Luis de la Fuente when he was asked about Ferran’s performance last night 🙌
Journalist: "I wanted to ask about Ferran. Today, in the first half, he had those two one-on-one chances, he was the guy who scored the goal in the World Cup final. From reading the press and listening to people, there's an impression that Ferran has a higher percentage of finishing when he takes the shot first-time than when he has time to think about it. I don't know if you share that view, and if you don't, why? Thank you."
Luis de la Fuente: "No, no, I didn't know that statistic. What can I say? In the end, the important thing is—"
Journalist: "It's an impression, I mean."
Luis de la Fuente: "No, no, no. I'm going to give a little bit of history here. Do you remember Hugo Sánchez? One year he was the Pichichi, scoring all his goals first-time, if I'm not mistaken. I think that's true, isn't it, Miguel? Miguel?"
"So, let's see, the important thing is that the ball goes into the net. Ferran is unquestionably a goalscorer, but it's true that players who have a lot of chances also miss chances. Otherwise, we would score an infinite number of goals."
"What I will say is that I'm absolutely delighted with the work Ferran does, with his attitude, his willingness, and his performance. And, to a great extent, the work that Mikel then took advantage of—because he is another top-class player—was largely made possible because Ferran had done that prior work of wearing down the centre-backs to create that opportunity, as we saw. Mikel read the opponent's defensive line perfectly and got in behind them to finish that move."
"But I think that, again, this isn't about one individual. This is teamwork. Here, the player who starts the match isn't more important than the player who comes on in the 60th minute."
"No, no, exactly… No, this is a team effort, I insist—collaboration. Some players benefit from the work of others, and others benefit from the work of one another. That is the great strength of this team."
Darwin