Marquez: "We're starting a new era"

Barcelona player Rafael Márquez gave an interview to Spanish football weekly paper Don Balón.





Congratulations for the victories, the goals and the play of the team. But aren't you spoiling the fans too much?
I don't think so. The fans should get used to the team playing good and winning, but maybe not in the way we are doing it lately. In the last games we had exceptional circumstances that have lead us to score a lot of goals. But it won't be like that always.

How do you see the games from your position on the pitch? You see the same showpiece as on television?
Of course, you're seeing everything that happens around you as well as the actions by the teammates up front.

You wouldn't like to see the game from the outside, like the other people?
No, I prefer to feel part of it. Besides, everything starts from the back, where the defenders play... The others just have to finish it. But for the team to function well, every piece should act at the same level.

Is it difficult to keep the feet on the ground?
The majority of us already lived good moments and bad moments. So we know with what we are dealing. We all feel an important part of the squad and modesty is a consequence of that.

What is the share of Guardiola in the good performances of the team?
The coach is responsible for fifty per cent. He just gives orders and sets the line we should follow but in the end, the fundamental work, the other fifty per cent, is done by the players. He asks us to do something and we respond to that on the pitch.

He demands more from you than Rijkaard did?
Rijkaard and Guardiola are different coaches. Their way of working is very different. But with Frank we won a lot of trophies and this is something that shouldn't be forgotten. The methods of Rijkaard also lead us to great results.

So how come the team changed that much from one season to another?
The key element is the ambition. Maybe everything had become a routine over the last seasons and things didn't work out well and titles weren't won with the old methods. Now we have changed our mind set and luckily we're again having this hunger to win.

What routine are you talking about?
Well, that is the past. We should let it rest and keep the good things. We're starting a new era in which we all want to keep on making history.

Two of the new transfers, who are playing close to you, Alves and Piqué, have adapted very good to the system. This has surprised you?
Not at all. They are incredible players, they know very well how to play the game and they don't need to adapt. They come from big clubs and that has helped them to settle in. They're already important to the team.

Guardiola said a short while ago that what happened over the last two years wasn't Rijkaard's fault. You think that he means that the players were to blame?
Everyone was to blame. Some for letting ourselves go and others for not stopping what was happening.


This was the first part of this interview. The other parts will follow in the coming days.

Read more:
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Guardiola convinced Marquez to stay
Marquez wants to renew his contract