“Things have to be demonstrated match after match”

First virtual press conference of the week with Asier Villalibre. The forward from Gernika answered the questions that were sent to him by his supporters and the media via the different official social networks of the Club.

In his video chat, Villalibre talked about a wide variety of topics such as his first years at Lezama, the reason why he was given the nickname ‘Buffalo’, his favourite sports besides football, how nervous he felt during the Copa shoot-outs, or his music band together with Balenziaga, Dani García, De Marcos, Lekue and Vesga, to name a few.

Villalibre confessed he is “really looking forward” to seeing Athletic’s supporters together and playing at San Mamés again, but he reminded us“it’s time to take care of ourselves, to look after the people around us and to stay at home. The time will come for us to be together again.”

Many people asked him about his first start and his first goal in LaLiga, to which Asier replied: “I will always remember the match against Espanyol. Playing as a starter for the first time in LaLiga with Athletic and scoring on the same day was something incredible. It was a pity we couldn’t win, because we did a great job.”

Regarding his current role in the team, Villalibre admits “it’s being a good year, but things have to be demonstrated match after match. Having a couple of good performances is not enough to be part of the first team. You must always keep your mind on getting better.”

And to do that, “what a better example than Aduriz”. Asier admits that he “would steal any of his superpowers but, if I had to choose one, I’d chose his talent to finish goals.” He also said he likes watching Luis Suarez play: “I like the way he moves, how well he can see the spaces and the way he uses his body.”

Several questions were related to the different stages he went through as a player on loan. Villalibre confessed having learned a lot from them: “Although it’s true that I didn’t play much, it was useful to me as I became stronger psychologically. I learnt how cold it is out there and how well you feel here. It helped me value what really matters and put more effort into what I do.”

Asier and the trumpet. Many of his followers have shown their curiosity about his interest in this particular musical instrument: “My best friend plays the drums in a street band. I used to watch him often, and I made friends with the trumpetist. With the time, I started to feel like learning to play it and I asked him to teach me. I’ve been doing it since then, I’m still learning.”