José Manuel Pinto spoke to Messi on his return to Barcelona and he reckons his injury is not too important and that he’s feeling good. Pinto also reckons his own new deal with the club is a sign that he’s still got plenty of future.
Very happy with Carlos Busquets
Pinto also praised the work being done this season by goalkeeping coach Carlos Busqutes: “we
are very happy with him. He studies things very carefully and he has a lot of experience. All the
day to day work is focussed on what we need to do to prepare every game. What’s more,
there’s a great relationship with him and that helps to make the quality of the training very
high”.
Pinto is a good friend of Leo Messi’s and as soon as he got back he spoke to Pinto about his
physical state. Pinto is optimistic about Messi’s chances of playing on Saturday, explaining:
“I’ve spoken to him and he’s feeling good, despite the few twinges he’s had
. The doctors will decide whether he plays or not, so we’ll just have to wait till Saturday
to see what happens”.
Messi knows best
Despite that optimistic note, Pinto wasn’t prepared to give a
definite answer as to whether his friend will finally face Villarreal: “we all know that Leo
is very competitive, but the first consideration has to be his health. He knows himself better than
anybody and he’ll know if he’s fit to play”.
April could be the cruellest month
On Saturday Barça kick off a month that could decide their fate in all three
competitions, but Pinto believes that the stress involved is what being a player is all about:
“a sportsman’s life is about stress if you want to be competing to win things.
It’s true that we are going to play for everything this month, but that won’t change
the way we do thing s. We have to work like we always do – with patience and calmness”.
Pinto also doesn’t believe that the first game of the month is a do or die match:
“it’s very important, but the league isn’t won or lost on just one game.
There’s still a way to go and whatever happens at El Madrigal won’t be decisive”.
“I’ve still got a lot of time ahead of me”
As he explained to Barça TV and www.fcbarcelona.cat ,just after signing
his new deal, Pinto again expressed his pleasure at extending his contract to 2012:
“I’m feeling good physically. I have to thank my parents for the genes they passed onto
me. I’m very lucky and I hope I still have a lot of time ahead of me to keep playing”.