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CARRIÇO: 'IN SUCH A LONG CAREER YOU HAVE TO KNOW HOW TO IMPROVE"

18/12/2018

The centre-back was the guest on A Balón Parado, where they spoke about the team's good form and his return to the starting lineup under Pablo Machín

He is quickly becoming one of the main figures this season for Sevilla FC. When most thought his time at Nervión was up, Daniel Carriçó has made a strong comeback under Machín. Tonight on SFC TV's A Balón Parado, he made it clear that mental strength has a lot to do with it: 'It's normal in such a long career. There are good and bad moments and you have to be able to improve when the bad moments come. It was difficult because I wasn't playing, I got injured, I trained but I didn't have the chance to play... but I was there supporting my teammates, which is something fundamental. You have to contribute in any way you can when you're not playing because we're a group of 25 players and you need a good team spirit and a good atmosphere in the dressing room. Now we're in a phase where everyone's happy and contributing their part, but we have to continue because there's still half of the season left to go.

Speaking about the team's great form, he recognised that it's never simple to beat any team: 'We're up there fighting for the European places and close to first, which is where this club deserves to be. We'll go for everything until the end and everyone can see that this is a very competitive league. There are no easy matches and every team has gotten stronger. Teams lower down in the table always compete well and any team can beat you. It's going to be very tight until the end.'

Going over each competition, the Portuguese allowed himself a smile when speaking about the Europa League: 'We're ambitious, but we understand that La Liga will be very difficult with Barcelona, Atlético and Madrid up there fighting, but as long as we're up there too, we have to believe. We have a great tie in the cup against Athletic, who are improving and it will be difficult to beat the three matches in a row. And then we have a competition that's special for us, the Europa League, and we'll try to win it back. It's exciting for all the Sevilla fans and also for us. We have a connection to it like nobody else because Sevilla have become a big club thanks to this competition and we have to treat it with respect and care.'

He arrived in 2013 and he's still here, something that is becoming increasingly difficult in modern football: 'There aren't many teams who keep a player for six years. I'm happy here and you're with the same team for so long, it means that the people value you and love you.' Finally, he spoke about the stat that shows that in the 18/19 season he has already surpassed his playing time from the last two campaigns by a long way: 'The stats reflect those last two years where I didn't play much because of injuries and coaching decisions, which you have to respect and continue working which is what I've done. You learn from every experience and you have to really appreciate it when you're happy and healthy. The bad moments are hard and it feels like something's missing because it's in my genes to compete. Now I feel that I'm an important part of the team, but you have to always respect those that aren't playing because I've been there.'