The secrets of the Father of the Girona dressing room

GIRONAIf Yangel Herrera was crying out for anything, it was stability. The Venezuelan, a real vagabond, has managed to stand out at Girona after many years up and down, packing and unpacking his bags. One of his moves took place at Espanyol, in the 2021-2022 season. But it was at the end of the season that he ended up at Montilivi, where he is one of the irreplaceable players for Míchel Sánchez. With four goals, he also leads the list of rojiblancos scorers this year. Possibly, he is the most reliable player in terms of regularity and consistency of a Girona team far from the performance of the past and who visits the RCDE Stadium this Monday (9 p.m.), a stadium that is doing especially well for him: in four visits, he has won three and drawn one.

Herrera also scored the final equaliser at 2-2 in the 85th minute in the last derby at Cornellà. His celebration, putting his finger in his mouth, did not go down well with the Perica fans, who booed him. "I had it inside me. I received criticism and I wanted to show that I was a good player. I don't rule out doing it again," the midfielder defended himself in an interview on RAC1. Yangel has been a regular starter everywhere while injuries have spared him. Because physical problems have been the other Trojan horse.

Espanyol, in fact, already signed him on loan from City while he was injured. Herrera had been out for 258 days in three of the previous seasons, playing for New York City, Huesca and Granada, according to the history registered on Transfermarkt. So there were precedents. As a blue and white player he did not debut until the end of October, after being absent for another 120 days due to a fractured tibia. In Girona the trend continued, missing 132 days in the 22-23 season and 86 in 23-24. In these two years at Montilivi he was missing 34 games, also counting the stays with the national team, almost an entire League.

With the physical improvement and the fact of being signed by Girona, the fruits have come. He feels happier than ever, adapted to a club and a city that welcomed him with open arms from the first moment. In terms of family, he considers it essential to have settled in a fixed place to be able to raise his daughter, who was only one year old when he wore the red and white shirt for the first time.

"At Girona I can establish myself in a long-term project. I've never been able to do that anywhere. I didn't know what it was like to start a pre-season from scratch. I'm very grateful for the confidence they have placed in me. Especially to Míchel, who is the person who has done everything possible to get them to bet on me. Now it's my turn, Girona and Manchester City. The English team signed him for a million euros from Atlético Venezuela in 2017 and sold him for 5 to Girona in 2023. In all this time, he hasn't played a single minute under Pep Guardiola.

'Man, I have faith'

Herrera's confidence on the pitch is such that he even has some surprising scoring records, which Girona celebrates on their social networks under the motto Hand I have faith, a Venezuelan expression, almost religious, with which the fans are encouraged in each international match. In La Liga, he is only one goal away from his ceiling, the five he scored last season. But not in the total for the season, because at Granada he scored eight in the year he participated in the Europa League. His numbers as a Girona player are comparable, for example, to those of Viktor Tsygankov. The Venezuelan, in 74 games, has scored 11; the Ukrainian, who occupies offensive positions and, therefore, steps into the area more often, has scored 13 in 73 matches.

Without the presence of Aleix Garcia, an unrecognizable Oriol Romeu, with a more irregular Iván Martín, Van de Beek looking for his space and Arthur still with a dropper, Herrera has become stronger in the middle of the red and white field and has assumed an even more transcendent role. He helps both in the build-up and in the coverage, he drops forward trying not to be detected and he carefully profiles himself to lead the high pressure that Míchel demands. It is the definitive consecration of the Papa –as they call him internally– of the Girona dressing room.