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González: "We should have killed the game off before time"
The coach gives his view on progress to the playoff final
RCD Espanyol coach, Manolo González, spoke in a press conference after his side went through to the playoff finals.
“We are calm. We had a good first half except for one move. Up until the 65th minute, Sporting Gijon were pretty good too, and then they pushed harder. We adjusted the midfield and we have got better, but we struggled a little. They no longer had any pressure and we were finding it a little more difficult. We should have killed the game off before time.”
González pointed out that “there are not going to be quiet games at this stage. The playoffs are usually very close. The opposition are teams who do things well and have a high level. That's why it's so even. When you don't finish at the top of the table, what happened to us at the end can happen. They had to score, and they didn't care about losing possession. The method was to find counters and finish them off.”
Looking ahead to Sunday's first leg against Oviedo, he commented that “first we will rest, try to recover well, and on Saturday prepare for the game as best as possible with a couple of things we will look at. It is a positioning issue, and there will be changes in the starting XI due to fatigue. But I'm happy. We were brave. We were closer to winning than defending for the entire game.”
González also had words of praise for the fans: “This is what the Espanyol fans are like. I know the club. Of course they have been angry during the year, but you have to understand them. It's understandable. I knew they were going to respond today. I had no doubt. And when we return from Oviedo they will be behind us to death. Being an Espanyol supporter is not easy; being a Real Madrid fan is easy. This is why victories are celebrated more.”