Tavares: "My goal is always to defend as best I can to help the team feel secure"
"We have to be prepared individually and mentally to play every game at the highest level and fight for all the titles," said the centre.
Walter Tavares spoke to Realmadrid TV before the start of his 9th season playing for our team: "I'm very excited about it. This season could be the most different of the nine years I've been playing here, because we have a new coach, a new coaching staff, and a lot of things have changed. I'm looking forward to adapting as soon as possible to get comfortable and start the season off on the right foot."
Second captain
"It makes me feel very proud to be the second captain, because I didn't expect it to be my turn so soon. Behind Llull, learning from everything he does. He's a great captain. I try to be the one on court who fights the hardest, who tries to fight for everything, and set a good example."
How do you manage to be better every day?
"It's the demands of the club, you have to understand where you are, you have to understand the responsibility that everyone has. Real Madrid is a club that wants to win every title every year, so we have to be prepared individually and mentally to face every game of the season at the highest level and fight for every title. That's the dream that we all have, that I have, to be a little better every year or to try to surpass last year."
Which Real Madrid do you expect to see?
"The same Real Madrid, the one that competes, the one that fights for everything. A Real Madrid with a lot of energy and with a lot of solutions, both in attack and in defence. We have a very well-known coach who has won a lot of things, who knows what it means to win, so it's going to be easy for us, because we just have to follow his orders and do our best so that he's happy and comfortable with us when we're on court."
A personal challenge
"My goal is always to be the best defender I can be to help the team be solid at the back and then for us to enjoy going forward with the attacking talent that we have."
Pre-season games
"I have no doubt it's going to go well. We're really looking forward to playing a game, to being on court with the new players so that they can see what Real Madrid means when they play an away game."
How important are these weeks of preparation?
"We have two difficult games this weekend (against Alba Berlin and Unicaja), where there are no excuses. They are preparation games to get a feel for the game, try out the new things we have, and fit them into a real game as quickly as possible."
The fans
"The Madrid fans are a fundamental part of the team, because they're that part that leads us, supports us, and celebrates with us. Our aim is always to try to make them happy and for them to trust us. And that they know we'll try to win all the titles, starting with the Super Cup, to get the new season off to a good start."