Interviews
Q&A WITH MANUEL PABLO
12 Dec 2009
Right-back defender Manuel Pablo has been a starter within the last ten games in liga, the Canarian talked to Depor Sport and commented his current physical state and the good moment lived by Deportivo’s squad.
Q: In a physical level, seen you on the pitch, it seems impossible to think that, soon, you will be 34…
A: I think so either, because in a month I will be 34 (January 25th), but physically I’m feeling fine, just like a few years ago, maybe the recovery after a game is harder, but in a physical level, I think can match the same display. Maybe before I only needed a day or a half to be prepared, now I need a couple of more days, but I still have the same hope.
Q: There are a lot of young people at the squad, but surely you can bet them in resistance, don’t you joke about it?
A: Yes, the young people tell me that I am running as before, also that I am putting the bar pretty high, but they have other characteristics, there are other players at the same physical level or even beyond me. Everybody has a spot according to their circumstances.
Q: You have been characterized for you physical presence, do you take care of yourself in any specific way?
A: No (he laughs). It comes from the factory, because I am not a good example of how a player should take care of himself. I always ate normal, and never followed any diet and I even like to eat candies. Right now I am a certain age, but I still like the gomilonas (gummies). I don’t buy them as before, but if they put them over the table, I will eat them. I don’t deprive myself of anything.
Q: About the game against Barcelona FC, what was the taste in your mouth after the match?
A: Especially, we ended satisfied for the second half that we made. I think we weren’t fine in the first part, but in the second we knew how to jam the things. They weren’t damaging us, though is complicate to say so against a rival like Barcelona, anyhow it was an equal match and in that sense we are satisfied with the work done.
Q: From the outside it looked that there was no relaxation; was one of those overwhelming matches for the players?
A: Against Barcelona if everybody is not running, then is difficult to defeat them, even with all the players running it was difficult to win. Maybe in the first part the distance between the players was too much and truly they could have seized the chances and scored more goals, but in the second half, after our goal, we were more confident and the lines were much closer, then things started to work, no scoring opportunities were created and we saw that they were jammed and the game still was alive.
Q: Is frustrating to realise that at the moment of the second goal Depor was with one less man due to the blow suffered by Guardado?
A: We will always think of what could have happened if we would have had eleven players on the pitch. Incidentally the goal came at that moment, but we will never know what could have happened. These things just happen. Maybe we were too much inexperienced, we could have committed a foul or maybe Andrés could have entered to the pitch. A lot of things could have been done, but we will be in the same point, the match continued and the goal came thus.
Q: Was this one of the more demanding games of the season?
A: There are matches in which the rival has attacked more. In this game sometimes we were losing and regaining the ball almost at the same time, so we weren’t moving too much, but talking about the pace, the true is that it was one of the hardest games of the season, because they force you to be in constant movement.
Q: After the game Miguel Angel Lotina said that the squad was feeling screwed.
A: Yes. It’s a rival that for some reason is yielding the numbers that you know, and for some reason it has won what it has won. Still, despite we were doing the right things in the second part, it’s complicate to defeat them because is hard to create scoring opportunities against them. We ended tired and especially we feel more tired when we lose, because if we would have tied or won the game, then we wouldn’t be feeling the same sensation of physical tireness.
Q: Despite the defeat, is the team feeling morally reinforced?
A: Yes, mentally we leave the game with the idea that we had at the beginning, which was that we put things difficult to the opponent and that we’re a team that competes and that tries to be involved in the game throughout the ninety minutes, but the work done is giving results, we have spent three years with this coach and we’ve a clear idea of what we’re doing, maybe these factors are playing in our favour.
Q: You have been in a different Deportivo, the one of the individualities, do you notice the big change for the effort done on the pitch?
A: Yes, because even if we make our best effort, we still suffer to win the matches. Today, in la liga, the level of the teams at the middle of the table is very equal, anybody can defeat you and is difficult. In the other hand, in the Depor of the past, there were games in which we could have had the luxury of not playing at our best and still we were easily winning the games. On these days this team can not afford to play at half pace if we want to win a match.
Q: The teams above you have decisive players, is this a merit of Depor?
A: We are conscious that we are a block, also that we need to work and that we don’t have big individualities at our squad. We are a block and work as a block, and that’s why we are successful. That’s our line of work. That’s the fact reinforcing us.
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