Álex Moreno

[supermon]

We need a Gif of Moreno trying to take that player down and failing. Looked like he was trying to take his pants down haha

[Villaphan04]

no matter what happens over the summer, we can't just have him as the only senior LB in the squad. We look far too weak defensively with him at LB as compared to Digne

[LondonLax]

It feels like he’s lost a yard of pace since returning from injury and that was his biggest asset.

[PaulC]

Yes really a left back has to be able to defend. Looks great with the ball but Digne the better all-rounder.

[chips'ngravy]

The argument for him to start over Digne has been based on his attacking contribution, but that's not been up to the same standard of last season since his return. Defensively, he's a liability. Man goes past him and he often elects to push him with both hands. Thought Digne would start today after the Forest match. Has to start v Spurs

[The_Steve]

He’s got a lot of qualities but he still looks off the pace. Digne needs to start. 

[Leeroy]

He’s good going forward but not good enough defensively. Digne needs to replace him now.

[briny_ear]

I fancy a default of having Moreno on for the first half and Digne on for the second. 

[Follyfoot]

I thought he played well today

[Jas10]

On 24/02/2024 at 21:02, supermon said:

We need a Gif of Moreno trying to take that player down and failing. Looked like he was trying to take his pants down haha

[Jas10]

 

[Jas10]

Quote

ÀLEX MORENO: "SHORTLY AFTER ARRIVING WITH EMERY, I THOUGHT: 'IT'S TRUE WHAT JOAQUÍN TOLD ME' MEETING, MEETING, MEETING..."

The left-back of Aston Villa tells us about the feeling of playing in the Premier League, his love for Betis and reveals the news of his almost call-up with the national team.

If something is clear when talking to Àlex Moreno (Sant Sadurní d'Anoia, 1993) it is the desire of the left side of Aston Villa to wear the shirt of the Spanish national team. "I'm going to tell you something that I don't think I've told anyone," anticipates the Catalan soccer player before acknowledging that when he had to be operated on the hamstrings of his right leg last season after his game in Anfield, a news story happened: "They told me about the club that they had asked about me, that they wanted me to be able to go." A moment that the ex of Betis describes as "hard and frustrating", a club for which he confesses eternal love." It was very difficult for me to leave because I love Betis, I love the fans, I love the city. It was a very complicated decision to make, but I'm sure we will meet again," says the soccer player, while recognizing that playing in the Premier League was one of the milestones he wanted to meet in his career, in which in Juveniles he had to decide between taking a test with FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. He opted for the first one - and he explains why and what it meant for him - where he came to be under the orders of Pep Guardiola in "five or six games. The first thing he told me is to train as I was, to enjoy everything and spend it like a normal day." This is what he continues to do now at Aston Villa under the orders of Unai Emery with the dream of winning titles, playing the Champions League and going to the Àlex Moreno national team.

 

How are you, Àlex? How does it feel to go back at the Luton's house on the verge of the discount? An important 2-3 to continue in Champions positions.

 

Yes, the truth is that it was super important. This victory we knew was to continue up, to be in this good dynamic; especially playing outside and adding is also important. Here in the Premier League all the games are complicated and more away from home, but we have a good dynamic and we knew how difficult it was to play in that field. We knew what we were facing. Happy for that victory, happy to add three and continue up.

 

Continue up, 8 from Liverpool, 7 from City, 6 from Arsenal. I remember when Unai went there that he said that one of his goals was to put Aston Villa in the 'Big Six' and for the moment, at the classification level, there you are, with United and Tottenham behind.

 

Yes, I think it's a good season. We are in a good line, in good harmony with the club, with the fans, with the master. All plugged in to play, so it is the goal, the next game, to win, and now when there are ten or eleven games left, which I think is what remains, it will be decided where we are and what we fight for.

 

You are fighting in the Premier League and in the Conference. This Thursday you have the start of an important match against Ajax. I imagine it's an added motivation, and more with the master's experience in Europe, isn't it?

