Fede Valverde: “My job is to run until I can’t run anymore, until my legs give way”

Fede Valverde has kick-started the new season with a goal in his first start. In fact, Valverde scored the first official goal of Real Madrid’s 2020-2021 season away at the Benito Villamarin in Seville. In an interview with Real Madrid TV, the Uruguayan talked about scoring goals and his role as a central midfielder under Zidane.

“My job is to run until I can’t run anymore, until my legs give way. That’s the role of a center midfielder. That is what I will always do. As time goes on, I’m correcting things because there are times when I run without a goal. Running for the sake of running isn’t worth it. You have to make the right choices,” Fede emphasized.

When asked about the role of Zidane, Valverde revealed the advice the Frenchman consistently passes on to him: “The boss is always telling me to get into the box when I win possession. He speaks well about the job we do to press the opponent. He asks me to liven up, to attack because I have the physical capability to do it, to break through lines and press forward”.

Scoring goals has not always been a corner stone to Fede’s game, but within the interview, he recognized the importance of goals coming from midfield. “Scoring goals is really important. It’s not just down to the strikers to score goals. We have to help from midfield on both sides of the ball in order to help Real Madrid win,” he explained.

Lastly the young 22-year-old was asked about his competition in midfield and the experience of Luka Modric, Toni Kroos, and Casemiro. “They bring so much to me — the competition we have is big, but it’s pretty amazing. That good competition makes us all improve. Any advice from any of them makes me improve a lot because they are players that have won so much at the highest level. Just to watch them train and see their hunger to win is valuable,” Valverde concluded.

With an upcoming match on Wednesday at the Alfredo Di Stefano stadium, Valverde will be looking to keep the momentum after a man-of-the-match display vs Betis.