‘Playing for Stoke has been the best time in my career. I really want to come back one day...’
AS soon as Marc Muniesa found out there would be a winter break after signing for Danish club Lyngby in August, he made plans to come back to Stoke City.
It was his the first time he had a chance to return and watch a match since leaving England six-and-a-half years ago – yet he had explored the possibility of coming back as a player only to be scuppered by post-brexit visa rules. Still, he is still only 31 and it is not ruled out. He harbours dreams of coming back as a coach too.
But that’s just a snippet of an in-depth interview with Stokeontrentlive, looking back on his time in the Potteries ....
TO START RIGHT AT THE BEGINNING, IT MUST HAVE BEEN A DREAM FOR YOU COMING THROUGH AT BARCELONA?
Yeah, of course. My father and my grandfather are big supporters of Barcelona and I remember them always taking me to the stadium, to the Camp Nou, and I always supported Barcelona since I’m five years old.
For a Barcelona supporter that I am, to play for them was a dream not just for me but for all the family. To play for one of the biggest teams in the world, especially in the first year of Pep (Guardiola) in 2009 was incredible.
YOU MUST HAVE FELT LIKE YOU WERE GOING TO SPEND YOUR WHOLE CAREER THERE?
Well, I started at Barcelona when I was 10 years old and every year I was seeing my team-mates leave... and every year I was staying. I was saying to my family that one day it will be my turn and they will get rid of me.
But then when I was 15, I was playing with the under-19s and everything started to go quicker than normal. Then I got an injury to my knee but when I recovered, Guardiola gave me the chance to play for the first team.
I was 17 but I knew I was in the first team. I was in the machine with the first team but it’s not easy to stay there – especially when I had my second knee injury. I knew then that my time was over but I enjoyed it as much as I could.
IT MUST HAVE STILL BEEN A BIG DECISION TO MAKE TO LEAVE, TO ADMIT TO YOURSELF THAT YOU HAD TO LEAVE BARCA?
It was the first game of pre-season when I injured my knee so I still had a few months to play during the season and I took the decision to play with the second team.
The club allowed me to play and I played for Barcelona B in the last games of the season and that gave me the opportunity to play for the under-21s in Spain at the Euros that we won in Israel.
Then after that, Stoke came.
YOU MUST HAVE HAD A LOT OF OPTIONS THAT SUMMER?
Yes and I never thought about playing in the Premier League because they were always saying that centre-backs are massive, they’re big defenders – and they are.
So I never really thought about coming to play here but then the people working at the club contacted me, I sat with Mark Hughes, he told me about Stoke and how he wanted to change a little bit the philosophy of the club.
I think we did, for a few years. The club was playing very good football with good signings and a good group of British players as well.
We had a great, great dressing room, a great group of lads that did great things.
COULD YOU TELL STRAIGHT AWAY THAT YOU WERE GOING TO ENJOY IT HERE?
Well, I’d made my choice and I didn’t know what was going to happen – but it’s been one of the best decisions we made and we have great memories here.
It’s been the best part of my football career to have the time that we had here.
To play in the Premier League, the club, everybody was on the same side. It felt like we were a small team but getting bigger and the connection between the fans and the players was amazing for good years in the Premier League.
Of course things change, everybody takes decisions. Then we had our first child, we were expecting another and we wanted to experience different things as well.
But we were always happy here and we always say, ‘Oh it will be nice one day to go back to Stoke.’ Now we have been back as supporters and let’s see maybe in the future what can happen? Maybe as a coach or you never know, maybe as a player… you never know.
HOW DID YOU FIND THE PREMIER LEAGUE? DID YOU FIND IT AS PHYSICALLY TOUGH AS YOU EXPECTED?
At the beginning, yes. The change was tough for me, the different styles of football between Barcelona and Stoke.
It took me the first three or four months to get in shape. I gained something like six or seven kilograms in muscle. You need that in this league, you need to be physically stronger.
There is also the rhythm, it’s more intense. But I enjoyed it and every time you arrived to sideline and you could hear the fans, that was amazing for me.
