Keita: "Guardiola has a lot of confidence in me"

Barcelona player Seydou Keita gave an interview to Spanish weekly sports paper Don Balón.





Making you eat together is part of the Guardiola system. What has surprised you most about his style of coaching and his way of dealing with the group?
Guardiola is a calm person who knows what he is doing. I remember what we said when we lost against Numancia on matchday one, it is the same as what he says now. After that game we could not imagine we would do what we have done, but surely he knew what he wanted.

Is it true that Guardiola is someone who does not impose his ideas, but convinces you with his words?
I am very good with him. Once I was even surprised by what he said, it was the first time that a coach had told me that.

What did he say?
I do not know how to explain it, it was about personal things, but he surprised me, and showed me that he had a lot of confidence in me, more than I thought. I had scored three goals and I said to myself that I had to do much more, but the coach was already very happy with what I had done. Perhaps people want every player at Barca to be like Messi for example, but that is not possible (smiles). As a team, everybody does their job, and if he does it well then the coach will be happy.

Guardiola knows how to convey confidence thanks to his words, his attitude and his past...
Yes, and he says what he thinks, he will never talk for the sake of talking. When things are not going well he tells you because he is not happy. This happened with me once, and I think it is a good way to act. You have to comment on things that are done well and also on the things that are done badly in order to correct what is not working. Also, we do plenty of video sessions. The coach leaves nothing to chance.

Lets talk about your time at Sevilla. You were there for one season. What is your best memory?
From Sevilla I have good memories, but there I also felt a lot of sadness. Not on a sporting level, but what happened to our teammate Antonio Puerta. When you arrive at a club, and within weeks something happens like what happened, you may end up having a good season but you know you do not feel happy. Antonio was a kid who was always happy, full of life, and everything happened on the pitch, in front of us. It was very hard. You can lose friends, but to see it with your own eyes is very difficult. Later, the coach left, and things were very complicated. But despite everything, the team struggled and made a great season, sportingly speaking. But as I say, it was not easy.

Who do you maintain a relationship with from the staff at Sevilla?
I maintain in contact mainly with my friend Frederic Kanoute and with the physiotherapists. Sevilla is part of my past and is a club I love very much.

What luck that Alves came with you to Barca, right?
Yes. It is always better to change clubs at the same time as a teammate.

Tell me a secret: what does Alves eat to be up and down the pitch from the first minute until the ninetieth without getting tired?
That is how Dani plays. And he did the same in Seville, it was always like that.

To conclude, have you felt yourself the racism in football?
If you want me to tell you the truth, not many people are behaving in a racist manner, and those who do, do not understand anything at all. They don’t see that we are all equal, and that when they defend the colours of a club, it doesn’t matter which one is white, black or yellow. What counts is the shirt, this is most important. Then, those who behave like racists in general have not understood anything, I didn't choose to be black, you didn't choose to be white, we breathe the same air, we eat the same things, there is nothing to distinguish us, just skin colour. But in my opinion, everyone thinks what they want, frankly.

You're very religious. How do you explain the importance of religion in your daily life?
It is true, religion is very important to me. I was born into a Muslim family, and as we said, coming into the world in one place or another is not something one chooses. But above all, with time I learned to know what it is to be Muslim. Professing my religion, I don’t have any problems with anyone, I am calm and healthy, but is difficult to explain this to people because, as a result of certain things that have happened, people now associate the ideas of muslims with violence. But inwardly, I feel great and I have no problem with any other belief. Everybody is free to do what they want.

Do you follow the ramadan? Would you be willing to leave a club if they prevented you from following it?
I do not see why they would put obstacles in my way when the ramadan lasts a month and the season is lengthened to nine months. Football is our job and we must do things so they do not pose difficulties for our work, and compensate later in the evening or even during the week, so I have no problem. I do celebrate the ramadan, but with the competitions, it is impossible to comply every single day of the month. It would not be normal to say that I did not train or play during the entire month of the ramadan, I have to do my job. And God gives you options. God does not impose things on people if you do not have the ability to do them.

Translated by: Andrew


This was the third and last part of this interview. You can read the previous parts here:
Keita: "I have to get better to contribute something"
Keita: "Piqué lives in his own crazy world"

Keita: "Piqué lives in his own crazy world"

Barcelona player Seydou Keita gave an interview to Spanish weekly sports paper Don Balón.





All Barca fans were very happy with your great goal against Real Madrid last year. Is that the best goal of your career?
I do not think so. Last year, for example, I scored other goals that were more or less the same, like against Fenerbahçe and Arsenal in the Champions League. Of course, now that I am a Barça player, I would say that yes, that was my best goal (laughs).

