Press conference | Juan Ramón Muñiz
Preseason
“The assessment is very positive and we’re using that to get to know each other. The most important thing at this time is that we all know each other and know how to work. One of the crucial aspects is achieving a good squad, on and off the pitch. It’s one of the most important objectives of the season. Being together and having a good team to compete. The better the team we have on a personal level, the better the results will be. Everyone is very focused. The players are clear about what they’ll be up against, in a highly difficult category, and everyone is ready to compete”.
Prepared squad
“I have an idea of how we’ll play and have the advantage of having 24 or 25 players ready to compete. Any one of them can give a result and a performance and everyone has worked very well over the preseason. Homegrown players? I try my best to select those who are ready to compete (…) We need to be prepared, we cannot win on the shield alone, nor the curriculum. We must compete in Lugo, then when that game is over it won’t matter anymore. There’s a long road ahead, facing opponents who are just like you”.
Reinforcements
“The new players have joined the group in the most extraordinary way. We understood that we have to form a good team. I prefer a good team to a good individual. A team achieves objectives, and the new players arriving will help us to do just that, and it will seem like they’ve been here for many years”.
Lugo, first rival
“They’ve been on a trajectory for a few years and have a philosophy of play. They aim to control possession of the ball in the rival half and continue to do so; we expect to face experienced players in the division who will compete as they have done in past years in an extraordinary way. Last season they were almost the revelation team, and we need to ensure we play at this level if we want to win this game”.
Competitiveness
“They don’t know who will be in the starting line-up. Everyone who is training well has options to play. Eleven will go out there and those who do will win points. Over 42 weeks we’ll need a team of 24 or 25. We all need to be ready to compete. Everyone will have their moment and must be ready to perform”.
Travel and new shirt
“We are a Second Division team and have to look at the viability of the Club. Everyone lost out with the relegation. That means reducing costs and the first team needs to set an example. By coach is how teams in the Second Division travel, this happens in the category these days (…) I love everything to do with Málaga; the shield which we’ll defend to the death, we need to set an example and the shield goes above everything, that comes first”.
