Garrido outlines Villarreal masterplan

In February, Juan Carlos Garrido ended an 11-year spell in the Villarreal CF youth setup when he replaced Ernesto Valverde as coach of the 2006 UEFA Champions League semi-finalists. Since then, the 41-year-old has steered the Yellow Submarine into sixth place in the Liga and revived hopes of qualifying for Europe once again. Shortly after reaching an agreement to take charge of the team for the 2010/11 campaign, Garrido spoke to UEFA.com and explained that he was looking forward to continuing the club's philosophy on and off the pitch.

UEFA.com: What does your contract renewal mean for Villarreal CF?

Juan Carlos Garrido: It transmits a sense of stability at the club. We are working well on the day-to-day aspects; training hard and improving the style of our game. When it comes to playing we're following the values that this club was founded on some time ago.

UEFA.com: Injuries have not helped Villarreal's cause this season with the likes of Santi Cazorla and Marcos Senna being sidelined at some point. Do you think this led to the team not performing to the same level as in recent years?

Garrido: You have to expect these types of problems and so having a good squad with adequate replacements is essential. Villarreal have been able to overcome obstacles such as injuries without much difficulty in the past.

UEFA.com: You have promoted a lot of players from the youth team recently; do you think that is where future success for Villarreal lies?

Garrido: Without a doubt, yes. The youth setup at Villarreal is one that has been working very well for the last ten years and it has shown perhaps the most growth in Europe in terms of players produced. Our system has given Villarreal and other teams in Liga a lot of talent.

UEFA.com: Do you see a current youth-team product who will play an important role for the club in the future?

Garrido: Players like [19-year-old Argentinian defender] Mateo Musacchio or [striker] Marco Ruben are already playing with us in the first team. [Midfielder] Bruno Soriano has turned out to be a vital member of the squad and he started out in the youth setup here. The club is following its philosophy of promoting players from the youth team and so it makes more sense that the trainer himself comes from that background.

UEFA.com: It is taken that the objective for Villarreal is to be in Europe next season. Having climbed to sixth in the table would it be deemed a catastrophe if you did not achieve that?

Garrido: We're not going to get into that at the moment. We'll train as hard as we can, fight in every game and then see where we are at the end of the season.