 

Yes, the Conference is also something we have pending there. We know that it will be a complicated rival, that for me this could be a final, because Ajax saw it as a final. It is going to be a very nice game, a very nice field to play, it is a team that is going to put us in difficulty and we have to play very well both in defense and in attack to make a good game, back and forth, and the return at home, in Villa Park, which is a fortress and with our fans and that has to be noticed, it is being noticed.

 

Villa Park, the fans and what part of the blame is Emery?

 

I think he has it all. In the end it is the helm that carries the ship, it is the person who has created this from the beginning and I think he is managing very well what the club, the team, is. He is a person who wants to improve, he wants to make a leap in quality and he demonstrates it day after day, training, he wants the club to aspire to be in European competitions and that is the way.

 

Any anecdote from these months with him? Because we know his intensity, his way of working.

 

Well, let's see (laughs), I can tell you that when everything was done I talked to Joaquín, at Betis, when I was already saying goodbye and he said: 'Get ready, there is a lot of video and such'. Because, of course, in Betis the videos were shorter and I imagined that 'well, I don't think it's that bad either', but when I get here they are two-hour videos, a lot of meeting. At first it is true that it helps you a lot, get to a new club, you watch videos, you see how you want to play, the position, how you want to attack or defend, in English. You also need visually with what he says to locate you. And the truth is that then it's meeting, meeting, meeting, meeting, and you say: 'Damn, it's true, Joaquín said it, didn't it?' (He laughs). But well, that in the end has to be something positive to help you improve, to watch videos of the rival, individuals. In the end, you also have individual videos to improve within the field, so I take that as something positive.

 

You name Joaquín and you have named the English and I ask you how you take it, because a few months ago you apologized after an interview for your level of English and they reminded you of Joaquín with his Italian, right? How was this anecdote?

 

Yes, at first the truth is that I understood more than I was talking about. Then I started classes, I'm already improving, I think, I'm understanding much more and it's much easier when it comes to communicating with classmates, inside the field, outside. What I want is to progress on that too and I think I'm doing it. Yes, it's true that it was a little bit of a bit of a bit, but I think Italian is more difficult. (He laughs).

 

I guess it's more difficult to practice it when you've made important pineapple of Spanish and Argentine players. I think you get together the Pau, the Dibu, Buendía... What is this group like?

 

The truth is that it is very good, very healthy. We have made a very nice group, we always make meals, we make dinners, we get together with the children of the classmates, we always make pineapple and the truth is that I get along very well with them. This also makes living in Birmingham a little more enjoyable. We know what Spain is, what England is and whether or not that frees you, make plans. Our couples also get together with their partners, among them. It makes it more pleasant for you not to have the family here.

 

Now I'm asking you about the change from Seville to Birmingham, but I can't help but ask you about the Dibu. Beyond your quality as a goalkeeper, what is it like face to face? From what we see him and what you all tell, he's a guy with a lot of personality.

 

In the end you have to get to know him. What people see from outside the field, what they do and such... I see him as a normal person, a super nice person, a person who always helps others, whether they are players, of the club, of anyone. He is very aware of everything, he is a good captain, a good companion and that says a lot about him, that many times they judge him in a way, they see him from one thing, but in the end we are people and when you meet the person maybe it surprises you, you think that it is in a way and in the end it is the one you do not expect. And the truth is that he is a person that I will always take in the future, a good friend. I was very surprised by his way of being because I didn't know him either and when I arrived he helped me a lot when it came to joining the team, to help me with anything, when it comes to living here, making plans, with his son I play Fortnite... (Laughs). That does a lot in the day to day, especially.

 

What has cost you the most from the passage from Seville to Birmingham?

 

What is most noticeable is the family contact, the contact of friends, the weather too, because it's raining here all day. You want to make plans and maybe because of the rain you say: 'Well, we're staying at home again', either it's raining a lot or it's a bad day... It changes your mentality a little, because the day is bad and you have to stay at home, or you can't walk the dogs, but you also have to think about it a little and say: 'Well, okay, it's a bad day, but well, let's go to the mall or you end up going somewhere or another'. In Seville you go to the Cathedral or through the center or somewhere quieter with the sun to have a drink... They are two different cities, but the Premier was a step that I had in mind in my career and the truth is that we are there, we are playing a good role and we are in that goal.

