Herrera: I used to eat just once a day, so I don't see the point in getting angry about not playing Atletico Madrid Confident that he will get opportunities

Atletico Madrid's summer signing Hector Herrera has stressed that he is not frustrated about not having earned a spot in Diego Simeone's starting line-up.

The former Porto captain remains confident in himself although he hasn't managed to get much playing time as he would have wanted this season.

In an exclusive interview with MARCA, Herrera discussed his tough first footballing steps, adapting at Atletico Madrid and Diego Simeone's coaching style.

Q. You have played 391 minutes, you are the 18th player in the squad in terms of playing time, but after every appearance you give the impression that you should participate more.

A. It has been a bit difficult to be continuously considered, but I have always stressed that I am focused on the job and when the coach decides, I will try my best to help the team.

Q. It has to be complicated to go from being the captain and key player at Porto to frequently being on Atletico's bench.

A. Of course it is complicated, but I was prepared for any kind of scenario, whether that be playing or not, and to be patient. At my age I have gone through certain difficulties that have prepared me for any type of circumstance. I am aware that the only thing that will make me win my place or be taken into account is work.

Q. Did you ever think that you were wrong coming to Atletico?

A. It is normal, it is impossible not to think that, but deep down I knew it was the best decision I could have made. I knew what could happen, or what was happening because today I am being considered more and playing more minutes. I knew it was the best decision for me in every way.

Q. Simeone has always prioritised quality over the number of minutes, but how does a player make that happen?

A. It is difficult to have few minutes that are also quality [minutes]. As a player you don't understand that part because you want to play every game, but you have to be professional and non-conformist, and try to help in any way that involves you. If I am on the pitch, I try to do my best; if not, I'll help the team to do well.

Q. Are we yet to see the best Herrera then?

A. I hope so. Now that I have had more minutes I am beginning to get into the team's rhythm, [understand] the tasks that the coach gives us and try to become more used to his formation. Hopefully both me and the team will improve and approach our best for the collective good.

Q. What is it about Simeone's style that new players take time to adapt? Antoine Griezmann needed four months.

A. We all know that the style is very defensive, very rigid and very sacrificial, with very clear defensive tasks. That is what complicates things for the players. For example, in the case of Griezmann, Real Sociedad had a more attacking style and when you get defensive and not only attacking tasks it gets very complicated. That is the biggest challenge you face, and have to adapt to when you come here.

Q. Was it your case too? You can also play on the wing...

A. I have always played as midfielder, but I have always said that in order to play I would do play anywhere and try to do my best. Obviously, the defensive tasks are probably complicated because you don't know them 100 percent or you get to know them little by little, but today I feel more comfortable and much more in tune with what the coach wants and that is very important.

Q. Pep Guardiola once said you seem slow, but you are very powerful.

A. Yes, I remember, in a Porto game against Bayern [Munich] in the Champions League quarter-finals. It seems like that because of the way I run, but I don't feel like a slow player.

Q. As a former captain and leader of Porto, did you understand Atletico Madrid fans whistling Koke at the Estadio Wanda Metropolitano?

A. I think Koke is an excellent player and an good person. Since the day I arrived he has welcomed me with open arms and that is the way a captain should be, make the new players feel at home, feel comfortable so that they can later develop the football that they will contribute. I think he does it in an brilliant way.

That kind of thing happens in football. One day they applaud you, another day they whistle you. It happened to me in Porto as a captain too and that doesn't mean that people do not love him, but rather the opposite. They love him a lot and always expect the best from him. He has proven that he has quality lots of times and these are things that happen. You always have to be prepared for any situation on the pitch.

Q. Despite being a newcomer, the dressing room listens to you.

A. Since the day I arrived, I've felt at home. The connection with all the teammates has been very good, perhaps because of my way of being, as I talk and try to get along with everyone, in addition to my experience and career path, which may also count a little.

Q. What was the hardest thing that had happened to you?

A. In football there are always good and bad moments. Not everything has been good. When I arrived at Porto it was also hard for me to play, as in the first six months I played very little and I had to go to the B team. I took it well, with the best willingness in the world. I knew that if I had no participation with the first team, dropping to the reserves didn't make me lose pace and that at any time I could have the opportunity and that I had to take advantage of it.

