[English] A very interesting article about Las Palmas and Quique Setién by Sid Lowe

[Drygon]

Meet Las Palmas, the tiny team making waves and capturing hearts in Spain

They never dreamed of this, and their manager never really dreamed at all. Have a look at the league table, just as they have had a look daily -- hourly, even -- for the last fortnight as if scared that it might have changed, determined to enjoy every moment of this. You'll see what they see. The best team in Spain right now, the team at the top of the league, isn't FC Barcelona or Real Madrid. It's Unión Deportiva Las Palmas.

Las Palmas haven't been there for 38 years. Until last season, they hadn't even been in the first division for 14 years and eight weeks into the 2015-16 campaign, they sacked their manager. The team lay second from the bottom, and the truth is that many thought it unfair and, frankly, pretty pointless. After all, Paco Herrera had brought them back up, more than a decade later and there wasn't much more he could do. They wouldn't be any better under a different manager.

Actually, it turned out that they would. They won just four of their first 17 games last year but slowly, things would change. Under Quique Setien, they lost just four of their last 13 and three of those came when their season was as good as over, safety secured. They lost just 2-1 to Barcelona and 2-1 to Madrid, actually unfortunate not to overcome both. Now, momentarily at least, they have: Spain's big two sit beneath them this weekend.

It's only Week 3 of the campaign, sure. And it won't last; everyone knows that. But still: 38 years. Thirty-eight. And this isn't purely a fluke; last season shows that. The football they have played so far this season shows it too: two wins out of two, nine goals scored, no scraped victories, no lucky wins. Last season it took until December for them to score as many; this time, they managed it before the end of August. No one dreamed of this. And no, Quique Setien didn't dream at all.

That's what he says, anyway. Setien was a talented footballer, smooth and technically gifted. He says he would have cut off a finger to have played with Johan Cruyff's Barcelona "Dream Team." Setien went to the 1986 World Cup with Spain without getting a game. But he also says he was a bit different and when it comes to management, he didn't really have any ambition. He was a player. He liked playing. And that, it seemed, was pretty much that.

When Setien took over at Las Palmas last season, he was making his first division debut as a coach... at the age of 58. In part because he had been overlooked, yes, but in part because he had never chased it either. "My ego had been satisfied by playing," he said. At the end of his career, he played beach football (he was a Spanish international for seven years), and when he did take over as coach at Racing Santander, his hometown team, he said it was "circumstantial." He had not so much as coached a youth team game before.

Spells followed at Poli Ejido, Logrones (where he went unpaid for seven months) and Lugo. He took Lugo up. Oh, and he had a couple of 10-day periods in charge of Equatorial Guinea, an experience he describes as absolutely unimportant in his life but one from which he learnt.

Setien once admitted that he doesn't live to coach; rather, he coaches to live. It was a job, and he needed the money; he wasn't driven by the competition or the ambition, exactly. Or so he said. "I like to be happy, comfortable," he admitted. It was just a pity that meant that he tended not to see things quite the way that directors do. Directors, he would add, that know nothing about football. Well, quite.

It feels different now. Las Palmas is very much his team; this is what the Spanish describe as an "author's team," one where it's clear who is behind it. Right from the start, he thought (or perhaps hoped) that it might be. This was his kind of place, his kind of club. "The kind of place where they understand me, and that's not easy," he said. Setien is "stubborn," his assistant coach Eder Sarabia adds -- "He may not look like it, but he is a perfectionist."

He's something of an idealist too. He says his approach to football is non-negotiable, and he laments that youth development has taken the fun out of the game. He talks about football as something lúdico -- about enjoyment. Kids are taught to move, to position themselves, when to pressure and when to cover, but he says, "no one lets them dribble any more." They're on the pitch, alright, but are they actually playing? "They can be there for half an hour and not touch the ball."

There's a contradiction here: as coach, he has his team playing quick, incisive, athletic football. There's idealism, but there is realism too: he admitted that he loved watching Juan Carlos Valerón play, claiming he was a footballer so good as to bring tears to his eyes, but he also admitted that he couldn't always play him. "Football has become very hard; you have to run a lot," he said.

For all the contradictions, those principles do come through. And Las Palmas does feel like the right place for Setien. It is partly a cliché, of course, but the Canary Islands have often been seen as Spain's Brazil: a three-hour flight from the peninsula, west of Africa, hot and sandy, a place where football is played with technique and flair, a sense of adventure and fun. Setien's Las Palmas do that; few teams are as enjoyable to watch.

