Aston Villa’s President of Football Operations, Roberto Olabe, has given his first interview since taking on the role, and he covered some important topics related to the club.
It’s been just over a month since the 58-year-old was appointed as Monchi’s successor, with uncertainty surrounding the Spaniard’s departure coinciding with a downturn in form on the pitch to start the season.
Villa moved swiftly to appoint his replacement while results have since improved, and with Olabe having experience of working with Unai Emery in the past, he has also gained recognition and respect within the game for the work that he did at Real Sociedad in particular.
Speaking to VillaTV, Olabe covered many bases having been busy settling in over the past couple of months, and there is no doubt that he’s been hard at work getting to know the club and his colleagues to ensure that he can help add to the success at the club.
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While the full video and transcript can be seen in the link above, there were arguably five key points from the interview, starting with the fact that Olabe echoed a lot of what Francesco Calvo said after he was appointed as our President of Business Operations over the summer.
The pair have emphasised their focus being on learning about the club, environment, people and supporters to form a solid foundation on which they can operate, and so Olabe will hopefully be fully aware of what is expected of him, what resources he has at his disposal and what the club’s strategy looks like moving forward.
The Villa chief noted that the club itself, the opportunity to work in the Premier League and the appeal of this specific project were all key factors in his decision to join us and take on the role, and so it’s hoped that he can make a positive contribution to the process that started after Emery’s arrival.
Naturally, he’s had conversations with the Villa boss as well as the club’s owners, and he made a point of the balance in those respective discussions, in terms of providing Emery with what he needs to succeed now, but also having the long-term plan of the owners in mind to build sustained progress and success.
With the January transfer window fast approaching, Olabe acknowledged that although the club are happy with how the current squad is competing, if there are opportunities in the window to improve the group, the club will act and bring in reinforcements, and so we’ll possibly get an early indication of his influence in identifying talent and those that fit Emery’s squad most effectively to add to what we already have.
Perhaps most important of all though, he went on to discuss the Academy and the process of developing players, something that he has positively contributed towards in his previous jobs, and perhaps is a critical part of why he has been hired by Villa as we look to build a squad capable of competing at the top level both in the more immediate and long-term future.
“I believe absolutely in the identification of talent process,” Olabe said. “I believe a lot in (developing) process, programmes, a lot to generate the idea that each single player is a project because you know in this game that is collective, sometimes we have the view in the collective success and really, the success, finally, will be each player that arrives to the first team. That’s why identification for me is very important, but development for me is the most hard problem that always I have in front.”