Following the time spent in Bitburg and the friendlies last week in Baveria, the coach states: “I’m very pleased with how the training sessions and the matches went. Everyone worked extremely hard during the first two weeks of pre-season training, although we don’t prepare for friendly games in the same way as we would do in the League competition. Every player has a great attitude and is looking for a place on the team, so I’m very happy and have no complaints. With regards to the games, we won and lost, but there’s still time for improvement before the start of the season, particularly on the attack,” he explains.
Regarding the team’s attacking display, Schuster comments: “It’s not a problem with the number ‘9’, it’s the players surrounding the number ‘9’. We’re not performing as well as we should be yet on the attack. Taking into account a striker like Roque, it’s great when he gets four or five shots at goal during a match, but when he only has two chances, then I start to worry. It’s not just about him, but other players who are assisting him. We need to focus on players setting up goal chances and good balls for the strikers, to ensure we have much more presence upfront at all times. We’ve still got work to do.” The coach adds: “When it comes to our attacking strategy, what I really want to work on is the team’s imagination. I like to give a lot of freedom to the strikers, which is how they work best. They need to have free movement on the pitch and surprise the rival defence as much as possible, and this is where we’re lacking. We appear shy upfront and need to focus on a different strategy. It’s not about a lack of quality on the pitch at all, but I’d like the boys to focus on a different style, which I prefer.”
Schuster also talks about the reserve players that accompanied the team to Bitburg and Bad Wörishofen: “I think they all played well in their different positions. We also tried a few new things out, but I’ve seen a great deal of talent these past few weeks, some of the boys are ready, others need a little bit more time. Having this experience with the first team will really help them a lot, such as Cristian in midfield, Sergio as centre forward or Samu García who has improved a great deal. He’s moving upfront much more and working well without the ball assisting Roque. Juanpi has also played well, and Fabrice, who is getting better all the time. He’s still got certain aspects to improve on, but he’s an excellent player, as is Juanmi. Overall I’m very happy and extremely positive about the future.”
Bernd Schuster believes the team is overflowing with ambition ahead of the start of the season: “It certainly shows that Málaga are now European players, and everyone knows about us, all the players…with regards to the Club’s future plans, it was highly likely that some players didn’t want to stay. We’re heading into a new phase now, with every door of opportunity open to us, and it’s really exciting to see what will happen. We want to show the fans that we’re striving to achieve big things, starting this season, and then the next…We’re focusing on making more unforgettable moments like last season: that’s our main objective.”
As the pre-season is coming to an end, the coach states: “I would have liked to have had another week, but I’m looking forward to the competition getting started in 10 days. The routine of matches every weekend is definitely something to get excited about, as the pre-season can seem very long. We’ve got two weeks left to prepare for games against Valencia and Barcelona; I hope this season we don’t get drawn for many Monday matches.”
