GironaThe return of the beloved Borja García (Madrid, 1990), the fifth footballer who has most often defended the Girona shirt in professional categories, with 193 matches, is one of the best news of the summer for Montilivi. Míchel’s team, stuck in the league because they have only added 4 of the 15 points in play, want to get back on the road to victory this Saturday at home against Valladolid (20.30, GOAL). Before the match, the fans will pay tribute to Aday Benítez, who will definitely not wear the white-and-red colors again.
How did the dressing room fit this bad start?
– It should be borne in mind that the team is almost new and this includes the coach, who has football ideas that do not match those that Girona had until now. We need time to adjust, but we are all convinced that this is the line to follow. I can understand that people, out of doors, get nervous, because the results don’t accompany us. But I can assure you that inside we believe that by playing like this we will win more times than we will lose.
Are you tempted to look for results at any cost and get out of the script, or in no hurry?
– Football works like this, it is difficult to find people with a lot of patience. We want to win, and if it can be immediately much better. But we have to be careful, because the squad is set up to play the way Michel wants; and when we get it, we will enjoy it. This happens to many clubs. At first there is some despair because things don’t work out and then, when it goes well, everyone joins in. It is true that the championship demands of us and we would like to grow by collecting victories, but defeats are also teaching us what we need to correct. Now we need to reflect this by adding three by three.
It is important that those who try are footballers involved, as is your case.
– Being emotionally attached to what you do makes a difference, of course. It’s no secret that nowhere have I been as happy as in Girona. It was five years in a row and I was forced to leave, between the blows received and the club’s transfer demands. And it’s when you lose something that you realize what you had. It happened to me: when I left Girona I felt the happiness it gave me. I don’t regret having left, but now I’m very excited to be here. In fact, he seems to have never been out of it. I am in the ideal place to reconnect with myself and contribute to the group. Because, no matter how sentimental there is, I signed for a club that was left with a Primera goal. And that means it’s not just any club.
The best compliment they can give you is not to hide if the ball burns?
– I’m aware that things are expected of me. People have a good memory of it and it will be demanding with me, I left the bar very high and I will not be able to lower it. Expectation is generated by everything I did and now I have to be a leader. I know the responsibility that comes with being back. Girona has signed me to be decisive and, if I am not, I will be the first to know because I am self-critical. My way of interpreting the game and taking risks on the field is the result of the talent I have. But I don’t say it as something arrogant, everyone has their virtues and that’s mine; it does not mean that it is better than that of any other. Nor do I leave anyone indifferent: either like it or not, there is no middle ground.
Girona has signed me to make it decisive ”
You move well in improvisation.
– It is very difficult to surprise in a training because everyone knows you and knows what you do, who you look for more and who less. But in matches he goes out alone, nothing is written. The opponent can say one thing and end up doing the opposite. Football requires having an open mind, knowing how to adapt to plays that you did not expect to happen. It’s action-reaction, and everything determines what specific response you have to give it. The clearer you are, the better off you will be.
I always wanted to ask you what was going through your mind when you lost the decisive Girona-Llevant to continue in Primera, for an expulsion in Getafe the week before.
– Well I felt very guilty because I shouldn’t have made that entry. We didn’t deserve the descent and I was partly responsible for it. Nothing that happened was normal, those weeks. If I’m honest with you, it hasn’t cleared my mind and I live with it, there are still days when I think about it because it was the decisive match and I couldn’t help the club, with the aggravating fact that Girona means a lot to me. I had to go through a mourning, because only we knew all that it had taken to climb. But since we cannot settle for the positive, we must not settle for the negative. Life forces us to move forward.
Your connection to the city is also demonstrated by the healthy eating business you have with Aday Benítez and nutritionist Sergi Mateo, the Sanum Healthy House.
– Girona is my second home and my diet has changed my approach. Then I wanted to contribute a little grain of sand to make it reach everyone, and if with that I can improve someone’s habits, I’ll be happy. We are not just talking about athletes, it is an issue that affects the whole of society. But if we talk about athletes, if we add good nutrition to genetics, they will be able to show their talent many more times than those who do not have a healthy diet. I have experienced it and that is why I commit to it and believe in it.
And good physical condition also allows you to have a good mental state, which is perhaps even more important.
– The head is the key to everything, much more than food. You can already eat well that if you are bad you will not work. But obviously when you have everything to your liking things flow much better. It also gives you continuity – in my case it has made me less injured. It was to change and start having average odds of 35 games per season. That means it works.
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