Puyol (1): "This team is very hungry"

In an interview with Catalan newspaper El Periódico, Barcelona captain Carles Puyol talked about the start of the new season.





What has changed this season?
We're in another era. Well, we're starting a new era. We have to let the coach do his job, he's extremely motivated, you can see it in everything he does. His message is coming through to the dressing room. We're having a good moment, but the road is still long.

Six consecutive victories, an enthusiastic crowd after the Atlético festival, excellent football. The past has been definitely buried?
I don't like to kill the past to praise the present. The past has been very good, the results are there. At the end, that's true, it wasn't that good. But we shouldn't think about those things now. Now we're working really well, with a lot of desire and people can see that when we're playing. The people see how this team is functioning. But there's still much left.

Have you been able to throw away the memories of those last two years?
Of course. It's difficult, but we have to do that. We had a lot of bad games. The defeat in Monaco against Sevilla was the beginning of the end, but we didn't see it at that time. Later there was the final we lost in Tokio against Internacional at the World Cup for clubs. But the worst thing was the game against Madrid last season. Without any doubt. The tribute, the defeat... That was the end. It was the worst match of my life, it seemed to last forever, it didn't stop. They were enjoying theirselves, we were suffering... The era ended there.

Strangely, if we look at the team that defeated Atlético, it's almost the same team as last season.
You learn from everything you go through, that's clear. I remember that people were saying that the team had getting tired of winning. That's a lie. You never get tired of winning trophies.

You're optimistic?
I have a good feeling about how things stand, although we started with some bad results. But they weren't right because we were playing well. The team has been growing step by step. You can notice the progress. Besides that, those two last-minute goals against Espanyol and Shakhtar have given us a lot of confidence. We're never speculating. The team is hungry, very hungry. You could see that in Donetsk after Messi's first goal. We went for the win. In two minutes, there was a penalty fault on Iniesta and shortly after Messi scored the second goal. We give everything we can, that's the least people can expect. Regarding to that aspect, the fans shouldn't worry. There won't be any motivation problems.

This is the first part of the interview. The second part will follow tomorrow, with Puyol talking -amongst other things - about Messi and Guardiola.