Spain's league leaders are a team that robs possession and runs but does so with pace and precision, not just a hoof up the pitch. When they defend, they do so to attack. They're a team where the full-backs push and the midfield breaks beyond the striker, where the ball is moved quickly, with one touch, and is treated well. If they lose it trying to make the right pass, there is no reproach, just encouragement to try it again.

Setien is a keen chess player who even played against grand masters Garry Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov (or so the story goes) and believes that chess helps him understand football. The centre is the key, the collective functioning; improvisation, yes, but mechanism too. All of it through the ball. They have scored nine times from 11 shots on target this season but not because they are unusually effective and certainly not because they are lucky. Rather, it's because the chances they create are so clear, having expertly sliced their opponents open.

It was happening last season; now they look even better. Las Palmas have kept Roque Mesa, despite the pursuit of Sevilla -- he won the ball back more times than any other player last season -- and have seen Jonathan Viera pull on Valerón's shirt and play the football of his career. They also signed Kevin-Prince Boateng this summer. He admits that he watched them last season against Madrid and loved it even though he didn't know where Las Palmas was. "Tiki-taka," he called it. Who were this daring team in yellow playing like this?

"Why join Las Palmas?" Boateng was asked this week. "Why not?" he replied. The former Milan midfielder has scored twice this season; he is enjoying this. They all are. Everyone is. Nine goals already this season, four against Valencia, five against Granada, and the leadership. Tomorrow they go to the Sánchez Pizjuán to face Sevilla, where there were ten goals on the opening weekend. This should be fun; football should be fun.

Setien says so.

"A lot of the time I would rather play chess than watch football," he said once. A lot of the time, perhaps, but not always. Not any more. And not when his team is playing.

http://www.espnfc.com/spanish-primera-d ... ng-la-liga

[michaelscottudlp]

Meet Las Palmas, the tiny team making waves and capturing hearts in Spain

They never dreamed of this, and their manager never really dreamed at all. Have a look at the league table, just as they have had a look daily -- hourly, even -- for the last fortnight as if scared that it might have changed, determined to enjoy every moment of this. You'll see what they see. The best team in Spain right now, the team at the top of the league, isn't FC Barcelona or Real Madrid. It's Unión Deportiva Las Palmas.

Las Palmas haven't been there for 38 years. Until last season, they hadn't even been in the first division for 14 years and eight weeks into the 2015-16 campaign, they sacked their manager. The team lay second from the bottom, and the truth is that many thought it unfair and, frankly, pretty pointless. After all, Paco Herrera had brought them back up, more than a decade later and there wasn't much more he could do. They wouldn't be any better under a different manager.

Actually, it turned out that they would. They won just four of their first 17 games last year but slowly, things would change. Under Quique Setien, they lost just four of their last 13 and three of those came when their season was as good as over, safety secured. They lost just 2-1 to Barcelona and 2-1 to Madrid, actually unfortunate not to overcome both. Now, momentarily at least, they have: Spain's big two sit beneath them this weekend.

It's only Week 3 of the campaign, sure. And it won't last; everyone knows that. But still: 38 years. Thirty-eight. And this isn't purely a fluke; last season shows that. The football they have played so far this season shows it too: two wins out of two, nine goals scored, no scraped victories, no lucky wins. Last season it took until December for them to score as many; this time, they managed it before the end of August. No one dreamed of this. And no, Quique Setien didn't dream at all.

That's what he says, anyway. Setien was a talented footballer, smooth and technically gifted. He says he would have cut off a finger to have played with Johan Cruyff's Barcelona "Dream Team." Setien went to the 1986 World Cup with Spain without getting a game. But he also says he was a bit different and when it comes to management, he didn't really have any ambition. He was a player. He liked playing. And that, it seemed, was pretty much that.

When Setien took over at Las Palmas last season, he was making his first division debut as a coach... at the age of 58. In part because he had been overlooked, yes, but in part because he had never chased it either. "My ego had been satisfied by playing," he said. At the end of his career, he played beach football (he was a Spanish international for seven years), and when he did take over as coach at Racing Santander, his hometown team, he said it was "circumstantial." He had not so much as coached a youth team game before.

