Eder Sarabia preparing for return to duty

Quique Setién’s assistant Eder Sarabia is spending his time, like so many people around the world, in lockdown – in his case in Barcelona. A few days ago we published a letter penned by the man himself describing his experience, and the way he is spending his time exercising, analysing old games, reading, learning Catalan and chatting to friends via streaming services. This Sunday he went out live on Instagram with former tennis star and now commentator Alex Corretja, where the topics they discussed including cycling, as well as football and tennis, naturally.

Sarabia commented on Barça that “we still have room for improvement because we didn’t get here until midway through the season. We’d watched loads of games involving the players, but you need time to get to know them well and work out what keys you need to press to get the very best out of them. I have been spending time looking at videos, speaking with the boss to fine tune details and analysing everything we can, making sure we have everything ready for when we get back to playing”.

He continued that “we have personalised work plans for each of the footballers. We speak to them and get their feedback. Most of them have material at home, and those that don’t have been able to ask for it from the club. So they are all following the plans we’ve made for them”.

On a more personal note, he said that "we have a great relationship with the players and we have fitted in well with them, and they have with us. We are working hard for the return and to compete for all trophies. I’m really looking forward to being with my players again.”

He also mentioned Leo Messi, saying that “he is probably the greatest athlete of all time. He is incredible in every sense, the way he executes actions, his knowledge of the game and the sheer quality of what he does.”