Sort of strange to post a piece that involves an interview with myself, which is why I named this post, “Yorugua’s Intervista” (after the film by Federico Fellini).  Para cortar el mambo, questions were asked, responses were given… well sort of 😉 

• Nico: Quien es Yorugua y Que significa para lacelesteblog?

Un pelotudo con mucho tiempo libre entre el 2009 hasta el 2012.

• Anonymous: In a way Yorugua appears to be more American than Uruguayan; American sports are probably more important for you than LC. How does Yorugua feel about this?”

I don’t really follow American sports… MLB & the NFL don’t really do it for me, not to the point where I would take off from work to watch any of it. The last NBA game I saw was way back in 2008, since 1999 the only constant has been the Sky Blue.

• Anonymous: It seems the Yorugua of 2009 is someone completely different from the Yorugua of 2014. How is it possible that someone changes so much between say 35 and 40 years? Is it simply growing older, maturing? Is it the influence of work, family or friends? Or does it have to do with the responsibility for the blog? Has that changed you?

Good question – I would say everything you mentioned – family does change you; you can’t remain immune to what happens inside your inner circle. Work never helps. Work is the major reason my contribution to blog has been curtailed, the interest is there, the time isn’t.

• Jules: jugás al futbol alla? usas la celeste?

No juego. To be honest, tengo una rodilla bien jodida, if I were to play on it, I wouldn’t be able to walk for a year. I wear La Celeste for the important games – if the game is against Argentina or Brazil – just to get myself worked up into a frenzy, me la pongo… Sometimes I put on my Recoba Inter Jersey… sometimes I put on my Figo Inter Jersey by mistake, ni me doy cuenta loco, ja-ja.

• Nico: Tu amor por Uruguay nacio contigo, o fue adquirido?

It wasn’t overnight. But when I finally saw the light, there was no turning back.

• Nico: Harias alguna vez el curso de entrenador modalidad online para adquirir los conocimientos teoricos oficiales sobre tacticas de juego?

No. I’ll leave coaching to the professionals.

• Nico: Que pensas del enganche? De que se trata ese puesto? Debemos jugar con uno? Dos? Tres? Ninguno?

We could use a playmaker, sure why not. 2 would be great but if we can get at least one, that would be a good start.

• Nico: Describime a nico y julesrif en pocas palabras. Que tipo de personajes son, como es el detras de escena con ellos, y que los define?

Behind the Scenes, it’s a whole different ballpark. It took me maybe a couple of days to understand Nico while it took me a year to understand Jules. Jules cares about the site more so than anybody else. He believes in the concept and only wants LCB to succeed, there’s no grey area with Jules, you either accept him or you don’t. Nico’s worldview hasn’t changed all that much since the site started. I respect his opinion on futbol.

• Nico: En el blog nos conocemos todos. Que te producen los comments de cada persona en especial, algunos risas, otros desacuerdo, admiracion. A mi maldoror a veces me hace pensar q esta loco, y otras veces creo q el tipo es un genio y dice verdades. A veces lo veo muy pesimista, a veces realista…

There are a lot of interesting people who visit the Blog, I’m amazed people from Croatia, Holland, Sweden, England, the Faroe Islands and sometimes Africa, visit the site… not every comment is a slam-dunk but some are very interesting. Maldoror55 is an understated genius; I’m also a fan of FourThreeThree, otro que sabe de futbol.

Somewhere in Brooklyn…

• Jules: desde dónde escribis el blog y con quien debatis tus ideas antes de escribirlas?

Brooklyn New York – Sometimes if I’m kicking an idea around, I’ll talk it over with Nico, he’s good for that. Nico though likes to propose a lot of ideas, some which make no sense whatsoever… remember the whole deodorant advertising campaign? 😉

• Nico: Pensas que haya cierto resentimiento hacia el blog, por decir las cosas sin pelos en la lengua? Por hinchar por uruguay pero decir lo q creemos que esta mal y q esta bien, ya sea en el error o en el acierto, pero sin callar o esconder lo que pensamos?

Not really. I think people who come on for the first time don’t understand the concept. They come on thinking we’re a supporters group but when they see we actually critique the NT, there’s a type of culture shock. But even when we criticize the NT, its only because all of us love the national team and want it to succeed, all the time most of us are looking at what’s not working and thinking about ways of fixing it.

• Nico: Que cosas sentis que LCB ha logrado? Y cuales quedan por lograr?

