Sergio Pellicer commented that between his first experience in the Blue and White dugout and the current one “there are certain similarities, but also many differences.” He affirmed that “at an institutional level it was much more complicated.” In addition, he highlighted the difference between the teams and his past status as “interim manager. Now the club is much more stable. The level of demand is far higher. We come from the objective set at the start of the season, of wanting to fight for where Málaga should be, in the top positions,” he stated.
In regard to the team’s current situation, the coach approaches it as “a league of five with many games remaining. It’s up to us to get out of here. We can promise that we’ll work as hard as we can to try to give the best possible performance to get the results,” he said.
These past few days have been about “talking to the players and conveying what we want from them.” Furthermore, he talked about the atmosphere. “I know the club and many of the players. As professionals, we find out more about them all every day and I know them perfectly well. For me it's coming home again. I know every corner of La Rosaleda. The support of all the members of the club is important to me.”
For this final stretch of the competition, Pellicer is clear: “We want to be a competitive and practical team. Make the most of the work already done, put our details forward and get results. I want them to clear their minds and for the remaining 18 matches we have to be one of the best teams. We have to find that click and get a victory as soon as possible.Regardless of what happens in Gijón, this is going to serve as resistance. We cannot lose more time. We have to be better than the rival and we’ll be closer to victory.” He also stressed the need for commitment: “When you go into battle, you go with committed warriors. We have to focus on that collective feeling.”
In relation to Sunday’s rival, Real Sporting de Gijón he talked about their recent change of coach. “It’s a good example because there was a change of coach. They achieved victory and opened up the gap, which gives them peace of mind. A win makes you see everything differently. The structure has changed, and they have a different way of playing. We have focused on ourselves, on what we’re seeing in training and on what we want to do,” he added.
Finally, when asked if he was going to make changes to his starting-11 at El Molinón, he wanted to be very clear: “I need all the players. They don't know who’s going to play and that brings daily competitiveness. I want everyone to be at 100%, but there are gameplans. We can start with a good team and finish better. The teams that concede the most in the second half are the ones in the worst place in the standings. It’s all about the gameplan. Everyone has to be prepared for 5 or 90 minutes. They know what they need to do,” he explained.
