The Interview: Hernán Losada
The Interview: Hernán Losada
The D.C. United Coach on His Influences and Philosophy, His Team's Off-season Conditioning Program, Michael Estrada, Edison Flores, Prominent Girlfriend Evelina Cabrera (Also a Coach) and Much More
Here’s the headliner audio clip from my interview with D.C. United coach Hernán Losada:
The entirety of the written interview below is reserved for paid subscribers. As always, you can still get the entire free audio versions of my podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you like to go for your pods.
Grant Wahl:
Our guest now is Hernán Losada, the second-year coach of D.C. United. Hernán, it's great to see you. Thanks so much for coming on the show.
Hernán Losada:
Hey, Grant, how are you? Thank you for inviting me and to have this opportunity to have a good chat with you.
Grant Wahl:
Fantastic. Really appreciate it. You're out in California right now, in Palm Springs, for preseason training. Could you tell me how it's going so far?
Hernán Losada:
Great. Great weather, great infrastructure, hotel, food. So everything that you need to practice the way I like to practice, the way we are trying to implement already since last year. So, perfect facilities.
And this is actually our second camp. We have been already one week in Florida training at Inter Miami facilities. And it is the last part of preseason, where we are planning to play three friendly games [Thursday] against New York Red Bulls. Then next Tuesday against LAFC. And we end up during the weekend against LA Galaxy.
Grant Wahl:
When you say you talk about the way you like to train in the preseason, what does that mean?
Hernán Losada:
It means train the way we play, or the way we want to play. And that's with a lot of energy, with a lot of intensity, trying to entertain the fans and our supporters. So you always try to reproduce whatever you're asking your players to do on the field, to also do during the week and during the sessions. And I believe that you play the same way you train. And in order to do that, well, you need to adapt and to try to replicate whatever you're going to ask your players to do during the game, to do it also during the week.
Grant Wahl:
I've been reading that your players' fitness is extremely important to you at the start of the season. What did you have your players do in the last few months to make sure they were ready and fit to start this season?
Hernán Losada:
Yeah, they got an off-season program. They also got each player an individual watch, where you can record your sessions, where you can control your heart rate. So our performance coaches were also controlling what the players were doing, depending on the individual needs, and also depending on all the issues some of our players had last season.
They also got individual programs to try to prevent injuries. And I think that off-season and preseason is the ideal moment to train in a different way, in a more individual way, to make sure that during the season you are in top condition to survive a long season like it is in MLS.
Fútbol with Grant Wahl is a reader-supported soccer newsletter. You can sign up (free or paid) to get my posts in your inbox. Quality journalism requires resources. The best way to support my work is by taking out a paid subscription.
Grant Wahl:
Did your players arrive to preseason fit the way you wanted them to after their offseason training stuff?
Hernán Losada:
Yeah, definitely. They are doing a great job. You could see the difference straight away compared with last year, where obviously coming from a COVID year and such a long break, I think it was from October until March, it was probably the longest break they ever had.
And it was kind of normal to see them come back in not the best conditions. And now they already know what to expect. They already know the intensity, the style of play we try to introduce, and we are a lot of meters further than last year.
Grant Wahl:
Last season your team ended up missing the playoffs by just one point. How do you view the way last season went for you and the team?
Hernán Losada on forward Michael Estrada, D.C.’s new loan signee: “It's a little bit of a profile that we didn't have in our roster. He's athletic, he has power. He's a target nine, but he can also be someone with a lot of dynamic. So he has been starting most of the games for Ecuador’s [World Cup] qualifying team. They are third in South America. And unfortunately, for different reasons, he didn't get the minutes he was expecting in Toluca. And that's why we took that opportunity, and we hope he can perform the way we expect.”
Hernán Losada:
Well, It's been a season with ups and downs, where unfortunately we ran a little bit out of gas in the last month, month and a half. I think it was a great year, to be honest with you. It was my first season in MLS, and you know how difficult it is to try to change a lot of things, to try to implement a new culture in a team that has been working the same way with the same coach for 10 years in a row.
