[Sport] Monchu, 'ADN Barça' in Girona: "We have room for improvement and we are strong"

[#Steeven.™]

Ramón Rodríguez Jiménez (September 13, 1999, Palma de Mallorca), football player 'Monchu', arrived at Girona on loan from FC Barcelona in the last summer transfer market. And currently he is fully attached to his new city, team and teammates. He enjoys training and playing and bets heavily on the Montilivi team. With work everything he arrives.

"At the moment the teams that are already up are going at a higher speed, but ... only for now"

 

Three months already in Girona. How are you in the club, in the city, and most importantly, within the team?
I am very happy to have come to Girona. The club, the teammates and the fans are treating me very well. I came here to gain experience in professional football and I am getting there. I am living in Fornells de la Selva, ten minutes from the city. It is a quiet area and I am very comfortable, I am not complaining about anything.

 

In addition, it has been three months where he has already lived everything. On a personal level, the joy for the goal against Oviedo but also the sadness of the expulsion in Almería
I have experienced a bit of everything in this initial section at Girona on the pitch. The important thing is to gain experience at a competitive level and continue to train as a player and evolve in my game.

 

Have you gotten used to playing so often?
We are doing quite well. Playing every three days allows you to recover well, but every two days without a 72 hour recovery window, the body notices it. Yes, there are injuries and perhaps lower than usual but it is what it touches and the squad and coaching staff adapt as best they can.

 

A total of 18 games played, 16 as a starter, 1,370 minutes of play, that is, a fixed for Francisco; I guess satisfied ...
I'm very happy. The coach is betting on me, but we are many and very good. I'm working hard and every day I feel better in the field assimilating everything Francisco asks of me.

 

He had already debuted in Segunda with Barça B in the 2017/18 campaign. How did you find the category? Equal or more competitive?
I find the category just as competitive as then. There are many teams that have played in the First Division and whose squads have level players with a lot of experience. The Second has a high level and any team can put its rival in trouble.

 

What is clear is that Espanyol, Mallorca and Almería are going at an almost unattainable pace, right?
At the moment the teams that are already up are going at a higher speed, but only for now. I say this because the Second is very long and everything can change or happen throughout the course. Our goal is to fight for promotion and we know there are two ways to do it.

 

Girona is gradually finding consistency and climbing positions, what is the team's limit?
The beginning was hard for all of us and it cost us a lot. Many new players came to the team and the casualties hurt us, both through injury and penalty. But Girona is getting stronger every day and the results and consistency arrive.

The team was competing but at the same time it was being built in the offices ...
Yes. There were many new people, we did not know each other but now we are recovering troops, we are all reaching the right level and it shows in the field. We have room for improvement and we want to show it.

 

Is fighting for direct promotion a utopia this course?
We are doing things well and we must go step by step. It seems that we have taken the ideal path for good results to arrive and we will see what we will fight for.

He has always said that he adapts to all positions in the center of the field. He has been paired with Cristoforo most times, also often with Gumbau. How about the experience with colleagues?
They are both very experienced players and they welcomed me like family. Cristoforo and Gumbau have a lot of quality and they make everything easier playing alongside him.

 

What does it bring you to have one and the other next to you?
They are different from each other. In the end we tried to help each other as much as possible in the midfield to benefit the team. We complement each other very well, also with the younger ones, who have helped us in some games.

How about the coach? He seems like a guy with character and who tries to infect the players with it.
How he looks or how he broadcasts it on television, that's right. He is a serious man with a lot of character, who tries to convey it to the players. Francisco as a coach is a '10'.

 

"At Barça I felt very comfortable but this year I had to take another leap in my career, take another step "

 

Have you spent many years sucking on the 'Barça DNA', a lot of touch, dominance of the matches ... Has it been difficult for you to adapt to football outside of Barça?
At Barça I felt very comfortable but this year I had to take another leap in my career. I adapt to any game system, I am a young boy and with the desire I have I adapt to whatever it is.

Does it cost as much as they say to leave Barça? Or was it internally assimilated?
At Barça I have been very good, but my body asked me to take another step. I was ready to go out. At Barça B there have been many changes and there were players who were ready to take that step forward.

For example Collado, who was he related to Girona?
You are right. Many things happened to him and after an injury he is returning to play with the reserve team. Collado is a 10 player, with a lot of quality and it would have been good to have him at Girona to help us all.

Why Girona and why not a First team?
There was interest and offers from First-class teams for me, but what I wanted was to play the maximum number of minutes and Girona was the club that bet the most on me.

 

Did you imagine leaving the club after making your Champions League debut against Napoli and having a good year with the subsidiary? Was the not promotion to Second final?
I admit that I appreciated staying at the club but professionally I knew that it was time to leave a stage behind and enter fully into professional football. It was the best and what in the end I felt and did.

What did you feel when you left the Camp Nou, unfortunately without an audience?
It was very rare to go to the Camp Nou without an audience. A lot of beautiful moments crossed my mind, from when I played in the schoolyard with friends, to the steps through Mallorca and Barça. That moment was strange but very rewarding.

When Setién told you that he was leaving for Griezmann did your legs tremble?
It was exciting, but it went well. It was the result of the great year I did with the subsidiary and Setién gave me that award, I couldn't sleep that night.

Did the structural and institutional disaster at Barça help you make a decision?
I appreciated staying, but we all decided that the best thing was to go one step further and go out to professional football. That was a separate aspect of what was going on at the club.

Does the player get used to playing without anyone in the stands?
In the first matches it is very rare although you end up getting used to it. This is especially noted by the most experienced teammates, who have played in front of 50,000 people. In the end I was used to playing in municipal fields, now doing it in large empty stadiums is imposing but I notice it less.

How and where do you see yourself in a year?
Many things can happen but the goal of Girona and me is to be in the First Division next year. That is everyone's wish and we will fight to make it so.