We united long suffering English-speaking fans of the Sky-Blue, which is important; we need to be more consistent, and less of a personal project.

• Nico: quien deberia ser y por que, el tecnico de la seleccion? Que te gusta y que repudias de tabarez en general?

Me va y me viene… but in hindsight I think he should’ve stepped down from the NT right after the Copa America, 2012 thru 2014 wasn’t easy on the eyes. I’ve spoken about this before and suggested Luis Zubeldía. Me gusta Pablo Repetto tambien… Carrasco is always an option but after so many failures, is he ready to be taken seriously? No se loco. Te gusta Coito?

El Maestro still in charge.

•Nico: Has sentido que en algun momento esta seleccion priorizo mas los egos individuales que el nivel propio del equipo es decir el volumen de juego y los resultados deportivos? Lo del grupo humano es un arma de doble filo si se hace demasiado hincapie en ello? No deberia ser mas importante que jueguen los que acumulan mas minutos en sus clubes y lo hacen de manera destacada? Porque con jugar no basta, hay que estar en un gran momento.

I don’t think that was the issue, I think he wanted to keep a default squad, come rain or shine. The idea was based on what Argentina’s National Basketball team achieved in 2004, I remember reading somewhere that Argentina’s BB team influenced his way of thinking very much, you know, letting the team grow into a well oiled machine. The problem is in fútbol, you can get faster results if you select the majority of your players from one team, like Spain did in 2010; seven of the players came from Barcelona. I don’t think you can replicate this by calling up the same players all the time, especially when they play on different teams and in different countries. It’s a whole different experience, six or seven players on the same team know each other inside out, calling up the same 23 players doesn’t translate into a working synergy. It’s like when you talk to a friend you haven’t spoken to in a while, you have to rediscover why you’re friends and get back into a groove. That can take a while.

I agree in that he should only select players who have match fitness, otherwise what’s the point?

•Nico: Tabárez anunció la nómina para los partidos ante Corea del Sur y Japón: debutan en la mayor Mayada, De Arrascaeta, Corujo, Rolan y Jonathan Rodríguez. Mayada es el mejor en su posicion de la deteriorada liga local, que opinion te merece? Que sabes de Corujo? Que cosas pueden aportar las estrellas de la sub 20 del 2013 De Arrascaeta y Rolan? Que has podido ver de Jonathan Rodriguez que amerite una convocatoria?

Rodriguez is good; no argument from me, Mayada is coming along nicely. No me acuerdo de Corujo, he’s from Peñarol right? Rolan and De Arrascaeta are good starts but there’s still a lot of work to be done.

• Nico: quienes son los 5 futbolistas extranjeros que observas mas seguido? Y los 5 uruguayos que disfrutes mas ver y por que.

Messi, Luka Modric, Jonas, Santi Cazorla… my favorite extranjero at the moment is the Ecuadorian Joao Plata who plays in MLS.  5 Uruguayos? Recoba with Uruguay and Inter… Mister Suarez, Zalayeta at Peñarol, Carlos Sanchez at River Plate and El Tanque Silva.

• Nico: Sabias que Rolan estuvo en la preseleccion para los juegos olimpicos? Que opinion te merece la situacion de Lugano? Polenta mide lo mismo y hasta tiene mas cara de badass 😀 What to do with Forlan? Got anything in the tank? Parece un ultimo adios, considerando que ya esta en japon y ni aun asi lo cita.. Lol

Lugano is done. Polenta was good, but we thought the same about Arismendi y ahora es otra cosa… we have to wait and see on where Polenta is today. On Forlan, no longer NT material… he has enough left in the tank to play in la Primera Argentina or Uruguaya… but does he want to? I don’t know. I don’t wish him misfortune.

• Nico: Los pilares del momento y sus edades para Rusia 2018: Godin 32, Caceres 31, Mono 34, Cacha 36,  Cavani 31. Does it matter?

The team from the last 4 years will be too old in Russia. Cavani is a different player than Suarez but in four years he’ll be more seasoned so you have to take him. Godin should be fine, provided he’s still playing in Europe in 2018. The rest I think should all be replaced, and they probably will.

• Nico: Como te imaginas el mundial en rusia? Tirame 3 favoritos. Cuanto va a afectar el frio? Have you been to Russia, would you ever consider going to that world cup?