So someone new, new for the league, a lot of new rules, a new culture, but I think that we all adapted pretty quick. You could see the way we wanted to play. And the fans started to have a link with our style of play. And most of our games were enjoyable to watch.
The most important things are the results. And that's what counts at the end of the road. But missing the playoffs by only one point, knowing from where we are coming, it was a great experience. And now we want, of course, to go even further and to achieve what we have been missing by only one point in 2022.
Grant Wahl:
What did you learn about Major League Soccer in your first season that's different from other leagues and other countries?
Hernán Losada:
Well, you have a lot of different stuff that plays an important role, like traveling a lot of distance to play on the road, playing through the summer, something that is also completely different with Europe, for example, when you play through the winter basically, and when the good weather starts then comes a break and season is over. It is the opposite.
So you need to be flexible. You need to be capable to adapt yourself to different circumstances. And I think that's the beauty of MLS. Also knowing that in a lot of different leagues, like for example, from Belgium, where I'm coming from, the league has a style of play. 80, 90% of the teams play a little bit similar. It's a defensive league. Structure is the key, a very physical league.
Here in MLS, you have a team from Philadelphia playing a little bit counterattack, a team from New York, like New York City, playing possession based soccer. A team like New York Red Bulls playing pressing style. So you have many different styles of plays in the same league. And that's amazing. And it makes my job more difficult, but it's also more beautiful.
Grant Wahl:
No, I totally agree with you on that. Your club just signed an Ecuadorian forward, Michael Estrada. What can you tell me about him and what he brings to your team?
Hernán Losada:
Yeah, he's coming on loan from Toluca. It's a little bit of a profile that we didn't have in our roster. He's athletic, he has power. He's a target nine, but he can also be someone with a lot of dynamic. So he has been starting most of the games for Ecuador’s qualifying team. They are third in South America. And unfortunately, for different reasons, he didn't get the minutes he was expecting in Toluca. And that's why we took that opportunity, and we hope he can perform the way we expect.
Grant Wahl:
Another player that's doing well in World Cup qualifying is Edison Flores, and he had two big goals recently for Peru in qualifying. But he's yet to produce on a consistent level for D.C. United. How can you get more out of Edison Flores this season?
Hernán Losada:
We all know the qualities of Edison. He's an important piece for us. Again, many different reasons maybe lead to those too last season, where he was a little bit unlucky with different episodes, injuries, COVID, a fracture in his face. I mean, many different things happened to avoid Eddie to have to be consistent in his performances. And he knows, and we know this is a very important year, especially for all the players involved in the World Cup with chances to be involved in the World Cup at the end of the year.
So you can't have bigger than that. And in order to have a good workup in order to qualify with Peru, he needs to have a solid year with us. And that means to stay fit, to eat well, to rest well. And when Edi’s in a good place, I'm sure Edi will have a great year. So we all hope that Edi can extend those two great performances with the Peruvian national team the rest of the season with us.
Grant Wahl:
You're originally from Argentina, which happens to be my adopted country. I've spent a lot of time in Argentina. Who are your biggest influences from Argentina on how you view the sport of football?
Hernán Losada:
Well, you mean as a coach, or as a player?
Grant Wahl:
Both.
Hernán Losada:
Coaches from Argentina are [Diego] Simeone from Atlético Madrid and [Marcelo] Bielsa from Leeds United. Those two coaches for me had a lot of different, important values. Simeone brings a never-give-up mentality and always works trying to do more, not 100%, but 110%.
Bielsa playing that dynamic football that we all like, offensive teams playing always to win, pressing high. So I think those are two big examples of some of the values that I want to bring to my team.
Grant Wahl:
Any particular players that have influenced your view of the sport a lot from Argentina?
