“Espanyol cannot be in Second”, sentence Oscar Gil (04-26-1998). A right-back who can seem all contradiction. Olympic medalist, absolute international with Spain, even if it was circumstantially, and undisputed starter with Espanyol. but also the target of criticism from a part of the parakeet fans in the relegation season, which he and the whole team are now trying to patch up. Among them, Sergi Darderwhom he sees as “the first” in everything.
“The more you look at outside critics, the more you feed them”, he analyzes in his conversation with ACE the right-back, who speaks openly about psychological assistance to the professional footballer, “necessary for relief”, who remembers how after the painful defeat in Vila-Real “the frustration that I had saved all year came out” and that explains how Jordi Alba wrote to apologize after the unfortunate episode From the past derby against Barcelona. And who blindly trusts Luis Garcia: “I know that This coaching staff is going to get a lot out of me”.
First of all, encouragement. How do you return to work motivated knowing that you are in the mud?
We have all returned with renewed energy. Was mandatory. The descent was a very hard stick that nobody expected, but now it’s time to face it as the reality that it is. The holidays help you to leave the past behind a bit and to focus on this year in which we must return Espanyol to where it should be, which is obviously in the First Division.
Is it possible to really cleanse the mind in four weeks?
It is complicated, of course, but it is part of our profession. Unfortunately, it falls within what football is. We are prepared and we have come back stronger for a very hard and long year.
The contrast, looking back, between an Olympic medalist and an absolute international, and the descent back into hell. Are you prepared for something like this?
When you look back, there is all that but equally important is knowing where you come from. I have played in the Third Division, in the Second Division, and it should not be underestimated either. I think none of us in this locker room like to play in a category other than First Division, but we must accept reality. We all have experience to face the season and return as soon as possible, because Espanyol cannot be in the Second Division.
Have you come to have doubts about whether to stay?
Trust me, there is no time to even think about it. When I went on vacation, with all the frustration on my mind, I just wanted to disconnect, be with the family and recharge my batteries. And when the return approached, I already focused on coming back well, strong. In football you don’t know where you can end up, what can happen in August, but the head is here and we will all row together, because we will need it.
He said it because, in addition, he is entering his last year of contract.
I haven’t touched on the subject of renovation, and I don’t think it’s convenient to think about it either, generating anxieties about what’s going to happen. It would not be correct. I work day by day because you never know what is going to happen. It would be a mistake on my part to stop doing the things I’m doing because I think I’m going to play more or less after I have a year left on my contract.
I don’t know if the defeat at Villarreal-Espanyol in April, When you first break down in tears and then exchange impressions with a fan, it was one of your most difficult days as a footballer.
That was one of the games that made me the most angry to lose, because of the team’s work. The frustration that I had saved from the whole year came out in the end. Because we had been doing things well, we saw each other very close and they brought us back. It’s not that I saw everything lost, but the horror that things weren’t working out for us. The accumulated anger. Later, I was wrong, I was crossed since the game ended and I exploded. But then, back on the bus for three hours, I totally regretted it.
Speaking of regret, how did you feel the teasing of Jordi Alba, Ferran Torres and Eric García from the Barcelona bench on the night of the derby?
The first thing is that, being a difficult year, I decided to look little at social networks. So I didn’t know anything. In the field of course I didn’t even hear them. And after a couple of days Jordi Alba wrote to me to apologize for some images that had come out. But I didn’t care. If they recorded all of us continuously on the bench, with the tension of the matches… Yes, there was a hesitation but he didn’t want to go on, he was too focused on the team’s dynamics to think about those things.
I mentioned the word anxiety earlier. Have you resorted, as a result of so many emotions experienced, to psychological assistance?
I’ve been turning to her for a long time, since I’ve been in professional football. I think it is necessary, especially for relief. We athletes are exposed and we must manage the praise, put a mattress on you if everything goes well, and also not believe the worst when everything goes wrong. In seasons like last, it is very good to have the support of a professional. Most of the team does.
In that sense, to what extent did the encouraging words of Luis García, who defined you as a “mental machine” and “an example to follow” help you to move forward?
