Pacheta is optimistic, although he warns that the game against Rayo Vallecano will be extremely tough
Villarreal CF head coach, José Rojo Martín ‘Pacheta’, is optimistic ahead of Sunday’s match against Rayo Vallecano at Vallecas (4:15pm CEST), although he also warned that it won’t be easy to beat the side from Madrid.
“I’ve seen the players very well this morning, I’ve seen them working well and with desire. We did some visual training and we worked as hard as we could, as we can only do that today. I have the feeling that we’re going to be fine, that’s the feeling I have”, he assured.
For Pacheta, the accumulated fixtures should not be an excuse: “These games have given us a lot of information, we have worked to get to know each other and adapt. I think we’re going to improve, I don’t just think so, I’ve done things everywhere and we’ve managed to get our teams to do a lot of things right. Therefore, if the work we do in training is seen on the pitch and you also win, that’s the strength of the work and the team. If what you work on with the player is reflected on the pitch, the player believes in you. It’s true that we can’t train now, so we have to use video a lot and that’s what we’re working with. It’s only been 48 hours and that’s when fatigue sets in, so we haven’t been able to work as we would have liked”.
He wants his team to be solid: “We have to be solid. That solidity is lost when we get separated, when the opposition’s transitions make us hesitate and that can’t happen. And above all, we are working on all the situations that have led us to have problems, those losses that generate transitions. We can fix that by finishing plays, cutting off the counter-attack and being much more solid and together. Although we have to be right in our good moments, we have to kill in those good moments, and be solid in the bad moments. That’s what we are working to achieve and to be more solid. When we have problems we have to be more solid and be more together.”
In terms of analysing the opposition, Pacheta warned of Rayo’s potential: “Rayo are a very lively team, they always have been, they attack the box a lot and there are many times when the game gets very messy. And that’s when we need to be at our most peaceful and calm. They have players with a lot of goals and a lot of finishing, they go wide and they go inside, they are a very direct team. But we’ve prepared the match to win and that’s what we’re going for. They have a great head coach like Francisco, who I know personally. And a team that, I repeat, is very dynamic, with very stable players, who are already well established in the category. They have a very clear model, with very high pressure, so we will have to look for their flaws. I’m expecting a game in which we’ll be in control and we’ll take our chances.”