Perhaps we are expecting to see a more offensive Keita. You have even played once as left back. At Barca do you have a slightly different role?
It's true, I played about twenty minutes as left back due to the circumstances. But yes, my role is different now. For about eight years I played as a defensive midfielder, so I can not become a number ten over night. I try to add things and score goals on occasion.

In fact, the fans want to see more goals of this type. Statistics in hand, it is the unfinished business of Barça to shoot more from in front of the goal.
Yes, but it's easier to score when you play on any another team than Barça. When you have eight, nine or ten players defending you can not shoot just like that.

Of course. However, your three goals with Barca in the league have been crucial...
Well yes, crucial (smiles), when they have avoided a major defeatn they were important.

Passing a ball to Henry, Messi or Eto'o ensures danger. Do you have the impression that, ultimately, they get all the credit?
These are the things of football. Each player in each position has his role, and finishing is the job of the forwards. There will be other players who score goals, but these three complete the work of the team. This does not mean they do more or are more important than others, they simply complete the work because they are in front of the goal more often. This is normal, they have the talent to do it and that is why they are so admired and play for Barca.

And you do not have the feeling that the fans appreciate the work of the Barca midfield the least?
For me it is normal and I don’t feel jealous about it. The day we win with a goal of mine, the forwards we were talking about, will jump on me to celebrate. And when Puyol or Abidal score (laughs) we will all jump on them, because it will be the goal of victory. I am very happy that Eto'o, Messi and Henry score so many goals because it is good for everyone, like the work of the defence and the midfield, where scoring goals is not the task, it is useful for everyone. When you play as a team, you know you play a collective sport, and we must not feel jealous.

Certainly having Messi... Is he the best in the world?
Seeing the things he does, I would say yes, but at Barcelona there are only great players. It is true that Messi has a 'plus', and I do not need to tell you, you have seen that what he does is impressive.

We have talked about it before, was it difficult for you to adapt to a 4-3-3?
It was not difficult. I have learned to play in this system, while there are players who come to Barca and it is impossible. Some take a year to adapt, but others never adapt and have to change clubs.

How do you judge your performance so far?
It is difficult to judge myself, but for the six months I have been here I would say that I have done (thinking)... well (laughing). But there is still a lot of the season left. Last year, with Sevilla, I scored only four goals, three more in the Champions League, and everyone said that I had done well. This year I have three goals in league, so whatever happens, I will not do worse than at Sevilla because from now until the end of the season I will surely score another goal (laughs).

One of the things that has changed in relation to last year, when you were not here yet, is the atmosphere in the dressing room, which this year is excellent. According to Henry and Piqué, it is very funny...
Well, Piqué lives in his own world, he’s crazy (laughs). But I do not think that it was us, the new people, who have changed the environment. Football is different each year, every game and every day is different. Last year was difficult for all, with regard to the environment, outside the dressing room and at the club. But things have changed.

What has changed?
Football works like this, we were lacking 'something', which in our case we needed the best coach, and he has given confidence to the players, making everyone play so that everyone feels important. Similarly, when the team wins, everything seems easy, and with each victory, the unity of the group is strengthened, it creates good atmosphere and the fans also become more confident, it's normal. But it is not because we have new players who come and fool around in the locker room.

How is your relationship with your teammates off the pitch?
We have a good relationship. In the short time I have been here I'm fine with everyone. The truth is that we don’t see each other much off the pitch.

Ah no?
With a match every three days, our families almost don’t see hide nor hair of us (laughs) so it is a bit difficult to spend our time-off with teammates. In addition, at Barca we arrive an hour early, we have breakfast here and we eat here often. I've never done anything like this at any of the other clubs I have been at. We spend four or five hours a day together, and if we add to that the trips and parties, it is enough to be a united group (laughs).

Translated by: Andrew


This was the second part of this interview. You will be able to read the third part in the coming days. You can read the first part here:
Keita: "I have to get better to contribute something"

Keita: "I have to get better to contribute something"

Barcelona player Seydou Keita gave an interview to Spanish weekly sports paper Don Balón.





Seydou , how did you feel when you found out that Barca would pay the release clause that you had with Sevilla?
I felt happy. I saw that the work that I had done in the last few years, and above all during my year at Sevilla, had borne fruit. It is very good to be here, but the most difficult thing is to maintain myself at this level. So I was content when I signed for Barca, but I have to be even better now in order to contribute something. That which is the most difficult and the most important is still to be done.

This is what you have been doing this season?
Collectively, yes. I am very happy with what I have done at the club since I arrived, although I have suffered two injuries that have reduced my playing time. But, nevertheless, I have contributed a little to the team.

When you went to Sevilla you said that if you could not leave your mark on the team then you would leave. Did you think the same thing when you signed for Barca this summer?
Yes, but this is normal. When you move to a new club it is to contribute something. It is the same in all jobs, like it happens to you journalists: when you change your job it is to be better, to try to get the interview before the others (he laughs), it is always so. What’s more is that you are among colleagues and when you see that one of them has done something good, you have the desire to do something at least similar. We all want to contribute something in our own way.

