Valle Romano Golf has been playing host to some exceptional guests since 19th January. The football team FC Dnipro Dnepropetrovsk, which plays in the first division in Ukraine and has won 4 titles, will be training beside the Mediterranean until 4th February.
The Valle Romano communication team has been sharing a few minutes Juan de Ramos, currently the FC Dnipro Dnepropetrovsk manager, and who has a proven track record behind him with teams of the stature of CSKA Moscow, Seville and Real Madrid.
Juan de Ramos was born in Pedro Ruiz, Ciudad Real, where there has been a stadium bearing his name since 2007. He embarked on his career at the age of 8, when he moved to Elche and after which time he played football for different teams for the next 20 years until he changed direction to become a manager.
Valle Romano: You first developed your passion for football when you were a child, first as a player and then since 1990 as a manager. How did you find the transition?
Juan de Ramos: I picked up a knee injury at the age of 28, and so my passion for football led me to look for a change of direction and I did the courses needed to become a manager, embarking on my new career when I was 33.
V.R. In 2006 the Andalusia Federation of Sports Journalists voted you manager of the year. You’ve been a manager for 20 years now with a wide range of Spanish and foreign teams behind you. What differences are there between managing Spanish and foreign teams such as those in Russia, England or Ukraine?
J.R. Above all the footbal culture in those countries is very different to the Spanish one; managing an English team which has a similar culture to that of a Spanish one is one thing, but is very different from Russian or Ukrainian teams. You have to adapt and it’s much easier for you to adapt to them than them to you. We did an intensive Master’s degree to learn about them as soon as possible and to ensure that everything functions as well as possible.
V.R. When you started to manage a team in England, you introduced radical changes in their habits which perhaps is what resulted in their winning the Carling Cup. What’s your strategy with FC Dnipro?
J.R. The changes have above all involved habits - there was especially a need to make changes to diet because one thing is the diet of the man on the street and another is that of a sportsman. It’s like when some cars run better on petrol and others on diesel. You have to give them the best possible fuel. They shouldn’t eat animal fats, but grilled meat, a lot of vegetables or fruit, and no sweets at all.
V.R. You’ve won five titles with Seville and one with the English team, Tottenham Hotspur. How do you see FC Dnipro next season?
J.R. We’re in the same situation as in Spain with Barça and Real Madrid at the top, but with Dynamo Kiev and Shakhtar Donetsk in Ukraine. And then there is a group of us teams who are behind them but trying to get as close to them as possible. We could say that FC Dnipro Dnepropetrovsk in Ukraine is like Valencia or Atlético Madrid. That’s the situation we find ourselves in right now in the Ukrainian league.
V.R. Your team is in Estepona to train for the winter campaign. What made you choose a warm place to train with a team used to the cold?
J.R. It’s now 10-20 degrees below zero in Ukraine and it’s impossible to work outdoors with those temperatures if you want to get in shape for the start of the league. The Spanish coast is full of football teams from cold countries training here.
The 8th hole has become an ideal place for players to warm up, under the watchful eye of Juan de Ramos and the team of training staff who accompany him. After 90 minutes of cardiovascular exercises, the team then carries on its training at the Impat facilities in Marbella.
V.R. Have you ever trained a football team on a golf course before? What does a golf course have that a football pitch doesn’t have for training purposes?
J.R. Yes, we always train on golf courses, because the course is perfect for the physical session: good uneven terrain for running, with both flat stretches and hills. Then we prepare the technical and tactical part on the football pitch.
V.R. How are you finding the training experience at Valle Romano Golf? What have you most liked about Valle Romano these last few days?
J.R. The facilities at Valle Romano are exemplary. I should highlight the fine conditions on the course and the great collaboration provided by the entire team, especially the management. I’m very grateful to them because the work is turning out perfectly over the days we’ve been here thanks to their collaboration.
The team that has travelled to Valle Romano Golf to prepare for the spring season comprises the following: the goalkeepers Jan Lastuvka, Anton Kanibolotsky and Igor Vartsaba; the defenders Ondřej Mazuch, Yevgen Cheberyachko, Vitaly Mandzyuk, Ivan Strinic, Vitaly Denisov and Pavlo Pashayev; the midfielders Sergei Kravchenko, Giuliano, Ruslan Rotan, Denis Kulakov, Yevgen Konoplianka, Denis Oliynyk and Yevgen Shakhov; and the forwards Nicola Kalinic, Matheus, Roman Zozulya and Yevgen Bohashvili.
FC Dnipro Dnepropetrovsk, which was founded in 1918 under the name “BRIT”, was the champion of the former USSR league in 1983 and 1988. It has also won the USSR Cup and the USSR Supercup. This Ukrainian team also played in the final of the Ukraine Cup in 2004.
Juan de Ramos has been at the helm of this great team for the last two years with passion and commitment - a team which trains tenaciously on a daily basis to try and progress up the league.
