“I feel better. I hadn’t run for a week. I locked in at home and had to take it easy. We’ve got two training sessions today and it’s great to be back with the mates. It’s a lot better now and now I just have to make up for the lost time.” How do you see what’s gone on over the last week?
“There were a few of us who were sick, but we were very surprised to hear it was Swine Flu. The club did what it had to do by alerting the authorities and they then made decisions about the match. We respect the decisions they made and now everyone has to calm down. We weren’t sick on purpose. We all, me first and foremost, wanted to play that game. Now we just have to find a date that suits everyone and now we just have to concentrate on doing our job, which is playing football.”
“Swine Flu is an important thing! I was in bed for four days and couldn’t get up, I felt terrible. It was extreme. I kept my wife and kids away from me. You have take precautions and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. You just get hit by it, without any warning. Now, I’m better and can start training again. I’m still taking treatment for it, even after several days in isolation.” What d you say to those who say you didn’t want to play?
“Get real! Who wouldn’t want to play in the ‘Clasico’? Every professional footballer wants to play this type of match. Even sick I wanted to play. Everyone went to Marseille to play a bog game. The LFP made a decision, but we wanted to defend the club’s colours!” Do you think the decision to postpone the game was taken too late?
“I didn’t even ask myself that question. We are only players. Everyone has their own job. I’m not a doctor or a politician. In this context, it’s best to just to what you know...”
“Not off the top of my head, but we’ll play whenever they want. The best thing would be to suit Marseille to avoid any more carry on.” How are you preparing for the trip to Sochaux?
“We need the points. We’re sliding down the ladder and we need to get things back on track. It’s an emergency – we haven’t won in five games. We’ll be heading to Sochaux for the win. We were all sick last week and we did what was necessary to protect ourselves. Everyone needs to get back to work and I hope everyone will be available for this weekend. Mevlut Erding and Zoumana Camara are back in the squad and that’s a big help. You go through periods where things don’t go so well. That’s football. We’ll get back in form. I hope as of Sunday.”
