Álvaro Fernández: «Every minute that I play you will see my personal growth and that my confidence will be greater»

Álvaro Fernández commented that his particular feelings “are good” and that “I came for that, to play and help the team.” “Hopefully I can stay until the last day of the League,” he continued saying. The goalkeeper who arrived last summer in Sevilla made his debut against Espanyol, one of his former teams, and the reception that the Perica fans gave him was not what was expected: «It was very special to debut with Sevilla against Espanyol, a former team of mine. I heard whistles and insults, not from everyone, I think the majority respects me, whether my work is better or worse. “What a few do does not stain the others.”

Álvaro also referred to the convenience or not of playing in the face of the devastating effects of DANA in the Valencian Community: «I am in favor of the fact that football is the least important thing, that no match should be played. In the end we have to get the entire country involved with them and have the energy and focus be on helping them. From my point of view as a Sevilla player, encourage and support and give a lot of encouragement. “I wish we didn’t have to play to go help.”

Álvaro Fernández was Sevilla’s starting goalkeeper in the cup match against Las Rozas and he recognized that the team gives importance to this competition in the absence of European football: «Not playing in Europe, the Copa del Rey adds even more importance to us. We are one of the candidates, we are a large club at the national and European level and we are aware. The other day went very well, let’s see who our next rival is, but it is an important competition and we have to aspire to go very far.”

The goalkeeper acknowledged that they face the match against Leganés with “internal anger” since things did not go well against Real Sociedad (0-2). «It was a gray game against a great rival and the team is very excited. What you want is for the next game to arrive. Today we have had a great training session, I see the players with ambition and looking forward to Saturday,” he indicated, also emphasizing that they have “analyzed and studied” Leganés.

Analyzing the match played against Real Sociedad in which the team was insecure when it came to getting the ball played, Álvaro assured that “it was a complicated match” for it since “Barça and Real Sociedad are two of the teams that best “they make the pressure.” «If we wanted to put balls inside, it was very risky, we were sometimes able to achieve it. We have tried to correct that, see videos, how we can counteract it. In a first match at the Pizjuán with such an important rival in front of us, it was not easy. We have to learn and if not play long balls, we have to be winners at the top,” he said.

The goalkeeper also emphasized the work he does off the field of play using the team’s coach and praised the group that has been formed in the locker room. He also indicated that the more games he has, the better version of himself he will see: «I think that security and confidence go hand in hand with the minutes you play. When you play more minutes and play more games, your security and confidence grow. Every minute I play you will see my personal growth and that confidence will be greater because it is natural.

Álvaro was also determined to take advantage of the opportunity he now has, although he wanted to point out that “if it hadn’t come to me I would be very calm because I was giving a very good level in training and that’s what the coaching staff let me know.” “The training counts and I think I was doing very well and now that I have the opportunity on the field it is even more important,” he added before emphasizing that the team has room for improvement in all aspects but, especially, in defense: ” We are a young team with a growing project. If we want to be increasingly important players in LaLiga in the short or medium term, we need to improve in every way. At a defensive level it is true that there is ample room for improvement, we are working on it. This weekend we have a very good test against a team that plays direct, very vertical. Let’s see if the team is ready, I think so.”

Finally, the Sevilla goalkeeper reflected on Jesús Navas, who will finally hang up his boots this January: «It’s all very emotional and sentimental. We know that he is going to leave football and that these are his last months and training sessions. It surprises me that a legend like him wants to continue participating when his hips allow it. He is the first to go, to demand, to demonstrate. That he has that illusion further expands his greatness. He knows it because I have told him in person, but it is something unique to be able to share a dressing room with him. Hopefully when he retires he will still be linked to us. He is very loved, he is the leader. “It would help us a lot if he continued.”