Àlex Moreno explains his decision to leave for the Premier League.RELAY

 

You were able to reach the Premier League in the summer of the 22nd, at Nottingham, but when it was taken for granted, you chose to continue at Betis, and in January 2023 you did leave at Aston Villa. What changed from one moment to the next? What did you attract and decide you from Aston Villa to, just a few months later, leave Betis?

 

Well, in the end the feelings I had were that I had to stay there at Betis, it wasn't my time. I wrote on Twitter the feelings I had, that I had left. Then Unai came, he called me, I was talking to him and at that moment the truth is that that confidence that I had, when you get the Premier League, you see a Spanish coach that you consider to be good at his own, it attracts you, the club also needed to sell, because it was a little as it was... and in the end that was decided. It cost me a lot because I love Betis, I love the fans, I love the city and it was a very complicated decision to make, but I'm sure that one day we will meet again. I know that I will live there tomorrow, I am very clear about it, and in the end I am sure we will meet again.

 

 

"It was very difficult for me to leave because I love Betis, I love the fans, I love the city. It was a very complicated decision to make, but I'm sure we'll meet again"

 

 

And did Pellegrini say anything to you? Because he has also been an important technician for you.

 

Yes. I'll say that a little to myself, it was a conversation between him and me, it's his words. It remains between him and me what we talked about, but the truth is that he helped me a lot to get my performance, to improve, to be myself and I thank him, all the talks we have had, both to improve in the game... He is very direct. He tells you when you do it wrong, when you do it well, when you have to improve and when you do it well, he doesn't flatter you so much because he tells you: 'You have scored a goal but there is one that...' (Points to his back with his finger). He also tells you the bad, you know? It's not that you've scored a goal and that's it. That is also very good, that he tells you things as they are, and that's why he is where he is, he has what he has and he has achieved what he has achieved. He is a good coach and the truth is that I admire him very much for all the treatment I have had with him and, as you have seen, he does not marry anyone, he trains and he does it very well.

 

Do you follow Betis from a distance?

 

Yes, yes, yes. I don't miss a game, let's go. (He laughs). I have the Spanish channels for what you can try to live a little day to day. I don't miss a game. As we always play at noon, I have time later to be able to see them. I follow him, I talk to many from there, from the team... I'm always there waiting. I am looking forward to them doing very well, that they are struggling to enter (in European positions) and I am sure that in the final stretch, because they will be able to achieve it with this effort, with this sacrifice that they are making. It is true that they were eliminated in the Conference and it is a stick in that aspect, but they are there pending to see if they can qualify in Europe or in the Champions League.

 

You say you talk to many of them. Who are you most related to?

 

Well, right now I am talking a lot with Germán (Pezzella), I have been talking well with Guido, asking him how he was about the injury, he has also talked a lot with Edgar, who is now in Almería. With Marc Batra. I usually talk to several, depending a little on the moment. Maybe if one is injured, then I'll ask him. I always like to be aware. With the physios, with many people from the club too, I have a lot of contact with them, and with the utilleros. A lot of people I've left there and I'm very fond of them. And surely now, when we have the break, I'm going to go down, I'm going to try to see them, go there to visit them, make a little disconnection at that moment.

 

Disconnection for you and maybe connection for them because, as you said, they are not having an easy season. The eliminations in the Cup, the Europa League, the Conference...

 

Yes, I think it has been a very big stick to come down from Europe and be one of the aspirants to be able to be there for the Europa League. In the end he was one of the rivals who could be the aspirant and I saw the two games, they were not very good in the first leg, in the return they went with that match as such (frowns), then they score the goal... They have not played a good role in this year and hopefully this year they can qualify for the following year and can claim in that aspect.

 

You have spent three seasons playing Europe at Betis, you have won the Copa del Rey... What has been your best moment with the green-and-white t-shirt?

