Relegation can make us better side - Enrique
Oct 17 2009 by Luke Edwards, The Journal
JOSE Enrique believes Newcastle United’s players will be better off for the humbling experience of playing in the Championship – as long as they make a swift return to the Premier League.
Enrique is relieved to be able to return to Newcastle’s starting line-up against Nottingham Forest today after recovering from a minor hamstring problem.
The former Spanish under-21 international is the only specialist left-back in the United squad.
Yet despite a lack of cover in vital areas, Enrique insists he has never known a happier dressing room as he claimed the players would benefit from the trials and tribulations of the last six months.
“I feel as though I will be better for this experience this season, we all will be,” said Enrique, who has shown just as much commitment to the United cause as anyone this year.
“I think everybody would have preferred to stay in the Premier League, but we made mistakes and we are paying for them. In the summer, I made up my mind I wanted to stay and make up for those mistakes and take Newcastle back into the Premier League.
“It is a different experience and it has been a hard one because relegation was very painful for the team and me, but in the long term I will be better for it.
“It is all experience and you learn from that. If we can go straight back up after just one year, this will have been a good experience because it has toughened me up as a player.
“Everyone wants to go straight back up and that is what we aim to do. Sometimes bad experiences can become good ones if they help you as a person and as a player.”
He continued: “I don’t know why, but the team seems more together this year.
“We have an excellent spirit, whether it is the English players or the foreign ones like me. We are all in this together and we are all working hard for the club. We have similar players to last season, but it feels different.
“The atmosphere is much better and everybody is happy. We have seen that in the games – when we score a goal, everyone celebrates together, everyone is pleased for each other.
“That is why results have been good, everyone is together. It is the happiest I have been as a Newcastle player because it is a happy place to be.”
