Raúl García: “We really want to play well against Zaragoza”
“The team played a good match against Valencia”
Raúl García will face the man who was his manager at both Atlético de Madrid and Osasuna, Javier Aguirre. The central midfielder commented at his press conference that the players have spoken in the dressing room about how he’ll motivate his players for Saturday’s clash.
The Atlético ‘8’ held a press conference after the training on Wednesday 16 February and stated that “after playing two or three games per week last season, the week gets long with just one match. We’re really looking forward to the match and want to play well against Zaragoza.”
With respect to what happened last weekend, in which the team lost after playing a good game, Raúl García highlighted that “I prefer not to lose, but we do, for it to be like it was against Valencia. The team didn’t play a poor match. We had the match under control and, taking away specific moments, we were unlucky. If the penalty had gone in the game would have changed a lot. I’ll stick with the fact that the team played quite well.”
The fact that the team is far from Champions League spots doesn’t make the idea of the squad any different because there’s lots of league left. “We’re aware that Champions is too far away to think about right now. There are lots of fixtures left and we have to start by winning this weekend’s encounter.”
Concerning the atmosphere at the stadium against Valencia last Saturday, the footballer stated that “ever since I arrived, both in good and bad seasons, there have always been negative patches. It’s true that when everything is calm, you work better, but there’s no team in football that is always on a positive run. What’s left for us to do is to try and change that dynamic and hope that things go as well as possible.”
The ‘rojiblanco’ midfielder left it very clear that he’s not affected by criticism. “Recently, I think about it as motivation. I’m not at all worried by people expressing their discontent. Whether they whistle me or not, I’m always going to wish the best for this Club. I have to do things well. I felt good on Saturday. I think that the other day I played a pretty complete match, but I don’t pay more attention to it than it has; it just motivates me more.”
Javier Aguirre is the manager of Zaragoza, and Raúl García had him as head coach at Osasuna and then at Atlético de Madrid. “We’ve commented on it inside the clubhouse, and said that we’d like to see his pre-game chat because we know him so well that we know how he’s going to plan the match. It’s not just the fact that he was at Atlético but that his team is in a complicated situation, are playing at home, and know that they have to apply the fastest pace possible to the match, and we’re all going to be going for the same thing.”
As regards the state of Quique Sánchez Flores after the last few matches, the player stated that “those of us that are here right now are going to push forward. Right now, both the coaching staff and the players are in the same situation and we all want the same thing.”
To finish, he spoke about the injury to Sergio Asenjo. “It’s true that when it happens to a person so close to you it makes you take a look at plenty of things. It’s a tough situation and it’s hard for a footballer to be injured. He’s aware that he has to start over from zero to get back to one-hundred percent within a few months. He knows very well that we’re here for him in whatever he needs.”
The Atlético ‘8’ held a press conference after the training on Wednesday 16 February and stated that “after playing two or three games per week last season, the week gets long with just one match. We’re really looking forward to the match and want to play well against Zaragoza.”
With respect to what happened last weekend, in which the team lost after playing a good game, Raúl García highlighted that “I prefer not to lose, but we do, for it to be like it was against Valencia. The team didn’t play a poor match. We had the match under control and, taking away specific moments, we were unlucky. If the penalty had gone in the game would have changed a lot. I’ll stick with the fact that the team played quite well.”
The fact that the team is far from Champions League spots doesn’t make the idea of the squad any different because there’s lots of league left. “We’re aware that Champions is too far away to think about right now. There are lots of fixtures left and we have to start by winning this weekend’s encounter.”
Concerning the atmosphere at the stadium against Valencia last Saturday, the footballer stated that “ever since I arrived, both in good and bad seasons, there have always been negative patches. It’s true that when everything is calm, you work better, but there’s no team in football that is always on a positive run. What’s left for us to do is to try and change that dynamic and hope that things go as well as possible.”
The ‘rojiblanco’ midfielder left it very clear that he’s not affected by criticism. “Recently, I think about it as motivation. I’m not at all worried by people expressing their discontent. Whether they whistle me or not, I’m always going to wish the best for this Club. I have to do things well. I felt good on Saturday. I think that the other day I played a pretty complete match, but I don’t pay more attention to it than it has; it just motivates me more.”
Javier Aguirre is the manager of Zaragoza, and Raúl García had him as head coach at Osasuna and then at Atlético de Madrid. “We’ve commented on it inside the clubhouse, and said that we’d like to see his pre-game chat because we know him so well that we know how he’s going to plan the match. It’s not just the fact that he was at Atlético but that his team is in a complicated situation, are playing at home, and know that they have to apply the fastest pace possible to the match, and we’re all going to be going for the same thing.”
As regards the state of Quique Sánchez Flores after the last few matches, the player stated that “those of us that are here right now are going to push forward. Right now, both the coaching staff and the players are in the same situation and we all want the same thing.”
To finish, he spoke about the injury to Sergio Asenjo. “It’s true that when it happens to a person so close to you it makes you take a look at plenty of things. It’s a tough situation and it’s hard for a footballer to be injured. He’s aware that he has to start over from zero to get back to one-hundred percent within a few months. He knows very well that we’re here for him in whatever he needs.”
