The international and suspended players are back to face Racing (Saturday, 4:15pm CET)
Villarreal B head coach, Miguel Álvarez, appeared at the press conference prior to the match between Real Racing and Villarreal B at El Sardinero, a venue that brings back great memories for the B team as it was there that they achieved their first win after promotion back to the second division last season.
Here is what he had to say:
Current status of the team
“El equipo llega muy bien. Siempre intentamos que esté bien, pero cuando tienes mejores resultados el equipo está más contento”.
The match in Santander
“The team is coming into the game really well. We always try to do well, but when you have better results, the team is happier.”
The keys to the game
“Both teams have a very specific style of play and whoever dominates it better, has fewer losses and stops transitions better, as well as being more effective, will come closer to winning”.
Two consecutive clean sheets
“We have changed things. The boys are having experiences, discovering things and training along the way. We’re defending better, but not the way we’d like to. We’ve improved the type of pressing, choosing which metres to press in, in defence in the penalty area, at set pieces… But we coaches are never at ease. With the blanket, if you cover your head, your feet get cold. We’re lacking in our finishing touches. We have talent offensively, but football is capricious. It’s like everything else, you have to balance it out. We’re doing very well defensively at the moment and we have to continue in the same way because Racing have scored 27 goals. They have a lot of potential up front.”
Recovering players
“We’re going to wait to see if anyone comes up with the first team. If we’re all here, it’s a good thing for any coach to choose. That gives you a strong XI and a very strong bench. When people are missing, everything is more complicated, but you have to adapt. We got Abraham back from suspension. It’s true that Stefan has just played two games in a very short space of time, but we have a lot of players.”
A team game
“The boys sometimes don’t understand that they will get their chance. We are very demanding with them and we make them see it because it is a reality. Espi, Lanchi and Esmo have been put into the starting line-up. Aitor seemed to have run out of football and now he’s come in with Alberto out. Rodri had already played and now he is back. Everyone is going to be important in a 42-game championship and even more so in a B team, where there will be promotions to the first team, injuries… But the boys don’t see it until it happens to them. Aitor was ready and he’s had two great games. Aitor and Alberto are two very important players for us.”
