Finished the preseason, Girona starts the course this weekend and he does it with the demanding visit to Mestalla, Gennaro Gattuso’s Valencia field. The Catalan team arrives with the positive momentum of last year, but also with work still to be done in the offices. Nothing to worry his coach, one Míchel Sánchez who sees his men “prepared” to add the first three points of the season. They are faithful to a style and eager to make the more than 500 fans who will accompany them in the stands feel “proud”. The technician spoke about this and more in a press conference held this afternoon in Montilivi. Moment that he took advantage of to explain that the central Bernardo Espinosa has been training with some normality these last days and that despite not participating in any game of the summer, he could even enter the call-up.
Physical state of the staff
“The sure casualties are those of Iván Martín, Ibrahima Kébé, Borja Garcia. I have doubts about Bernardo, who may also be out. The rest are all fine and the team is ready. For sure we will improve in the coming days, but we are ready to face Valencia”.
To keep the style or not
“Our goal is always the same. Then, the League will decide whether or not we are able to do it. I think yes, that we will be a recognizable team, and that our fans will see the team from last season.”
Gattuso’s Valencia
“We have seen all the pre-season games of Gattuso’s Valencia and I can say that it is a very leading team, that wants to have the ball, starting the game from the back. You will find two styles with different details and that will want to prevail in the field of play. I expect a Valencia with tremendous enthusiasm but not greater than ours to have a great year. To achieve this we must be a very humble team, that has pride. The competition will demand this from us . So let’s go for maximum excitement, with maximum respect for all rivals. With all possible commitment towards an idea. Motivated, being intense in each duel and wanting to be the protagonist. If we achieve this I am convinced that we will a great year.”
The rival
“It is a team that applies high pressure and wants to steal the ball quickly to be vertical. One of the keys is to overcome the first pressure, but as with all rivals. Being able to progress in the game is one of our proposals. We always do it and that’s how we’ll go to Mestalla. I trust the resources we have to get to your field quickly. And it is there that we have to find the spaces that we have to look for ourselves. Little by little I have to get to know the new players, but for now we have a solid foundation. Our virtues will be the same as always. To be an aggressive team, recognizable with the ball, that is able to generate superiority in the active area of the game… We will go for it”.
Bernardo’s physical condition
“We’ll see, we’ll see. He has already trained with us this week. It is true that in some game situations we had to take him out and keep him on the sidelines. But these last four or five days he has worked with the group”.
The first three points
“Important as they all are. Our goal is to go game by game, although with the dream of being the Girona team that gets the most points in Primera in its entire history. Because we want to keep doing it, from history. We have excitement, ambition and motivation to achieve it. From the first day we are thinking of reaching 51 points as soon as possible”.
Goal of the year
“I was going to say Europe… (laughs). But no, no. Club growth. That’s what I can say. It’s time to move on, to grow. This has happened because we have just made history this past season, in which we managed to move up to the First Division”.
Other premieres in Primera
“There are two main differences with Rayo and Osca. The first is that I have more experience on the benches. He had only been training with Rayo for a year, he was a rookie, and he had also been there for a short time with Husca. Now I have improved in all aspects on an individual level, although I still have a lot of room to grow. And the second Here, before we made the play-offs and went up, the club renewed me because they trusted me. Would Huesca or Rayo have done the same if the team had not been promoted? This is the main difference. That in Girona I feel maximum confidence in the project and this is the greatest treasure I have as a coach. I want to show that I deserve this confidence I have and that I can train in Primera”.
Atypical calendar
“We have discussed it with the physical trainers and the situation this season will be new for all the teams. In football, the most important thing is immediacy. There are 14 days that we will play before the stoppage for the World Cup. We have to go game by game. And then? We already have it planned. The League, at the same time, sends us information on the subject. There will not be two different leagues, but rather a continuity. We have to be ready in these first games and when the Cup comes after the break, we have to be 100 percent to compete. The most important thing is that we are coming from a very short period of vacation and we have asked the player to give maximum effort. We have carried last year’s energy from the beginning and we want to continue like that. We have to see how the additions arrive and adapting each game to the best eleven that can be had. It’s time to go to two hundred percent”.
psychological factor
“I expect the best Valencia I have seen in the pre-season and it is through the game where we have to generate doubts. I know the difficulty we have to win the game, it is maximum. Guedes has left and Gayà is not playing, but the team he’s pretty good and he can cause us problems. I want to give our best version. I’ve talked to the players that you need to have pride, it’s necessary to play football. We need to have soul and heart. That’s what I’ve always asked the players. I want make people proud of us. 500 people will come and we need to offer the best version for them. We have a city behind us, that’s quite a responsibility.”
Missing signings?
“It is not a handicap not to have them all. A recognizable and fully competitive eleven will emerge. Those who come will have to earn the right to be in the eleven. We need maximum competitiveness to live day to day. Our level will be determined if, on a daily basis, we are a team that works well, that sets training guidelines to go further, always taking into account our style, idea and requirement. If we are a team that goes to the two hundred percent, we’re going to have a great year. The new guys have to adapt to that dynamic.
A single goalkeeper from the first team
“The only doubt is Lluc’s ability to face a mentally demanding game. Concept-wise, he has trained all pre-season, playing as well. Technically, we think he has projection. I am not worried about that. If he has to going out will be at a time when there has been a change due to injury or because they have sent Juan Carlos off. Maybe that can affect him. We will talk to him about this issue. We are looking in the market and we want to get it right. The six that they wanted are the six we wanted, and that’s not easy. We want eleven or twelve, but let it be the twelve we’ve chosen. Many times in the disco you point the finger and the girl in question says no. We’re having a good time work, we are fine. We will make a competitive team. The gaps that are left to be filled will be by footballers who are wanted by us.”
