Quique S. Flores: 'They scored two goals on horrible mistakes we made”
“The match was lost in the opening 45 minutes”
Quique Sánchez Flores admitted that his team didn’t have a good day against Málaga. The head coach analyzed the game and said that “the first half was unequal. We were bad and didn’t get into the contest. Málaga found things too easy. They scored two goals on horrible mistakes we made in releasing the ball.”
The manager of Atlético spoke about his players’ attitudes and explained that “it wasn’t that they didn’t want to, but rather that we didn’t know what we were looking for. Sometimes you try to do things, but don’t end up doing them with the needed pace. Málaga beat us in each battle, on 50-50 balls and on every play. They were able to take advantage of their crosses from the wing for Rondón and Baptista to score. We woke up in the second half, but it was too late.”
The manager also analyzed the substitutions made, stating that “we were conditioned by the first change. The team improved when Koke came on. We were looking for more depth in attach by sending on Forlán. If I’d changed to a three-man defence or given up on the wings, we probably would have gotten an even worse result.
“The match was lost in the opening 45 minutes. A team, when it slips up after eleven very good weeks, doesn’t need to be reproached. We gave away 45 minutes. We had said before that Málaga are a squad much better than their place in the table suggests. This is a very good team and we played very poorly,” Quique Sánchez Flores finalized.
The manager of Atlético spoke about his players’ attitudes and explained that “it wasn’t that they didn’t want to, but rather that we didn’t know what we were looking for. Sometimes you try to do things, but don’t end up doing them with the needed pace. Málaga beat us in each battle, on 50-50 balls and on every play. They were able to take advantage of their crosses from the wing for Rondón and Baptista to score. We woke up in the second half, but it was too late.”
The manager also analyzed the substitutions made, stating that “we were conditioned by the first change. The team improved when Koke came on. We were looking for more depth in attach by sending on Forlán. If I’d changed to a three-man defence or given up on the wings, we probably would have gotten an even worse result.
“The match was lost in the opening 45 minutes. A team, when it slips up after eleven very good weeks, doesn’t need to be reproached. We gave away 45 minutes. We had said before that Málaga are a squad much better than their place in the table suggests. This is a very good team and we played very poorly,” Quique Sánchez Flores finalized.