Thread by @j4brennan

Junior Firpo has done an interview with DAZN. I've translated it and will it on here shortly. It's gonna be a long one so I might post the highlights and then put the full thing as a doc at the end. Also waiting for the ENG video to come out just to make my work pointless #lufc

@TheSquareBall
Junior to DAZN: [on his recent career] I’m a guy who never kids himself. If I’ve done something well or not I’m going to be the first person to know. I haven’t done a specific evaluation but it’s clear that they haven’t been good years...

It’s been a time of ups and downs – more downs that ups [laughs] to put it like that but in the end I’ve been at Barcelona for 2 years and not a lot of players can have that opportunity. It was an opportunity that maybe came a bit too soon.

Looking back maybe I should’ve played more time at Betis. I was young, I had a great player in front of me, Jordi [Alba]. He’s not 40 years old like Joaquín, he’s only 31 and look at the year he’s just had. He’s not in his last year, you know. I’m not saying I rushed...

... I’d go back and do the same thing again; if Barça call or Madrid call, it’s very difficult to say no to them put as I say, evaluating it all, they weren’t my best years.

[on the Premier League] it is a beautiful challenge because it’s a league where there are no “easy games”. It’s the same in Spain but before the season starts in England nobody knows who is going to win the league.

That’s nice, no? And apart from that the fact that the stadiums are going to be full this year is something that really attracts players. From my perspective, I have 2 kids and a structured family and I think that the English culture really suits that.

In terms of education as well so thinking from that perspective, everything comes together and the way I was presented the project the first day I came here with Victor and his staff made me love it, basically, because of him.

I’ve been here 2 weeks and I’ve seen more videos of myself than I have in my 2 years at Barça! Individual videos! But its good, they explain to you the way you have to play, what they want you to do in every possible situation and in the end they really look in detail:

they don’t just say “look, I want you to do X, Y and Z” - they have studied you so they can tell you exactly how you have to act in every action. So it’s something that really stands out, it’s a different way to work.

I heard a lot about the methodology but until you get here you have no idea of how things work. It’s different to how they say it is. For me, they take a lot of care with the physical side of things, the way I’m going to be physically here I will never have in my life! Never!

We all have a great physical level since we work really hard. And it’s a tough way to play football but that’s both for us and them. I don’t want to imagine what its like for them to have a guy on you for 90 minutes – it must be horrible! You don't have one metre even to breathe

I’m worried about the cold! I’m always cold, really, I’m always cold. It’s summer here, right, and everyone is walking around in shorts and I’m already wearing my jumper! So playing I think I’m going to have it tough because I don’t know what happens to me but my feet freeze!

I’m sure I’m going to have a tough time, it’s definitely going to be the hardest thing for me! The other things, well, there is more space here than in Spain, teams don’t sit back as much in England with 10 men behind the ball waiting to see what happens.

Here from the first minute they are after you and there are more gaps, more space to run into and as I say, I’m a transitional player, my best asset is transitioning, above all in attack.

I need to better myself defensively, it’s going to be a challenge to adapt like always to a new style but I don’t think it will be a huge change.

Honestly it will be nice for me to fall in love with football again. Honestly. I’m being very open as it’s been ages since I have done an interview in Spanish! They have me here saying everything in English! They’ve gone “this guy knows a bit of English, let’s talk to him”

and everyone else with a translator and they’ve got me doing everything in English! No, honestly I want to fall back in love with football. I’m not going to say I’ve had bad years recently because you always come home to your family but with regards to football I’ve definitely

lost drive [during moments] and not had the drive to play and enjoy it. In football I always look to enjoy myself. I’m not a guy who’s football crazy, I don’t watch it, I have plenty of other things that I enjoy doing. I give everything when I play because I’m a competitor

but I don’t like to watch it. It bores me. That’s why the first objective for me is to fall back in love with football. The second objective? Try to give 100% in every game and give the best version of myself. I think playing for this team with this style in the Premier League

I think I can achieve good things personally and collectively, let’s see how we go. It would be incredible to, with the fans here - who by all accounts are similar to at Betis – get into Europe.

Would I like to go back to Spain? Yes. And not when I’m old. The truth is that winning something with Betis would be amazing. I’m not going to lie, I don’t have photos of me as a kid with a Betis shirt, my dad signed me up to football so I could make friends.

But the four, five years I spent there I can’t explain it, the way they took me in, treated me, it got to my heart, the way they treated me when I returned with Betis, everything. Winning something with Betis would be the best.

Aaaaaand breathe! Finished! #lufc

@GrahamSmyth
@PhilHay_
@jermainebecks83
@AllStatsArentWe @Jon_Mackenzie

Seen a couple of sites that have lifted my translation (yes, it’s word for word exact) with no credit - should I be annoyed? It’s only a few tweets after all…

I don’t mind, but maybe just put my name in there, I dunno. Or a thanks.