Masche, how time goes by, huh?
7½ years.
We were looking at some images.
What do you think about all this time you’ve been in Barcelona, these 7½ years?
- Well...
sincerely, Geri. Let’s say...
I’ve been here for much longer than what I thought I was going to be.
I knew that I was coming to a place where it was...
it was going to be very complicated to play.
Because well, it was the team that it was.
For me...
it's one of the best teams...
I’ve been able to see in history, and even to belong...
to a team like this has been fantastic, no?
But...
But well, I knew it was hard, and I came with the mindset of...
of being able to...
help in any way I could.
But above all...
with the thought that —
It can sound a little selfish —
but with the thought of saying, well, "let’s see if I have the chance of winning something in Europe.
Of being there for a few years...
if I can win titles, belong to a group of unique players."
And well, the years passed, I found my place and well...
we all know the way it ended, you know?
- How does everything start?
It was the summer of the World Cup of 2010.
How did you arrange the signing?
You were the captain of the national team, in theory you were not coming here
to be a starter because Busi was here.
How did you arrange it?
Did you talk to Pep? To Messi?
- During the World Cup, it was a little crazy because...
I was at Liverpool and
and Rafa Benítez had left that summer from Liverpool so...
I had...
I had been thinking about leaving for some time.
And more so
with Rafa’s exit it was as if I felt I didn’t have anything to do over there, you know?
And...
He ... signs with Inter.
There’s the option of going to Inter.
Which wouldn’t have been easy because, well, he was just getting there, you know?
Inter had just been the European champions.
It wasn’t a…
a very … easy signing...
But the option was there.
And during the World Cup...
we talked with Leo about…
I started a little bit as a joke with…
with the idea of telling him to see if there was the possibility.
I had been reading that Yaya Touré was leaving...
And that maybe they were going to need someone there.
And Leo sort of…
I also think as a joke and a little bit serious
started talking with Pep during the World Cup about that subject.
And the doubts were those.
The doubts were
"How is a player that’s a starter...
with Liverpool, who’s the captain of the national team...
can come and accept the role of…
obviously of not playing with continuity." Which was obvious, because…
because well, everybody knows the opinion I have about Busi.
And above all, what Busi is for Barcelona, you know?
But well, I always tried to be clear that obviously…
let’s say I was clear on the role I came to play.
And it was a little bit of that.
Maybe it was a personal goal of saying
"This is the chance I have of coming to this Barça," you know?
The best Barça in history.
The chance of having possibilities of winning titles.
Of playing with extraordinary players.
And well, I… things happened.
Let’s say, it was a long...
long wait because
it wasn’t until August 31 that the signing was done.
But… but, it’s clear that…
it was clear where I was coming to ... and the role I was going to have to play, you know?
- And the first year you achieve everything.
I mean, you win titles
you end up playing— although with a small detail, as a central defender.
But we end up winning La Liga, the Champions.
I guess it was your dream season and not only because you played
a lot more than what you expected but also, in a different role than the one you thought.
- Yeah, no, totally.
Let’s see, it was obvious that...
in my life, I never imagined that I was going to end up playing as a defender, I’m being honest.
And when the season is over and ... you see that you’ve won Liga and Champions
that you had the luck of playing really important games like…
like the two clásicos in semifinals against Madrid.
Or the Champions final.
When ... you feel like an important part of a team that was already formed.
but for whatever reason...
you go in and…
and you start adapting even to a new position. Yeah.
In the end, the analysis you make is
"Thank God I made this decision.
If not, what would I be doing now or what would I be thinking in England?"
But, I’m the kind that thinks that aside from the results
the steps you take, let’s say, you have to make your decisions
according to what you think.
Afterwards...
like we Argentinians say, "You can’t talk with the Monday newspaper."
It’s very easy to talk with the Monday newspaper.
And...
and things can go well or wrong.
The thing is if in that moment you made the choice you were certain of.
