“Without a good project, money achieves nothing”

Marcos Senna (45) is part of the history of the Villarreal and its amazing transformation in the last decade. The Brazilian, Institutional Relations of the club and Ambassador of LaLiga, experienced the bitter taste of relegation in 2012 but today he savors the honeys of success that he himself experienced as a player with Corinthians, Villarreal himself and as a Spanish international

Congratulations on the Villarreal season. How do you rate it?

A great season. Obviously you always want more but you have to value what you’ve experienced. It is of great merit on the part of the club, the players and Emery. I would rate the season as outstanding. Before starting, I thought about a Cup final or being higher in the League, but never about reaching a semi-final in the Champions League.

It has been 10 years since the last relegation, just when today the club is at its best historical moment. You lived it. How do you remember it?

We had a very bad dynamic, we were very close to saving ourselves but we never added the point that we lacked. We didn’t enter the relegation zone until shortly before the last game against Atlético. It was a horrible feeling. We didn’t know what happened in the other games, there was a strange silence in the stadium and when I asked… It’s like being sick and ending up dying.

What has made this transformation possible in 10 years?

We have continued in a line of work that we already had before. Being able to promote the following year was decisive because it could have been complicated. Villarreal is a different club when it comes to working and believing. We have our feet on the ground and we will continue like this. Many say that the club has money but things do not work like that. Without a good project, this ascending line is not possible. Our motto is work, humility and taking small steps in the history of the club.

Would you like to have been born 15 years later to experience all this?

I’m already living it, I’m still linked to the club! At the level of playing, of being on the field, I don’t miss it. Also, I can say that I have experienced the same. In my career I have experienced it all. I speak for myself, maybe others would like to repeat… Man, one would like to live that again but I don’t feel like playing anymore (laughs).

How would you define in one word this change that the team has experienced?

Worked. There is no other word.

You have been very present in these 10 years. How do you work? What is the spirit of the club?

This is like a family and we already have a work methodology. Everyone who arrives, be it a player, coach or any employee, feels at home and everyone gives everything because the club always tries to give the best for each worker. That union makes us grow.

All these successes come with pressure. Does that weigh or motivate?

We needed this first title and we have taken a backpack off our shoulders. History did not owe one. On the other hand, we have internal pressure, but the fans push us. Pressure, what is pressure, we don’t have. Rather motivation.

Is Emery the man who can take them to the top?

Yes, now I don’t see another. We are very happy with it. He has a gift and I hope he stays for many more years.

Where does the future go? What are the keys to the future of the club and the team?

Continue in the same dynamic. We work and if we have to sign, it will be signed. Everyone who joins will be welcome. But we cannot change much more, always with the ambition to continue making history.

What are the proper names that have made this Villarreal possible?

The president, Fernando Roig. He is the key to running this ship. He has a different vision.

You could be from Barca in 2008, why didn’t you do it?

I heard a lot of rumours, and there was real interest, but in the end they decided on Mascherano.

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