Back

González: "We have to get back to how we were in the first half of the season"

The coach previews the game against Atletico Madrid

Despite the recent run of poor results, Manolo González is confident that the team will gradually get back to the level of performance they showed during the first half of the season.

"We've achieved it before, so we can do it again," he said in his pre-match press conference ahead of the game against Atletico Madrid.

"It will be a difficult game tomorrow, but we hope that we can compete well and I want us to show our quality. Atletico Madrid have a great squad of 25 good players; one has to refocus after a poor result, but at home they are a very strong side. It will be a very difficult game, but we will go out to win and compete at the highest level."

For the Espanyol coach, his team “need to regain our defensive reliability and the solidity we once had. With time, everything falls into place. Our composure must lead us back to winning ways. We've certainly won matches we didn't deserve to win, but the same has happened when we've lost. That's why we have to get back to our best form. Every team goes through bad spells. Nobody is immune to it. For example, Real Madrid seemed down and out, and now they're top of the league… So we have to keep our heads and turn things around as soon as possible.”

“I still have the support of the club, the players, and the fans. We were a tactically very reliable team before, even if we didn't have spectacular games. We have to get back to being the Espanyol we were in the first half of the season.”