Thiago Alcantara

[Visca El Barca]

Thiago: “Tito is crazy about football, as Xavi and Pep are”
Posted at: 06:00 on Monday, May 21, 2012 Category: Interviews Written by: Maria Ines
Thiago: “Tito is crazy about football, as Xavi and Pep are”

Mundo Deportivo recently talked with Thiago Alcántara in an interview posted on their website on Sunday. Ironically, his interview appeared on the same day that the Catalan paper had the midfielder in a Milan shirt on their cover, with a hint that Barça could use him to bring Thiago Silva to the Catalan team. This move, in my opinion, would hurt the team as much as the aborted Xavi departure would have, also to Milan, almost 10 years ago. Let’s hope that, as in that case, it doesn’t happen.

Contradictions aside, it is clear for most culés that Thiago has shown a lot of football in his first year as a Barça player, reminding us of both Xavi and Iniesta when they were starting out in the first team. But, as it was for them, it won’t be easy for Thiago to gain a permanent starting spot in this Barça team. Fortunately, his initiation has been under Pep’s orders, which have turned the talented midfielder into a very complete player. Below is a translation of the interview, the original can be found here.

What is your take on your first season as a Barça first team player (with one title to play for yet)?

As a team we have tried to get all the trophies we were competing for, but unfortunately we couldn’t win them all. But we got the first three, and were fighting for the other two right until the end. And we are still in the running for the Copa del Rey, so I think it was a good season overall.

And at a personal level?

I started the season after playing the U-21 Eurocup and then we had our preseason, so both things ended up costing me a bit. But I think it has been a very good season, as I have played more minutes than I expected. I hope I can play even more next season.

What was the hardest moment of the season?

It came the week we lost La Liga and the Champions League semifinal. We lost both in three days, after a whole season of sacrifice and hard work to get both titles. But losing the Champions League semifinals was even harder than losing La Liga, as we were running from behind there, so we always knew it would have been too difficult to win it. However, in the Champions League, we were having a great run, but we weren’t lucky enough in the last two games.

Do you think football took away from you what it gave you in Stamford Bridge some years ago?

I don’t think so. I think that football is the only sport where you can win even [after] playing really badly, and I do not say that because I think Chelsea played badly. But it’s a fact that playing better than the rival does not always assure you a victory.

Did Madrid deserve to win La Liga?

They had a great season. They were more consistent than us. We knew about their strength, so now we congratulate them as they have had a better season than us.

It must be hard to know the team scored 114 goals and 91 points in La Liga, and did not win it…

Yes, it is, but we also had many chances to score that we lost. I was asked about referees, but I think we have to look inside the team and ask ourselves the reason we have failed [with] those chances. We cannot forget this season, but take the best out of it and learn from the bad things.

Do you think you needed to try and shoot more from distance?

Sometimes we think so, however I do believe that wasn’t the problem this season. We just scored less than previous seasons. The balls that went into goal in past seasons were not getting there this season, and that’s it.

We saw you more active coming to attack from midfield… was the team trying to create more scoring chances, but from midfield?

We believe midfield gives us another option to try and get some goals. If we came from the second line (trying to score), we relieve some pressure from the forwards, that is what we have tried to do.

What did you like the most from your first year as a professional player? And what did you not like?

I have enjoyed everything. I have been one more in the dressing room from the first moment, I have been involved in the team and decisive moments… and you don’t know how great the people are (his team mates). We are all very close. On a bad note, I was pissed off about false comments in the press about us and that the lineup against Madrid was leaked as gossip just before the game. I think some things we talk about in the dressing room must stay there.

How did you recover from those blows of Abidal and Tito’s diseases?

They helped us to deal with it, giving the example. They showed us how strong they were, as well as their families, and that inspired us. Seeing them fight has made us more united as a group. They have taught us a huge life lesson this season.

How did you take Pep’s announcement of not staying next season?

I think none of us saw this coming or if someone did, nobody wanted it to be true. The truth is that I was not prepared for this. Pep has given everything to Barça and has taken this team to the highest possible in football. His legacy will last for a long time, both for football and in his confidence in us, the canteranos.

Pep will leave and Tito will replace him. What do you think Tito can bring to this team?

I think Tito can give us what we had this season, and also take us to the next level, which he has done these years alongside Pep. He has also been responsible for all the titles and success. We are very confident on this.

What would you say is one of Tito’s distinctive qualities?

Tito is crazy about football, just like Pep or Xavi are. He knows a lot about football, especially about tactics. He makes our job easier. He is always calming us down before every game, giving us confidence, he is always talking to us, he knows how to motivate us.

So, there is no fear from Pep’s departure?

They (Tito and Pep) are very different from each other. Tito has also given us a lot of knowledge and confidence through these years. So I think we are right to be confident about the future and to see what happens next season.

