Sparkling since his arrival at Villarreal at the beginning of 2021, Étienne Capoue warns his teammates about “the hell of Anfield” in an interview with AFP, where the French international (33 years old, 7 selections) assumes the status of Petit Poucet against the ogre Liverpool, Wednesday in the semi-final first leg of the Champions League.
Q: What did you learn from your clashes against Liverpool, when you played in England, at Tottenham and then Watford?
R: “Anfield is hell. It’s the worst stadium I’ve been to in England. Whether it’s the atmosphere, their way of playing… They have this ability to transcend themselves, to create problems for you all the time, in any part of the field… They never stop, they rush you everywhere, they always want to score, and even when they score, they will continue, knock you out. And what’s in front, they don’t care. They have their plan, and they just want to kill you, that’s all.
Q: The title in C1, is it still a dream, or has it become a goal?
R: “Winning the Champions League?! We never had the pretension to say that we could win the Champions League! No way ! We remain Villarreal, the smallest club in the semi-finals. No, the objective was elsewhere. We knew we could do great things against great teams, but after that, doing it with regularity is still the most difficult thing in football. For the moment we are doing it, but if we lose against Liverpool, people will forget about us”.
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Q: Aren’t you tired of being constantly referred to as Tom Thumb?
A: “Why? It’s the truth ! We are not favourites! Look at the other teams… Here, there are 50,000 inhabitants, and their stadiums have 70,000 seats… No, we don’t mind. We are not disrespected by saying that we are Tom Thumb. It’s just the truth”.
Q: You come out of a coronation in the Europa League, on penalties against Manchester United, anyway. It was your first trophy, by the way…
A: “That feeling is incredible. Especially when you know how rare it is. As soon as the goalkeeper stopped the penalty, I saw myself again when I was 8-9 years old, when we won tournaments with my team. I went back to childhood. Incredible. (Silence) Imagine if we win the Champions League? Wow, that would be even more beautiful! It’s all just dreams. But dreaming is free.
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Q: Why did you opt for Villarreal in January 2021?
A: “I myself did not expect to come here. I thought I was going to finish my career at Watford, I felt good there, even if we were in D2. I had had an aborted transfer the previous summer, it hurt my head. I knew I could still play in D1 in any country, so come down and tell you that you have to start all over again, at over thirty years old… it was a difficult moment, yes. And Villarreal came like that, it was done in two days. Archi-quickly. I asked: +Where is Villarreal?+. I was told + in the sun, near Valence. You are going to play the Europa League+. I said come on, let’s go. And I played my first match four or five days later.
Q: How was your meeting with your coach Unai Emery?
A: “When I arrived, he spoke to me a lot, to understand his style of play, the culture of Villarreal. And above all, he gave me the opportunity to play directly. Frankly, if we are there today, it is a lot thanks to him.
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Q: Are his video sessions as exhausting as people say?
A: “I don’t watch football at all. So I don’t mind. I know he doesn’t do this for fun. It does this to give you as much information as possible. So you have to watch, listen, absorb all this information. Because all these situations, in matches, they always happen. And at the end of the match, you say to yourself + the coach, he is really too smart +. That’s what struck me. The passion he puts into everything he does. The way he manages to transmit these emotions to us is incredible. And we follow him blindly.
Q: You are on contract until 2023. Do you see yourself finishing your career at Villarreal?
A: “I feel great here. Now, I’m going to give it my all every year, and we’ll see if I can still continue. Me, I want to continue the adventure with Villarreal. But it is in the hands of the club.