Diego Llorente wants everyone to feel as good as him - The Square Ball 15/10/21

CONFIDENCE

Written by Rob Conlon

Diego Llorente knows his own vibe. Speaking to Marca about his return from injury in Leeds United’s win against Watford, Llorente said he was happy not just for scoring the only goal of the game, but also for bringing “good feelings” to the rest of the team.

It’s what I like most about Llorente. He does not lack self-confidence, and wants those around him to feel as good as he does. It’s one reason Marcelo Bielsa chose Llorente to start against Watford despite the clamour for Charlie Cresswell to keep his place. Bielsa said a young player should not be made to play in a pressurised scenario, like trying to secure the first league win of the season, “when there are more senior players who should take [that responsibility] on instead.”

Llorente is more than happy to take on responsibility, completely assured of his own ability. That’s what spending a decade in Real Madrid’s academy can do to a person. Llorente joined Real Madrid as a nine year old in 2002, slap bang in the middle of the first Galacticos era. As he was getting closer to the first team, he was looking up to Sergio Ramos as the ideal centre-back, a footballer who has made a career out of refusing to let episodes of sheer head’s-gone insanity distract from his mission of sweeping aside all before him.

For all the robust tackles and daring passes from Llorente, there are moments that prompt nervous gasps. He’s as prone as Liam Cooper to an ill-advised tug on a striker’s shirt or a wrestle with the man he is marking at a set-piece. But while it can feel like one mistake will get on top of Cooper, Llorente styles out the scares unflustered, like it was all part of the plan.

“With regard to his weak points, he is a centre-back who believes he is many times better than he really is, which leads him to make important mistakes,” journalist Mikel Recalde, who covers Llorente’s former club Real Sociedad, told Leeds Live ahead of the defender’s £18m move last summer. But that is also a strength. What’s the point in letting yourself get dragged down by a mistake when it’s an opportunity to lift yourself up again?

It’s an attitude Llorente applied to his frustrating start at Leeds, injuries restricting him to just 91 minutes in the first 22 league games of the campaign. “There were some tough days, but my objective was clear: to be a success here,” Llorente told The Guardian towards the end of the season. “And when you’re driven by a goal like that, nothing else matters. There are always setbacks — life puts obstacles in your path — but you have to overcome those with patience and the knowledge that if you keep working your opportunity will come. That was the way I approached things from the first minute until I could finally make my debut. That’s the approach I’ve always had and always will have throughout my career.”

The arrogance instilled by his upbringing at Real Madrid becomes endearing resilience when considering the set-backs he has faced. He had to wait eighteen months between his first and second appearances for Real Madrid before going out on loan to make a name for himself, first suffering relegation alongside Pablo Hernandez at Rayo Vallecano before impressing at Malaga. That earned him a move to Real Sociedad, only for a broken fibula to halt his progress. Even then, Spain manager Luis Enrique invited Llorente to attend squad meetings during his recovery to become more accustomed to life as an international footballer, more proof that for Diego every set-back represents an opportunity to improve.

Llorente’s quest for improvement baffled people at Real Sociedad. Each summer there was talk Llorente wanted to leave, that he considered the club a stepping stone to a bigger challenge. “He even surprised his own teammates because very few places will be so good [or] as comfortable and as protected as in La Real,” Recalde said. But a defender doesn’t wear Johan Cruyff’s number 14 if he wants to feel comfortable or protected. Even when choosing to join Leeds, his new club had to live up to his standards as much as he had to live up to theirs. “I knew I could do things for Leeds and Leeds could do things for me,” he said. It doesn’t come across with the same brashness of, say, Pontus Jansson. Patrick Bamford once described Llorente as the “introvert” among a Leeds squad of lovably contrasting personalities. But this quiet man was taking notes when he understudied Ramos.

Talking about the possible impact of international fame on Raphinha, Bielsa said this week that, “Football is a state[ment] of your mood.” It made me think of Llorente’s interview with the BBC’s Adam Pope the day before, when he was asked whether Leeds have seen the best of him yet. Llorente had a little think before giving a sensible answer, but the introvert gave a glimpse of the on-pitch extrovert with his first response: “Pffft.” If anyone thinks they’ve seen the best of Diego Llorente, they should see the player in his head.