Your teammate, Eric Abidal, said recently that this Barca is the best team he had ever seen. Do you share this view?
You know, it has always been difficult for me to talk about oneself. So far, things are going very well but what is important is what happens at the end of the season. Will we be the league champions? Will we lift the Copa? Will we win the Champions League? This is what matters in big teams like Barca, and it is on these things, that journalists like you, will judge us at the end of the season (smiling).

Regarding the game, are you having a great time?
Yes, it's a pleasure to see Barca play. When I was in Sevilla, or in other clubs where I have played, I ran a lot and did the dirty work, but when I came here the coach and the others told me that the ball is the one who has to run. As a midfielder I was accustomed to running from one place to another, demanding the ball. With Barca this is not quite the case.

Explain this to us...
Here, each player is positioned in his area and circulates the ball. You have to wait until the ball comes to you in order to continue the movement, and it is not easy to be patient and position yourself well in the field. For me, this is the only difficult thing with Barca. When you adapt to it, everything follows. In the first few months I was running everywhere and the coach told me to be patient. Although you're not playing the ball this time, it will come and I will shoot. For the last few months everything is going perfectly.

And what do you think about the rotation system established by Guardiola? Would you like to play more?
Yes, of course, like everyone in the world. If I was the only one who was encountering this situation then I could ask for more playing time but this is not the case. In fact, in the game we played in Santander, Messi started on the bench. On other occasions it was others who were on the bench and in the future it will be others. When you're a football player at times you can be selfish because you want to play all the games, but with a team like Barca, with so many matches, so many trips and so many talented players, your physical form would be impaired if you were to compete in all the events. The coach can change the team, but we always win, so everything is going well. There is nothing to say.

On a different topic, Guardiola said that Xavi is essential. Do you also think that of the three midfielders, he has the greatest role?
Xavi brings a lot to the team, and above all, he is a footballer who knows this style of play because he has always been in this system. Iniesta, for example, changes position often and doesn’t have the same stability in the game as Xavi, who can only play in the position in which he does and that is his known role. I have occupied various positions and every footballer has to adapt themselves to do his job as best as possible, but for Xavi, it is always the same (smiling) and it’s normal.

In fact, you coincided with Xavi in the World cup under-20 of 1999, but it was you who was named best player of the tournament. Have you ever talked to him about it?
Yes, sometimes. The last time that we talked about it we realised that it had been nearly ten years since that World cup under-20. We talk about how time has passed so quickly and how so much has happened.

Tell me one thing, we journalists are incapable of guessing the line-up for Barca this season. Do the players also have this feeling or, more or less, are the able to guess who is going to play in each game match?
To guess? Frankly, it is not a guess. We always prepare to be ready to play. For example, the coach says that Xavi is essential and therefore he plays more than others but he is also part of the rotations. So it is difficult to hit on the correct starting line-up for each game.

Translated by: Andrew


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

Read more:
Keita: "One hour before we know who will play"
Agent Keita denies Marseille talks
Keita: "Every player should feel important"

The dizzying journey of Sergio Busquets

source:
El Periódico





SERGIO BUSQUETS COMPLETES A DIZZYING JOURNEY THAT BROUGHT HIM IN 8 MONTHS FROM THE FOURTH DIVISOIN TO THE NATIONAL TEAM

The player, only 20 years old, fuses the style of Barça with street football

Javier Fernandez has been left alone coaching the Badia Juvenil team this season. The team, that's a fact, is doing great. They are the leaders of their league. But Sergio, his nephew, can not help as he had promised at the start of the season. "I will be your assistant," said Sergio excited. The young boy, 20 years old, responsible, a fanatical football fan and a die-hard culé - he loved Figo until he betrayed him to dress in white - is the who idolized Xavi since he was a child and who is now playing at his side. Sergio Busquets, Javier's nephew, can not go to his own town every weekend because eight months ago he embarked on a dizzying journey from Badia to the Spanish national team.

And, of course, he has no time for anything. A year and a half ago, Sergio didn’t play in the Tercera because he began the season injured. He did not want to put his family name on the shirt and so he decided to only use the letter B, from Busquets, for his father, and from Burgos, for his mother. A year ago, Guardiola opened the door of Barcelona B and six months ago, that of Barça. Every day is busier than the last. "If you stop and think calmly, you cannot understand what has happened. Since he was a child one could see that he was going to be a professional football player", said Javier Fernandez on a cold winter’s night after coaching his team.

