“I decided to go the right way, improve to win the position”

Danny Garcia has regained his position. The midfielder from Zumarraga played as a starter in the last two games against Elche and Rayo Vallecano after the player selected in the previous four was Mikel Vesga. The player who wears the number 14 on his back will have to get used to being a substitute after being one of the regulars for Marcellin the previous season forming a double pivot that usually has Victor.

Now he is in charge of facing the media in Lezama to assess his personal moment and that of the team three days before resuming league competition with Almería’s visit to San Mamés. Things are going well collectively, with 13 points added from a possible 18, although now comes a more difficult phase of the calendar with clashes against stronger rivals such as Atlético and Villarreal in home or Sevilla and Barça away.

“The important thing is the team. I think the team works really well and on a personal level, everyone wants to play with everyone. Everyone wants to play, but you have two choices, either come every day to try to improve, win the position and in good spirit, or say that the coach is very bad and has a mania for me. I decided to go the first way, I think it is the right one and it is what led me to be at a good level when I had to play. In that situation, I had examples throughout my career of what to be a good or bad substitute and I will never forgive that when I left football the people I was with in the locker room told me I was bad. exchange”, he said clearly.

Along the same lines, the midfielder added that his goal is to play as long as possible. “On a personal level, the goals I set for myself are always the same, that the team is as high as possible. You already know that I am not a player who can promise goals or other things .I am a footballer who does his job well, which is important within the team and I always try to contribute as much as possible”, he added.

Dani This is almost a fix for Marcellin. With the arrival of Valverde He changed his stance: “Everyone is affected by not playing, but you have to try to take it as much as possible. During the week you have to try to win the position and then everyone wants to contribute at the weekend. The important thing is that those who play give the highest level. I think we are doing it as much as each other and those who don’t play with us have to press where it touches us, which is what they are going to press. All the competitiveness that I think is good, always there in Athletic”.

Valverde selected for Mikel Vesga as a defensive midfielder in the first four games against Mallorca, Valencia, Cádiz and Espanyol. The Gipuzkoan maintains a healthy rivalry with his partner. “If I have the competition with one of my best friends, imagine. I always wish him the best but during the week I have the knife with me. And when I play I know he does the same. Each of us wants to play, but within that competition he is the one I spend the most time with, both with him and with. Leku (Lekue), Demar (From Marcos), with the music group. Being competitive from within will not be implemented anytime soon”, he said.

Last season two midfielders played in front of the defense. Now it’s just one more, mate sancet Y Purify a few meters ahead. The demand for defensive midfielders is greater. “It changes the way you play. We went from playing two pivots to playing three inside. In Marcellin we played two forwards and now we play one and two open ends. If change. Every coach likes his stuff. Ernesto He always gave me his ideas in a clear way, he was very respectful to me. He told me what he wanted from a central midfielder because at that time he was not playing and I accepted it all the time. Michael He has been at a very good level in the games he has played and when it is my turn to play, I think I will also be at a good level. Valverde asks different things from Marcelino and as much as I can, I improve it every day”, he stated.

What will he ask? “Playing as a lone midfielder in front of the defense you have to help get the ball out, rotate, play forward. It’s not the same to play with one than with two pivots. Now the pivot carries more weight than when you’re with two He asks me to improve technically, turn around, play forward… This is another goal in my career. I rarely played alone before, something else adds to you”, he stated.