Match analysis
“I’ve got the guts to take this forward, and I owe it to the fans whom we must respect. We weren’t up to the standard today. When we arrived an hour and a half before kick-off and there were fans waiting for us in the pouring rain. That really gets me. I don’t know if we were physically able to recover from the last match against Sevilla, but they had double our speed. I want to attribute this defeat to that, because in every training session the players show their determination and focus. I can’t get my head around what happened today. That said, we were able to get ahead on two occasions, we had the initial equaliser in a one-on-one. The first goal was offside. If we’d played at the same level that would be one thing, but today we deserved to lose”.
Deserving
“Out of eight games, we weren’t at all deserving in this one, but in the rest, Málaga deserved more. If Kepa saves your penalties, you have a one-on-one and you make a mistake, these things happen, but I believe in this team, and I’m certain the players believe in me. They’ve competed a great deal in these matches and have warranted far more. However, we’ve scored two points and suffered six defeats. I’ve never lost six matches on the run in my life, and it hurts as the first Malaguista. I will continue and never give up. If someone wants me to step down, they don’t know me at all”.
Confidence
“If I’ve got something, it’s age. I played in the Cádiz of miracles and won the last four matches to secure our salvation. With Córdoba we scored 13 of the 18 in the last six games and were saved. Taking into account the path we’ve been on previously, good luck was bound to be on our side at some point, but not with today’s performance. I believe, if there’s attitude and conviction, we can move forward. Today was a blur. It’s also important to weigh up the physical aspect too. We couldn’t use rotations because of injuries. Certain circumstances have to be considered. Perhaps that’s where this poor match started”.