Hernán Losada:
Well, when I was young, I was always looking to creative players. When I was a football player, I was playing most of the time as a number 10, offensive midfielder. And I always looked to players like [Juan Román] Riquelme, [Javier] Saviola, [Esteban] Cambiasso, that generation, [Gabriel] Batistuta, offensive players not only with soccer qualities, but also with big personalities.
You could tell when they were on the field that they were really transmitting a lot of energy and leading the rest of the pack, leading the rest of the team. And that was something that I was always impressed with, of those number 10s, captains, really being an example for the team and in difficult moments for the team. So they were kind of my special players when I was young.
Grant Wahl:
So you moved your life to Washington, D.C., from Europe, where you had been in the last few years, mostly in Belgium. What is living in Washington, D.C. like for you?
Hernán Losada:
Great. Great. Great city to live. I love the weather. I love the people. They treat me really excellent, all the people here at D.C. United. I have to say a lot of differences with Belgium. I lived there many years, another culture, another language, another mentality. So at the beginning, it wasn't easy. But I have to say now, after a year, I'm fully adapted.
I really like to be here. I'm learning a lot. I never stop learning, and I have a fantastic position that I really love to do. I love my job, and I love to live in Washington. So I hope I can stay here for many years. And of course, I hope I can achieve our goals. And that's to win championships and to be again in the spotlight for D.C. United.
Grant Wahl:
I wanted to ask you a question about a friend of mine who is also a coach from Argentina and her name is Evelina Cabrera. I interviewed her a few years ago about her work building women's football in Argentina when I was visiting there for a story. And a few months ago, on her Instagram, she posted a photograph of her and her new boyfriend. And I was like, "Hey, that's the D.C. United coach, Hernán Losada."
Could you tell me the story of how you met her and started dating her? She's the most prominent women's coach from Argentina.
Hernán Losada:
Yes, she's awesome. And to have a relationship with such a beautiful and smart woman like her, we met in September last year. She came for an organization where she worked. She was an ambassador of sports, and she needed to be in Washington for a meeting.
And well, my assistant invited her to visit the club, to visit the stadium, because they had a friend in common. And that's how we started to be in contact. And well, until today, we are living together and in a very beautiful relationship, so that's the way it was.
Grant Wahl:
I'm very happy for both of you. She has written books about her role in women's football. And I know she was coaching at Pachuca. Right? In Mexico for a little while. So I hope she ends up coaching in the U.S. if that's what she wants to do.
Hernán Losada:
Yeah. Yeah. She's looking for, and she really would like to be again involved in a club. And she's learning English right now, and she's having constantly options and propositions from all over the world. She's a very busy woman.
She's now writing her third book about women's leadership. I think it is coming out in April. She's constantly doing things and is full of energy. And it's very nice to be together with a person like that.
Grant Wahl:
Well, please say hello to her for me.
Hernán Losada:
I will.
Grant Wahl:
My last question for you would be, what are your objectives with D.C. United this season? What are you hoping to achieve?
Hernán Losada:
Look, I have to be honest with you, even if it's not realistic. I always play and I always work to be champion. And if I don't believe that, my players won't believe that. And we have to set the biggest and most beautiful goal ever, the biggest goal that we can. We have to train and wake up every day, believing we can make that true.
And I believe we have a beautiful group, not only on the field, but also outside the field. And my dream is to become champions of the MLS. And I'm working very hard for that. And my players are working very hard for that. Is that a realistic goal for this year? I don't know, but we will try it.
And so we can look at each other at the end of the season, and we can say we gave it all, and we did absolutely everything that was in our hands. And we can look in our faces and also in the mirror and be confident with everything tha we gave during this season. So that's the goal. That's the goal. And we know to achieve that, we need to qualify for the playoffs. So we will try. We will try our best to reach the maximum possible for this year.
Grant Wahl:
Hernán Losada is the coach of D.C. United. Hernán, good luck this season. Thank you for coming on the show.
Hernán Losada:
Thank you. Thank you. Thanks for the time. And well, I hope to see you soon. Maybe coming to Washington, or when we are going to New York, we can see you in person.