Jagoba Arrasate spoke to the media in his pre-match press conference ahead of our trip to Real Madrid on Wednesday evening at 2130 CET. Find out what the boss had to say below:
On becoming a coach: “I had a passion for this game. My goal wasn't to be a coach, it was to be a player. But I played in different categories, and when you realise your ceiling is Segunda B or something similar, you start thinking about the future. Without realising it, we're already fully immersed here, especially because of our passion for the game. Where am I at? Well, I'm certainly a better coach than I was a while ago and worse than I'll be later. It's about retraining; football moves very fast, and you have to adapt. I'm not complaining about my career, but I hope there's still joy to come.”
On expectations against Real Madrid: “We have to prove that tomorrow. It's true that there are three games left, and we're not ready to rule any of them out. Tomorrow, in theory, is one of the toughest away games: it's true that they have a very tough La Liga, it's true that they have absences, especially defensively because whoever plays up front, they're world-class players, and they're sure to field a very good starting eleven. We're not going to think about how they'll be, or if they won't be at their best. What we have to do is improve ourselves, give a solid performance: I think we need to defend better, to prevent them from having any space to run. If you add to that the victory the other day and the fact that we've escaped, and the mood is different, that makes us excited, thinking we can get a good result.”
On remaining games: “We depend on ourselves, like so many other teams. What we all want is to reach the final matchday depending on ourselves, and to do that, we have to add up our numbers. We don't do too much math, either, because you see how the matchdays go and all the percentages you see from one week to the next. This week we have a good opportunity and we have to try to take advantage of it.”
On adapting to the end of the season: “It's true that we've done a couple of very light training sessions. It's Matchday 36 tomorrow, and right now, it's not about burdening the players with anything extra. It's true that some players are fresher than others, due to their characteristics, genetics, and playing time. We need to refresh the team in some positions, but we can't go crazy either. Tomorrow is an opportunity, and we have to put out a competitive starting eleven, knowing that it's going to be difficult but that we'll have a chance. The same will happen on Sunday; we probably won't repeat the starting eleven. But hey, the players are ready, and what we have to do is get it right and, above all, know and be honest about who's better or worse, who can repeat their efforts, who can't… Based on that, we'll put out a starting eleven, which is very important, but it's also important to make changes later on in the game.”
On defence: “I don't want to differentiate between four and five, because the other day with four we defended very poorly for the first twenty minutes, and then a little better. With five, there have been days when we've defended well and others poorly. It depends on many things. Normally, when you play with five, you defend the width of the field better, when the opponent is going to open up and widen the field. But sometimes it's not about that; it's about how we initiate the pressure, how we press from high up, how we direct it, whether we win duels or not… So, if we play well, both systems are fine for me, and if we play poorly, neither system gives you a solution.”
On Real Madrid: "They'll want to take advantage of their chances of winning La Liga, which they always have to do at home and with their fans. It's true that they're missing a lot defensively, but coming off three goals against Barcelona and three against Celta, they're incredibly powerful. It's something that doesn't worry them, because offensively, despite having some players missing, they have world-class players who score goals very easily. Let's see if we can stop that and then how we can hurt them."
On the team: "We're going to try to improve now, in these three games, because it's very important. It's also true that when you have more time to work, everything is easier. I was referring above all to the fact that we had losses the other day due to not being well positioned offensively. But, above all, we suffered a lot in transition due to being unbalanced. We almost paid a heavy price for it the other day, and tomorrow, that's what penalises you. So, it's something we have to improve for these three games, because otherwise, we won't have a chance."
On the injuries: "Abdón, you already know, is ruled out, but we have that hope with Morlanes and Robert. They're working individually, and on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday they'll join the group. Depending on how they feel, we'll see if they can be ready for the last two games."
On fatigue at the end of the season: “We're all running out of gas, just like most teams. When you win a game, I can assure you the mood is different, you see everything differently. That's what happened to us. It was a critical moment on Saturday, and we were all very tired after what we experienced, and on Sunday we were already smiling, and today too. We're excited; we have to make one last effort because the prize is very, very big, and there are ten days left until the end of La Liga.”
On goalkeepers: “We have three great goalkeepers. It's true that Dominik has been the number one goalkeeper, that's what the numbers say, and Leo the number two and Pichu the number three. If he plays tomorrow, it's not because of anything else we're thinking about; it's because I think Dominik is coming off a good performance, but when there's a game during the week, I prefer him to rest, and I'm convinced he'll do well. As I said the other day, this year we have a good solution. In the summer, we'll discuss all the individual situations and see what's best for the future. But right now, I'm not thinking about anything other than Leo having a good performance and Dominik doing well on Sunday.”