Roberto, former Valladolid goalkeeper: “When there is no clear idea in the club, you feel it in the locker room”

Real Valladolid is about to start again with Diego Cocca. The Argentine coach will coach his first game with La Pucela against Girona on Friday night (9:00 p.m. CEST). However, in the last matches at Nuevo José Zorrilla, fans called for the departure of Brazilian owner Ronaldo Nazario instead of former coach Paulo Pezzolano.

La Pucela currently sit 19th in the table, five points from safety, but beat fellow club Valencia last time out under interim coach Alvaro Rubio. They are looking to stay in La Liga after winning promotion for the second time under Ronaldo.

However, the inconsistency in his approach has frustrated local support, which has had little respite in recent months, despite Ronaldo publicly stating that he was looking to sell the club in the near future. Since the dismissal of Sergio González in 2021, the Pucelanos have had five coaches in the last three years, including Cocca.

Real Valladolid fans shout for Ronaldo, the majority shareholder, to leave the club.pic.twitter.com/H0XM4435ap

— Soccer Spain (@footballespana_) September 14, 2023

Exclusively for Football España, former Valladolid goalkeeper Roberto Jiménez explained that players can be affected by the lack of clarity at the head of a club.

“When you are in a club that follows a very clear project and has a clear idea, that happens to the locker room. It is something that is going well throughout the club. And the same thing happens the other way around. When a club loses, when you don’t feel that it has a clear project, it also reaches the locker room,” he explained.

🗣️ “We are going to work hard to get out of this situation”

🔉 “Competing with teams that have consolidated money in First Division is becoming more and more difficult”

Ronaldo, about the situation of Real Valladolid on the microphone @javivalle17#LALIGAenDAZN ⚽️ pic.twitter.com/2xk0uG65pq

— DAZN Spain (@DAZN_ES) December 13, 2024

Roberto, now a La Liga analyst, played two seasons in Valladolid between 2020 and 2022 before retiring at the age of 36.

“It creates doubts, you are not sure if you are in the right place to grow as a player, and Valladolid has been in that situation for five years. “They have had a decline, then a rise, and then another, which means the project is not in a good place.”