“The criticism no longer hurts me, but my family suffers”

Mouctar Diakhaby (Vendome, 1996) attends the video call with his son wanting to say hello to the camera. Respond slowly and in a worthy Castilian: “Learning it was an obligation out of respect and to integrate myself.” He considers himself “a better professional than when I arrived three years ago” and “I know I have made mistakes.” He acknowledges that there are games “in which I need to have more concentration” and is clear “what I need to improve to make the leap that I lack in my professional career.”

Diakhaby meet with Javi grace the confidence that I did not feel in the last months of Albert celades. With the Navarrese he has played 18 league games and those that have been lost have been all due to medical reasons. At 24, Peter Lim's planning makes him one of Valencia's 'veterans', a club in which “I hope to continue.”

Do you understand the criticism?
Yes and no. The most important thing is not the criticism but what my coach and my teammates think. Criticism is part of football. Without criticism there is no football. When things go bad they criticize you and when they go well, because sometimes they also criticize you.

And which ones do you share? I mean, what self-criticism does he make of himself?
Of course I do my own self-criticism. For a professional it is important to make his self-criticism. I am a very demanding person with myself.

Have you ever played a game with fear of error?
Fear is a great word. But I would say that you play with less confidence. And confidence in football is very important. When you have high confidence you do better. But when you are low, you can make more mistakes.

Do you mentally turn the page quickly or do you turn your head a lot after a bad game?
Yes, I am strong. Now I am used to criticism. People's criticism no longer hurts, but my family does, my family suffers. In the field I try to give everything to help the team. The rest, I don't care.

But he says his family does suffer.
When you have the family away from you and listen to things that are said, things that I did not see, because it hurts more, of course. But luckily I don't have a family that is very soccer fanatic. Just my father and my friends. But they also know that when you are a footballer you are in the focus of criticism.

What has hurt you the most about what has been said about you?
Really, I don't look at the Spanish press so much. I do not know many criticisms of those who make me. I watch French television and I don't know what is said here. But last year it did reach me that they said that I spoke with the coach and that he was crying watching videos of my mistakes.

And did he cry?
There is a man who spoke, whom I do not know (Pichi Alonso) who said that. That hurt me, not for me but for my family, who did call me there worried saying: “What happened? Why are you crying? Are you okay?” And I didn't know what they were talking about. There are moments that are bad in football, but I was fine. The moment was difficult for me, but what was said was false. They just wanted to hurt me.

That happened after a game against Levante, the first after confinement, in which he committed a penalty that was added to those he committed against Atalanta.
Yes. That is the worst moment of my career, by far. I know those games turned out badly for me. I made mistakes in several games, with several penalties … I did not feel the confidence of the coach (Celades) either, but I am not one of those who sink but one of those who get up to show my level. I know I have potential.

Who is it leaning on?
I am in Valencia with my wife and my son. In Valencia I talk to the French of the team, a lot, they are the people who help me the most. They are experienced and give me advice. They help me a lot in life in general.

And with Javi Gracia?
This coach has given me a lot of confidence and I always try to give my all. I want to show him that I can perform well and help the team. This season is more positive than last year.

Let's go into details, why do you alternate games in which you look solid, such as against Atlético de Madrid, with others in which you are insecure, such as against Levante?
I lack a little more concentration against the teams that are more even with us. When we play against great teams, I have almost always played great games. But I have to concentrate more against teams that are more even or inferior, perhaps I have a tendency to relax and that is a mistake that I must solve. I have to be more prepared for those kinds of games. I try to fix that, because it is what I need to take a leap in my career.

Have you had to work a lot on the placement of your arms when defending in the area to avoid committing hands-on penalties?
If much. I left my arms loose, I didn't control them as much and since I'm big… it took up too much space. Now I have to be more careful with that, because everything is whistling. I can only assure you that whenever my hands have been whistled, they were accidentally. That, little by little, I have been fixing. It's a daily job, in training, and I look at the mistakes I make after every game. They send me the video and I watch it several times to see how I can improve.

Does it condition you when it comes to defending?
Yes, it conditions, because many times you have to move unnaturally and when you are older, it costs more. But now I'm more used to it. It is my obligation, because the rules are like that. If you want to defend a shot, you have to put your hands behind it.

Are you clear when a hand is a penalty and when it is not?
Sometimes not really. And we have seen cases. The weekend of our Gayà penalty against Villarreal, a similar play at Atlético-Real Madrid was not whistled. For me, if Gayà's was a penalty, the other too. That makes us think that the rules are not the same in all matches and we do not know what the referee thinks about what is hands or not.

Do you like VAR?
I have a good idea of ​​the VAR. But the problem with VAR is that there are always different criteria or that feeling occurs. There are games in which you see a foul whistle and not in others. And I don't like the time it takes to review the plays, but that will be fixed little by little.

Do you notice that the forwards are exaggerating and shouting more now that there is no public to see if they are fooling the referees?
A little, yes. But that would tell you that it is a matter of the Spanish League. Here it is exaggerated more and the referees whistle more than in other countries. But I've been here for three years now and I've gotten used to it. It is true that the forwards abuse a bit … but football is like that, I see it as something normal, part of the game. It makes me very angry that they abuse that, especially when you know that a player has not been touched and he starts screaming as if he were going to die.

He is completing his third season at Valencia. What balance do you make personally and professionally?
I had a good first year, the second was more difficult, especially in the last few months, and this year I think I'm doing more good than bad. I think I have had more good games than bad. Of course I have to improve, make fewer mistakes, but I feel the coach's confidence and I want to play good games until May.

How has it changed in these years?
In many things. I am more professional than before. My mindset has changed. Three years in soccer is a long time. Right now I feel more professional and have more ambition. I expect much more from myself and I know I have potential. Playing a good game is nothing, I want to be all games well. I want to prove to myself that I can do great things in football.

He has gone from being the little brother of Kondogbia or Coquelin to being by age almost one of the veterans of the locker room with only 24 years …
Well, it is strange, really. There are times when I am the third oldest in the field and I am not so used to that, because I am only 24 years old. But we have a very, very young squad, many players were sold, things changed and I have to help those with less experience as much as I can. Age is nothing to me, you can be 18 and be a leader. To be a leader there is no age, it is more a matter of mentality. In that I have improved, now I speak more in games, I don't speak much outside, but in the field I do try to speak more.

Because of the youth in the dressing room, do you have to be patient for this group to return Valencia to the place you knew in your first year?

I think so. I understand that the fans are angry, because Valencia is not where it has to be. But you have to understand that many players have been sold and the club is trying to do different things. We are a young group and all we ask is a little patience, because we try to give everything on the pitch and we know that in some games we have done things wrong, but the group wants to give everything and has the potential to improve in the next years. We lack a bit of experience, we are the youngest squad.

Does what happens around the club affect them?
It does not affect us. We have to be united with the coach and focus on doing our best work in the field.

What do you aspire to in the ten remaining games in the League?
Right now we are in a phase where we do things well at home, but away from home we have a lot to improve. We have to win more away games. We want to finish as high as possible in the rankings.

Do you see many more years at Valencia?
Yes I see myself. Every year, we talk to the tall people of the club to see what we do and it is up to them. But I do see myself for many more years. I'm good at Valencia.

His Spanish has improved a lot.

It is my obligation. I've been here for three years and I had to speak Spanish, because if you don't, it's disrespectful, because it's like not wanting to join in, and it's also a lack of professionalism, because you have to speak with your teammates, with the referees …