Fans and La Rosaleda fortress
“We must keep in mind that the number of matches from here until the end of the league are getting less and less, however there’s still a long way to go. It’s important that we know there are going to be important games in this stretch of the league, and that’s where we ask for the fans’ support. We need a tremendous amount of unity and for La Rosaleda to be a strong stadium, a stadium difficult for any rival, a tough stadium and where our players feel comfortable. There needs to be an atmosphere of encouragement and support, not tension. It’s not about honesty, hard work, being demanding in the day to day or the number of hours. We know that to get what we need, La Rosaleda has to be a strong stadium in the final part of the league competition against good teams. We hope to perform at a top level, and for La Rosaleda to be a true fortress supporting the team in the good times and not so good times”.
Difficult rivals
“Many times we’re not aware the rival is playing, or that the opponent is the same as you, at times worse and at times better. Throughout play you can sentence a match, and if not, you’re suffering during the final minutes. If we think we’re going to win games without suffering, we’re very wrong. If we think that when we dominate or when the rival moves past midfield the team is doing something bad, we’re very wrong. It’s about being successful, at times to sentence the match or to try and conserve the result”.
Reality
“When we finished last season or started this season, it was said ‘this team won’t be able to do anything’, ‘there’s no coach’, ‘there’s no sports director’, ‘the team will disappear’, ‘down to Second B’, etc. I heard some shocking things as it seemed they weren’t about Málaga CF. Our first final was in Lugo and winning the four or five subsequent games meant everything stabilised and things turned around to a state of euphoria. It’s important to be aware that the Second Division is very difficult, it’s far easier to go down than up, there are no teams better than another. The teams at the top compete well. Do they play well? Sometimes yes, sometimes no, but they always compete well. Between those teams at the top competing well is Málaga CF, and from there, we need to be aware that there’s a tough road ahead”.
Optimism
“We cannot generate confusion or think that something strange happens when the team is in first place, equating to the level of the rest of the teams who assume they’ll be in the play-offs. I think there’s more optimism in teams in mid-table positions, than in us winning 1-0 to go to the top of the table, within a tough environment to get that result. That’s where we ask for help. We are aware we’re the first ones who need to engage the fans at certain times. We need to be a little more optimistic, we have to see tings more clearly, knowing the difficulty. Not everything that happens is bad. You have to give a sense of normality to everything, not everything is black and white”.
UD Las Palmas
“They’re a team made to be as high up as possible. When you read the press, you see they’re one of the strongest teams in the category. They have important players and many qualities that make us expect them to be in the top part of the standings”.