I always say that the Premier League is the best in the world because of the time of the games. At 3pm, at midday, you can enjoy with your family and friends, all the pitches are perfect, all the stadiums are full. It’s very nice.
WHO WERE THE HARDEST STRIKERS YOU CAME UP AGAINST?
(Sergio) Aguero. He was very strong, his legs were very strong. He was not tall but he was very strong.
You could have a very tall striker like Andy Carroll or Romelu Lukaku and you know what they can do but Aguero could hold the ball, he had the speed and the good movement to change direction and everything.
BUT STOKE WERE A GOOD TEAM AT THAT TIME TOO, PERHAPS EASY TO FORGET JUST HOW GOOD FOR THOSE FIRST THREE YEARS YOU WERE HERE?
Yes, it was amazing. We had a great combination of British players and foreign players. Up front we had quality and we knew if we could get the ball to them, they’d do the rest.
TALKING ABOUT ATTACKING QUALITY, CAN YOU TALK US THROUGH THAT GOAL AGAINST BURNLEY? IT MUST BE ONE OF THE FAVOURITE MOMENTS OF YOUR CAREER?
Yeah, it was. It was my first goal in the Premier League and the first goal with my first son in the stadium. It was his first football match and in the celebration I was very emotional because I could never have imagined it.
To score a goal, yes maybe at a corner or at a set-piece or from a rebound, but not like that. It was a nice goal, starting from the back and everything was perfect. A 2-0 win against Burnley, a clean sheet, a good goal and the first day my son was in the stadium.
TELL US ABOUT MARK HUGHES AS A MANAGER. IT SEEMED LIKE HE HAD A VERY GOOD BALANCE IN THOSE FIRST YEARS?
In the first years he was very good, as well as his assistants Mark Bowen and Eddie (Niedzwiecki). They were really, really good, as well as Damien (Roden) the physical coach. Everybody, the physios, all the staff were incredible.
In terms of football, he knew what he could demand from each player whether it was running or the quality to make things happen. It was perfect.
Of course, when you don’t get results, everybody has questions and it’s normal, but for us at that time he was a great coach, a great manager.
I was happy even when I was not playing in the side as much as I would like.
WHAT WAS YOUR FAVOURITE MATCH? THAT LIVERPOOL MATCH?
Spurs away that we won 2-1 when Bojan scored and then Arsenal at home when we were 3-0 up at halftime and Bojan scored a fourth that was disallowed for offside.
I got an injury in that game as well in my hamstring and we ended up winning 3-2.
Then Liverpool away in the semifinal that we won 1-0 but then I missed the penalty. That, for me, was one of my best games as a Stoke player.
For a few weeks I was dreaming about that penalty but it’s football. In terms of a football game, a semifinal with Stoke, winning at Anfield, it was one of the best games.
WE KNEW AT THE TIME THAT IT WAS A REALLY GOOD STOKE TEAM AND IT’S A SHAME THAT YOU COULDN’T MARK IT WITH A TROPHY RATHER THAN TALKING ABOUT FINISHING NINTH?
Yeah, we were really close. It was just the penalties that separated us from getting to a final.
It’s a shame because with this quality and with the great group we had, maybe we could have done something better.
But of course the Premier League is tough and we were competing with great teams. We have great memories, but maybe with a trophy or qualifying for Europe they might be even better.
CAN WE ASK ABOUT THREE TEAM-MATES IN PARTICULAR: RYAN SHAWCROSS, MARKO ARNAUTOVIC AND BOJAN? THEY SEEM LIKE BIG CHARACTERS FROM YOUR TIME IN STOKE?
Shawcross is the leader, the captain, a role model for me because he’s a legend. He played at Stoke from when he was very young until almost the end of his career. He always gave everything in training, even when he had pain in his back or whatever, he was giving everything.
He helped me a lot too, his wife as well is a great person, and he was someone I looked up to ever since I arrived at Stoke. He is an example to all Stoke defenders and all young players who want to play for this team.
Then Marko. I always say, I separate the Barcelona players, but he’s one of the best players I’ve ever seen with his quality, both feet, strong, fast – but crazy. A crazy guy but so funny. We had a great relationship as well. He could be a serious guy sometimes but inside the dressing room with me, with Bojan, he was a top guy. A very, very, very good guy.
