President Sheikh Abdullah Al Thani accompanied Míchel during his presentation as new Málaga CF coach: “Good afternoon everyone. I would like to begin by presenting our new coach, Mr Míchel, who takes charge of our project. First of all, I wish to thank Marcelo Romero, and also Míchel for continuing with our project. The negotiation was straightforward. Decisions were made quickly, and it was easy to reach this agreement. Thank you all for coming. I wish our new coach the very best of luck”.
Infrastructure and sporting idea
“Firstly, I’m incredibly grateful for the possibility of coming here to coach Málaga CF. It’s never a good situation when a colleague like Marcelo leaves. As we all know, in the world of football, work has to do with results, and Marcelo was a victim of that. As a fan of football, I imagined a Club like this, but it’s better than my expectations. It’s a Club with great infrastructure, with very clear sporting ideas, and a football-loving fan base. I love it”.
Balanced squad
“I think it’s a different case. When I arrived at Getafe, there were five matches remaining, but it does have a certain connotation. The following year, that same Getafe finished in sixth place and qualified for UEFA competition. The situation is noticeably better now. There’s a distance, but it’s true that the dynamic of results is irregular. This indicates that our way of working has to be similar. We must try to recover the players’ confidence, as they have the ability. It is a balanced squad. We’ll try by any means necessary to reach them psychologically, so they know they can do things well. The players are of a good standard”.
Enthusiasm
“What I’ve found here are guys who are keen for things to go right. That’s what I found in the first training session. Not just the predisposition but also the conditions and qualities they have. The distance between what I see and what I want to see isn’t huge, because the team is good. I believe the distance is marked by results, not so much in the make-up of the team and idea. I think we’ve got a good squad”.
Footballing idea
“I consider myself to have a footballing idea in mind, and I always have to adapt it to fit the team I’m coaching. Both parties can adapt to our ideologies of play, and what the players are capable of developing. What we want to see day to day is the players feeling comfortable, and to see what they are able to do. It’s not about asking for strange things. We want to change the dynamic and mood of the players. I’m sure that with a different mindset, we’ll see another team on Saturday”.
Style of play
“We are working on the strengths of the team. I’ve watched Málaga in every match they’ve played. We have a clear idea of what we want to do and develop. There won’t be any radical changes. If we were to change a lot of things, we wouldn’t have time in three days. Let’s try to maintain the style of play. The paths we want to go down will be recognisable as the players have these characteristics”.
Playing well
“The situation isn’t right for this Club, nor for these players or what Málaga CF is. Those who play well, win. We need to try to play well, and maintain a strong attack and defence in order to win matches. It’s extremely tough to win games if you don’t play well, regardless of the style you have”.
MCF Academy
“At the moment things look great. Not so long ago it practically didn’t exist. Now we see there are players with possibilities. I like to see players from the youth ranks move up to the first team, but in order for that to happen, they need opportunities. Every player in the academy is invaluable to the first team, both professionally and emotionally. As long as I am coach of this team, they’ll have their opportunity. There’s nothing better than finding homegrown players for your team”.
Blue and Whites’ fans
“I don’t think we have to ask the fans for anything. They always support the team, even in far worse situations than this. When I said Málaga is a very football orientated city I meant it. They’ll never abandon the team, and will prove it on Saturday”.