 

You said it, the final title is the best thing I get. The fact of celebrating it with a hobby... There are many very beautiful moments of that day, of all the people crying, unforgettable moments of the people, seeing the happiness they had, seeing that they cried as if they were there too, the people outside, there were a lot of people who were with us and... the hairs stand on end. (Snoop). In the square, celebrating... I don't know, a lot of joy, a lot of happiness at that moment. One of those moments that I stay with and I have more in mind.

 

How did you live that penalty shootout against Valencia?

 

With his heart in his fist, like everyone else, I guess (he laughs). We were there and I was next to William Carvalho. I was on the bench, they had changed me in the time of the extension and, well, a suffocation that... Trembling, nervously, energetically, positively. A lot of everything. In the end, all of Seville, the part of beticism, was the same. And when the goal is scored, imagine how we all get, how Seville gets, how everything is put on... What comes next was incredible.

Àlex Moreno describes what Joaquín's absences in training meant.RELEVO/Cristina Bea

 

Do you miss having a Joaquín in a locker room? Is a figure like yours necessary?

 

I think Joaquín is always missed in a locker room, especially if you've had him. When you see that he can leave, because he is going to retire, it hurts more, because on top of that you have lived it and you see that he is not there, and when he is not there you see that something is missing in the locker room. That music is missing, that joy, that captain's voice... That was missing. It was noticeable. When maybe he didn't come to a training session you said: 'Damn, Joaquín is missing', you know? You realized that he was missing. There was a lack of joy, a song that he played was missing and he started dancing like this (he imitates his gesture with his hand). I think that at that moment, when he retired, it was noticeable in the locker room that something was probably missing. I wasn't there at that time, but I could talk to colleagues that there was a lack of that joy, that captain's hand was missing.

 

Could it be something that is missing even this year, that is weighing that Joaquín is not at a delicate moment?

 

I don't know, I don't know because I'm not there in the locker room. In the end, those who are there have to talk, to know, I say a little of my opinion from the outside. It was something important what he himself is in the locker room.

 

Talking about important things. We were talking about the Copa del Rey, but in 2018 they scored with the Rayo in the ascent. I understand that it must also have been a very important moment, right? In that 2018. How was it? How did you feel?

 

Well... he gets goosebumps every time I think about it (he looks at his arm). In the end it was a goal of the promotion, that a promotion is something incredible, ugh. Also then we celebrate it with the people, with the fans. It was something incredible and the fact of scoring the goal because it's something that marks you and it doesn't stay for a lifetime. Happy to have scored that goal and give the promotion to Rayo.

 

A fan who is going around with the theme of Vallecas, they don't want to leave their stadium. You who have experienced that scenario and what it means for all the Lightning fans, how do you live it? What do you think about it?

 

Well, I haven't been there for a long time, it's been many years, but it's true that since I was there I lacked a little stability in the club, in improving certain things to continue growing in what is fans and the stadium, a little everything, and I don't know if today they have it or not. I'm not there to know. It's true that I see some news, some things. Now I think the services within the stadium have changed, they are reforming certain things. I remember many things that had to be improved, for example, clothes. We started LaLiga and played with the previous clothes, we didn't have any clothes. I didn't get there until I knew when and you didn't know it. They are certain details that little by little are getting tired and bothering your head. People's subscriptions were not taken out until a week before LaLiga started. There are many things that seem small, but when you already start, you start, you start, you make it very big and in the end you explode. There were many things that had to be improved. I hope they do well. I hope they improve it, I hope they continue to grow.

 

Al Rayo you arrived after playing at Mallorca, where you lived your first game as a professional. What was that Àlex Moreno like? What were you thinking? What did you dream about?

 

He dreamed of continuing to grow as a soccer player, living every moment as if it were the last. At that time he played extreme (he laughs). I debuted in the Second Division, it was a category that I still had pending when I was in Second "B", and I debuted and when I was playing because I dreamed of being able to continue growing as a soccer player and also as a person.

 

"I played extreme. It was Baraja in a match at Elche who put me on the side. There was an expulsion and there were no more changes. I don't know if it was Michel or Paco in the Rayo who started to put me in that position"

Àlex Moreno Aston Villa player

 

 

Who delayed your position to the side?

