David Villa during his professional career, he wore the jerseys of Valencia, Barcelona and Atlético Madrid, but it also marked a period in the Spanish team, where he made his debut with Luis Aragonés, the coach who “had the most influence” in his career, because he “always went away and changed the mentality of a team” that until then “didn’t believe” in his possibilities.
country (Tuilla, Asturias; 1981) came as a youth to Real Sporting Gijon from langreo and, after a brief stay in the subsidiary, he was promoted to the first team and scored forty goals in two seasons in Second. Zaragoza, Valencia, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid are their next destinations, before living three experiences abroad in Australia, United States and Japanese.
The Asturian former soccer player reviews some of the best moments of his career in ‘OR7GEN’, a new four-part documentary series on DAZN that is a unique journey into some of the quarries where the best soccer talent was forged of Spanish and that he knows first hand.
Q: Atlético de Madrid was your last team. He only played one season but won the League. What does rojiblanco group mean?
A: I live in Madrid, now I have more contact with Atlético fans than any other club and I have great memories. It’s been a very intense year, with a lot of success and a lot of love.
Q: At Atlético you have Diego Simeone as your coach. What memory do you have?
A very good one. He is a great coach, a great person and he helped us a lot during that time to have a winning mentality. I used to see him many times in Madrid. He is one of the best coaches I have ever had.
Q: You said he influenced you the most about Luis Aragonés
A: Yes, especially on a mental level, off the field. In the end, we often think that the coach can only give us the tools to use when the referee blows his whistle, at ninety minutes, and Luis walks away. He gave you tools in life, to put a winning mentality in you and he influenced me the most off the field.
Q: Is Luis Aragonés the coach who brought new and then to the national team?
A: No doubt. He should be remembered, not only as the best coach, because the colors are different, but also the one who changed the football mentality of the national team. In the clubs we are dominant but not in the national teams.
There was a time when no one believed, not even us. They called him a crazy old man because in his message he talked about winning and he really believed that we would win, when we ourselves did not believe that his words were true. He showed us that the rest of us were crazy because he led us to victory.
Q: Is Luis Aragonés very different from Vicente Del Bosque?
A: They were different in personality but in terms of the order of the selection or tactical rigor they were not so different. Those two have been the best coaches in this country, but the best thing to do in that case was not to make a huge, huge, aggressive change of direction. It was done very well and that’s why we managed to keep winning.
Q: During your time as a soccer player in the national team, there was talk of Fernando Torres or Villa. It seems one of the two must be chosen. Was he the striker with whom you got along the most on the pitch?
A: Yes, that was something that Luis Aragonés saw. He said that he has some conditions, I have others, and we will improve them by playing together, that he will find his life to make it right. He said we were together. The connection was fantastic and we got along well. Now we see each other every day because we have children in the same school and we live in the same urbanization. I consider him a wardrobe partner, fellow wearer and friend.
Q: Can you make friends with a colleague who still takes your position?
A: Sure. Whenever the competition is healthy for the benefit of the team it is very positive. We had a healthy competition from which the team benefited.
Q: People know the names of fifteen or sixteen players by heart from that team. Now it doesn’t seem like it anymore. Have people left the team?
A: People come from winning and that misleads us because winning is very complicated in any field. Only one of those who try can win and it’s not easy. We believe we can have talent and a chance to win in the future, so we will support them, but obviously when you win there are more fans for everyone.
COLLECTION OF TITLES IN BARCELONA
Q: You spent three seasons at Barcelona and won many titles. What does being a club mean in your life?
A: From Barcelona, I had many good moments and I love him very much. Eight titles in three seasons is outrageous. At the time we didn’t know it but you study it with the data and it’s huge. I lived amazing moments but the hardest moment of my career, the long tibia injury. Even in those months I remember that they helped me for the future with important things. I have very fond memories of those years.
Q: As a spectator, how do you see Xavi Hernández’s Barcelona?
A: Xavi is a friend more than a partner. I’m very happy because I know how he feels, how culé he is, and that people can see that Barcelona will return to what it used to be. They had a great League, in other competitions, especially in the Champions League and the Europa League they went through difficult times, but you have to know the time then. If I had the whole squad with me in those matches, we’d be talking about it differently. In the League, which is a more regular tournament, where casualties depend on less, it has been good. What is coming is positive in my view.
Q: This season Gerard Piqué left and now Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets. Is it the end of an unrepeatable generation?
A: Players come and go. When Busquets arrived, Yaya Touré left and it seemed like the end. No problem. The dominant is the club. Obviously the love of the old players and the nostalgia remains, but something new is coming, not like Busquets, but he’s great.
Q: Playing with Leo Messi is playing with the best player in the world?
A: Yes, don’t play anymore. I always say that. He is the best player I have ever seen. It will be hard to find another like it and having him as a partner every day is the only thing that made me endorse that idea and enjoy it. It’s nice to play with him. On the field he is not only the best for himself but for others. Just look at his attendance stats.
FEELING FOR VALENCIA
Q: At Valencia, you played five seasons, the professional club where you spent the longest
A: Valencia is the most sentimental club, it’s where I spent the most time and where my two daughters were born. Our (DV7 Group) office is there and I go there a lot. Along with Sporting de Gijón, it’s the most sentimental because it’s with me personally and with the family.
Q: And because of that feeling, how did you experience the hardships of this time?
A: Obviously it’s sad. A club like Valencia cannot fight for relegation, although I have experienced it too. In 2008 we were close to Second, just like this year. As a fan, I hope they learn from the mistakes of this season and don’t repeat them so that the fans don’t suffer anymore.
Q: Your career ended in Australia and the United States. How were those years?
A: I’m very happy with those guys and it’s something I would recommend. I wouldn’t be the person I am or the footballer I am if I played in Spain for the five years I was away. I would have had a career here but I wouldn’t have seen other Leagues, other cultures, other ways of looking at football. It is enriching.
Source: La Verdad
I am Shawn Partain, a journalist and content creator working for the Today Times Live. I specialize in sports journalism, writing articles that cover major sporting events and news stories. With a passion for storytelling and an eye for detail, I strive to be accurate and insightful in my work.
