Alves' Diary (II)

 
In the second instalment of his diary, Dani Alves talks about the expectancy that surrounds Barça and about the importance of working hard in pre-season in order to benefit later in the year.
"Hello again,

We are now almost halfway through our stay at St Andrews and one of the most different things I have found until now has been the expectancy that Barça creates among the public and the media. It reminds me of the trips I have made with the Brazilian national team when we went to Teresópolis. There we also sign in a rural setting and also a lot of press people come out and follow us. I understand that it is normal that so many people re interested in what goes on in and around a club the size of Barça.

I also felt a difference when we arrived in Edinburgh on Monday. At the airport we were met by over 100 Scottish supporters. When we used to travel with Sevilla we would be met by a lot of fans for games in the league and the Copa del Rey, but I never saw it when we travelled for international games like this.

Aside from that, I am pleased because on Tuesday Xavi, Xandrés Iniesta and Carles Puyol joined us in the afternoon. Apart from being three very important players in the team, I have always considered them to be gentleman of football for their behaviour both on and off the pitch and the way they play. Also, now we are all together here. Now we can all train together and start to know each other and create an understanding on the field, which is vital.

When Joaquín Caparrós was my coach at Sevilla, I remember him always telling us that it was very important that all the players were like family on the pitch. That means that we have to know each other very well and from then on we can feel confident in a team-mate or vice versa and can understand what we have to do and connect better. We will all begin to see the game i the same way then. This can only be achieved by implementing it in training a lot though. I always say that now is the time of year when we have to suffer and then later on we can have some fun because working with an extra intensity now reaps long-term benefits.

In the next instalment of my diary I will tell you about the build-up t our first friendly game and let you know what I am expecting from my first game for Barça.

See you tomorrow.