

Apparently hes not gone yet..

Duffy the Vampire Slayer

I was looking for a team to follow in La Liga and Athletic sound like the team for me. They're a club whose history that I appreciate.

eagle eye

A new day dawned and the light shone down on Bilbao and everybody chilled out and relaxed.:)

Bielsa to stay at Athletic Bilbao

Athletic Bilbao coach Marcelo Bielsa insists that he will stay at the club despite a row with the board that threatened to see him resign on Friday.

Bielsa was furious after the club refused to support his criticism of the construction company employed to improve the facilities at the club's Lezama training base.
After meeting with the club's board on Friday evening, Bielsa was convinced to rethink his decision, but he admitted in a statement on his Facebook page on Monday that the disagreement had affected the camp.
"I will continue developing my role as I have until now,'' the 56-year-old said. "I maintain the commitment I accepted with the institution. I can accept their [the board's] removal of my authority, but... they indicated that my statements lacked truth. What has happened has modified our relationship.''
Bielsa stood by his earlier criticism of the work being done at the club's training ground, despite his lack of backing.
"It is not my subjective opinion with respect to the quality of work, the stage of its development, the control and fulfilment of the works at Lezama,'' he said.
"I can show that every one of the things I said corresponds to concrete and verifiable facts. If no one has been at fault, then why were the facilities not available for the first team for the start of pre-season?''
Bielsa signed a new contract until the summer of 2013 just last month, with improvements to the club's training facilities believed to be one of his demands prior to putting pen to paper.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story/_/id/1123647/marcelo-bielsa-to-stay-at-athletic-bilbao-after-board-row?cc=5739

Lawrence1895

Just got news from Germany, as it seems, Martinez is going to Bayern Munich. It all about the small print now

Dolph Starbeam

Good news that things seemed to have chilled with Bielsa a small bit. Hopefully he can continue his good work next season.

Lars1916 wrote: »

Just got news from Germany, as it seems, Martinez is going to Bayern Munich. It all about the small print now

Not hugely surprising, hopefully he will go on to be a world class player and win many trophies with Bayern, wish him all the best. Hopefully not many more will be following him out the door this summer though.

G.K.

Who will he usurp in the Bayern team? Gustavo?

Lawrence1895

G.K. wrote: »

Who will he usurp in the Bayern team? Gustavo?

I guess, it will either be Schweinsteiger or Robben

eagle eye

G.K. wrote: »

Who will he usurp in the Bayern team? Gustavo?

Really depends on what they signed him for. He is a top notch centre back but he is just too good in midfield to leave him in central defense I think.

hefferboi

A player I'd love to see in the Premier League. He'd be class with Arsenal I reckon. Perfect player for them and can fill in center half too.

eagle eye

Javi Martinez = legend imo.

Athletic Bilbao midfielder Javi Martinez has no intention of departing the club this summer, despite reported interest from several of Europe's giant clubs.

"I don't see myself playing for Barcelona. I'm very happy at Athletic,'' he told Spanish television channel Antena 3. "I have a contract until 2016. I have seen the newspapers and what it says on TV, but it is not always right.

"If you were to believe what is said I have already joined seven different teams, a different one each week. You have to ignore the rumours because they can affect you.''

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story/_/id/1124318/martinez:-%27i-don%27t-see-myself-playing-for-barcelona%27?cc=5739

Lawrence1895

eagle eye wrote: »

Javi Martinez = legend imo.



http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story/_/id/1124318/martinez:-%27i-don%27t-see-myself-playing-for-barcelona%27?cc=5739

Fair play to him. I wish, Llorente comes around with the same kind of statement :rolleyes:

Dolph Starbeam

Lars1916 wrote: »

eagle eye wrote: »

Javi Martinez = legend imo.



http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story/_/id/1124318/martinez:-%27i-don%27t-see-myself-playing-for-barcelona%27?cc=5739

Fair play to him. I wish, Llorente comes around with the same kind of statement :rolleyes:

The last 2 summers I'm pretty sure Llorente has said the same thing. Playing for Bilbao means a lot to these players and to see the progress that was made last season i'm sure it will have helped a lot of them see that they can taste success at Bilbao.

Morf

Llorente isn't from the Basque country though, not technically anyway. Some people from these areas do feel a bit peeved about (some) Basques claiming these wider areas. He may feel that way or he may not. He'd be an excellent signing for many, many clubs.