- And playing as a central defender, because for me honestly, it’s…
it surprised me a lot, since the first moment, how you adapted yourself to that position because
from midfielder to defender it’s true that maybe
to play it might be a little bit easier, because you see everything in front of you.
But then, to defend is incredibly harder, and more so in a club like Barça.
Honestly, because of your height, which obviously is not a good height to have as a central defender.
How fast you picked up all the movements, the covers.
How was that process, as a player?
- No, it went…
the truth is I...
adapted as I went along, Geri.
You remember that, well…
the first game I played as a central defender was in Donetsk.
The second leg of the quarterfinal and I had no idea I was going to play.
Pep gives the lineup and ... and he puts me as a central defender but we hadn’t even talked about it before.
It was my chance.
It was the only way to hold on to something and say, well, "If I want...
to survive here and stay in a team like this...
I’m going to have a lot more opportunities
playing as a central defender
than as a midfielder."
Especially, not because there were no defenders. Puyi was here.
But Puyi had some problems with injuries so he couldn’t play as much.
Obviously I never liked playing because of Abi’s injury.
Sorry, because of Abi's illness.
But those are circumstances that we had to live through and they happened.
And I found that spot and tried to hold on to that, Geri.
I’ve always thought of myself as...
or tried to live football ... let’s say, from a survivalist perspective.
- Would you have liked to play a little bit more in the midfield in Barça?
Are you leaving with the sensation that...?
- Yes, yes. It’s clear that—
- We’ve talked about it many times in the locker room, that you had that desire to —
- Let’s just say that my career...
or my time in Barcelona is one of...
a lot of contrast in that regard.
Because they were the best years of my career, where I could enjoy them the most, where…
let’s say...
I’ve felt complete as a footballer.
But I didn’t get the chance to play in my position, so that’s as if...
your glass were half empty, you know?
Those were the cards that were dealt and...
maybe…
I would’ve...
would’ve rather at some point or many times when
I had doubts about leaving before, they were also because of that, you know?
No one knows it better than you, how thankless it is to play as a defender in Barcelona.
One mistake…
and you pay dearly. And ... when you
come from another position, or you’re used to another concept, or automatic ways of playing...
it’s harder to understand.
- After Pep, Tito arrived, then Tata.
Then Luis, now Ernesto.
I know you’re going to be a coach 100% certain because of all the talks we’ve had.
With whom do you see yourself more connected?
To whom will you be more similar?
- It’s just that...
lets say similar…
I always say that it’s very…
one shouldn’t want to be similar to anyone.
Yes, we’ve had the luck of having had great coaches and...
if in the future I want to be a coach, I’ll try to copy many things.
To me ... I think Pep’s first 2 years had a big impact on me.
For everything — let’s say for coming from a type of football, like the one...
the one we played in Liverpool to...
to coming to one that was totally different, and having to understand concepts.
And because of that I had to...
have a lot of conversations with him.
But it’s clear that...
let’s say
Tito, his way of managing the group.
Tata I think I’ve been able to get to know him much better in the national team than here in Barcelona.
Here in Barcelona he even said it many times
that his hands were tied, he couldn’t be him.
So I think, well, we’ve talked about it as well, I think ... Luis...
changed things...
radically to what we were doing, and he improved other things.
Just like Ernesto has done in these six months, you know?
And it’s because of that
that the team has started to work once again.
Which is why maybe last season it was a little harder to compete.
- Yes, because I remember that
when you arrived you told me that Rafa also, Rafa Benítez, had a big impact on you as a coach.
- Yes, yes, that’s why I say but with a different football.
- Rafa and Pep are two completely different footballs.
- Yes, I’ve been lucky to have many, let’s say ... Bielsa too.
He had a big impact on me since I was a kid.
That’s why I say that if one is smart, one has to try to...
to grab the best of each.
I always say the same, you know? Put it in a blender and take out your own idea out of all of this.
- Is there a moment throughout these 7½ years ... that...
that’s special for you, one you’ll stay with? A title? A game?