Spells followed at Poli Ejido, Logrones (where he went unpaid for seven months) and Lugo. He took Lugo up. Oh, and he had a couple of 10-day periods in charge of Equatorial Guinea, an experience he describes as absolutely unimportant in his life but one from which he learnt.

Setien once admitted that he doesn't live to coach; rather, he coaches to live. It was a job, and he needed the money; he wasn't driven by the competition or the ambition, exactly. Or so he said. "I like to be happy, comfortable," he admitted. It was just a pity that meant that he tended not to see things quite the way that directors do. Directors, he would add, that know nothing about football. Well, quite.

It feels different now. Las Palmas is very much his team; this is what the Spanish describe as an "author's team," one where it's clear who is behind it. Right from the start, he thought (or perhaps hoped) that it might be. This was his kind of place, his kind of club. "The kind of place where they understand me, and that's not easy," he said. Setien is "stubborn," his assistant coach Eder Sarabia adds -- "He may not look like it, but he is a perfectionist."

He's something of an idealist too. He says his approach to football is non-negotiable, and he laments that youth development has taken the fun out of the game. He talks about football as something lúdico -- about enjoyment. Kids are taught to move, to position themselves, when to pressure and when to cover, but he says, "no one lets them dribble any more." They're on the pitch, alright, but are they actually playing? "They can be there for half an hour and not touch the ball."

There's a contradiction here: as coach, he has his team playing quick, incisive, athletic football. There's idealism, but there is realism too: he admitted that he loved watching Juan Carlos Valerón play, claiming he was a footballer so good as to bring tears to his eyes, but he also admitted that he couldn't always play him. "Football has become very hard; you have to run a lot," he said.

For all the contradictions, those principles do come through. And Las Palmas does feel like the right place for Setien. It is partly a cliché, of course, but the Canary Islands have often been seen as Spain's Brazil: a three-hour flight from the peninsula, west of Africa, hot and sandy, a place where football is played with technique and flair, a sense of adventure and fun. Setien's Las Palmas do that; few teams are as enjoyable to watch.

Spain's league leaders are a team that robs possession and runs but does so with pace and precision, not just a hoof up the pitch. When they defend, they do so to attack. They're a team where the full-backs push and the midfield breaks beyond the striker, where the ball is moved quickly, with one touch, and is treated well. If they lose it trying to make the right pass, there is no reproach, just encouragement to try it again.

Setien is a keen chess player who even played against grand masters Garry Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov (or so the story goes) and believes that chess helps him understand football. The centre is the key, the collective functioning; improvisation, yes, but mechanism too. All of it through the ball. They have scored nine times from 11 shots on target this season but not because they are unusually effective and certainly not because they are lucky. Rather, it's because the chances they create are so clear, having expertly sliced their opponents open.

It was happening last season; now they look even better. Las Palmas have kept Roque Mesa, despite the pursuit of Sevilla -- he won the ball back more times than any other player last season -- and have seen Jonathan Viera pull on Valerón's shirt and play the football of his career. They also signed Kevin-Prince Boateng this summer. He admits that he watched them last season against Madrid and loved it even though he didn't know where Las Palmas was. "Tiki-taka," he called it. Who were this daring team in yellow playing like this?

"Why join Las Palmas?" Boateng was asked this week. "Why not?" he replied. The former Milan midfielder has scored twice this season; he is enjoying this. They all are. Everyone is. Nine goals already this season, four against Valencia, five against Granada, and the leadership. Tomorrow they go to the Sánchez Pizjuán to face Sevilla, where there were ten goals on the opening weekend. This should be fun; football should be fun.

Setien says so.

"A lot of the time I would rather play chess than watch football," he said once. A lot of the time, perhaps, but not always. Not any more. And not when his team is playing.

http://www.espnfc.com/spanish-primera-d ... ng-la-liga

Thanks mate.

Lo voy a traducir con el traductor ya que es largo para hacerlo manual.

Nunca se imaginaron a esto, y su manager realmente nunca pensaron en absoluto. Echar un vistazo a la tabla de clasificación, al igual que han tenido una mirada al día - por hora, incluso - de los últimos quince días, como si miedo de que podría haber cambiado, decidido a disfrutar de cada momento de esto. Vas a ver lo que ven. El mejor equipo de España en este momento, el equipo en la parte superior de la liga, no es el FC Barcelona o el Real Madrid. Es Unión Deportiva Las Palmas.

