David Albelda Interview

SuperDeporte conducted an interview with the 34 year old veteran.

Rafael Nadal says that it is “important to have hope for things”

If he says it I will believe it too because he is number one.

What hopes do you have?

To contribute, to feel like I am one more, to feel well, to do what I like. Right now, it’s a lot.

Is David a person who makes wishes when the end of the year is near?

No, in football to find success you need to work very hard, it is not the will of wishing and there it is. If there is not hard work behind it gets difficult, I live day to day with intensity, training everyday and in the end things come together.

Do you look at your DNI? (Similar to a birth certificate)

No I don’t, we are looking at a team much younger in comparison to the ones we’ve had in the last decade. I’m 34 years old and I’m the oldest, but sincerely I do not look at my DNI and I feel like one more, very integrated with the others even though they are 20 or 30.

You have returned to training after a few days of rest, did you enjoy a lot of it with your son?

That’s what I enjoyed most. At the end of the day Christmas is a bunch of family parties and I have enjoyed it with my son, with my woman, and the rest of the family.

Has he begun to kick the ball?

Let’s just say he likes it, he is too small but you can see he shoots the ball, but there is still a long way to go to see if he likes football.

The old rockers never die?

They do die, early or late but they do. One day yes, when you get to an age like mine looking at the outline of the team and the evolution of football, you know that you have little left. You don’t know if in one year, two or three, because you live in the present for so long, but they do die. Everything renovates.

What did you change to maintain your level?

My way of being and the way I work has always been the same. I have been very careful because at the end, the professional level requires you to be careful whether you’re 22 or 34. Either you’re careful or football itself will move you way from the professional level, there’s thousands of cases.

Have you recovered in the last few months that sensation of satisfaction playing football?

No, in general I have always enjoyed the time I have playing. It’s what I lived for when I was younger, but it is a career for many years and in an important club like Valencia, you are bound to have some bad times which I went through. But the general balance is that of enjoying myself and having fun.

We have also seen your parents travel far from Mestalla to see you.

My dad has always traveled a lot, not with the team, but whenever they can and they do it well, they have went to Zaragoza,  Madrid, Vila-real, but to travel to London, for example, they did it by airplane.

They should be very satisfied with your performances.

I don’t talk to family in terms of football at a personal level, with them I talk about everything except that, suppose that they are happy with the way things are going, but not now, rather when it started.

Before, we talked about a young locker room, Valencia should keep them so that they grow here?

It’s the type of player that has always been good for us, people that come from teams that theoretically have a smaller prestige than we do that see Valencia as a really important team, how it is, and how to learn to grow and get better, and at the same time make the club better and themselves as players. Right now there are many cases, like the case of Soldado, because he has always scored goals, but now he scores them with Valencia and the way he has been scoring them, to the panorama of Europe and the world, he is a player much more important than years ago.

Has Soldado made a step forward during the course?

It is not easy to come from an inferior club and to perform from the first minute in a team with the entity of Valencia. It costs the whole world a little, for Roberto it was last season in the first half of the season, from the second half he began to score and he hasn’t stopped since. On the other hand, last year Aduriz was sensational in the first half, and now there are cases where it costs you more, like that of Parejo and Piatti, but I think everyone will come forward. It’s certain that there are cases where some people arrive and their performance is immediate, but it’s not easy for any player to come and perform from day one because before you would play a game a week and now you are playing three. It’s not easy.

Is Albelda at the side of players when they are passing through bad times?

Especially not, at the end the player is based on the good and bad times, and I think the player is a person with a lot of brains and in those situation, they pass them good because they are day to day. You can have a conversation with someone but to give advice no, I think there are people more prepared and older to give advice.

Do you see a different Ever? The club has considered his renovation. 

Ever is not different, at a sporting level nobody  had any doubts about him. Simply put, it was his personal level that had problems which separated him from the performance he had, but Ever at a sporting level has started well last year and the year before. He’s a guy who came at a young age from Argentina, we know he has quality and when he is focused he helps a lot.

Is he a different footballer?

Everybody is different. He has some qualities, Tino has others, Parejo has others, everyone in their position. What is important is to have variety so that the manager can choose, I think we are up against a team that has surpassed the injuries of Ever and of Canales, who theoretically are two players that would get more playing time because of their technicality, and have surpassed their value each year. At the end, the clubs are all over the players and what is left to do is to perform well when they’re here, and when they are not, we have to follow the same path and get better.

You understand that Valencia want to renovate?

Yes, there are great sporting performances and it is normal to offer renovations.

What do you think of the exemptions of Miguel and Ricardo Costa?

From the outside it is easy to talk and to evaluate, the people don’t know what it’s like day to day. A player can have a problem in a moment, but from there to give a privilege to a player who costs a sum of money, and after that they’re players that are important, to have them separated and punished for months and months. The people don’t know everything, but sincerely, it is very hard to live with it day to day, not in the case of Miguel or Ricardo Costa but to have any player punished and not able to compete. That, in the long run can affect the team.

Do you know that there are footballers that want to leave because they don’t play?

That has happened all the time, buy and sell, renovate the team, some look like the one but they aren’t, some leave because they’re done, others because they are disliking it, it has happened all the time.

You have recuperated your armband during the course, what feelings do you have?

The same feelings because with or without the armband because one has a manner of being and acting, you don’t have to be captain to share these manners after playing for so many years.

How do you see Emery?

Like always, a bit tougher than other years after working and dedication in many hours and videos. Very into his job

What grade do you give your team?

Seeing that we fell out of the Champions, but it is a hard tournament, in the league we are where we want to be, the cup has just started, it is remarkable, the best would be to remain in Champions and a bit closer to Barcelona and Real Madrid which we could have found in Mallorca and in Betis’ stadium. 2012 should be better.