5 - Carles Puyol
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El Flaco
Active member
Puyol's interview with Sport English
How is it to watch your Barcelona play and win from a distance?
They keep showing they are winners, competitors, they still have a lot of hunger, and we saw it last Sunday in Madrid. They have been at a very high level throughout the season with the exception of four games. The Champions League elimination was a pity, but still, the year has been framed.
Do you have butterflies in the stomach watching your old team-mates?
Man, of course. I'd love to be with them, for the better life is like this and you have to acccept whatever comes. Now I'm watching from the other side of the wall.
Are you proud of your accomplishments?
I was very lucky, very. I've done what I liked most, to train and to play. Football was and is my passion and today I have to give thanks to be able to play for Barcelona. I settled for playing for the youth side! That was when my dream came true.
Not a bad career... 21 titles, second most games played for Barca...
But don't forget that in my first five years we didn't win any title.
Why not forget that?
Becuase they were very difficult years, very tough for everyone. Later, when you have the luck to live the next 10 full of success, you take stock of those tough years because it helps you value what you have won much more.
What a change.
We went from not having the option to win to live through a marvelous decade. The most important thing is that we have contributed to changing the mentality of Barcelonismo. We have made it so that even just winning a league seems that it might not be enough. How many have won a treble? How many have won two doubles consecutively? All of this has to be valued. Barcelona's story speaks for itself.
You are an example to thousands of children who admire you. What advice would you give the kids who want to be the next Puyol?
I've lived for and through football 24 hours a day. I've never fooled myself. There are other players with more quality than me, but I've always had more desire than anyone, more passion, more hope, more will to learn. I've lived my profession with so much intensity that now I want to transmit that to the boys we work with and assess.
What do you say to youngsters?
That they have chosen the most marvelous profession that exists, to be a footballer. I've been with players with a lot of talent but not the passion to continue and keep fighting, and when things go wrong they sink or choose another path.
Looking back, what do you see?
That every sacrifice I've made has been worth it and they have paid me back tenfold.
How do you explain Barcelona's dominance?
Johan Cruyff had the idea of playing football very well, however much it demands. His philosophy has lit up all of this path. He's given us an indelible legend. He's responsible for all these successes.
You played with Ronaldinho. What did he bring?
He arrived at a terrible moment in Barcelona's history. We were all down and he helped return the smile to us, the fans, the team. Thanks to him, the dynamic changed.
The reign of Ronnie didn't last long...
I'll always be grateful to him as a Cule and a team-mate. I don't like it because he could have been a player even greater than he was and made more history than he did.
Van Gaal gave you your debut.
He was a great professional and a very demanding coach. If not for him. I might not have got into the Barcelona first team, so he has my eternal thanks.
What did Rijkaard give you?
He believed in me blindly and he too helped change the losing dynamic of Barcelona, into a winning one. He was one of the leaders of this Barcelona team. And in 2008, Pep Guardiola. He was a fierce bet, a risk, from Laporta and Txiki. Pep was the first to lead the way. He asked us all to go with him, that this was the moment to show what we were. He was and is a total leader. Without doubt, the best coach I have had.
What did Pep have?
He makes you believe. He prepares for games meticulously. And what he tells you, comes true. An incredible power of conviction. He knows how to motivate you and get the best out of you. He truly believed in us. He showed it with Busi and Pedro. Pep demanded playing good football. It was non-negociable.
Valdano said that yours was an unrepeatable generation.
Above all because all of the main players were from here. It's very difficult for so many to coincide at the same period. Xavi, Iniesta, Pique, Valdes, etc... Xavi. Passion for football, the motor of this generation. A privilege to be with him. I only had wanted to get the ball back and pass it to him. Iniesta. In the final of the Copa del Rey he was like a dancer. He's so good. Elegant, like a child who has never broken a plate...
And we arrive at Messi. What can you say about him that hasn't already been said?
I agree with those who said he's been Barcelona's umbilical cord in the last 10 years. I have no doubts that we are looking at the best player in history. He's always good, he never hides and if he wants to he can be at the helm until he's 40.
