| Bojan: “I went from being a kid to not being able to walk down the street” |
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| on 01 Jun 2010 | |
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The following is an interview between Bojan Krkic and Catalan paper Sport. The original can be found here. You’re only 19 and your next season will be your fourth with the first team and you’re already expected to perform like a veteran. Is it a difficult situation?
People’s expectations are just. I expect a lot out of myself too. That’s how it should be because I thank God everyday for everything that has happened to me. I give thanks for how well I’m performing, for my health, for my family and peers–thanks to all of this I’m able to start my fourth season as a 19 year old, although I’ll be 20 on August 28th. You’ve said many times that you’re a different person now than when you first played with the first team four years ago and that the change was difficult. Why? In what sense? Yes, it’s been difficult. It was a difficult step because I went from living the life of an adolescent to a more professional world where you live with very experienced people and you’re expected to work at a very high level. I grew up very fast, almost without even noticing. The situation made me grow as a person and that brings about many changes. Your time anonymously walking down the street ended. I started that season 16 years old and ended it being 17. I went from being a kid to not being able to walk down the street. Lots of things change: your personal life and everything around it. It’s difficult within the family too because it’s hard to assimilate everything into your new life. It’s not a progression that you can see coming. It was hard because the team had a lot of critics, it was the end of a cycle but I ended up having a good season. And that brings about jealousy. I learned that the first team wasn’t like the cantera. During these last two years the team has been like a family. If Cesc comes not only is he a great player but we all know each other already. He’s nice and humble which is good for a team. I didn’t know anyone during my first season and I found myself alongside a lot of world class players, with people that were my idols only a month before. It was a ‘heavy’ change. The arrival of Pep brought about more importance to the cantera. It was a change of cycle. You’ve got to respect the people that left, from the players to the coaches, like Rijkaard, but we needed a change. A coach that gave more chances to the cantera, new things, better results–and with that comes happiness. Everyone speaks the same language in the locker room. There’s a very familial vibe, very natural. You’re happy to go to work every day. The signings that don’t come from the cantera realize this too. Definitely. We don’t play as well as we do just because we have a lot of quality. We play well because the team is very united and likes to work. With a vibe like this it’s impossible to leave. And it’s even more difficult to leave if you’re Catalan. After all of this time and these experiences, do you feel like an adult? More or less. How do you feel? I feel more mature, a person that understands everything and takes nothing for granted. And thanks to football I’m able to appreciate other things as well. Do people that you’ve known for a long time look at you differently? I don’t know. Thanks to God I have friends that help me a lot. My closest friends act in a way that helps me play well and be here today. There are also people that look at you with envy but there is also admiration too, I think. And how do people that you don’t know look at you? It’s true that you play in Barca, you win titles, maybe there are people that look at you and think “how awesome,” but you have to live with that. The important thing is that people that know you know how you really are. People describe you as a good person, well educated, nice and simple. Do you agree? I don’t know how people see me. I try and do everything I can for the people that love me and are always there for me. I’m a happy person and I laugh easily. Maybe that’s why people describe me with those words. Do you have the tastes that one would assume a player of your caliber would have: cars, expensive clothes? So far I haven’t acquired a taste for things like that. But you’ve always been obsessed with football, in the strict sense of the word. Yes, but I’ve learned how to separate myself from it over the years. I grew up thinking that my life was football and only football but now I’ve learned that I also have a personal life. There is more to life. I try to do normal things with my friends too. The summer is here. What is your favorite time of the year? I like the winter, from December 20th more or less to January 20th. Why do you like the winter? Because I lived in Mollerussa, a town that is magical during the winter. It’s small and always snows a lot. The truth is I’ve always liked that and love the Christmas tradition. And why do you also like the summer? Because it’s a time for freedom, you’ve got fewer obligations and feel like you have more liberty. Yeah, I like the summer too.
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