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González: "Keeping a clean sheet is half the battle"
The coach forecasts the game against Deportivo Alavés
Ahead of the Friday night fixture against Deportivo Alavés, RCD Espanyol coach Manolo González did not want to hear about anything other than the task at hand. In his pre-match press conference, he expressed his confidence that nothing will distract his players -and that all the other issues surrounding the team in recent weeks will be put aside.
"Winning calms everything down, so we are determined to achieve a victory as soon as possible. We are sure we will achieve it," he told journalists.
"Our performances haven't been bad, but we're currently losing matches in which we deserved more. We have to try to win by playing good football and keeping a clean sheet. That's half the battle. We haven't afforded teams many chances in recent games, but we're still finding it difficult to keep clean sheets. Those could be the keys to tomorrow's game."
Regarding the opposition, he emphasised that “they are very tough, they compete very well, and they demand a very high tempo of you. They made it very difficult for Atletico Madrid at the Metropolitano, and that's why we have to be very focused on tomorrow's game. We have to be very sharp and avoid letting them put us under pressure. We have to win a lot of the duels and ensure the game has rhythm and precision from us. I want to win the game through good play and stay focused on the contest. Having composure and being clinical is what will bring us closer to winning tomorrow.”
When questioned about other matters, such as the team's options for making signings in the final stretch of the winter transfer window, he batted away enquiries with an ironic tone.
“I've asked for Mbappé. Maybe we'll get lucky,” joked the coach.
However, he did state that the club have continued working on things in recent days, and passed comment on the refereeing controversy that occurred in the game against Valencia CF.
“I said I wouldn’t talk about the referees anymore. We have to focus on playing and block out that external noise. These are things we can’t control. We won’t waste any more energy talking about the referees, or about what happened in recent games."