Eric Garcia (Martorell, 01-09-2001) is having a great season in Míchel’s surprising Girona, a team that already has almost both feet in the next edition of the Champions League. On Saturday he faces Barça, a team with which he has two more years on his contract and to which he must return this summer. In addition, the two teams are playing for second place in the League.
How is the Girona squad doing after having made history and already having a European place for next season?
You can imagine it. Very happy, as they say, this is something historic for the club. I think it is something well deserved for everything we have done throughout the season. And now to finish winning the Champions League.
After the last day it seems that this objective has also been achieved. They lead Athletic by thirteen points and there are fifteen left to play.
The reality is that we already touched it. That everything favors us. We could have certified it earlier, but we failed in some away games. Now, after winning in Las Palmas, we have it very close.
When you arrived at Girona, did you imagine all this?
What’s up, not at all. It is true that when I arrived the team was already up. The days went by and both the game and the results were good. We were excited about being able to achieve this goal, but until the second round was underway you couldn’t believe it.
What is the key to this Girona?
I think the union there is. A large part of the group comes from the Second Division, they know what it is to suffer to go up to the First Division. They were already with Míchel. Afterwards, we have a very particular way of playing that suits all players very well. And also the demands we always put on ourselves, in all training sessions, and that is what allows us to win so many games.
Míchel must be largely to blame for everything Girona is achieving.
Of course, I can’t talk about before, when they were in the Second Division, which is when he arrived, but you immediately see that he has a very clear way of playing and how demanding he is with it. We always know how we have to play and he insists on it a lot, in training, he does many video sessions with us and this leads to these results.
Eric Garcia, at one point during the interview with SPORT. / JOAN LEON
Demanding and very hardworking.
A lot. Take care of all the details. As I said, we do a lot of video sessions. We know how we should play and how our rival plays. The training sessions also last a long time. He always tells us that he is trying to give us more complicated tasks than the ones we will later encounter in the game.
His talks are also a spectacle.
He is a very sentimental person, very passionate, who lives everything a lot. His talks are very motivating. He knows the player very well. He uses a lot of his own experiences and that makes it reach you a lot.
What has Míchel given to Eric Garcia?
He has given me a lot of confidence from the first day I spoke with him. Since before coming. I am very grateful to him because my individual level and that of the entire team is due to the confidence he transmits to the players, to everything that is happening to us during the week, to the advice he gives us. He has made us all better.
Eric seems to play very easily, both in the center of defense and on the wing.
It’s the game I have. In the end what Míchel has done is give me confidence. I have been able to show my game and I have been able to help the team.
Míchel told me that if I came he was sure that we could be among the top eight and we have been lucky enough to reach higher
He spoke with him before leaving Barça. How did he convince you to come to Girona?
It was because of what he transmitted to me, because of how I saw the team. He told me that if he came he was sure we could be in the top eight and reach the Conference League. He already saw that we could reach Europe and we have been lucky enough to reach higher.
Is it your best season as a professional?
It is the one that I have had the most regularity. At City I started playing, but when I said I wasn’t going to renew I stopped doing so. In my first season at Barça, I had quite a few minutes and last year I alternated between playing and not playing. What I was looking for at Girona was to play, have minutes and consistency and play my game.
He was talking about City and Barça. They will have helped you adapt to it.
In the end, the three teams have a very similar style of play. Of course having played on these teams helps you. Everyone wants to have the ball and look for the rival goal, each with their own particularities.
What memories do you have of City?
My memories of City are very good. I arrived when I was 16, I spent four seasons, in the youth team, in the reserve team and in the first team. Everything I was able to experience and gain with them was a dream for me, I gained a lot of experience.
And he was lucky to be coached by Pep Guardiola.
Guardiola taught me to understand the way of playing, he teaches you to understand the opponent, what he wants you to do so that you don’t do it, he insisted a lot on defensive vigilance and the small details that could go unnoticed, but he always pays attention to everything .
I think the person he has a great relationship with is Juanma Lillo.
He arrived at the time of Covid, in the second part of the season, and from the beginning he helped me a lot, we talked a lot about football to be able to improve, many times after training we would both stay working to be able to progress. Both I and my family have enormous affection for him.
What do you prefer, conversations with Lillo or those with Michel?
(Laughs). They both have an experience in life that they transmit to you in a very good way that reaches you.
Have you ever regretted leaving City?
No. When Barça called me to return, it was very clear to me.
How do you rate your two-year stay at Barça so far?
The first year was complicated in terms of the group. There was a change of coach, then we took flight and entered the Champions League. The second season was very good and we won the League. On an individual level I didn’t have all the minutes I wanted and that’s why I made the decision to go out on loan.
Xavi didn’t want him to leave…
That’s how it is. It happened on the last day due to a ‘fair play’ issue and I was clear that if I left, it would be to go to Girona.
When the season ends, I will return to Barça and the club will decide. At the moment, we haven’t talked about anything.
And what is going to happen when the season ends?
That I’m going to return to Barça. I have a contract, I will return when the season ends and we will talk to the club to see what is there.
If he must leave, should he go to Girona?
For now I will return to Barça, it is my club. Obviously, at Girona I have been very good, they have treated me very well and even more so if we achieve what we are about to achieve.
What will it depend on if you can stay?
It will depend on the club. I know that I have two more years on my contract and that I have to return. We haven’t talked yet, we’ll see.
From a distance, how do you see Barça?
It’s been a bit of a screwed up few weeks for everyone, including me because I’m just another culé. The PSG match was controlled, but these things happen in football, in the elite. I think, anyway, that Barça has had very good recent months.
And this Saturday, Girona-Barça with second place at stake.
A special match as was the first leg. You play against your friends, against the team you belong to and are from. And as he says, important because we are playing for second place.
He was talking about the first round match. What memories do you have?
It was the game that changed Girona’s course a little. Going to Barça’s field and winning is not easy. It was a very important step. It was a test for us to see if we were prepared to compete with the greats and it turned out that we were.
2024-05-02 10:18:28
#GIRONA #Eric #Garcia #Míchel #confidence #show #game