Too early to say who’s going to be a contender, I’m not exactly sure but isn’t the tournament going to be held in the summer? And no I wouldn’t go.

• Jules: alguien está dando pelota al futbol (soccer) o sigue siendo un deporte alternativo en EEUU?

Futbol es conocido como Soccer aquí, pero you knew that already… Soccer will never be as big as Baseball or the NFL but Americans are getting hip to the scene. What was it, like 100,000 people went to see Manchester United play against Real Madrid in Michigan Stadium in early August? That’s a statement there. MLS has been consistent, to the point that even I’m watching it. The NASL and the New York Cosmos came back which is good news as maybe one day there will be a proper promotion/relegation setup in place, but for the time being the fact that there isn’t one is a problem, this is what probably cheapens MLS for people abroad

• Anonymous: Would you ever consider going to live in Uruguay or is that a bogey to you?

Not in the foreseeable future. I’d like to retire there but have another 20 years to go before I even cross that bridge.

• Anonymous: Could you be as “urban” there as you are in NY?

Not understanding your question – urban? – I dunno, personally I could do the same Blog from Montevideo as I could from Brooklyn maybe even better and without having to miss out on 60% of what’s going on. But since others have become more involved in the Blog, including FoxFang and TheBigFeller, it’s not necessary for me to be the only “voice” of the Blog.

• Anonymous: Are you, after all, happy your parents migrated to the USA or do you regret that?

The reality is that in the time I was born in, my parents would’ve struggled in Uruguay, emigrating to the United States was the right move for my family. I don’t have regrets about my family leaving Uruguay.

Hmmm on second thought, this might be a regret.

• Nico: Si tuvieras un laburo relacionado al deporte que amas, cual elegirias? DT, contratista, jugador, periodista?

Vendedor de Garrapiñada en el Estadio Centenario.

•Nico: Que Cosas te han dejado todos estos años con LCB? Aprendizajes, arrepentimientos, experiences?

It’s been a wild ride. Maybe we rushed through it a bit when we first got started. The only regret is that we never got a Spanish-speaking writer. I still think if we had one, we would’ve made a bigger impact.

• Nico: Como lo definirias si tuvieras que repartir en porcentajes, importa 90% el mundial y 10% la copa america? Esta seleccion ha perdido de probar jugadores en amistosos y en torneos de menos relevancia como la copa confederaciones.

Good Question – To play devil’s advocate he did give players like Abel Hernandez more minutes in the Confederations Tournament. As a NT manager, whether we’re talking about Tabarez or Tata Martino, the manager has access to the team for less time than a club-side manager. This is crucial. You can’t try out new players for every friendly match, that’s a poor understanding of how national teams are set up and managed. On the other side of the fence however, the criticism against Uruguay is that the team got too old. 5 to 7 players shouldn’t have been called up for the 2014 World Cup. The question now is how does Tabarez fix this? I’m not sure he can but we’ll see. OWT’s biggest strength as a manager is also this team’s biggest obstacle, i.e., his loyalty to players. Tabarez believed in Suarez way back in the 2010 Qualifiers and the reward paid off, the same for Tata Gonzalez in 2014, who didn’t have a poor World Cup by my estimation but so what? Tabarez has to recognize cycles come to an end. The 2010 Tabarez was more cutthroat; the 2014 Tabarez was more patient, maybe too patient.

The Sky-Blue.

If you need to give continuance to a team, then you have to believe in your call-up policy and to hell with what we think, but he does have to recognize that a lesser tournament and Qualifiers is the best time to try out new players, but now the question is what is a lesser tournament, the Confederation Cup is one, but then how many other tournaments would we classify as minor? The Copa America is very important for Uruguayans, the expression; “Campeón de America” still has a special ring to it. To answer your question, I would say, Mundial 40% important, Copa America 30% important, Qualifiers 27% important… friendly matches only 3%… A friendly is only good if the opponent is good. You can definitely try out new faces during the Qualifiers so Friendly matches can actually be 1% important.

• Nico: Quienes son los equipos que juegan mejor del futbol uruguayo del momento?

Not really following it that closely, I watch Nacional but not all the time so I can’t really answer this question.

•Nico: cuales son los 3 paises que juegan mejor, y los 3 clubes a nivel mundial. Que le falta a uruguay para aproximarse a eso o algun dia llegar.

