Vicente Guaita opens up on hair dye mishaps, living in Croydon and why he talks to his goalposts
The Spaniard talks to Ed Malyon in his first interview since signing for Palace
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Your support makes all the difference.Vicente Guaita is beaming. His walk is slow - tired after a training session played out in unusual April sun - and, atop his head, the hair that had for many weeks stood out as platinum blonde is now somewhat more mellow, like frosted tips.
The hair, it would turn out, was a mistake.
Guaita is yet to master English having only arrived in the Premier League last summer from La Liga, where he had spent his entire career with hometown club Valencia and then Getafe. This interview, his first since arriving in England, is conducted in Spanish to allow him to express himself as freely as possible, a move that turns out to be wise as he flits from topic to topic with the same sort of vivacious energy as he uses to thank the woodwork of his goal when it bails him out.
The hair, though, is where it starts and there begins a story that highlights the pitfalls of moving to a new country - even when there is a team of people at your disposal to help you fit in as seamlessly as possible.
"If I'm honest, I went to a hairdressers and I wanted to get some streaks.
"I didn't want to change the whole colour but just bits of it. When I left though, they'd dyed the whole thing!
"From there I decided I needed to fix it and so I was talking to Deano's son (goalkeeping coach Dean Kiely) about maybe dying it grey and then I went in asked for it grey. The problem with this is every few weeks it kinda fades so I was having to go back pretty regularly. Now the hair's growing back in its natural colour so it's just a funny memory.
"I wasn't happy!"
In every other respect, though, Guaita does seem happy with life. Indeed, he uses contento several times to describe, in his native tongue, just how well his wife and three children have adapted to life in south London.
The Guaita clan have set up camp in Croydon itself, with the reasoning that "above all, in the first year we wanted to be near the stadium and the training ground."
Perhaps with time, this Eagle will spread his wings a little to the leafier, more inviting surroundings of Beckenham or Surrey, where much of the squad tends to reside. But why would he at this stage? Settling in to life in Croydon has proven to be perhaps even easier than anticipated for the Spaniard and his first year as a Palace player has passed quicker than he even realised. His kids have picked up English with remarkable speed and have made friends at school. The picture is of domestic bliss transplanted from the Comunidad de Valencia to the Cronx.
"It's gone fast, no?
"It's true that I arrived with a lot of hope and ambition and I'm still going with all that.
"To reach a year is important because it's a new city, a new environment, a new league, a change of language - it's difficult! But I think that, above all, with my family and people at the club who are very important day to day, it has actually been easier than I was expecting.
"Looking to the second year I hope there are many more but we are already looking ahead."
The weather has accounted for many a player from warmer climes on their transition to England but, as with the football, Guaita reveals it has been better than billed.
"They told me it would be cold, it would rain a lot and there would be a lot of grey days. The only thing we've seen of that is the grey days but the sun comes out too and the temperature isn't that bad. It's not like Spain but the temperature is fine and it doesn't rain that much."
It rained and it poured against Leicester City back in December when Guaita eventually displaced Wayne Hennessey as Palace's number 1 goalkeeper, a wait of several months where the 32-year-old Spaniard had to be patient. In the end it was an injury to the Welsh international that opened the door and Hennessey - who made the news for all the wrong reasons recently - has not been able to win it back since. They are different styles of keeper, with Hennessey the rangey, British shotstopper and Guaita playing with a style more similar to David De Gea - low arms, hands down and a focus on springing to reaction saves.
"I've not actually stopped to watch a lot of the goalkeepers from here, the best of England, and how they do things.
"Everyone has their own style. You could say the best of mine is playing with low arms, the same for De Gea, and there are lots of keepers with different styles who don't concede goals too.
"I come from the Valencia academy which has great coaches and they have always tried to instil a good base, a good technique, and at the end of the day the technique I have works for me because the only thing that matters is not conceding."
And as noticeable as his style when he plays are his superstitions. Watching Guaita during a Premier League fixture throws up lots of different oddities; his personalised handshakes with each teammate, the way he thanks the woodwork when it prevents a goal and the cross he marks in the grass that shares his six-yard box with him.
"Really, for years I've been doing that when the ball hits the post.
"For goalkeepers it helps us, the posts are part of our help on the field so I like to touch it afterwards, to thank it, you know?
"The cross I make is because, at the end of the day, it reminds me of the people who are behind us, even those who are no longer with us. For the moment I'm doing it, it works for me and I think I will always do it."
Lessons have been learnt during his first year in England but with the number 1 jersey now his, Guaita can look ahead to his second season with much confidence. To avoid a repeat of the platinum hair fiasco, however, he admits that a little more work is needed on his linguistic skills.
"The problem with English for me is not the learning, because you just pick up a book and you learn every day. The problem is speaking it!
Because it's not the same as how it's written. So pronunciation is difficult but I'm improving.
"I feel like I understand people, I understand my teammates but sometimes there are words you learn and you just have to remember them!"
Next time, 'streaks' is the word you're looking for, Vicente.
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