He went from Barcelona to Leeds and revealed why Bielsa’s method is better than that of his former club

The Dominican nationalized Spanish Junior firpo it was not in the plans of the Barcelona and that is why at the beginning of July his transfer to the Leeds United in exchange for USD 17.6 million. Since then, the full-back has joined the preseason of a team that will seek to continue making Premier League history after closing the best campaign of the 21st century for a newly promoted club in 2020/21.

This week, in dialogue with DAZN He shared his feelings after his first training sessions with his new team, after having spent two years in the Spanish team. “I am a guy who will never deceive myself, and if I have done something wrong or good I am the first to say it. It is clear that they have not been two good years, with ups and downs but more low moments than highs. But I have been at Barcelona for two years, not many players can have that opportunity”, He assured.

The 24-year-old winger from Betis acknowledged that the opportunity to join the Catalan squad came “too soon”: “He should have played more years at Betis and not come out so young, knowing that he had Jordi Alba in front of him. 31 years and look what year it has been ”. However, he does not regret having accepted the offer at that time: “I am not saying that the decision was hasty, because I would do it again today, because it is very difficult to say no to a Barça or Madrid. But taking stock, they may not have been the best years”, He acknowledged.

Junior firpo arrived at Barcelona in the summer of 2019 and in the two full seasons as blaugrana he played 41 games and scored two goals in La Liga, against Getafe in his first season and against Alavés in the last season. Despite not having much presence, he played 24 games in the domestic competition, 10 in the Champions League, one in the Spanish Super Cup and six in the Copa del Rey, a competition that he won this past season as the only title achieved.

Now, he was booked by the Leeds United and he quickly realized that the working methods are very different from those he used to: “I’ve been here for two weeks and I’ve seen more individual videos than in two years at Barça. They explain to you the way they want you to play and what they want you to do, and that means they take care of it in detail. They have studied you to tell you how you have to behave in each action. That draws attention, it is a very different way of working ”.

Is that here he has met Marcelo bielsa, whose unique style has made him a Mad: “I had heard many things about the methodology and the way of working, but it is different from everything they say”. When consulted in detail, he revealed: “One aspect that I think Bielsa cares a lot about is physical, I think that at the level at which I will get to be here physically I will not be in my life anymore. You get an incredible physical level because we work so hard. It is a tough football, but both for us and for the rival. I don’t want to imagine a quality player facing what it must be like to have an uncle on top of you for 90 minutes, you don’t have a meter to breathe. It will be difficult to play against us, that’s for sure”.

In addition, he admitted that his stay at Barcelona took away his passion for sport and that he will now seek to recover it: “I set the goal of falling in love with football again. I have spent two years a bit … I am not going to tell you how bad it is because you come home and you have the family, the children … but in terms of football, I have been a bit without wanting anything. Without winning from playing, without wanting to have fun as I have always had fun. What I have always sought playing soccer is to have fun ”.

In the Premier League you will have a real challenge because there are the best footballers and teams on the planet. This season he will have to face rivals such as Liverpool, Manchester City, United, Chelsea and Tottenham, among others. “I come to a league where there is no easy game. In the Premier you have six teams that could win and it’s very nice, “he said. In this sense, he was happy to land in a country where all the clubs seek to win: “I think there are more spaces in the Premier than in La Liga, Here there are no teams that wait behind the ball to see what happens during the game, here from the first minute they will look for the game, they will run and there are more holes. I am a footballer of transitions, that is my greatest virtue, especially offense, and adapting to that type of game will cost me like everyone else, but I don’t think it’s a very big change ”.

Firpo is one of the players of the Barcelona that was not going to be taken into account by Ronald Koeman. The Dominican nationalized Spanish signed his contract until 2025 and it is one of the four reinforcements of the Leeds of the Mad Bielsa in this transfer window. The others are the Norwegian goalkeeper Kristoffere Klaesson, Amari Miller, an 18-year-old who played for Birmingham City, and Jack Harrison, who was already on Elland Road on loan since Manchester City but the club decided to make the purchase option.

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