Read more: http://www.totalbarca.com/2012/intervie ... z1vUpDtmSr

[Visca El Barca]

Fb Thiago: "Thanks for your support! Playing the Euro would have been a dream. But life is unpredictable. I'll try to be 100% for Olympics."

Fb Thiago: "I would want the whole of Spain to support the 23 players at the Euro. They'll play a great tournament, I don't have any doubt.

[FCBarcelonaChr]

Thiago, who has to rest because of edema on shinbone, in principle won't play for 2 months. Federation hope he's ready for Olympics. [marca]

[# 23]

Thiago sættes igen i forbindelse med Manchester United.

Kom bare, Thiago. Kom bare ;)

[FCBarcelonaChr]

I fra Manchester skal holde jeres klamme fingre fra Thiago. I får ham IKKE!

[BarçaDK]

After new medical tests this morning, Thiago will not take part in the Olympics. He has not fully recovered from his shinbone injury. [tv3]

Jeg ved ikke helt, hvad jeg synes... Hvad med jer, er det godt eller skidt?

[Blaugrana92]

Official: Barcelona announce that Thiago will not go to go to the Olympic Games because he has not yet recovered from his injury

Nu er det i hvert fald helt sikkert at han ikke kommer med, selvom han var udtaget til bruttotruppen. Synd for ham, men godt for os - nu er han i hvert fald helt klar til næste sæson!

[Visca El Barca]

Official: Barcelona announce that Thiago will not go to go to the Olympic Games because he has not yet recovered from his injury

Nu er det i hvert fald helt sikkert at han ikke kommer med, selvom han var udtaget til bruttotruppen. Synd for ham, men godt for os - nu er han i hvert fald helt klar til næste sæson!

Synd for ham, men rigtig godt for os, og nok også godt for ham på sigt. Han har brug for en pause, og god tid til at komme over sig.

Nu skal vi også have overtalt Milla til at se bort fra Alba, det prøver klubben.

[BarçaDK]

Official: Barcelona announce that Thiago will not go to go to the Olympic Games because he has not yet recovered from his injury

Nu er det i hvert fald helt sikkert at han ikke kommer med, selvom han var udtaget til bruttotruppen. Synd for ham, men godt for os - nu er han i hvert fald helt klar til næste sæson!

Du var lige tre ugers tid for langsom, min ven

[Blaugrana92]

Nej? Luis Milla havde jo udtaget ham til bruttotruppen i håb om at han nåede at blive klar. Det er først officielt blevet meldt ud for tre kvarter siden at han ikke når at blive klar.

[BarçaDK]

I know, men jeg har lave-sjov-bukserne på, huhuhu

Jeg havde skrevet et indlæg her d. 15. juni, kunne jeg se, da jeg ville poste tweetet om Thiagos OL-deltagelse (jeg valgte så det "forkerte" tweet - det uofficielle hvert fald), og så ville jeg lige fukke lidt med forummet og ville lade som om jeg havde skrevet det for tre uger siden. hihihihi.

Jeg hader når folk ikke forstår mine joookes

skråååstreg når mine jokes ikke er sjove men bare underlige

[Blaugrana92]

I know, men jeg har lave-sjov-bukserne på, huhuhu

Du var lige to minutter for langsom - jeg havde lige taget mine bukser af da du skrev det!

Men det ser ud til at være lidt mere alvorligt end jeg lige troede!

"Thiago has a fracture that hasn't healed yet. He at least has to recover for two more months."
"Barcelona had the same problem with Villa, who ended up with a broken shinbone. They don't want to make the same mistake."
"Thiago is devastated. He didn't want to join the team on the first day in Madrid today because he didn't want to cry."

Det vigtigste er sgu at vi ikke forcere det. Han skal være fuldstændig klar før vi smider ham på banen igen.

[BarçaDK]

Jeg er helt enig med dig, ikke forcere det.

Jeg sad og så VM-semifinalen i skolen sammen med en culé-buddy og vi talte om de meldinger, der havde været tidligere om Villa og hans fraktur på skinnebenet....

Vupti, 5 minutter efter blev Villa båret ud med et brækket skinneben


I øvrigt savner jeg virkelig at se el Guaje på banen. Nu har han haft svært ved at finde formen, men jeg tror på ham. Jeg mener, han er verdens bedste afslutter, når han rammer formen.

[FCBarcelonaChr]

Neymar (Santos): "Thiago is a very intelligent player. It's a joy to watch him on a pitch. We need him out there again soon." [md]

[FCBarcelonaChr]

Mazinho (father Thiago): "Milan rumours? They didn't make any offer. Thiago anyway stays. The two boys are very happy at Barça." [com radio]

Mazinho (father Thiago): "In a few weeks, Thiago will be training again. There's little left for him to play again." [com radio]

Mazinho (father Thiago): "Thiago and Rafinha played together in the CL last season. And hopefully they can play more together this season."