Deutschland & Spain, outside of Uruguay though, I could give 2 shits about anybody else. 3 clubs? There should probably be a Bundesliga team in there somewhere but the best teams for my money are Real Madrid, Barcelona & Manchester City. Uruguay has many things it didn’t have in the 1990’s but there’s a lot of room for improvement. The domestic league has to become more relevant and the national team coaching staff has to consider it. The two can’t be divorced, both entities need each other in order to succeed.

• Nico: Que cosas tienen q suceder y como lograrlas para q la liga uruguaya se vuelva competitiva?

Reduce the number of teams, they need to recognize that they’ll never be on par with Argentina’s Primera, keep it small, maybe 12 teams at the most. Stop overusing El Centenario for every other game. Build a couple of artificial pitches, and play the Clásico only once a year to make it more special.

•Nico: Cuales son los 3 equipos que mas disfrutaste ver jugar? La naranja mecánica maybe? Barcelona? You tell me?

Gallardo’s Nacional… Uruguay 2010… Arsenal with Van Persie.

•Nico: Cuales fueron los libros de futbol mas interesantes que has leido? Cuales queres comprar?

Tor!: The Story of German Football, Brilliant Orange: The Neurotic Genius of Dutch Football  and Puskas on Puskas: The Life and Times of a Footballing Legend. “Obdulio Era Brasilero” is hilarious, great bathroom reading!

• Nico: Que esperas de estos amistosos contra japon y corea el 5 y 8 de septiembre? Te gusta la convocatoria? Quienes faltaron? Quienes no deberian estar en este momento?

Hmmm don’t know if they’ll be shown on television here, if they are, I’ll watch them. If he is bringing on new players like Jonathan Rodriguez and De Arrascaeta… Bienvenidos… or in English, “about fucking time!” –– I wasn’t bowled over with the call-ups, that kid from Nacional, the Canadian, Juan Cruz Mascia should have been called up. I have no idea why Japo Rodriguez was called up again, Maybe Tabarez owes him some money or something.

Juan Cruz Mascia.

•Nico: Sentis que Tabarez nos deja un legado? Nos enseño algo? Que aprendiste de el, aplicado a tu vida cotidiana?

When they made Tabarez they broke the mold… haha… he definitely taught us not to minimize results… he also taught us, he’s going to call-up El Tata Gonzalez for the rest of our adult lives. But seriously, I came away with a newfound respect for him after I read that book, “El Camino es la Recompensa”… but with that said, I don’t think he should be coaching the NT anymore.

•Nico: Que recursos serian necesarios para lograr los objetivos a largo y corto plazo que pueda tener LCB?

Hmmm-good question. Money is necessary just to get the blog up and going but the Blog could be on Facebook for free and still work. Desire is probably the next ingredient. We’ve had many people who want to contribute over the years but don’t today. Writing or better yet, Blogging isn’t as easy as it looks.  You don’t wake up one day and say, “hmm I’m going to really throw Tabarez under the bus and this is how I’m going to do it.” There is a fine line you have to be careful in crossing but sometimes we all cross it. This is what makes us humans, we all make mistakes, and no one is born perfect. And that’s the power of the Internet, once you lay your opinion out there for all to read; you can’t just change it so easily (as I’ve discovered!). Short term? I’d probably reconfigure the Facebook page, I think it’s a little disorganized, with too many people running it but that’s just my opinion.

•Nico: Por que crees que la gente dono dinero en aquel momento que lcb casi cierra? Basicamente nos salvo el publico. Te sorprendio? Fue importante para nosotros saber que tenemos seguidores que aprecian lo que hacemos?

Yes it surprised me. It meant that the Blog was read by a wide array of people who enjoyed reading it even though they never commented. That gave us motivation to continue and pulled us together as a team. Probably one of the top 5 moments in LCB’s short history.

• Jules: la gente de tu entorno sabe de tu fanatismo por uruguay? (fuera del blog)

Some. Not too many people care all that much. In a World Cup year people get curious… during the qualifiers, people don’t understand what the big fuzz is all about. You can see the pained expressions on their faces, “wait a minute the World Cup is not on, why are you going bat-shit crazy for?” My mission in life is not to educate people as to why I root for Uruguay.

Finally…

• Anonymous: Who do you like more, the Yorugua of yesteryear or the current one?

Probably the Yorugua of yesteryear, although my current posts are more polished. The Old Yorugua had more time on his hands, sadly the new one doesn’t.