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González: "We have to kill games off"

The coach reflects on the loss to Real Betis

RCD Espanyol coach Manolo González spoke about his team's defeat to Real Betis in his post-match press conference, and reflected on the result.

"The problem in the match came when we started attacking quickly in the first half and the game’s flow broke down. We were doing well, dominating possession and attacking, but we opened up the game up for Betis. The goals we conceded came from two poorly defended actions. They were avoidable. We have to keep a clean sheet. We have to kill the games off, because you can’t have the situation where your opponents come at you three times and score two goals. We have to correct this and keep a clean sheet, finally,” he said.

González pointed out that "football is decided by details. We have to create a lot of chances, like we did today. We have to play like we did in the first half of the game. We have to be more precise in shooting situations, because we had chances to win the game. The end of the game was good. The problem isn't the goals, which came from isolated plays. The problem with the game was when we started attacking quickly, because we were in control of the game until then."

The coach also defended Javi Puado's role as penalty taker: "Puado is the first choise penalty taker. So far, he's been infallible, and he's the first choice penalty taker whenever he's on the pitch. If we had won this game, my viewpoint would be the same. Javi had a different role today and did very well. We found some scoring opportunities."

Finally, regarding the team's style of play, he explained that: "There are situations that happen in the game. Our style of play exposes us, and I know the team are more exposed than before. I know this will penalise us one day, but I think the team are closer to winning games this year. Nothing can be held against the players. They're performing at a good level. The team are playing well, but lack finesse. We had a tough time against Mallorca, and Valencia ended up equalising at the end of the game. We shouldn't get nervous because the team's image is nothing like it was a year ago. I'm the first one who has to do some self-criticism and see what we can improve."