 

Well, if I remember correctly, it was Baraja, the Pipo. It was in a game, when I was in Elche. Alex Martínez was expelled, I think it was, and there were no more changes and he told me that since there were no more changes left that I put myself on the left side. I think it was in the Mirandés field. Half an hour or twenty minutes I played in that position. And then, in that position I started playing in some games, although then I went back to the Lightning and I was still extreme, but sometimes I was going to the side. It was like trying that situation a little, until it arrived I think it was Míchel, I don't know if Míchel or Paco, I don't remember well, but one of them did start putting me from that position and I started playing on the side.

Àlex Moreno explains why he chose Barça for Madrid.RELEVO/Cristina Bea

 

As an extreme you arrived in Juveniles at the Barça quarry. What did your passage through the culé entity mean for you?

 

When I was at Vilafranca, I have two papers at home, from Barça and Madrid, I have two tests and I had to choose. It was either to be a weekend in Valdebebas with Madrid and do some games and so on, or to do a test for a week in Italy, with the team that was there; there was Deulofeu, Raphinha... I had a week with my family, with everything paid, to be able to go there and take the test. In the end, for the purpose of proximity too, for being in Barcelona, because we threw more for Barça. We did the test, they chose me, I was in the farmhouse that year living. They made the farmhouse new at that time, I released it, as they say, and I was sharing a room there and it was a very nice experience, the fact of playing in the Honor Division, I had trained with the team when Pep Guardiola was there, I had gone up about four or five times. You can see what it's like to play for Barça. It came from a small field and you start playing in some facilities of the host and it was the impression of the fact of putting on your Barça shirt and playing for Barça.

 

I imagine that having Guardiola as a coach, although it was a loose day, it should be important for you. Now you cross it in the Premier League.

 

Yes, there were few workouts that I could enjoy, four, five or six. Games in which they need kids to go up and play the game. The truth is that I enjoyed it very much. The first thing he told me when I went up was to train as I was, to enjoy everything and spend it like a normal day. Of course, he told you and you had it next to you, imagine, at that time there was Piqué, Xavi, Iniesta, Cesc Fábregas, Valdés... They were all there. And I remember a lot about the little game we played, I had to kick Pinto a penalty and he did it like that (he laughs and points with the index on the opposite side), I scored a goal, but yes, yes, but they were very nice moments, a beautiful experience that I have.

 

You started most of the season but you didn't stay at the club. What happened? Did you think you missed the soccer train? Will you even regret not having tried at Madrid?

 

I was the third year of Juvenil, so there was a change of category where you already have to be a senior, you have to have a subsidiary file. I spoke with Eusebius, who is the one who was there at that time. He told me that he had people in front of him, that if he wanted to stay it could be an option but that he didn't assure me to play, and then I told him: 'Well see, if so, obviously I prefer to go to another team and be playing or look for a place where I'm going to be valuable, I don't want to stay in a place where I'm not going to play'. So, this was chosen, we went to Llagostera, in Segunda B. Think that from Barça to Llagostera, a small field, a foosball field. I went to Segunda B, there I grew up a lot also as a person, as a soccer player and live another experience, live the reality of soccer: from what is Barça in the Farmhouse to living sharing an apartment, in a small field, the spaces are not so big, but it is true that it helped me a lot to live an experience there.

 

And what did I ask you about having opted instead of Barça for Madrid? Did you think about it?

 

They are moments in life where you have to choose, you never know if it would have been better, if it would have been worse, if not I would be here right now. In the end, each path marks you a little what decision you would have made. The good thing is that you can't regret the decisions you make, with what you take that you always go ahead and if one thing or another happens it is because you have done it 100% and you have no doubts.

Alex Moreno recounts how an injury prevented him from being in the national team.RELEVO/Cristina Bea

 

Àlex, and on that road, do you have a thorn with the selection?