"Intuitive and simple"
Alongside Javier, leaving an anonymous lonely field in Badia, is Aitor Busquets. He is the brother of Sergio, the other son of Busi, the “goalkeeper without hands", as he was defined by the French newspaper L'Equipe. None of them have followed the path of their father. Aitor is a left-winger and plays at Badia. Sergio is a skilled midfielder. And he amazes everyone. Guardiola was the first. "He is intuitive, he knows what he needs to do, his game is simple, he doesn't lose the ball... But he has room for improvement," says the coach.

In September, the day that he debuted with a tie at the Camp Nou against Racing (1-1), Cruyff’s eyes were illuminated. Hours later, his article in the newspaper announced something big. "Technically superior to Toure and Keita. Positionally, he seems like a veteran. With or without the ball. With the ball he made what is difficult look easy: he disposes of the ball with one or two touches. Without the ball, he gives us another lesson: that of being in the right place to intercept and running just to recover the ball. And all that while being young and inexperienced. The same sins of his coach", wrote Johan. Back then, nobody believed in Sergio or in the young and inexperienced Guardiola.

Rejected in a test
Sergio, as a child, and despite being the son of, did not pass a test at Barça. And so he left for other fields (Badia, Barberà, Lleida and Jabac Terrassa). There, Rodri, ex-blaugrana player and ex-blaugrana coach, a wise men with a hoarse voice, tortured the ears of Barcelona youth coach Quique Costas every week. "Come, you have to see the son of Busi! You have to see him!" Finally, after much insistence, he went to see him and brought him back to play with the Juvenil team. From being a child that no one wanted, now they were going out to look for him. He rose from the earth to heaven.

The rest is known: he graduated to the first team, his contract has been renewed until 2013, with a buy-out clause of €80 million, he plays defensive pivot, a position that he revolutionized. In the past, small, imaginative and creative players came out of La Masia (Xavi, Iniesta, Cesc ...). Now it is him. Tall (1.89 m = 6’2), powerful, capable of fusing the Barça style (thinking before you touch the ball) with the football of the neighborhood, of the street: he has provoked 18 yellow cards and two expulsions from his rivals.

Translated by: Andrew


Read more:
First international call-up for Piqué and Busquets
OFFICIAL: Busquets renews until 2013

Youth: Interview with Juvenil player Icardi

Barcelona Juvenil B player (15) Mauro Icardi gave an interview to Argentinian newspaper La Capital.





Young Rosarian Mauro Icardi lights up Barcelona's youth academy with his goals

The goal scoring ability of Mauro Icardi is causing him to be considered as one of the future’s top strikers in the Iberian Peninsula. The Rosarian has goals in his DNA.

At least this is what he has demonstrated in the last few seasons in Spain in which he has scored more than 500 goals. The striker, who spent this season enriching the Barcelona youth academy and forms part of Argentina’s under-17 squad, made a brief stop in our city. And he is another gem from the prestigious Barça cast who has made time for us.

"Now I'm starting to live the life I've always wanted. Not only playing for a huge club like Barcelona, but also to defend the jersey of my country", confessed the shy, 15-year-old kid. "But I also know that I have a long way to go and a lot to learn," he added thoughtfully.

"My life changed last year. I moved to Barcelona, I had to leave my family in Gran Canaria and in December I began playing with Argentina’s under-17’s. The truth is that I have experienced many wonderful things. Furthermore, it has been seven years since I last went to Rosario. Honestly, I miss my friends and family quite a lot. When I arrived in the city I was reminded of my childhood. It was a very special moment," he said with nostalgia.

Mauro moved to the "Old Continent" as an effect of the national crisis in 2001. The Icardi’s, like thousands of anonymous families, had to pack their bags and point their compasses towards another horizon in order to restart their lives. Fate brought them to Gran Canaria, where the striker began to write the story of his footballing career, in the ranks of Vecindario football club.

"I have scored 500 goals in four seasons. I played pretty well and that allowed me to sign up with Barcelona last year," said the Juvenil player. He added, "I take everything very calmly. I am still the same as I always was and I do not intend to change, although it is one of the best institutions in the sporting world."

When asked whether he is desperate to be summoned to the Barça first team, Mauro bluntly replied: "No, because I am still a boy. I have to keep learning. For now I already have enough training everyday." And from the heart, he immediately added: "Although I will not deny that my dream is to stand side-by-side with them someday, and I will fight very hard to be able to be there."

"My dream? Playing in the first division defending the Barcelona shirt and wearing the jersey of the senior national team after that of the youth team. That will do for me, ha ha. It is only with effort that you can achieve great things, and I will never give up," concluded the other Rosarian pearl that Barça has in their ranks, despite Lionel Messi being the the most well-known at this moment.

Translated by: Andrew


Read more:
Barça B: An introduction to Ruben Rochina
Youth: Russian goalkeeper joins Barcelona
Youth: Icardi called-up for Argentina U-17