Seaneh

Morf wrote: »

Llorente isn't from the Basque country though, not technically anyway. Some people from these areas do feel a bit peeved about (some) Basques claiming these wider areas. He may feel that way or he may not. He'd be an excellent signing for many, many clubs.

Pamplona is in Navarra, it's the historical capital of Basque country, Navarra is Basque, it's just not part of the Basque Autonomous Community.

There is Basque flags all over Pamplona, people there speak Basque (a lot of the younger people don't speak it as a first language though), the signs are all in Basque.

Euskal Herria (Basque Country) = Euskadi (Basque Autonomous Community), Nafarroa (Navarra) and Iparralde (Northern Basque Country, or "The North Side) in France.

Llorente is Basque, but he did grow up in Le Rioja.

Lawrence1895

Mark! wrote: »

The last 2 summers I'm pretty sure Llorente has said the same thing. Playing for Bilbao means a lot to these players and to see the progress that was made last season i'm sure it will have helped a lot of them see that they can taste success at Bilbao.

I heard some people saying, he shouldn't even play for Spain, the occupier. Some more hardline stuff, I suppose.

pickarooney

Lars1916 wrote: »

I heard some people saying, he shouldn't even play for Spain, the occupier. Some more hardline stuff, I suppose.

I think that was Del bosque.

doncarlos

I'm thinking of travelling over with a group of six or seven and was wondering aside from derbies/matches against the big two is there any problems getting tickets?
I know you can only buy them from stadium but I'd hate to travel over and none/some of us getting tickets.

Lawrence1895

doncarlos wrote: »

I'm thinking of travelling over with a group of six or seven and was wondering aside from derbies/matches against the big two is there any problems getting tickets?
I know you can only buy them from stadium but I'd hate to travel over and none/some of us getting tickets.

Not sure, but season ticket holders and club members will be served first, I guess.

A mate of mine in Germany might know more, just contacted him. I let you know, whenever he gets back to me, might take a few days, he's quite busy in college.

doncarlos

Thanks.

Will probably head over anyway as always wanted to visit the Basque region but taking in a match would be brilliant.

Seaneh

doncarlos wrote: »

Thanks.

Will probably head over anyway as always wanted to visit the Basque region but taking in a match would be brilliant.

If you can't get a ticket for Bilbao you could always go an hourin either direction to San Sabastian or Pamplona and see Osasuna or Real Sociedad.

Deportivo Alavés aren't far away either.

Third_Echelon

doncarlos wrote: »

Thanks.

Will probably head over anyway as always wanted to visit the Basque region but taking in a match would be brilliant.

we went to a bilbao vs villarreal game and just picked up tickets the day before the match at the stadium... no problem whatsoever.

Sr. Pirotecnic

Seaneh wrote: »

Pamplona is in Navarra, it's the historical capital of Basque country, Navarra is Basque, it's just not part of the Basque Autonomous Community.

There is Basque flags all over Pamplona, people there speak Basque (a lot of the younger people don't speak it as a first language though), the signs are all in Basque.

Euskal Herria (Basque Country) = Euskadi (Basque Autonomous Community), Nafarroa (Navarra) and Iparralde (Northern Basque Country, or "The North Side) in France.

Llorente is Basque, but he did grow up in Le Rioja.

You seem to have a very clear idea of Llorente's regional identity, I'm not sure the man himself would agree, he has certainly been coy about it for obvious reasons. Perhaps this quote from his mother sums the situation up: "Nació en Pamplona, su familia por parte de madre es navarra, su familia por parte de padre es riojana, vivió su infancia en Rincón de Soto [La Rioja] y toda su adolescencia y juventud en Bilbao. Yo digo que mi hijo es del mundo, de la vida".

Seaneh

All she said is he was born in Navarre, her family is from there, his fathers family is from Rioja and he grew up there but spent most of his youth in Bilabo.


He considers himself Basque enough to accept call ups to the national team and play for Bilbao...

From the looks of things he has spent most of his life in Basque Country...

Lawrence1895

About the tickets for the San Mames. Season ticket holders, club members and members of the official supporters club (I hope, I got the right translation here) are served first. But it should be no problem to get tickets, if you arrive early at the ground.

They don't sell tickets online though.

Morf

Are either of the Athletic jerseys in the Umbro Shop on Westmoreland St. yet?