Las Palmas no ha estado allí durante 38 años. Hasta la temporada pasada, ni siquiera habían estado en la primera división durante 14 años y ocho semanas en la campaña 2015-16, saquearon su manager. El equipo quedó segundo desde la parte inferior, y la verdad es que muchos pensaron que era injusto y, francamente, bastante inútil. Después de todo, Paco Herrera les había traído una copia de seguridad, más de una década más tarde y no había mucho más que pudiera hacer. No estarían mejor bajo un controlador diferente.

En realidad, resultó que lo harían. Ellos ganaron sólo cuatro de sus primeros 17 partidos el año pasado, pero poco a poco, las cosas cambiarían. Bajo Quique Setién, perdieron sólo cuatro de sus últimos 13 y tres de ellos se produjo cuando su temporada fue tan buena como la otra vez, asegura la seguridad. Perdieron apenas 2-1 a Barcelona y 2-1 al Madrid, de hecho desafortunado de no superar los dos. Ahora, al menos momentáneamente, tienen: dos grandes plantón de España por debajo de ellos este fin de semana.

Es sólo la semana 3 de la campaña, seguro. Y no va a durar; todos saben eso. Pero aún así: 38 años. Treinta y ocho. Y esto no es una mera casualidad; la temporada pasada muestra que. El fútbol que han jugado hasta ahora esta temporada muestra también: dos victorias en dos partidos, nueve goles marcados, sin victorias, ninguna victoria afortunados raspado. La temporada pasada hubo que esperar hasta diciembre para ellos para conseguir el mayor número; esta vez, se las arreglaron antes de finales de agosto. Nadie soñaba con esto. Y no, Quique Setién no soñó en absoluto.

Eso es lo que dice, de todos modos. Setien fue un futbolista con talento, suave y bien dotado técnicamente. Dice que hubiera cortado un dedo de haber jugado con el Barcelona de Johan Cruyff "Dream Team". Setien fue a la Copa Mundial de 1986 con España sin conseguir un juego. Pero también dice que él era un poco diferente y cuando se trata de la gestión, que en realidad no tienen ninguna ambición. Fue un jugador. A él le gustaba jugar. Y que, al parecer, era más o menos eso.

Cuando Setien se hizo cargo en Las Palmas la temporada pasada, que estaba haciendo su primer debut en la división como entrenador ... a la edad de 58. En parte debido a que había sido pasado por alto, sí, pero en parte porque nunca había perseguido a él tampoco. "Mi ego había sido satisfecha por jugar", dijo. Al final de su carrera, jugó al fútbol playa (que era un internacional español durante siete años), y cuando lo hizo tomar el cargo de entrenador en el Racing de Santander, equipo de su ciudad, dijo que era "circunstancial". Tenía no tanto como entrenado a un juego del equipo juvenil antes.

Hechizos siguieron al Poli Ejido, Logroñés (donde se fue sin pagar durante siete meses) y Lugo. Tomó hasta Lugo. Ah, y que tenía un par de períodos de 10 días a cargo de Guinea Ecuatorial, una experiencia que él describe como absolutamente sin importancia en su vida, pero uno de los que aprendió.

Setien vez admitió que él no vive con el entrenador; más bien, los entrenadores para vivir. Fue un trabajo, y necesitaba el dinero; no fue impulsado por la competencia o la ambición, exactamente. O eso dijo. "Me gusta ser feliz, cómodo", admitió. Fue una pena que significaba que tendía a no ver las cosas bastante la forma en que los directores hacen. Administración, que se sumarían, que no saben nada de fútbol. Bueno, bastante.

Se siente diferente ahora. Las Palmas es en gran medida su equipo; esto es lo que el español describe como "el equipo del autor," uno donde está claro quién está detrás de él. Desde el principio, pensó (o tal vez esperaba) que podría ser. Esta era su tipo de lugar, su tipo de club. "El tipo de lugar donde me entienden, y eso no es fácil", dijo. Setien es "terca", su segundo entrenador Eder Sarabia agrega - "Puede que no lo parezca, pero él es un perfeccionista."

Es algo así como un idealista también. Dice que su enfoque para el fútbol no es negociable, y se lamenta de que el desarrollo juvenil ha tomado la diversión del juego. Él habla de fútbol como algo lúdico - sobre el disfrute. Los niños se les enseña a moverse, a posicionarse, cuando a la presión y cuándo debe cubrir, pero dice, "nadie les permite driblen más." Están en el terreno de juego, está bien, pero que en realidad están jugando? "Pueden estar allí durante media hora y no tocar la pelota."