Really?
He's in constant evolution. He has no ceiling. He dominates in all aspects of the play. His influence is absolute.
And Puyol... could you have stayed longer?
No. I am very demanding and I don't just want to play well, but train too. And my knee stopped me. The club wanted me to continue, to be with the team, but it was more honest on my part to take a step out and recover better.
Tata Martino hoped for you...
And I'm grateful for it. I felt bad because I had the feeling that I failed. I did the impossible, I got there, but in the end I had to accept my fate.
Do you want to come back to FC Barcelona?
Although Barca is my home, right now I'm not thinking about it. I'm excited to share a company with De la Pena and Sostres, it's a project I like a lot.
I ask you because you had a brief spell as director of football...
It was only two months and a half with Zubzarreta. I left of my own accord. Before they got rid of Zubi, I had already told the club a month before I was going. The asked me to wait a bit.
Were you annoyed because they axed Zubi?
It hurt me. I didn't like the decision, but I respect what the club did.
And why did you leave?
I thought I was mistaken. When you stop playing you need a time of tranquility, taking in everything. My knee was not good, I couldn't play sport. I was also close with the players, the coach.
How about Luis Enrique!
He's spectacular. Like Pep, he has the same passion for his work, the same idea, although they are different characters.
http://www.sport-english.com/en/not...-ex-barcelona-star-watching-from-afar-5164766
http://www.sport-english.com/en/not...nterview-pep-and-inspiring-youngsters-5164754
http://www.sport-english.com/en/not...terview-lionel-messi-can-play-til-hes-5164933
They keep showing they are winners, competitors, they still have a lot of hunger, and we saw it last Sunday in Madrid. They have been at a very high level throughout the season with the exception of four games. The Champions League elimination was a pity, but still, the year has been framed.
Do you have butterflies in the stomach watching your old team-mates?
Man, of course. I'd love to be with them, for the better life is like this and you have to acccept whatever comes. Now I'm watching from the other side of the wall.
Are you proud of your accomplishments?
I was very lucky, very. I've done what I liked most, to train and to play. Football was and is my passion and today I have to give thanks to be able to play for Barcelona. I settled for playing for the youth side! That was when my dream came true.
Not a bad career... 21 titles, second most games played for Barca...
But don't forget that in my first five years we didn't win any title.
Why not forget that?
Becuase they were very difficult years, very tough for everyone. Later, when you have the luck to live the next 10 full of success, you take stock of those tough years because it helps you value what you have won much more.
What a change.
We went from not having the option to win to live through a marvelous decade. The most important thing is that we have contributed to changing the mentality of Barcelonismo. We have made it so that even just winning a league seems that it might not be enough. How many have won a treble? How many have won two doubles consecutively? All of this has to be valued. Barcelona's story speaks for itself.
You are an example to thousands of children who admire you. What advice would you give the kids who want to be the next Puyol?
I've lived for and through football 24 hours a day. I've never fooled myself. There are other players with more quality than me, but I've always had more desire than anyone, more passion, more hope, more will to learn. I've lived my profession with so much intensity that now I want to transmit that to the boys we work with and assess.
What do you say to youngsters?
That they have chosen the most marvelous profession that exists, to be a footballer. I've been with players with a lot of talent but not the passion to continue and keep fighting, and when things go wrong they sink or choose another path.
Looking back, what do you see?
That every sacrifice I've made has been worth it and they have paid me back tenfold.
How do you explain Barcelona's dominance?
Johan Cruyff had the idea of playing football very well, however much it demands. His philosophy has lit up all of this path. He's given us an indelible legend. He's responsible for all these successes.
You played with Ronaldinho. What did he bring?
He arrived at a terrible moment in Barcelona's history. We were all down and he helped return the smile to us, the fans, the team. Thanks to him, the dynamic changed.
The reign of Ronnie didn't last long...
I'll always be grateful to him as a Cule and a team-mate. I don't like it because he could have been a player even greater than he was and made more history than he did.
