He conflict between Manolo Sarabia and Javier Clemente He is one of the best known in the history of Athletic Club. With the legendary coach at the helm, those eighties lions won two Leagues and a Copa del Rey, among other titles, and among the squad, which included a young Luis de la Fuentehighlighted Sarabia, a talented left-footer whose confrontation with Clemente has been revived in the former soccer player’s autobiography.
The Mail has shared some passages from the book Kid, do you want to come to Athletic?in which Sarabia claims to want to “put a stop to the escalation of lies and insults in which Clemente has been practicing for three decades, since For four seasons I was a victim of workplace harassment“said the former forward.
The former player of Athletic has charged against his former coach: “Clemente tried everything against me, to get me transferred, to remove me from the lineups. or provoke me into giving him my departure from the Club on a platter.”
“He tried to antagonize me with my teammates, to fine me or to undermine the support I received from the fans and the media.. He wanted me to respond to his provocations to kick me out, he was looking for an excuse, but he didn’t let me get hammered. I did not swallow his arbitrariness or his abuse of power,” Sarabia categorized.
Javier Clemente’s response
on the chain Basque WaveClemente has not hesitated to enter the fray: “I feel sorry for him, that they say he is a bit stupid, but he is planted. I think that 40 years later He’s lost his nerve, or he’s having fun or I don’t understand it; Nothing happened from that and his colleagues are going to contradict him“.
“Sarabia has accomplished the task of planting a tree, having a child and writing a book because he will be bored, I think it’s fine if he makes money that way but what nonsense he said about what happened. I’m going to buy it to see if it earns a pennynot to read my stuff, even if it’s 4 bullshit,” continued the coach born in Barakaldo.
Regarding Sarabia’s controversial substitution, Clemente is clear about his motivations: “I stopped putting Sarabia on only when he was physically weak, but without him we were third, if he was psychologically bad for 4 years, well, look, We were champions in those years, you still have to push the players to be champions“he explained.