Kepa: Arsenal is on the right path Modern goalkeepers need comprehensive technology
There are some Spanish players in the team that I know from the national team, which is really good, especially in the first week. I also know Havertz and he gives me a lot of support. We talked a lot over the summer. He was on holiday with Ødegaard, so we had time to chat and share our thoughts on a few things.
How is your relationship with fellow goalkeeper David Raya? Is the competition fierce?
We work together and inspire each other. The most important thing is to help the team. The main goal of any goalkeeper is to help the team and do their job. Obviously, it's a special position on the court. We spend a lot of time with our coach Inaki, pushing each other, and training has been very hard, which is good.
We prepare for possible situations we may encounter during the game. The more we do it in training and the workload during the week, the games will become slightly easier.
We have to push each other, and we are doing that. We all love to train, love to train hard and motivate each other every session. As Inaki said, sometimes you have to suffer in training so that the games feel easier. That's exactly what we did.
How do you compare the differences between the Premier League and La Liga?
I think if you compare the top teams, the level is pretty similar. When these teams meet in the Champions League, it comes down to tiny details every time. Some years there are more English teams in the later stages, sometimes more Spanish teams, but overall it's similar.
I think the difference is that the mid-table level in the English league is higher. Every game is very demanding. You can see this in the transfer market, for example, how England bring in important players from various leagues. This has made the Premier League's midfield much better and made those games much more difficult.
In terms of style, I would say now, because there are Spanish coaches here, but also many coaches of different nationalities, I think it is very rich in terms of tactics, spirit and different ways of playing.
You can find a variety of styles here now, so you can no longer simply say "English style" or "Spanish style" because the differences are much greater. Now it’s a mixture of styles. It's more like global football - it depends on the manager and the players you have. There are now 20 different teams.
Maybe 25 years ago you could say there was one style, but now it's more diverse, and a team's style may be closer to another country's team than a team in its own league.
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