“Cup matches are always difficult”
“Cup matches are always difficult”

Quique Setién has assessed the mid-season friendlies positively

Villarreal CF head coach Quique Setién appeared in front of the media at the press room in the José Manuel Llaneza Training Ground ahead of this Tuesday’s match against CD Guijuelo in the Second Round of the Copa del Rey (9pm CET). Here are his key points:

Three world champions

“For the club, it’s something extraordinary, that three of its players have been there as part of the champions’ squad.”

Alberto Moreno and Morales

“They will start getting back into the first-team dynamic. They won’t travel because they’ve not yet involved in full training. We will have to manage their situations slowly, but it is only a matter of time.”

The team’s progression

“The sensations are good, the team has been progressing. We’re acquiring concept and we’re evolving to where we want to be. I was sure that advancing was only a matter of time. There are a lot of things that we have to improve on, but I am happy because the players are looking stronger every game.”

Mid-season friendly opponents

“These last two matches have been against very tough teams, they’ve pushed up on us and left spaces. There will be other opponents who park the bus against us, who set up in a different way, and we will have to prepare ourselves for that.”

Capoue and his goalscoring run

“This way of playing favours Capoue. The key thing is that he is linking up very well and that’s important. Once you do something well, it’s easy to repeat it.”

Facing CD Guijuelo away from home

“Honestly, these matches are tough. We’re playing somewhere we’re not used to playing. The weather won’t be great and that will make things a lot more equal. Despite everything, we need to be ourselves and demand the most out of ourselves. That’s what we planned for in today’s training session, and everyone looked good.”

The opposition

“They’re a team who have their chances, we’ve been watching them. They have some interesting players and we will see how they line up for the game. We are clear on what we will do. In theory, we should take control, but always being aware defensively.”

Roatations

“No-one has a set place in the team. I hope that the team plays well whoever plays. In Naples and in Birmingham, every player on the pitch looked good.”

Diego Collado

“I’m very happy with all the boys who have been featuring for us. We are getting to know them better, which is what is important to me. He is a player with a lot of potential, he’s doing things well, he has some things to improve on but we are very happy with him.”

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