It’s early morning in the south of France, and Gaizka Mendieta has just pulled up his chair to have a chat.
There’s no coffee, no croissants, just serious football talk from the two-time Champions League runner-up. It’s a chilly week for some continental football, and the games are being laid on thick. Tactical tweaks and minute management are on the mind as we get going.
Q: Is Lamine Yamal playing too much football this season?
“It’s difficult for us to assess how much is too much. Obviously, they have all the minutes and stats they need to know how much he needs to play. I think his pubalgia plays a big role in terms of how to maximise his performances and how many minutes to play.
“The fact that the team wasn’t playing at its best, in terms of all the tactics and a lot of things not going the way they did last season, I think sort of forced him to play probably more than he should. But it’s football. I don’t think that many players are out there playing without feeling anything at all, and he needs to obviously adapt to whatever situation is there.
“Barça seems to be playing better, especially in the last game, and I think that will help. The fact that Raphinha is injured as well, means there are a lot of factors that, in a way, are forcing Lamine to play, maybe with some discomfort, instead of waiting to be fully recovered. It’s an injury that is difficult to disappear completely quickly, so it’s a long process where you have to learn to play with it anyway.”
Q: Do Real Madrid seem disjointed so far this season?
“I think it might sound a bit crazy, but it’s still transition time for Real Madrid and Xabi Alonso. Having said that, we understand and we know that a long transition doesn’t happen often. But it is a phase where we see, with Carlo Ancelotti as well, the team will break.
“We’ll see strikers, midfield, maybe with Jude Bellingham or Brahim Diaz or whoever playing that position. It will always be up and down and the team will not be compact for 90 minutes. Obviously, we know how Xabi used to play with Bayer Leverkusen, what he wants to do at Madrid. It takes time. And I think that’s what they are at the moment.
“The result against Atletico Madrid was, I think, very heavy on them. They needed to perform, to get results. Now they want to find that style again.
“Personally, I don’t think we’ll see the team that Xabi Alonso wants. We haven’t seen that at Real Madrid with any managers. What I mean is, again, judging from what we saw at Leverkusen, he wants a compact team that goes and presses high and defends together.
“We have never seen that at Real Madrid, ever. So I don’t think we’ll get to see that anytime soon. That will leave us with Vinicius Junior, with Kylian Mbappe, with Rodrygo if he plays there, or if it’s Bellingham.
“The team will always break at some point during the games. But because they have the quality and the ability that they have, they manage to win games. So, again, it’s a process. Let’s see what happens in that process.
“I was already reading and seeing that Vinicius is not happy and there are no contract negotiations anymore. Again, that’s how to negotiate contracts, but it seems to be obvious that things are not going smoothly, although results are coming along and they are at the top of the table of LaLiga as well.”
Q: What have you made of the situation at Valencia?
“We know the situation with the club and the owners, and all these things, we saw something happening there a few weeks ago with Corberán coming out in the media and making some comments about the players and the team.
“I don’t think that sat very well in the dressing room. The last game [against Levante] was very good. I think it seems everything is back on track, which is what they need. They don’t need any more trouble or issues than the ones they already have.
“It’s certainly not the team we saw last season. It’s a team that is, I think, especially upfront, and defensively, not as solid. Copete is still adjusting, and players are leaving, Mosquera especially was very important.
“Some players like Javi Guerra haven’t been at the level that he was last season. Obviously, situations in the summer, players leaving or having to leave, or had somewhere else to go.
“So I think there are a lot of things distracting the team in that respect. But for me, mostly, obviously in attack, it’s a team that used to be very solid at the back, capitalising very well on the chances they had. They have the lowest shots on target in LaLiga, and are the lowest in accurate crosses in LaLiga. So for a team that needs to get those chances right and perfect, they’re not coming. And of course the numbers, three goals for Danjuma, three goals for Hugo Duro.
“A lot of things that I think will come in time, but obviously seeing the team so low, I think now it’s three points from relegation, which adds pressure to a team that is very young, that is not used to playing in those positions too early, I think, in the season. But if things keep going, it’s a team that will be in a comfortable place on the table, I think they have a lot to offer instead of being a team that has to play not to be relegated.”
Q: It’s Champions League week: what do you remember of playing in the latter stages of the Champions League, and that semi-final tie against Leeds?
“I wanted to play in the Premier League. I always loved playing against English teams, Premier League teams, British teams. There’s always something special about it. And of course, at the time, Leeds were one of the best teams in the Premier League.
“You look at the players they had at the time. Unfortunately for them, they obviously left the next season, most of them. But in those games, playing at Elland Road was amazing. The atmosphere, I remember it being cold, raining. And again, the atmosphere.
“Obviously, playing the second game at Mestalla was, for us, beautiful. Playing at home, having to win, scoring the goal, an assist for Juan Sanchez. That’s what you dream as a kid. That’s what you want as a professional. The kind of games you want to play, semi-final Champions League, top teams, top players, having to win, scoring a goal. So those, especially the second game at home, had everything I wanted or I wished for in my career. Luckily,
“Obviously, we went through. We played the final, didn’t win it. That’s another conversation. But at that moment in time, it was like a dream come true, playing a semi-final at home, full stadium, Mestalla being player number 12, and us being in great form at the time. Again, it was a team, a squad that then continued to be together for many seasons. It had everything as well, goals and aggression, but always with respect. There were some players there on the limit, but again, it’s part of the game.
“I meet and find a lot of Leeds fans around the world in many places. And they’re still obviously not happy, but they still remember it as a special moment. And I think it was not only for Leeds and Valencia, it was a special game for football fans in general.”
Q: Are Spain your favourites to win the World Cup?
“One of the favourites, again, it’s a long way to go to get there. Let’s see who is there. It seems that the squad that Luis de la Fuente has managed is a great group. Whoever plays, the performance and the level is up there. The quality, individually and as a group, as a team, is amazing.
“So I say Spain, of course, France, Argentina, and Brazil could be there. Let’s see how they end up with Carlo Ancelotti, obviously the talent is there. If he can manage to change the Brazil that used to be.
“England could be a solid team. Obviously, they have the talent: if they can be a solid team but also have the flair, the players have the freedom for them to shine.
“I think Spain have the confidence to at least be competitive in the World Cup. And if everything gets there at the right time, in the right moment, we could fight and we can obviously challenge for the title. Of course, that is what we want, but we have to be cautious. We can’t have expectations that are too high, we’ve seen before what has happened to us in the past World Cups.
“I think it’s important to bring the Euros and the Nations League spirit into a World Cup, which is obviously very different, but hopefully we’ll manage to do that. The reason they will want to do well is because there always is a feeling of not being the best in the past World Cups. We want to dominate, obviously, with this squad and we can be better. It’s something that people are wishing and wanting. And that’s why we have to be careful, the media especially, not to be already saying, ‘We’re favourites.’"
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