Quique S. Flores: 'I have no desire for revenge; I want to win the three points”
“I hope that my players are aggressive in front of the goal”
Quique Sánchez Flores knows that his team needs the three points against Villarreal if they want to stay in the battle for European spots. The manager didn’t hesitate to praise his team’s upcoming opponent, saying that “they’re a good team that has had the same dynamic for years. In the world of football there’s a constant combination; it’s mathematical, there are no coincidences. The more I contribute, the better things go.”
The head coach doesn’t want to let any more points escape from then at the Vicente Calderón. For this reason he assured that “we’ve stopped our fall in the last couple of weeks and the rest of our rivals have lost points. Our goals are relatively close, although we have to change our feelings at home. It’s not enough to have more scoring chances than our opponents. The fans need to feel like we can win the games. In the last few matches, it seems like we could have won them. We’re going to change.”
During his appearance before the media, Quique had time to recall the first round match-up in Villarreal. “We suffered from horrendous officiating in that match. They cost us a win and missed three penalties in our favour. We saw very strange things in that contest. I don’t have anything to say about Garrido. He’s doing things really well in his Club. Villarreal is playing very well and that makes them improve every season,” he highlighted.
In spite of everything that happened in that game, Quique has forgotten the first round match and stated that “I don’t have any desire for revenge; I want to win the three points. We did that against in Zaragoza three weeks ago and I think that we still have time to put together a three or four game winning streak. This squad did that two years ago. They won eight consecutive matches and could do it again now. We have that feeling in the team that we can put together a positive run.”
Quique doesn’t believe that there’s much of a difference between the two teams, emphasizing that “whenever we’ve faced the teams near the top, we’ve stood up to them. We did that against Valencia and Sevilla. There’s not such a big point difference. We won’t be so easy. All football fans like to watch Atlético games. We must have something. We’re not such a disastrous side, but we have to review our mental states, which are so important in the world of football.”
Concerning the lack of goals from Diego Forlán, the head coach stated that “I expect the same things from him as I do the rest; I want them to be aggressive in front of the goal and to play as well as possible. We know that when a striker is far from the goal there are doubts, but when they scored all the problems go away and they feel good. For that goal to come, we have to believe. The goal will come off an action play. He, like Kun, Juanfran and the rest of those who play up front, has to improve the aggressiveness in the final metres.”
The ‘rojiblanco’ manager also reviewed the state of the team infirmary and explained that “Kun is simply tired. He’s a player who recovers well and left early today as a precaution. With respect to Diego Costa and Tiago, we don’t wan them to be on the pitch for a long time when they’ve accumulated so many games, but in principle they won’t have any problems playing.
“We’re giving the supporters reasons to get excited. When we finish the games, I look at the statistics and people will say what they say. We have more ball possession than our opponents and have more chances. Our opponents don’t attack us much and score on us. All of the fans in the world have their preferences and those they like less. The day of the match, we’re with those who get whistled,” concluded Quique Sánchez Flores.
The head coach doesn’t want to let any more points escape from then at the Vicente Calderón. For this reason he assured that “we’ve stopped our fall in the last couple of weeks and the rest of our rivals have lost points. Our goals are relatively close, although we have to change our feelings at home. It’s not enough to have more scoring chances than our opponents. The fans need to feel like we can win the games. In the last few matches, it seems like we could have won them. We’re going to change.”
During his appearance before the media, Quique had time to recall the first round match-up in Villarreal. “We suffered from horrendous officiating in that match. They cost us a win and missed three penalties in our favour. We saw very strange things in that contest. I don’t have anything to say about Garrido. He’s doing things really well in his Club. Villarreal is playing very well and that makes them improve every season,” he highlighted.
In spite of everything that happened in that game, Quique has forgotten the first round match and stated that “I don’t have any desire for revenge; I want to win the three points. We did that against in Zaragoza three weeks ago and I think that we still have time to put together a three or four game winning streak. This squad did that two years ago. They won eight consecutive matches and could do it again now. We have that feeling in the team that we can put together a positive run.”
Quique doesn’t believe that there’s much of a difference between the two teams, emphasizing that “whenever we’ve faced the teams near the top, we’ve stood up to them. We did that against Valencia and Sevilla. There’s not such a big point difference. We won’t be so easy. All football fans like to watch Atlético games. We must have something. We’re not such a disastrous side, but we have to review our mental states, which are so important in the world of football.”
Concerning the lack of goals from Diego Forlán, the head coach stated that “I expect the same things from him as I do the rest; I want them to be aggressive in front of the goal and to play as well as possible. We know that when a striker is far from the goal there are doubts, but when they scored all the problems go away and they feel good. For that goal to come, we have to believe. The goal will come off an action play. He, like Kun, Juanfran and the rest of those who play up front, has to improve the aggressiveness in the final metres.”
The ‘rojiblanco’ manager also reviewed the state of the team infirmary and explained that “Kun is simply tired. He’s a player who recovers well and left early today as a precaution. With respect to Diego Costa and Tiago, we don’t wan them to be on the pitch for a long time when they’ve accumulated so many games, but in principle they won’t have any problems playing.
“We’re giving the supporters reasons to get excited. When we finish the games, I look at the statistics and people will say what they say. We have more ball possession than our opponents and have more chances. Our opponents don’t attack us much and score on us. All of the fans in the world have their preferences and those they like less. The day of the match, we’re with those who get whistled,” concluded Quique Sánchez Flores.