And then Bojan. We are like brothers. He was so talented a player. I think he was at his peak here in that first season until he had that injury on his knee at Rochdale. He was brilliant. It is such a shame that he had that injury because he was very, very, very good.
We were very close, like living together every day. I know how difficult it was for him to move to another country. He called me before he signed and I told him, ‘You will enjoy it, come here, please, he’ll do great things...’ and I think we did make great things.
IT SEEMS LIKE YOU’VE BEEN ON ADVENTURE SINCE YOU LEFT STOKE. YOU WENT TO GIRONA, YOUR HOME TOWN CLUB, FOR THEIR FIRST SEASON IN LA LIGA – THAT MUST HAVE BEEN A GREAT EXPERIENCE?
Yes, that was nice, really nice. We had a really good first year and the second year as well as we great. We were on 34 points with 10 games remaining. We needed two more wins to be safe and we were in the quarter-finals of the Copa del Rey after beating Atletico Madrid in the last 16. But in those last 10 games, we lost nine and we got relegated.
But the experience of being with a promoted team for their first time in La Liga and in your home town was very nice and it reminded me of Stoke. It felt like Stoke, a small team doing good in the Prem, everyone very united, everyone like a family. It was a good experience.
QATAR MUST HAVE BEEN COMPLETELY DIFFERENT?
Yes. They had the World Cup on their mind and they wanted to get better players to raise the league. The football levels are increasing in these countries but of course the habits and professionalism of the players is a little bit different.
In Qatar they have everything, they have a good life, they are relaxed. It’s a little bit more different and you don’t have fans in the stadium. You have fans but they are not in the stadium. We played twice in the cup final and there were 45,000, 50,000 who came to the stadium. They love football but prefer to be at home.
But we had four great years.
AND NOW YOU’RE STARTING A NEW CHAPTER IN DENMARK WITH LYNGBY?
At the moment it’s going really well. I’m surprised at the standard. The level is very good, there are very fast players, technical players as well.
Lyngby Boldklub is a small club but four or five years they were close to going bankrupt so now they are going slowly towards where they want to be and doing things correctly. They want to grow and this is our second year in Superliga and they’ve never been three seasons in a row. If we stay up this season it will be historic for the club.
At the moment we’re in good position to come back after the winter break. Once I knew we were having a month-long break, I said I wanted to get to Stoke, to watch one game and say thank you to a lot of people.
IT MUST HAVE HURT, HAVING FALLEN IN LOVE WITH STOKE, TO SEE HOW THEY FELL AFTER YOU LEFT?
Yeah, of course, it’s frustrating because we haven’t even had the chance to be in the play-offs over six years in the Championship.
I know the club is doing everything to try to be in the top six teams and to try to get back to the Premier League and it’s difficult to see if things aren’t working or going as you plan but this is football, the Championship is a tough league and a lot of teams want to get promoted.
But you never know. You have to keep performing, try to have a good, united dressing room and give everything. If you give everything on the pitch, the fans in the stand will support you and I think the connection at the bet365 Stadium will get you points or at least make it difficult for opposition teams.
AND FINALLY, WERE YOU SERIOUS THAT YOU’D LIKE TO COME BACK AS A PLAYER OR AS A COACH?
Yes! As a player I tried to come back but because of Brexit it’s difficult, especially when I was playing in Qatar and the league doesn’t have enough points and I don’t play for the national team so it’s difficult (to get a visa).
Then maybe as a coach, you never know. I remember Bojan, two days after he went back to Barcelona and he told me, ‘Muni, we have to go back.’ So you never know, hopefully one day. I dream sometimes about coming back.
I don’t know if it’s as a player or as a coach but hopefully one day. I’m studying as a coach already. I have my Uefa B licence and I’m taking my Uefa A. I still have a few years left as a player but I want to prepare for the future.
I have played under a few good coaches during my career so I have learned a lot of things. I don’t know if it will be as a coach or as an assistant coach or as a scout or whatever but I think I can help. Let’s see.