Barcelona defender, Jodi Alba has averred that being a player of the Spanish giants comes with lots of responsibilities and challenges.
Alba made the remark yesterday while fielding questions from newsmen.
The Barca star who harped on the recent performances of the club, said one has to have a very strong mentality to deal with the criticism and pressure that come with the job.
He said: “I try to give Balde a lot of advice, so that he continues to grow and learn.”
“What do I tell the youngsters? That it’s complicated to be a Barça player. That now it’s all very nice, but when the difficult moments come, you have to have a very strong mentality to withstand the criticism and the pressure.”
“What has changed in the team? That now we believe we can win. We’ve played some good games, others not so good, but in both cases we’ve won. Before, if we didn’t play perfectly we couldn’t win. Now we can compete.”
“I have a year left on my contract, and if necessary, I’m willing to reduce my salary. It’s the club’s decision, and I’ve always helped when they’ve asked me to do so.”
“I feel good, and capable of staying at Barça. The coach and my teammates are behind me. I feel good, and the day I don’t feel capable of playing here I’ll be the first to leave.”
“Being benched? It’s the coach’s decision. I just focus on training, being at the highest level, trying to play well, and then the coach decides. Whatever his decision is, it’s fine for me. I’m motivated and happy.”
“It’s true that I’m not playing every single minute, but when I do play I try to give my best. And when I don’t play, I try to help my teammates from the bench. It’s something new for me, but I’m happy with this role. I like to give advice to my teammates and help them.”
“When we were winning a lot of titles we didn’t really value it, and when we stopped winning we realised how difficult it is to win a title. We saw it as something normal, but it’s not.”
