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We want to be competitive
Machín says, before the visit to the Bernabéu that the team “has the ability to climb the table and perform better than we are currently”
Pablo Machín appealed to the team to take their good work in the majority of his games as RCD Espanyol manager into the game at the Bernabéu this Saturday in order to compete.
The coach says that he has spoken with the players to make them all “aware of the situation we’re in, and how difficult it is to shake off a negative run, but we’ve got solutions and we have to show them on the pitch”.
He insists that the team travel to Madrid with a positive outlook, “spirits are not in the sky, but we have to get back some self-confidence because we’ve been doing the right things, even if it hasn’t brought results. We’re looking to be competitive, and at the Bernabéu that’s the minimum requirement. By being a solid and compact team, we will grow.
He adds that his words in the changing room after the game against Osasuna were received normally “because the players are receptive and felt exactly as I did. We put a lot into a game that we should have had wrapped up at half-time and ended up throwing it away”.
He recalls that, as a manager, he has beaten Real Madrid twice but says that “each game is different”, adding that “if we want to compete, every player has to play their part, and not make errors. The first thing we have to get back is that sense that we are a competitive team. At times, the team has produced spells in which it could beat anyone”.
He is clear that “I have come to Espanyol completely convinced that I can help. We have the ability to climb the table, and to perform better than we are currently. The players have shown it, and I’ve seen it in short spells in recent games. We’ve got to turn those glimpses into long spells, and not make it easy for our opponents”.