Ibai: I’m a late bloomer

“I didn’t play that much when I was young,” admitted Ibai Gomez at the start of his interview with FIFA.com. “I was a late developer and didn’t play for a team very often, so I needed something to do at weekends. That was when my father suggested I coach the kid’s team. I gave it a try, and I haven’t looked back since,” he went on to explain.

 Twelve years later, a lot has changed for the Athletic Club winger. For one, at 24, he is a lot taller than the 5’1 that made his life so difficult when he was 17 and trying to climb the footballing ladder. He is now one of the most popular players at Athletic Bilbao, and this year will have the chance to display his skills on the biggest European stages, as the club returns to the UEFA Champions League after a hiatus of 16 years.

But while many things have changed, one remains the same: his commitment to Santuxtu, the amateur club where he started out and where his father, Miguel Angel ‘Mitxelo’ Gomez, an institution in Basque football, is president. Like any other top player, Ibai has a packed schedule, but when he is not training, playing or travelling, he devotes his time and passion to coaching the club’s junior side. “He can pass on what he has learnt from other coaches to the kids, which means they’re getting the best possible football education. It really helps them a lot, and they love having him as a coach,” his proud dad Mitxelo said.

“Unconsciously, you end up passing on gestures and words that you’ve heard from your coaches,” Ibai agreed. “When I was playing under [Joaquin] Caparros or [Marcelo] Bielsa I would use some of their expressions, and now the same is happening with Ernesto Valverde (the current Athletic coach). In fact, the style with which we play at Santutxu reminds me of Athletic. We try to copy the way they play, putting the other team under pressure, and we even practice the same routines at set pieces. But it’s not easy, because we’re talking about 15-year-old boys,” he added.

So what’s it like to watch matches from the technical area? “I’m a pretty easy going guy, and I try to maintain my composure. I tend to watch the games crouched down, like Bielsa… if I don’t, I get tired,” he laughed.

Ibai was raised in a football mad household and spent his childhood with a ball glued to his feet. “I don’t know how old I was, but I remember my aita (father in Basque) grabbing me in his arms and taking me to the park for a kick about,” he recalled. Mixtelo confirmed as much saying, “I’ve been coaching for 38 years, and since he was one year old I took him with me to training and matches.”

And so, whether in changing rooms, training sessions or matches, Ibai’s passion for football grew. He channelled his love for the game not just onto the pitch, but into coaching too. “Ultimately, it’s a bit like putting together a Fantasy Football team. I liked it. When I had doubts, I asked my aita.”

Indeed, he was just 12 when he began teaching the football basics to kids as young as four and five. Gradually, as the players and their coach grew older, they moved on to tactics and systems. “I think my maths books had more notes about line-ups and tactics in them than schoolwork in those days,” he laughed.

But there is more to coaching than just deciding between 4-4-2 and 3-4-3. He also had to decide who was playing and who was not. “It’s not easy to make decisions like that, and having to do so when I was younger has helped me to understand my coaches better. The worst moments are when you have to make a choice between players, because you have to leave someone out, and then the game comes around and some of the kids don’t get to play. It feels bad because, apart from being the coach, it’s as though they’re my little brothers, and I try to look after them. When I have a kid who’s not playing much, I always use my own story as an example to help him,” he admitted.

It is an apt lesson for any struggling young player. It was far from easy for Ibai to make it to the top, but he knew he had to wait for his opportunity to arrive. After Santutxu and a brief stint in the Spanish third division, he got his chance with Athletic. This year, although the club has started the season badly and are in the bottom half of the table, they have the excitement of the Champions League to look forward to.

After drawing their first game against Shakhtar Donetsk, a win against Bate Borisov this Tuesday is vital if Athletic are to keep their hopes in the tournament alive, and to boost morale among the players. And here Ibai uses the same lessons he teaches his boys. “I always say that confidence is vital to playing well, and that self-confidence is the most important thing you can have. We weren’t the best team in the world a month ago and we’re not the worst team in the world today. We have shown that we believe in ourselves. Once we get a couple of positive results, we’ll bounce back.” Wise words indeed from “the coach”.

M.D