No, I think it’s not good to be versatile.
It’s not good?
It’s good to have one or two options. Like central midfield and then right or left midfield. But it’s never good to be right-back, left-back, right midfield, central midfield, striker. It’s good to master one position and show that you are the best there.
So what is your best position?
Central midfield.
But there are lots of different roles in central midfield. Against Guinea in the second half, you anchored a midfield diamond. You often play in a double-pivot, or ahead of single pivot in a 4-3-3… What do you prefer?
Central midfield. If I am in central midfield, in a defensive position it doesn’t matter. We can play two or three, or at the base of a midfield, it doesn’t matter.
Crystal Palace play a 4-4-1-1, so what about behind the striker? That’s an option, right?
Yeah, after all I asked for number 10 (Guedioura was wearing #10 for the first time against Columbus Crew)…
Oh yeah, is that permanent?
Hopefully…
Because I saw Joe Ledley wear #9 in the second half…
No for him it’s not permanent (laughs). But yeah, I played number 10 for them (Palace) and I did okay against Arsenal and against West Bromwich before my injury. But I feel better in defensive midfield.
Jumping over to the international arena. Were your souvenirs of the 2010 World Cup positive, negative, or mixed?
Mixed. It was my first experience with the national team, but I was disappointed because we could do better. If you ask all of the players, they would say the same. At the same time, I will never forget it. Since I was young I wanted to play in the World Cup for Algeria, and I did it. I made it, so it was something huge for me.
It’s almost a silly question, but if you had to compare the 2010 generation to the 2014 generation, do you think Algeria has improved?
I think so. You know it’s different because you can’t compare generations, but it is apparent because we qualified to the second round. At the same time, we improved in more ways than one. The President (Raouraoua) made things more professional around the team. We also have Sidi Moussa. That is an advantage we didn’t have before.
Can you briefly describe the technical centre at Sidi Moussa?
Sidi Moussa is like a little Clairefontaine. You have two nice pitches. Like, really nice.