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“I’m happy to be helping the team”
Calleri says his performances are improving and declares that victory against Mallorca would be a confidence boost for the team
Still hurting from the defeat against Granada, “because of how it happened” and clearly self-critical, “we simply can’t make those kind of errors”, Calleri says that he’s starting to hit his best form at Espanyol. He continued, “even if I don’t score, if the team wins, I’ll be happy. I’m playing a different role in attack now and I’m happy to be helping the team. Little by little I’m finding my form. My first few months here were pretty disastrous because I arrived three games into the season, without having any sort of pre-season. I got injured twice, after not being injured for four years. It’s been a really hard four months. Now, with Abelardo, I feel more comfortable, I’m performing better and if I can start scoring, brilliant”.
The Argentinian striker, who played under Abelardo at Alavés, says of the coach “I consider him a great coach and someone who help us a lot in the situation we’re in, but we also have to do our bit on the pitch and not make silly errors”.
With the game against Mallorca in the spotlight, Calleri believes that “this game could impact the rest of the season. It’s not a final because it doesn’t define any outcome, but if we get the three points it’ll be a massive confidence boost. We’re focused, working hard and improving every day, but we have to turn that into a win”.
He insists results at home have to improve and is clear that “We need to give the fans a win to get off the bottom of the table and start to calm the nerves”. He recalls that he has been in similar situations at other clubs but that “Here I see a lot of positivity. We’re hopeful of sorting this out. It’s what we all want, the club and the fans. Hopefully we’ll make them happy on Sunday”.
Finally, smiling, he said he was surprised by the images that emerged of him, RDT and Embarba deciding who should take the penalty against Granada. “Maybe another time no one will want to take it, the other day we all did, we all wanted to contribute and to put the team ahead. It’s something I’ve spoken about with Raúl and everything is more than fine. He took it and scored, and that’s the most important thing. All the other stuff is part and parcel of football and stays on the pitch”. In any case, he adds “Raúl’s arrival has been massive for the team because he offers a lot. I think that we play well together”.