 

Yes... Yes, yes. (He says looking down). Well, look, I'm going to tell you something that I don't think I've told anyone. When I got injured last season in the match in Anfield against Liverpool, I injured my ischium, they told me bad news, which was that the corva was broken, the tendon of the ischium, and I had to operate, but they told me about the club that they had asked for me, that they wanted me to be able to go... In the end, when the National Team asks for you, they have that question and say: 'Hey, is Àlex available?' It had been a good year, I was playing. It was a hard moment to know that you could have gone, that there were many left-backs at that time that maybe one had been injured, another could not. It was very hard to be injured and to be able to see that you can be there, you are not and you are injured, you are with crutches and see that that opportunity is happening a little.

But well, in the end the best thing you can do is look forward, be mentally strong and say that in the end I will return stronger than before. I will return as if nothing had happened and everything I went through I eat it and everything that has happened to me and every month that I have been working and sacrificing to come back stronger than ever, in the end I know that and the people who are a little around me. And it's hard, it's hard. It's hard to spend so many months outside the fields, to see that you come back and you can't, and you have to take a step back to go two way, it's hard. But we are here, fighting for beautiful things and one of them is obviously to be able to go to the national team, fight for it. I think he is playing a good role after that injury, he is already a little forgotten, making goals, being there in that mentality, being strong and competing at the highest level.

 

Did it cost you to digest it? No longer the injury itself, which too, but the fact that it also deprived you of being able to go to the national team.

 

At that moment it's hard and very frustrating. It's just that I've had another chance to be well and I haven't been there on the list, and when I'm very well, I get injured, they ask for me to be able to go. So, at that moment there is a lot of frustration and even more so when you are injured, because I had never been injured by something like that. You try to calm everything, turn your head to look for the best solution, the best version of everything that happened and in the end the reality is that it is an injury, you have to get out of it.

 

And how did you experience Gayà's injury in Qatar? Because it was said that you could be the substitute, but finally Luis Enrique opted for Balde.

 

Yes, I can't do anything there anymore, I'm finally seeing it and obviously I would like to be there, enjoy Qatar, to have enjoyed that experience, but well, I think we're there, fighting and fighting, I hope that moment can come, and we will continue working hard to be able to reach the National Team, which is one of my objectives, obviously, and we will continue working. There is no more saying that work is what lies ahead to achieve your goals and that's why we're going.

 

Well, with that phrase we leave it, Àlex, unless you want to add some other objective. What does Àlex Moreno aspire to? What is your big dream?

 

Well, my great final dream is to live day by day of this, which is what I am passionate about, what I adore, to make the people who see me enjoy, soccer, the day-to-day life of people, the fans, obviously, win titles. In the Aston Villa, as we are today, to be able to compete with the great teams and great competitions, such as Champions in Europe. It is one of the goals that Aston Villa has, to get into Europe and the Champions League, which has not been doing it for many years. And, obviously, the selection. I have to keep working there so I can go. We will continue to fight to be able to achieve my dreams.

 

[Jas10]

A shame he missed out on that Spain call up because of injury… he deserved it with the form he was showing…

Working his way back to form and sharpness now… so good to have him back. Makes us more incisive and dangerous and is also an added goal threat.

A shame we have been largely deprived of that super combo of JJ and Moreno this season, they were outstanding…

[Rodders]

Very glad he's made an important pineapple of friends here. 

[meregreen]

He was very poor last night. Lost possession 17 times, won only three of seven tackles in his own half and failed to put in a single cross. The shot that Cash cleared off the line, came directly from his earlier mistake. He’s definitely lost some form Digne should be a shoe in for West Ham.

[The_Steve]

I like Alex, but when he’s not able to influence the game attacking wise, his defensive shortcomings often get highlighted. Would start Lucas ahead of him. 

[ozvilla28]

His a weak link at the moment.

[duke313]

Seems to be struggling this season, maybe it's the injury, maybe it's not having a solid LM in front of him.  We looked at left backs last summer, so can see us back in for one this summer.

[thabucks]

Sell if we can this summer ! Has offered nothing really since he’s back from injury and isn’t showing signs of regaining form. 

[rodders0223]

So slow