Brief
Black boots for the young Espanyol Barcelona players, "a symbol of humility and homogeneity resulting from the project “Los Valores de la 21” / ©RCD Espanyol Barcelone

During the top Spanish 7-a-side tournament, La Liga Futures, the young Espanyol players surprised observers... By all wearing black boots! A seemingly trivial detail, which is nevertheless "a symbol of humility and homogeneity resulting from the project “Los Valores de la 21”, designed by Fran Garagarza and directed by Michael Paule-Carrés, since April 2024. "A social revolution" whose objective is to build a strong common identity for the Catalan training program, around six values: respect, humility, commitment, belonging, resilience and solidarity. Thus, the second club of Barcelona has put in place rules that each player at the training center must respect: touch the hand of the statue of Dani Jarque (defender of Espanyol de Barcelona from 2002 to 2009) upon arrival at the sports complex, put their phones in a cabinet, collect the equipment, treat referees and opponents with politeness or be humble and respectful when celebrating goals, under penalty of not being kept on. “We try to train individuals and a team in which everyone speaks the same language. This action – the black shoes – reflects the values ​​we have defined, it is a way of explaining how we want to be,” explained Michael Paule-Carrés, the methodology director at the media outlet La Vanguardia.