- No. Look, more than a title or a game I’ll stay with...
with the day to day.
With everything that we’ve enjoyed.
For those of us who are inside, we know
how good a time we’ve had throughout this whole time.
It’s very hard at this professional level
to have such a good time.
In fact, we’ve talked about this...
that sometimes it even seemed like…
that in training it was crazy how good a time we were having, you know?
And that’s what in the end ... you realize that…
it’s what gives you life, you know?
That the day to day isn’t as tough, that seasons go by much quicker.
Because in the end everything makes sense when you enjoy your profession and ... and especially that.
Afterwards...
it’s clear that ... in my case I’ve been lucky to share
7½ years not just with
with great players but also with great people and with a super, super healthy locker room.
- We’ve been lucky in the locker room. That’s true.
With Leo ... the relationship you have.
Obviously it’s special because of all these years
you’ve shared, not only in Barcelona but also in the national team.
I think everything has been said ... about him as a player.
But...
but you, the relationship you have with him.
- The relationship with Leo ... let’s say...
it’s also special this whole time because…
it was very, very intense, especially because of everything we’ve lived in Argentina, you know?
I always say that
here in the club, many times
we use it...
as a way to relax from everything that we have to live over there.
But well, it’s clear that…
That I have a great relationship
obviously always a relationship with a lot of respect.
I think both of us...
try not to invade.
I’m ... also a very weird person.
And I’m telling you, the fact that we have lived moments that were so...
intense in the national team makes the… well, the relationship…
has made it grow through the years.
- All these years you’ve lived in a club where there’s a saying that is “Més que un Club.”
“More than a Club.”
Have you been able to comprehend, to understand after these 7½ years
understand the why of this saying? And why Barça is different from the rest?
Yes, yes.
Let’s see… In the end, beyond...
what they explain to you when...
when you arrive, about everything that Barça means.
Being able to appreciate it, to live it
to understand it.
But well, more than anything, what I told you, not only the club, but…
you realize everything when you have to
live with people who have left the club, like…
like… the difference in the relationships, or the relationship the kids from
La Masia have when they come up.
And well, that … let’s say...
when you adapt…
it’s like…
you’re one of the bunch.
But there have been cases that when you don’t adapt, it’s pretty obvious and not good, you know?
- To end, when you arrived, in your press conference
you said you came to learn and to help out.
Do you think you have achieved that?
- Learned, for sure. Help out...
Help out, you’d have to say it.
But yeah, no. Let’s see…
I leave...
with ... with the tremendous happiness of knowing that I was able to live up to expectations.
Which is ... the best thing that can happen to a player.
- Well Masche, thank you for all these years, really.
- No, thank you.
- I think that…
that well, we’ve shared quite a lot in the locker room.
But we’ve also had to share a lot in the defense.
- Until a year ago, yeah.
Like you’ve said before, it’s very hard to play here in Can Barça, and you have to
adapt, and then you have to coordinate very well.
And I think that our relationship has made it so that…
that since the first moment we understood each other very well.
And in the end together we’ve been able to achieve a lot of success.
- Let’s see Geri, the pleasure has been mine.
In the end...
you arrive from outside and are able to be part of all of this.
And I leave with that happiness, that’s it.
In the end ... football is that, it means change.
When I felt that…
that I was no longer part of this, or I didn’t feel part, like… maybe like...
like in other times ... let’s say I had to accept or
above all had to be sincere with myself, that I had to make a change.
- Well, crack! Thanks, dude.
- No, it’s nothing, Geri.
- We’re going to talk about the picture
which I haven’t — I haven’t asked about the penalty because I want to talk about it.
I want to talk about it while looking at it!
Your shot was good because you had a lot of pressure.
People don’t know it, but the teasing you were getting...
- The great… yeah well the great culprit was you. Look how I went, look how I went running…
- But Masche, more than culprit, it’s that thanks to me you scored a goal.
- No, no, no. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- Because the culprit, I feel bad.
- No! No, no, because…
- It was a good kick.