Logically it was a support to continue working, trusting in what you are doing and improving, which was the idea. You always try to support yourself with people close to you, like the coach, the coaching staff, people from the club with whom I like to talk a lot. Those are the opinions that I must value, whether they are positive to reinforce or if they tell you that they do not like what you are doing. They are the ones who know, you don’t have to let yourself be guided by outsiders.
Do you sometimes feel like the scapegoat, the target of all criticism?
The more you look at those people, at those external critics, the more you feed them. Nowadays it is very easy to say things, and it is clear that negative comments affect us all, whether you are a footballer or not, but in the end you learn to give value to what should really matter to you. More than eating my head, those opinions should serve me to work on making them positive.
From that experience that you treasure in the Second Division, how do you prepare someone who has never played it for the category?
One prepares with the passage of time and with the help of colleagues. I remember my first year at Elche, when I went from Third to Second, and I didn’t stop to think about what I had to do. It comes out on its own, it’s something natural. Veterans do have that role as advisers, I received it and now I value it much more than how it helped me to adapt to Segunda.
I don’t know if seniority, but captaincy. Darder. How are you seeing him in the locker room, now that your future is up in the air?
I see it very well. He is a guy who always goes straight ahead, you see him happy, the first in terms of training, work, the first to get into it, who wants intensity, rhythm… He is calm, focused on being here, and tomorrow is unknown. He is a player with immense quality, and logically we are all looking forward to him staying.
Have you been able to speak personally with Fran Garagarza, the new sports director?
Yes, we spoke earlier in the week, and very well. It was a contact to find out how he was feeling after last year. She was interested in how we players were mentally.
On a mental level, precisely, is this journey in Second Division going to be more difficult than the previous one because now there will be an audience and Espanyol will be the rival to beat?
We must turn it around, and take advantage of it at home. The fans didn’t miss a single game last season and we didn’t give them back what they deserved, it was to take their hats off to the atmosphere, the receptions… This season we must turn our stadium into a pressure cooker. And then outside, I personally like it when you have a hostile environment, you hear people squeezing. I get extra motivation.
Does it also motivate you or are you sad to have to face your Elche?
I’m sorry. My only ambition in Primera was for us both to be saved. I have a special affection for it, I am from there, it is the team in which I grew up. Every time I come back it’s special because I have friends, my family goes, and it’s a field I used to go to since I was little. Now what I want is that we both return to First Division.
What was done so badly that Espanyol ended up going down?
It was a bunch of things. The team, which had come back very well from the World Cup, entered into a very bad dynamic in the next stretch, with six or seven defeats. We lost a lot of games at home, and that marked us; having the field we have, we shouldn’t have missed so many cruel points. Either they tied us at the end or as soon as we started they scored a goal and we had to throw the car away. Leaving a clean sheet is something to reinforce this year. We must bear the weight of the parties.
He talks about not conceding goals, but right now the defense is the same one that went down. How do you reverse that trend?
We were also practically the same the year of Vicente (Dark). When you get into a bad dynamic, your head unwittingly whips you. We fit in, so it seemed that we received a spark, we went back but we didn’t know how to put up with it. A little over the head. That tension for victories that were necessary. It was not a matter of players. With Luis (García) we are working on a defensive level to be the ones who drive the game.
How have you improved in football since you arrived at Espanyol, three years ago now?
I have gained experience, I have learned to adapt to each moment of the game. I am growing, but with the thorn of the last year: I did not find myself at the point that I would have liked. I’m also being more mischievous. When you train with veteran people, you learn, if in a game they tell you to waste time, throw yourself away, scream. It’s those little things. I have a lot of room for improvement and I really want to do it. I know that this coaching staff is going to get a lot out of me.
With three years in the squad he will be one of the veterans.
(interrupt) No, I don’t want to be a veteran (laugh)
But yes of this Espanyol. To which he was going: would he see himself from experience in the team being one of the captains?
I leave that to the people who really know. I never see myself as a captain. I love cheering, being on top, putting cane, but I think that a captaincy is big words. It is something that has to be born. Most of the captains here have been in lower categories. I don’t see it as normal for him to decide on seniority, I think it depends on the personality of each one, because the captain in the end is the banner of a team.