Q. Your sacrifice begins much earlier. As a child you had to be separated from your parents.

A. Yes, I left home at the age of 15, as I had to go to Mexico City to try this adventure of trying to be a professional player. I had to have a learning period; I call it that. Today I laugh at everything I went through, but at the time they it was complicated, although I never saw what was happening as suffering or difficulty. I always faced it as a challenge or as I had to suffer a little to be able to deserve it later.

This learning period makes it much easier for me to go through situations like the one I went through when I arrived that I wasn't playing and having few minutes. I thought, 'why should I be bad or angry all the time if I have to work and be prepared for when the opportunity comes?'

At the time, for example, in that situation I ate once a day and today, thank God, I can eat and give the best to my family. So I don't see why I should get angry at a situation in which, although I obviously want to play, I know that I have to be patient, and that at some point the opportunity will come and I shouldn't let it pass.

Q. But eating once a day and not having your family close to you has to be hard, no matter how positive you are.

A. Yes, it was hard. Now I laugh, but at the time it was difficult because I lived with other players who were all together and it was difficult to get over that kind of thing. But we enjoyed it, had a good time and said 'maybe we'll eat better tomorrow' or something like that. My mother, when she found out about it, wanted to take me home, but I said no. I wanted to continue and try to be a first division player and I was going to achieve it.

Q. Before debuting with Pachuca, you also considered quitting football.

A. Yes, at some point Pachuca loaned me to a second division team. I went to play at Tampico Madero for six months, but they didn't pay us, we didn't have anything and I was already living with, my now, wife. She got pregnant and in that situation I thought about quitting football and going to work, because I had obligations and duties and I didn't know what future I would have.

So I thought about it a bit and since my father worked in the United States, I thought about going with him and that everything would be fine. But when I returned to Pachuca to understand what was going to happen, it was when I stayed to train with the reserves and practically with the first team.

Q. What would have happened to you if you had gone to work with your father?

A. My father works in construction, building houses. I was going to do to whatever it was, whatever I had to, as I didn't have a fixed profession.

Q. You are a worker like a footballer. You could be a construction worker.

A. In the end, he told me no. That I had to wait. That an opportunity would come and that I had to take it. I waited a little longer and luckily that opportunity arose to stay at Pachuca and play in the first division.

Q. Now you are part of a big team who are in full re-building process.

A. Yes, the truth is that I came to a big club and a player always yearns to play at that type of club. Important players have left, but I think others have have also arrived. Little by little they will show their skills and you will realise that they have great quality. They will be very important for this transition that the club is going through and so we have to continue being at the level that has been achieved until this point.

Q. Doesn't it put pressure you, when you compare the achievements of Diego Godin, Gabi, Antoine Griezmann?

A. It depends on each player. In my case, I don't look backwards or to what others did. I think about creating my own story and that is what I rely on. They left a high bar and they had great careers [at Atletico], of course, but that's over now. You must think about what you want to do and the mark that you want to leave at the club and that is the most important thing.

Q. You already have won an Olympic gold medal and a league title in Portugal, what are your aspirations at Atletico?

A. On the national team level it was the most important thing I have won. Also the Gold Cup, which was perhaps not so important, but for Mexico it is very important. In Portugal, winning the league is also a very big achievement. But that is part of the past and now I am here and the main thing is to try to become starter, get more minutes and be a key player within the group. Then the rest will be happen little by little.

Q. Have the team tried to find ways to end their inconsistency and their different faces they have during the match?

A. In football there are match circumstances. Maybe initially, the opposition start better than us or we go out looser. When a team scores against you, it hurts and that's when you wake up. It's the to say that, it's not normal that this is happening to us and the group is aware of it as well.

All we can do is work and be aware that we need to give something extra and be better every day. If we didn't talk about it or we didn't realise, that would be silly. It would make us blind as we would think that nothing is happening. A team and a club that want to be winners and be competitive, have to solve all the necessary details to be better every day.

Q. Will you manage it?

A. In spite of the less than positive results, the team are very good and in the moments that you have to be the game's central character, we have demonstrated that we are able to control the match and beat anyone. Being a team is what makes us strong.