Bayern Munich's Marc Roca: "My career hasn't been easy but I'm living a dream at Bayern Munich
Bayern Munich's latest Spanish midfield addition chats exclusively to bundesliga.com about life in Munich, his career so far and his need to bulk up to match the strength of the Bayern boys.
Roca on learning German...
Marc Roca: "I'm learning a bit, asking questions, and I hope to be able to speak and communicate my thoughts in a few months, for me that's very important because the team talks are in German and I know it's important that I know and learn German, so I can understand it well."
Roca on his family...
Roca: "Yeah, it's very important for me - both my partner and my dogs. We're a family of four, and now we're looking for an apartment. And the four of us are looking forward to being here."
Roca on Munich...
Roca: "Yeah, I've been lucky enough to visit already, and I've gone running in the Englische Garten a bit. It's spectacular. It's huge, and it's great for the dogs. And we have an apartment near the Englische Garten, so it's great for us."
Roca on the new signings gaining Instagram followers...
Roca: "Yes, yes. Both me and them, too, since I've been here! We've both gained a lot of followers and that's great, that's a positive."
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Roca on his dreams in football...
Roca: "Well I have a lot of dreams, but right now I'm focusing on the day-to-day stuff, which is important, it's what helps you reach your bigger dreams later on. I'm very focused on right now, trying to improve, trying to learn from my coach and my teammates who have shown they're the best, and I'm really excited to learn and improve."
Roca on his welcome at Bayern...
Roca: "We speak in English. I was very warmly welcomed by them and my teammates, they're teaching me a lot. We also do video work with the analysts, and I've been able to learn a lot there too, knowing exactly what they want from me."
Roca on Javi Martinez...
Roca: "Of course. He's helping me a lot the whole time. His help is so important to me. He's had a lot of success in Munich, at Bayern, he's a great player and now he's a teammate, so I'm really excited to share a dressing room with him."
Roca on the players he idolises...
Roca: "I look at lots of players. Javi is one of them. Before I would have said Xabi Alonso too, someone who also played here. He's a player I've always watched because I think he dominated all the important parts of the game: with the ball and defensively, he's very complete, and I always based my game on him."
Roca on Thiago Alcantara...
Roca: "Thiago is spectacular. He's a player I love. He's got so much quality. Defensively he's a great player, too. I really like watching his games: the other day I was watching the Liverpool game, really enjoying how he plays. Really, really good."
Roca on how he became a footballer...
Roca: "I started in my town. I have two older brothers, Pere and Eric, 10 and 15 years older than me and from when I was young I always went to watch them play and during half time I would go on the pitch to mess around with the ball. As I got older and stronger I started to play in my town. After that, thanks to God, I was lucky enough to be able to sign for Espanyol, I was there for 12 years - more than half my life - and I'm so grateful for that. And now I have the opportunity to sign for Bayern Munich. I'm really proud and I'm really excited to learn and grow here."
Roca on his brothers...
Roca: "I played a lot of games with my brothers in the garden. We never shared a dressing room, but we've shared a lot. They always come to watch me play, they always support me 100 percent, they're always correcting me and trying to help me improve. I'm out on the pitch because of them and my parents, and my girlfriend Gala, and between us all our dreams are coming true, and we keep on improving."
Roca on his family and his move to Bayern...
Roca: "Yeah, they're very happy. They know we're all hungry for more success, we don't want to stay where we are, we want more. It's important to keep going, not to rest on the fact we've come to Bayern, but we want to arrive here, and learn a bit more every day."
Roca on visiting the city with his family...
Roca: "My mum was there, and my girlfriend, and we visited the centre a lot, the Englische Garten, we went out to eat in a few places, we were looking at houses, so we've seen quite a bit! We like the city a lot, it's very pretty and very welcoming, and we're very happy to be here."
Roca on his best moments in football...
Roca: "Thanks to God I've been able to experience a bit of everything in football. I always think of two moments: first, when we qualified for the Europa League with Espanyol on the final day of last season. It was really nice because we played a really good season, and on the last day we had to win and another side had to lose. It all happened, the fans invaded the pitch, and after I don't know, 12 or 13 years, Espanyol was back in Europe, so it was a really important moment for me, I was really happy. And the other moment is the Euro U21 final against Germany, which we won 2-1. It was an amazing day to top off a great year."
Roca on a new chapter in his life...
Roca: "I'm really excited to grow as a footballer and a person, learning a new language, living away from home, getting out of my comfort zone. And yeah, I just want to learn every day, try to improve as much as I can, and help my teammates in any way I can and in any way the coach wants me to."
Roca on his career so far...
Roca: "My career hasn't been easy. When I was younger, I didn't stand out much. I was just a player like all the others. But bit by bit, throughout the youth teams, I started to stand out a bit more and thanks to God I was playing in the first division at 19. And from there, I experienced everything: playing a lot, times spent on the bench, but I've come out the other side stronger and I've learnt from it all. So I'm very happy."
Roca on the Bundesliga...
Roca: "It's a league I've always liked a lot. There are some old teammates of mine here, like Aaron Martin who I played with at Espanyol, Jorge Mere, Dani Olmo, so I spoke to them and they all told me how good the league was. It's a league where all the teams try to play and dominate the game, and I like that a lot. It's a style of play that I like. And in the Bundesliga the stadiums were always packed, now we have to wait a little while for that. Hopefully we'll find a quick solution to the COVID situation and we can all go back to normal as everyone is so excited for it."
Roca on his first impressions of Bayern...
Roca: "It surprised me a bit at the start, the training sessions! The balls moved so fast and that's good, I'm sure it'll help me improve a lot. I think I'm going to have to bulk up a little bit because everyone here is very strong! But I'm sure I'll get there, and it'll do me a lot of good in the future."
Roca on the Klassiker...
Roca: "I know that it's a historic game, a game with lots of rivalry, one of the ones you look out for every season. We'll see if I'm lucky enough to be involved - it would be a dream for me, it'd make me really proud. The best thing will be to experience it from the inside, but if not, I'll be sure to support my teammates from wherever - the most important thing is that the team wins."
Watch: From Raul to Thiago: Spaniards in the Bundesliga
Roca on his love of reading...
Roca: "I think I have to learn the language a bit more so I've got to leave the books for a bit, but it's true that I always read before I go to bed. Right now I'm reading 'Secretos Revelados', a book by Lain Garcia Calvo, and it's really good."
Roca on his state of mind...
Roca: "Yeah I feel good, I feel comfortable, I have time for everything, to be with my girlfriend, training, learning German. You always have time for everything if you organise yourself well."
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