The Villarreal CF head coach has sent a message to the fans ahead of the game against Mallorca
Villarreal CF head coach Marcelino García Toral said this evening that the team and the fans need to be more united than ever in this Saturday’s match against RCD Mallorca at the Estadio de la Cerámica (4:15pm CET). As well as analysing the opposition, the coach had words of praise for the Submarine’s recent signing, Gonçalo Guedes.
Analysing RCD Mallorca
“They are a team that are very difficult to beat, as their results show. They’ve had 10 draws and have 10 points from 15. Their last three outings were against Real Sociedad, Atlético and Real Madrid and they’ve lost by the minimum. Their head coach is very experienced and has shown throughout his career that he knows how to optimise resources and achieve tremendous results. They defend with a lot of people, they are very physical and play direct football. The first and second ball is very important and they make good use of the counter-attack. It will be very difficult but we will try to bring our weapons into play. Determination in the penalty area will be crucial. In Las Palmas we weren’t and our opponents were. We hope to reverse that.”
Absences in the team due to injury
“Luckily I’ve never been in a situation like this with so many injuries, but we have to find a solution. We are in a complex situation and, not counting Guedes, we have 12 first team players plus the goalkeepers for tomorrow. But we have to face it and it’s not an excuse. These are unfortunate injuries, they are not muscular, but ankles, knees in strange and awkward falls. It should give us the strength to make the available players think that they are lucky not to be injured and that they can play. We have to join forces to change the results.”
Support from the fans
“We have to look ahead. In complicated situations we have to be united. The first thing is to be convinced of our ability, and the coaching staff totally believe in the players at their disposal. We have to find our best version again because the current one is far from our best. Work and perseverance are the best weapons. If we turn them into habits, we will be close to changing a dynamic that we want to get out of.”
Arrival of Gonçalo Guedes
“He’s a player of a high level if he doesn’t suffer from physical problems, which we don’t believe he won’t. It’s logical that he lacks match fitness becuase he has hardly played in the last few months. He is an attacking player who can play anywhere up front, on both flanks or as a striker. We know him well and at his best he is a differential player. We have to try to get him back, both from a physical and footballing point of view as well as mentally. As we are in January and we know the player and the competition, we believe that the whole process can be shortened. We’ll try to get him to help us because we don’t have many players at the moment.”
Guedes’ position on the pitch
“With me he played mainly on the left wing, maybe because we had the team structured that way and we had a very important player like Rodrigo as a second striker. But he can occupy that position very well. In his last season at Valencia he was one of the best performers in the league playing as a striker. With us he did it on occasion, and also on the right wing. His speed and unbalanced qualities can help us a lot. He must adapt and optimise his ability, which he has. We can make sure he performs at a very high level.”
