26.03.2007 08:00
“What interest me most are titles”
He may still be young, but he has the attitude of a veteran. Víctor Valdés is already being considered one of Barcelona’s finest goalkeepers ever. But it is not statistics that interest him, it is titles.
Valdés has been Barcelona’s first choice stopper for four seasons, and his career has gone
hand in hand with the side’s brilliant progress under Frank Rijkaard. He has been constantly
improving over the years, and has successfully overcome all the obstacles that have been put in his
way. Only five goalkeepers in the entire history of the club have made more first team appearances
than Valdés, and those were such legendary figures as were Zubizarreta, Ramallets, Sadurní, Artola
and Velasco.
But Valdés does not want to be remembered for his individual appearances, he wants to be
remembered for the titles his team has won. And in that respect he is as ambitious as ever, as he
explained in an exclusive interview with fcbarcelona.cat and Barça TV.
- At 25 years of age, it could be said that you are still at the beginning of your career,
yet you are already one of the goalkeepers that has played the most matches for FC
Barcelona.
- “The press likes to point this out to me, but it is not something I am overly
concerned about. I still have a long way to go, I hope, and what I really want is to be remembered
for the titles I win, not the number of games I play.”
- I don’t know if you are interested, but you have
nearly reached 200 official appearances, and still have many years left in you.
“I have looked after myself, and I hope I still have a long career ahead of me. And I
would like to see out my career here at Barça, but there is a long time still to go. I have to be
prudent and take things step by step.”
- Do you feel that this is the best moment of your career so far, and that you are
appreciated more than ever?
-“I cannot say that this is the best moment, because there is still a lot ahead of me.
But these are great times both for the team and for me individually. We have had some successful
moments, and still are. And as for the fans, I have always felt loved.”
- When you look back on when you first started out with the first team, how do you feel you
have improved the most?
-“I many ways, but there are still things I need to improve. Technically, I owe a lot
to Juan Carlos Unzué, who has done the most to bring out the best in me and correct what was wrong,
and polish things off. But his main achievement is what he has done with me psychologically, he has
helped change my character and to set the kind of targets that he shares with me.”
- Do you feel that the position of goalkeepers is changing, and how?
-“I think football is getting better all over. Nowadays we have access to far more
methods than we used to, and that is very important in the way players train. Goalkeepers can get a
lot out of the way new way teams train, and we can’t complain, because here at Barça we have
got everything.”
- You will play Getafe in the cup semi finals, and this is
the only tournament that the current Barça has never won.
-“ Getafe are having a good season and it will be a tough match. We are at home in the
first match and we will need to get a good result. The Copa del Rey is very important to us, we
value it as highly as a European Cup, and it is a trophy we can win. If we win the League and Cup,
that would be great for us.”
- But Jorquera plays in cup matches, do you find it tough watching games from the
bench?
-“You suffer just the same, especially when you’re not winning. Goalkeepers
suffer for many reasons whether they are on the pitch or on the bench.”
- What do you think when you hear so much talk of the system the team uses? Do you think
there is too much talk depending on the results?
-“I think the 3-4-3, when we used it for the first time against Zaragoza, attracted a
lot of attention because the Dream Team played like that. I think it’s a good system for us
to use as long as we have the ball. 4-3-3 is the system we have always used with Rijkaard.”
- Does it affect the way you play?
-“Yes, if we play with a free 3-4-3 the defence is a bit nearer to the area and that
means I don’t have to come out so much in order to cover the space between the defence and
the goal. It’s different with a 4-3-3, because the defence moves forward and there are more
spaces between the keeper and the defence.”