Barcelona“I understand the criticism for the type of error and the minute it was, but I have the necessary personality to turn this situation around.” Espanyol’s goalkeeper, Álvaro Fernández, accepts with resignation, but also with mental fortitude, the fact of having to experience one of the most ungrateful moments of an elite goalkeeper’s career: two weeks after giving him a goal to Real Sociedad, swallowed Valencia’s tie in added time. Two cruel goals that cost Espanyol points.
The two actions have reopened the debate about who should occupy this position at Espanyol this season. Fernández seemed the best positioned to become the owner of the white-and-blue goal, who is looking for a relief of guarantees after the departure of Diego López. The insecurity generated by Lecomte in the first games and the inexperience of Joan Garcia made Fernández the best candidate to become the Galician’s heir.
“After making a mistake you have to keep a cool head, have personality, accept that you have failed and that you can no longer do anything to correct the mistake. Continue within the party and try to do the best possible in the next action”, reflects Fernández. “If you are not made of special dough, you cannot overcome these types of moments. The goalkeepers must know how to react when we fail because we have no one behind to help us”, he adds, before analyzing the mistake made in San Sebastià: “More than concentration, it was a technical error due to poor control and, above all, for not giving Calero a better passing line that would have forced Kubo to run more”.
Despite claiming to be a leader who likes to boss his teammates around, Fernández is a very analytical goalkeeper: before signing for Espanyol he asked coaches, goalkeepers and footballers for reports on the profile and qualities of the coaches of white-and-blue goalkeepers, specifically Jesús Salvador and Tommy N’Kono: “It is very important to know who you will be working with and to know what characteristics they have to know if they will fit with yours. I loved everything they told me about them”, explains the goalkeeper, who is full of praise for both coaches: “They are correcting me a lot and I am sure that my performance will change radically. I will improve a lot with them because the quality of training in the goalkeeping area is spectacular.”
He does not rule out following his path when he hangs up his gloves: “Depending on how burnt out I am from football, I would like to be a goalkeeper coach or a match commentator. It is grateful that exporters are now included in the narratives who can analyze first-hand why they do one action or another”. Fernández, who left the ADE career when he left for Monaco, has followed several language courses and will start another one in journalism.
He will work with a psychologist
Despite coming from a league, the English one, where special emphasis is placed on physical work, due to the high number of crosses in the area that force goalkeepers to constantly push themselves, Fernández considers that mental work is “almost more important than physicality” for a goalkeeper. “Football is emotions that you have to know how to handle”, he continues. The player admits that, even before these two mistakes, he had planned to visit a psychologist who had been recommended to him to work on the mental side. “I’ve wanted to do it for a long time, to be able to have a chat with him and for him to evaluate how he sees me. I’m open to new tools that help me get better,” he admits. Several Espanyol players, such as Sergi Darder, have dealt with psychology professionals in recent years. “The appearance of the coaches and psychologists improve the world of football, he is an increasingly important figure”, the goalkeeper adds.
Fernández exudes maturity despite his 24 and a half years. He made his debut in Primera at 18, and since then he has played for six clubs in five different categories. Accelerated learning for a goalkeeper who has always played wherever he went. “I learned a lot in Segona and I’ve been playing professional football for four consecutive seasons, which is why I don’t feel the challenge of defending Espanyol’s goal,” he claims. Between the League and the Premier League, in fact, he has already accumulated 39 games, a baggage much higher than, for example, his predecessor in the goal of Espanyol, Diego López, accumulated at his age: two games in Primera. “Being his successor is an added pressure that I like to have,” he explains.
Álvaro Fernández’s goal is clear: to consolidate himself in the elite, with Espanyol, to become one of the regulars in the call-ups of the Spanish national team. “I want to stay at the same club for more than a year, that’s why I came to Espanyol, the ideal club to take important steps in my career through stability”, says the goalkeeper, who receive the interest of five more Primera clubs in the summer. His performance will determine whether it’s worth it to end up paying the three million his purchase option was set at.
