Quique S. Flores: “We want to play the best possible match and dedicate it to the fans”
“Our intention is to finish with this negative patch”
The manager of Atlético de Madrid, Quique Sánchez Flores, assured during his pre-game press conference before the league fixture against Real Zaragoza that “the most important thing is how we are in general as a group. Our intention is to finish with this negative and difficult patch. We’re going from match-to-match, always with the same emotions, but the circumstances dictate. We’re looking forward to going to Zaragoza and with the clear idea that if we win the game we’ll get back into or very close to European spots.
“More and more I think that mental states in football today, with the entailing pressure, tension, etc, have a greater effect on negative results on the moods of the footballers, beyond them being just excellent professionals. I believe that when one has lost four consecutive matches, even more so when they continue to work in the same way, the only thing that needs to change for the player’s mental state to change is the result. We’re still chasing that and we’ll try to play the best possible match to win and dedicate it to our fans and, hopefully, we’ll come back from Zaragoza with the points,” stated the manager.
“I feel like I’m in a permanent machine room. We’re at full speed and trying to re-set everything to get it back in its place and to do that we just have to do what we were doing beforehand, which led us to big things. It’s true that what has concerned me most in recent weeks is our mental state. I’m referring to the players’ moods, the happiness of the group, which has nothing to do with tactics, but rather more to do with reinventing oneself,” he commented. Furthermore, the ‘rojiblanco’ head coach wanted to thank the fans once again for their support. “I always say the same thing; every shout of support and every daily backing that I receive, I can only be appreciative of it and return it with lots of hard work and commitment, as always,” he declared.
Sánchez Flores also assured that he feels like the team isn’t being accompanied by good luck, which he considers to be crucial. “Chance exists in this game. Now we know that what we to push, we all have to push together, because that luck factor, which is important, hasn’t been helping us. It’s much more difficult to get the team back when they’ve played well, because you sometimes run out of explanations. But, like last year, that will make us stronger and the group has to learn,” he asserted.
In spite of the rut in which the team finds itself, Quique continue to have as much confidence in his squad as he did the very first day, and his goal is to achieve some kind of consistency. “I’ve been saying for over a year that the group that I’m working with is excellent, that it’s easy to get into complicated situations which, unfortunately, Atlético de Madrid have gone through historically. This Club is capable of being amongst the best, but also to go through the worst kind of situations. We’re working hard so that that’s not the case, to not be the ‘pupas’ (term coined for the bad luck of Atlético), so that people don’t label us as inconsistent. When a player has negative results, they start to doubt everything and we don’t want that to happen,” he explained.
The manager was also self-critical by saying that “we’ve made mistakes, obviously, and the players are the ones who play in the end, but they’re commanded by a coaching staff that trains them during the week and we’re important to them. We’re the visible head during the week and even though the contribution of decisions is reduced during the matches, right now we have to direct them and not let them get discouraged because that’s when bad things happen.”
In Saturday’s fixture, Quique Sánchez Flores will face a former Atlético manager in Javier Aguirre. The ‘colchonero’ coach confessed that there has always been a mutual admiration between the two. “Since we’ve both been in the Spanish league we’ve felt a certain mutual admiration. Whenever we’ve faced each other we’ve had the feeling of playing against good squads and good managers. The fact that we’re now battling in different situations doesn’t change our admiration, which is based on a career and a record that doesn’t vary no matter what happens,” he added.
Concerning the future, the ‘rojiblanco’ head coach appeared optimistic and assured that “the plan right now is to lend each other a hand and leave it all on the pitch in each training session and in each game.” Regarding the signings made during the winter market, Juanfran and Elías, the manager affirmed that “they’ve come at a tough time, with lots of pressure, and having to be the ones that help move the team forward is very difficult. They have to understand the Spanish league, the Club, the situation; they have a lot on their hands and can’t do everything at once. I’m trying to protect them according to the situation that we’re going through and from the responses that I gleam from analysing each practice. The future will be something completely different.”
“More and more I think that mental states in football today, with the entailing pressure, tension, etc, have a greater effect on negative results on the moods of the footballers, beyond them being just excellent professionals. I believe that when one has lost four consecutive matches, even more so when they continue to work in the same way, the only thing that needs to change for the player’s mental state to change is the result. We’re still chasing that and we’ll try to play the best possible match to win and dedicate it to our fans and, hopefully, we’ll come back from Zaragoza with the points,” stated the manager.
“I feel like I’m in a permanent machine room. We’re at full speed and trying to re-set everything to get it back in its place and to do that we just have to do what we were doing beforehand, which led us to big things. It’s true that what has concerned me most in recent weeks is our mental state. I’m referring to the players’ moods, the happiness of the group, which has nothing to do with tactics, but rather more to do with reinventing oneself,” he commented. Furthermore, the ‘rojiblanco’ head coach wanted to thank the fans once again for their support. “I always say the same thing; every shout of support and every daily backing that I receive, I can only be appreciative of it and return it with lots of hard work and commitment, as always,” he declared.
Sánchez Flores also assured that he feels like the team isn’t being accompanied by good luck, which he considers to be crucial. “Chance exists in this game. Now we know that what we to push, we all have to push together, because that luck factor, which is important, hasn’t been helping us. It’s much more difficult to get the team back when they’ve played well, because you sometimes run out of explanations. But, like last year, that will make us stronger and the group has to learn,” he asserted.
In spite of the rut in which the team finds itself, Quique continue to have as much confidence in his squad as he did the very first day, and his goal is to achieve some kind of consistency. “I’ve been saying for over a year that the group that I’m working with is excellent, that it’s easy to get into complicated situations which, unfortunately, Atlético de Madrid have gone through historically. This Club is capable of being amongst the best, but also to go through the worst kind of situations. We’re working hard so that that’s not the case, to not be the ‘pupas’ (term coined for the bad luck of Atlético), so that people don’t label us as inconsistent. When a player has negative results, they start to doubt everything and we don’t want that to happen,” he explained.
The manager was also self-critical by saying that “we’ve made mistakes, obviously, and the players are the ones who play in the end, but they’re commanded by a coaching staff that trains them during the week and we’re important to them. We’re the visible head during the week and even though the contribution of decisions is reduced during the matches, right now we have to direct them and not let them get discouraged because that’s when bad things happen.”
In Saturday’s fixture, Quique Sánchez Flores will face a former Atlético manager in Javier Aguirre. The ‘colchonero’ coach confessed that there has always been a mutual admiration between the two. “Since we’ve both been in the Spanish league we’ve felt a certain mutual admiration. Whenever we’ve faced each other we’ve had the feeling of playing against good squads and good managers. The fact that we’re now battling in different situations doesn’t change our admiration, which is based on a career and a record that doesn’t vary no matter what happens,” he added.
Concerning the future, the ‘rojiblanco’ head coach appeared optimistic and assured that “the plan right now is to lend each other a hand and leave it all on the pitch in each training session and in each game.” Regarding the signings made during the winter market, Juanfran and Elías, the manager affirmed that “they’ve come at a tough time, with lots of pressure, and having to be the ones that help move the team forward is very difficult. They have to understand the Spanish league, the Club, the situation; they have a lot on their hands and can’t do everything at once. I’m trying to protect them according to the situation that we’re going through and from the responses that I gleam from analysing each practice. The future will be something completely different.”