Watford head coach Javi Gracia has promised his Arsenal neighbour Unai Emery he will not be spying on his training sessions like Marcelo Bielsa.
Leeds United boss Bielsa has been the talk of English football this week after he confessed he has sent members of his staff to watch all of his side’s Championship opponents train this season.
Given that Watford’s training ground is literally next door to Arsenal’s, in fact it was the north London club’s old base, Gracia would be in a prime position to take a look at what fellow Spaniard Emery is doing during his sessions.
However when asked if he would ever try and sneak a peak at the Gunners squad in training, the 48-year-old replied: “No never, never. I have a good relationship with Unai and we respect each other.
“No, no, we respect them a lot. I would never do it and I have never done it.”
Gracia jokingly added: “There are a lot of cameras and I don’t know where they are pointing.”
Bielsa’s spy antics have divided opinion among those in football, with some claiming action the Football Association should take against the 63-year-old.
Others, such as QPR director of football Les Ferdinand, believe the situation has gained more media coverage than necessary.
“It’s been blown up into something I really don’t understand. I think it’s been blown out of proportion,” Ferdinand told Standard Sport.
Gracia, while admitting he personally would never send staff to watch a club’s training session, is more on the fence with his view of the matter.
“What can I say? I have never done it and I think I will never do it. But in my opinion, I never felt that necessity to do it,” he added.
“I prefer to be focused on my training ground, on my players and this way I think I can do my job better. But I respect the rest of the opinions.
“In this case, I try to control the people who are coming to my training ground because it is my training ground. It is like when you are in your home, it is your home, and then [if you] invite anybody then you have to feel comfortable.
“I prefer to respect all the different opinions, but when I am working in my training ground I like to feel calm with the control of all of the things happening in my training ground.
“I think there will be different opinions and I respect all of them. I only give to you my opinion. The rest of the opinions, all of them, are respectable for me.
“Now I think there are more clubs training in closed sessions. But many years ago there were a lot of clubs that you can see there were open training sessions and everybody could go.”