Hay aquí una contradicción: como entrenador, que tiene su equipo de fútbol que juega rápido, incisivo, deportivo. Hay idealismo, pero no es demasiado realismo: admitió que le gustaba ver jugar a Juan Carlos Valerón, afirmando que era un futbolista tan bueno como para traer lágrimas a sus ojos, pero también admitió que no podía jugar con él siempre. "El fútbol se ha vuelto muy difícil, hay que correr mucho", dijo.

Para todas las contradicciones, estos principios no vienen a través. Y Las Palmas se siente como el lugar adecuado para Setien. En parte, es un cliché, por supuesto, pero las Islas Canarias han sido a menudo visto como de España Brasil: un vuelo de tres horas desde la península, al oeste de África, caliente y de arena, un lugar donde el fútbol se juega con técnica y estilo, una sentido de la aventura y la diversión. Setien Las Palmas de hacer eso; pocos equipos son tan agradable de ver.

líderes de la liga de España son un equipo que roba la posesión y corre pero lo hace con ritmo y precisión, no sólo un enganche hasta el terreno de juego. Cuando defienden, lo hacen a los ataques. Son un equipo en el que los laterales empujan y se rompe el centro del campo más allá del delantero, donde la bola se mueve rápidamente, con un solo toque, y es bien tratado. Si la pierden tratando de hacer el pase correcto, no hay reproche, solo estímulo para intentarlo de nuevo.

Setien es un entusiasta jugador de ajedrez que incluso jugó contra grandes maestros Garry Kasparov y Anatoly Karpov (o eso dice la historia) y cree que el ajedrez ayuda a entender el fútbol. El centro es la clave, el funcionamiento colectivo; improvisación, sí, pero el mecanismo también. Todo ello a través de la pelota. Ellos han anotado nueve veces de 11 disparos a puerta en esta temporada, pero no porque son inusualmente eficaces y ciertamente no porque tienen suerte. Más bien, es porque las posibilidades que crean son tan claros, habiendo experta en rodajas abierto sus oponentes.

Estaba pasando la temporada pasada; Ahora se ven incluso mejor. Las Palmas han mantenido Roque Mesa, a pesar de la persecución de Sevilla - ganó la pelota más veces que cualquier otro jugador de la temporada pasada - y han visto Jonathan Viera tirar de la camisa de Valerón y juega al fútbol de su carrera. También firmaron Kevin-Prince Boateng este verano. Admite que los observaba la temporada pasada contra el Madrid y encantó a pesar de que no sabía dónde estaba Las Palmas. "Tiki-taka", lo llamó. Que eran este equipo atrevido en color amarillo de juego como este?

"¿Por qué unirse a Las Palmas?" Boateng se le preguntó esta semana. "¿Por qué no?" respondió. El ex centrocampista del Milan ha marcado dos goles en esta temporada; que está disfrutando esto. Todos son. Todo el mundo es. Nueve goles esta temporada, cuatro ante el Valencia, cinco en contra Granada, y el liderazgo. Mañana van al Sánchez Pizjuán para hacer frente a Sevilla, donde había diez goles en el primer fin de semana. Esto debe ser divertido; el fútbol debe ser divertido.

Setien lo dice.

"Una gran parte del tiempo yo preferiría jugar al ajedrez de ver el fútbol", dijo una vez. Una gran parte del tiempo, tal vez, pero no siempre. Ya no. Y no cuando su equipo está jugando.

[soto y fernandez]

Gracias a Drygon por traerlo y a Scott por la traducciòn.Saludos.

[Heraklitos]

Thanks michaelscottudlp.

In fact, we have a thread just for foreign articles talking about our UDLP. Its name's Orgullo del Pueblo Canario ("Pride of the Canaries' People") and we try not to repeat themes in this forum.

But I see your point, so you could try to translate here all of them just changing the tittle for more appropriate one.
It will be happily received and sure people express their gratitude for that.

I could help as much as I can.

[osky]

Amigo, estas de enhorabuena:

http://www.udlaspalmas.es/noticias/noti ... s-y-aleman

https://twitter.com/UDLP_english

Seguimos creciendo.

[salmor]

Mi inglés va mejorando, entendí tan mal la traducción como cuando lo estaba leyendo en inglés i like the idea.