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González: "We have to have a little bit extra"
The coach looks ahead to the match against RCD Mallorca
Despite RCD Espanyol's barren run of results in the last three games, coach Manolo González remains firm in his convictions ahead of Saturday's game against RCD Mallorca.
Speaking on Friday in a press conference, he said that “the team are convinced. I have no doubt that the squad believe in what they are doing and see that we are a side who were promoted three months ago, who are capable of competing with teams like Real Madrid or Betis. With the things that we do well, we can compete with those sides, but we have to have a little bit extra to beat them."
He did offer the caveat that “we have to minimise actions that end up costing us points and regain the effectiveness we had against Rayo or Alavés, for example."
"I have asked the players to be daring, brave and take risks in attack. We have to provoke these situations and manage to threaten in the opposition box. We face every game looking to win, and we have to improve on what we have a deficit in. We press well, we do things well, but there are variables that we still have to improve. We have to lose our fear of failing. If we manage to minimise this series of things and improve our performance, the team will take a leap up in quality.”
González added that "Tomorrow's game is no different from the others. Thinking about a game as a final happens in games like last year's playoff games against Sporting or Oviedo. Tomorrow we have to win and we have to go to Bilbao with the same mindset.”
Regarding Mallorca, he highlights that “they have high-quality players and a stable squad, who have been playing together for a long time. For me, Jagoba Arrasate is a top coach, and he is proving it. His work deserves a lot of merit and must be valued.”