Ford: External comments will not affect Yamal. He is a genius and other things are not important.

At 1:30 a.m. on November 3, in the 11th round of La Liga, Barcelona played against Elche at home. This summer, Barcelona youngster Ford was loaned to Elche to play. This round he will face his old club where he has grown up for many years, and will also see his close friends Yamal and Kubas again. After Yamal sparked controversy with a series of comments and topics before and after El Clasico, Ford spoke out about his thoughts on his good friend.

■About Yamal

Ford said: "Lamine has been my friend for many years and I know him very well. Everyone should focus on watching him play because he is a genius. Other things are not important. The outside world's comments about him will not affect him. Lamin is very aware of the attention he attracts."

■Ford maintains close contact with Yamal and Kubasi. Both of them are his teammates in the Barcelona youth training system and the first team, and they have been friends for many years.

Ford said: "I have always been in contact with Lamin and Kubasi. We have been friends for many years, and this friendship will not disappear. Of course, friends will make some jokes or leave messages to each other before a game like Sunday, but this will not affect the game itself."

Currently playing for Egypt Elche's Ford can play the left and right full-back positions, and he hopes to play against Barcelona: "If I can mark Lamin in this game between Barcelona and Elche, I will be very happy. Maybe I will suffer in some rounds, but I am looking forward to it."

■What do you think of Barcelona?

"When you have won so many honors, the hardest thing is to maintain that level. I believe they still work as hard as usual and the results will come. Every team will have a low period, but Barcelona will eventually get back to the top. I have no doubt about it. I don't think Barcelona is in a bad moment at the moment and they will show their strength against Elche."

■ Although he does not have much playing time in Elche, Ford still remains calm.

Ford said: "I am very happy in Elche and my mentality is very stable, even though I am injured now. I still have room for improvement, especially in defense, I need to be more aggressive and improve my positioning. I know very well where I should improve, and I have not put pressure on myself to become Elche's starter."

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