A few meters from your home, Dani solsona go to RCDE Stadium one Friday morning to talk to AS about the midfield of the Spanish, that jungle that he tamed with his particular skill playing with the ball in the 70s. For many, the Cornellà noi is the best footballer that the blue and white has worn. Darder, Melendo, Vicente Moreno and that creativity that is always viewed under suspicion are the topics of conversation in a corner of the Splau.
If I ask you who have been the best Espanyol midfielders since you, which ones will you tell me?
I should think about it a lot. I don’t know, I get Lauridsen, Sergio González, De la Peña… Espanyol’s base was always first that they don’t mark us and then we’ll get there. With De la Peña and Tamudo it was also like that. We already knew that we had two that made a difference. That is why players of that profile have always come out of the quarry. The attackers, the creative ones, are starting to come out now, but they must consolidate, like Nico Melamed, whom it is not good to label anymore only as revulsive.
Do you see any of your things in Darder?
It is very difficult for me to make that comparison. I played, I didn’t see myself play. Let the 70 or 80 year olds who saw me play speak. Maybe I had more goals, they are data, my average was six, seven or eleven, other years less, but I collaborated a lot in that facet. Lauridsen has more similarities. It was a good element, it had a shot, it had a good displacement. I had more freedom. He didn’t work as much on defense. Darder is more balanced. Then you have De la Peña, but that would be more Melendo, everyone has their things, obviously.
Do you think we are facing the best Darder at Espanyol?
The most recent thing we remember is that year of the descent. Do not forget that it has very good conditions. He is hardworking, has a high technical level, but when he has not been well he has also dropped his performance… For this reason, as required, he is criticized more. This year is very good, I see him more mature and physically at his best. I would only give you one piece of advice. He must shoot more at goal. I would tell him that he has a nose shot, with the instep, with violence … He should try it more.
Against Madrid he almost scored …
Only the one who arrives fails. He who does not arrive will never fail. He hit a 50-meter dash near the end of the game and faced a two-meter goalkeeper. These things happen, we have all failed them. But he arrived and that is the important thing.
I said before that when he has not been at his level he has been criticized more. Is the creative player always under suspicion?
People see the creative player some possibilities and, when he is not fine, he will always be more demanded. You have certain conditions and you don’t do it well, and on top of that they will tell you that you don’t work or run… Other players who are of a different profile, and who do well in a team, are allowed not to be creative and they make up for everything with running and crashing.
Dani solsona
Joan M. Bascu
Could Darder, Solsona and Melendo play together?
There must always be a player who is different. I mainly played with Molinos, who reached where I did not. We did different tasks. Maybe we would be spending it all day, but if we lose it maybe we don’t see it anymore. Who is leading us? It would only be possible if we were a team that had a lot of possession.
Let’s move on to Melendo. Do you think it is not taken seriously because it never has continuity?
The midfielder is a very bashful position. You must contribute, but in goals in giving chances of goals either creating game or giving assists. If throughout many matches your game does not translate into that, the coaches must change and look for solutions. That is why she has never been considered a starting player. Darder plays yes or yes, but Melendo does not.
LaLiga Santander
* Data updated as of October 8, 2021
Does your lack of goal penalize you?
You may not be well, like everyone else, but brands. And in the next game, you do it again. You already put the coach in difficulties. “If you don’t have a good day, nothing happens because this one has a goal,” he says. If that is not met, the coaches look for other solutions. When Melendo is fine, the question is the same: Why doesn’t Melendo play?
In this Espanyol playing with three in midfield should be non-negotiable?
I would not say non-negotiable, but if it works you must continue. The midfielder, be it Darder, Melendo, Herrera … He must contribute. It must help the double pivot when there are bad moments. If you have the weight of the game, you must create and be able to finish and score goals from time to time, be it four or five per season. There are many elements to choose from. We will see when Yangel Herrera comes and see what location David López is looking for, even Morlanes has a good progression. Vicente does not have the midfield done, but changes it depending on the rival.
“RdT is a special guy. Either you want him that way or you don’t want him. But you must love him because he is the one who puts them inside.”
And do you like that variability?
I don’t care about the system, they are all valid. Starting from this base, I understand that you can make modifications depending on the rival. Cádiz and Madrid play differently, so you can hurt them in different ways. But it gives me the feeling, and it is only the feeling, that there are modifications, but we are not starting from something concrete. He studies the games, he knows how to deal with it. I do not know if it is a virtue or a defect, I only say what I would like to see. As always the results will mark.
He is not a midfielder, but he is another creative player. What opinion does RdT deserve?
He is a special uncle. Either you want it that way or you don’t. But you must love him because he is the one who puts them inside. They are geniuses with tremendous conditions, which make you wonder why it is not higher. Sometimes it disappears but when you have the ball in the area you can expect good things. Maybe pressuring the centrals will do it once. He has right, left, head … He has incredible things, but that goes with a pack. And the pack is that there are games that the day does not have and it goes more, as we said before. But he’s a great player for a center forward.