Van Gaal gave you your debut.
He was a great professional and a very demanding coach. If not for him. I might not have got into the Barcelona first team, so he has my eternal thanks.
What did Rijkaard give you?
He believed in me blindly and he too helped change the losing dynamic of Barcelona, into a winning one. He was one of the leaders of this Barcelona team. And in 2008, Pep Guardiola. He was a fierce bet, a risk, from Laporta and Txiki. Pep was the first to lead the way. He asked us all to go with him, that this was the moment to show what we were. He was and is a total leader. Without doubt, the best coach I have had.
What did Pep have?
He makes you believe. He prepares for games meticulously. And what he tells you, comes true. An incredible power of conviction. He knows how to motivate you and get the best out of you. He truly believed in us. He showed it with Busi and Pedro. Pep demanded playing good football. It was non-negociable.
Valdano said that yours was an unrepeatable generation.
Above all because all of the main players were from here. It's very difficult for so many to coincide at the same period. Xavi, Iniesta, Pique, Valdes, etc... Xavi. Passion for football, the motor of this generation. A privilege to be with him. I only had wanted to get the ball back and pass it to him. Iniesta. In the final of the Copa del Rey he was like a dancer. He's so good. Elegant, like a child who has never broken a plate...
And we arrive at Messi. What can you say about him that hasn't already been said?
I agree with those who said he's been Barcelona's umbilical cord in the last 10 years. I have no doubts that we are looking at the best player in history. He's always good, he never hides and if he wants to he can be at the helm until he's 40.
Really?
He's in constant evolution. He has no ceiling. He dominates in all aspects of the play. His influence is absolute.
And Puyol... could you have stayed longer?
No. I am very demanding and I don't just want to play well, but train too. And my knee stopped me. The club wanted me to continue, to be with the team, but it was more honest on my part to take a step out and recover better.
Tata Martino hoped for you...
And I'm grateful for it. I felt bad because I had the feeling that I failed. I did the impossible, I got there, but in the end I had to accept my fate.
Do you want to come back to FC Barcelona?
Although Barca is my home, right now I'm not thinking about it. I'm excited to share a company with De la Pena and Sostres, it's a project I like a lot.
I ask you because you had a brief spell as director of football...
It was only two months and a half with Zubzarreta. I left of my own accord. Before they got rid of Zubi, I had already told the club a month before I was going. The asked me to wait a bit.
Were you annoyed because they axed Zubi?
It hurt me. I didn't like the decision, but I respect what the club did.
And why did you leave?
I thought I was mistaken. When you stop playing you need a time of tranquility, taking in everything. My knee was not good, I couldn't play sport. I was also close with the players, the coach.
How about Luis Enrique!
He's spectacular. Like Pep, he has the same passion for his work, the same idea, although they are different characters.
http://www.sport-english.com/en/not...-ex-barcelona-star-watching-from-afar-5164766
http://www.sport-english.com/en/not...nterview-pep-and-inspiring-youngsters-5164754
http://www.sport-english.com/en/not...terview-lionel-messi-can-play-til-hes-5164933
Last edited:
Luftstalag14
Culé de Celestial Empire
It is sad to see Puyol getting a lot of heat for saying that. He was stating a simple fact.
CuleLife4Life
Active member
! very surprised with his statement (not that he's stating a fact, duh, but the politics of it)
I'm not surprised. Contrary to popular belief outside of Catalonia, there are some Catalan who claim they are Spanish and have no problem stating it.
Galning
Moderator
Puyol doesn't give a shit. He is as Catalan as it gets but all these politics are not for him. He's kissed the Catalan captain's armband at the Bernabéu, ran around the pitch with a Catalan and Basque flag after a Copa del Rey final etc. etc.
Just because he said in this instance he's Spanish doesn't mean he isn't Catalan. So stupid some people expect you to pick one side or the other. Children.
Just because he said in this instance he's Spanish doesn't mean he isn't Catalan. So stupid some people expect you to pick one side or the other. Children.
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