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.
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