Jordi, how would you describe your work to someone who is completely new to the world of football?
"Well, my work is to work daily with the players to improve their fitness every day and throughout the year, to improve the results every Sunday and every match. My job is to oversee all departments around the player, their nutrition, technology, training methodology. That is the idea.
"The club contracted me two years ago because they wanted to change the methodology and the philosophy. They wanted to create a new culture in the club. I have worked for 30 years in this profession and the owners knew me because I worked with them at Watford in the Premier League. They told me, 'Jordi, we want to change.'"
What was this change? What was the idea behind it?
"It was a change in the daily culture. The culture of the player and the training in the gym. They like my methods of working with players. I work very hard every day and my mentality is a little different from other fitness coaches because I believe purely in individual work for individual players. It is a method for the individual, not for the group.
"I create a specific method and programme for every player to improve them. I think football has changed in recent years. In my humble opinion, clubs often don't work enough on the individual condition of the player. Because of that, many players work at home or research and hire personal fitness coaches themselves. In my opinion, that mistake belongs to the clubs, not the players.
"I actually created a company two or three years ago and worked with 25 players around the world, and I was surprised by what they were doing in their clubs. I understood why the players called a personal coach. In many clubs, the methodology is purely tactical. They play many matches during the week and they don't think about what every player needs for their fitness. It is simpler to just do team training."
Udinese are well known for not just adapting to a new trend, but rather being a pioneer. Tell me about the technology you use...
"For example, over the last two years, we have been creating our own platform where we put all the data from all departments. You can have a lot of numbers, but the key is: what are the most important numbers for taking a decision?
"We use technology in the gym and outside. When players arrive, we use it to control fatigue from the night. In the gym, all machines use encoders to control the power of every exercise. On the field, we use GPS and we use the Catapult system to monitor the training in real-time. We work a lot with numbers: the number of sprints, the meters of high intensity. The owners like this methodology. It is a combination of experience, method, and technology all together.
"The players understand that when they finish here in a few years, they will have improved a lot for their careers. Also, because of the multi-club philosophy with Watford, the methodology is the same in both performance departments. This is important because when a player moves between Watford and Udinese, they continue with the same execution and education, they already know the system.
"My goal is to improve the player. I know if I improve the player, the results will come generally. I’m not just thinking about winning on Sunday; I’m thinking about the medium-term improvement."
What's the biggest stereotype you've had to fight (about your field) in the last few years?
"The philosophy of clubs is different, that is what needs to be understood. They have different goals and needs. When you work at big clubs like Real Madrid or Atletico Madrid, the most important thing is to win on Sunday. You have to win every three days. The players who arrive there are already the top players in the world; it’s not about 'building' the player."
So your main goal at clubs like Real Madrid is just to prepare the players on a short-term basis?
"Yeah, to get the maximal performance. But it’s different because there, the goal is to recover the player for the next match in three days. It is individual work, but it’s different from here.
"In Udine, I work individually to improve the player over the next two or three months. We have young players arriving from Colombia or elsewhere, and I need to improve their strength and aerobic capacity over time.
"In Real Madrid, I had players like (Fabio) Cannavaro or (Arjen) Robben and the most important thing was to win and ensure they had no injuries while reaching maximal performance to enter the Champions League. Nothing more."
You are so experienced and have been part of so many world-renowned clubs. Is there a player who was a physical beast, someone it was a joy to work with in training?
"I have been lucky to work with top players, and every player needs a different key to improve. In my opinion, Robben's speed was incredible - those first two or three steps. Something unique.
"Cannavaro had incredible strength and power in his legs. Diego Forlan had an amazing capacity for sprinting. I also worked with Iker Casillas and David de Gea. De Gea's first professional matches were with me at Atletico Madrid when he was the third goalkeeper at 18.
"I remember Forlan and Kun Aguero saying it was impossible to score a goal against De Gea in training. They were shocked by this 18-year-old player. These players have a genetic capacity and potential to be at the top, but their mentality is also different; they want to improve a lot."
You mentioned genetics. Is it possible to reach the top level without a good genetic background?
"It’s difficult. With all honesty. Fate must be kind to you in this regard. You need a minimal genetic base to arrive at the top level. You can play at a high level by working very hard, but you need a minimal capacity for fast thinking, technical quality, and passing.
"In my opinion, the top, top players are a combination of genetics and hard work. Nowadays, you play every three days. If you don't have good recovery and fitness every 24 hours, it's impossible to be able to do that. When players are young, they just train and play. But when they arrive near 30, 31, or 32 years old, that is the key: can I do four or five years more, or do I stop?
"You have to change the mentality. For example, weight is very important. After age 30, you need to reduce your weight to maintain explosiveness and speed. You need to increase the conditional work without the ball - more strength, more running - to maintain your career."
Are there moments where you feel that your work was extremely helpful to the team's success?
"Florian Thauvin last season, and also Kun Aguero. When I arrived at Atletico Madrid in 2009/2010, Aguero wasn't playing for the national team. I had a meeting with him and his agent, and I told him, 'Kun, you have incredible genetic power, but you need to structure your life.'
"I put a physiotherapist in his home and told him he could be the best in the world if he changed. He used to drink Coca-Cola and eat junk food. He changed, had an incredible season with 25 goals, and went to Manchester City that summer.
"You can change a lot with the very young or the very old players if you convince them. You tell them, 'You can play five years more, but you need to do this.' When they see the results, they are very happy.
"I also worked with the already mentioned Cannavaro at Real Madrid when he was 35. The first year was great, we won the league. But by the second year, he told me, 'Jordi, I am switching off.' He was exhausted mentally because he had been playing every three days since he was 16 - national teams, World Cups, everything. His body and mind just wouldn't allow it anymore."
That brings me to the topic of games. Is it possible to further increase the number of fixtures per season?
"In my opinion, we play a similar number of matches as before. I remember doing 72 matches with Atletico in 2010. What has changed drastically is the intensity. The amount of high-intensity running and sprinting has changed; the velocity of the ball has increased. Because of that change in intensity, you need more recovery between matches.
"The key is also for players to create a period during the day to disconnect. Not every player needs the same days off. For example, when Alex Ferguson worked with Cristiano Ronaldo at Manchester United, he would sometimes give his three or four most important players two or three extra days off.
"Here, a player like Jesper Karlstrom plays every minute. He might need two days off just to disconnect mentally, to be able to close his mind from it and just relax."
Jordi, thank you very much for your time and for this interview.
"Thank you."