“Darder is there for whatever he wants; also for the National Team”

Steep, like the section that Espanyol has had on the calendar in the last month, is Sunday’s match (La Cerámica, 2:00 p.m.) against Villarreal. The yellows, alive in the Champions League, is a bone for the blue and whites, who have not yet won in this 2022 although they have accumulated merits against Barcelona and Seville. Vicente Moreno knows this, as optimistic as he is cautious by nature: “I never talk about coming out stronger. We have good feelings, the team is fine, we have to keep it up every week. Villarreal have a level, like the coach… The game is very demanding. We are exposed to the days that we have each other“, commented the technician.

With practically the entire squad available except for Aleix Vidal, David López and Manu Morlanes, the coach recognizes that there are players who are performing less than expected, but that “They are the heritage of the club, we must demand them but support them, we need everyone, they are the first to suffer“. This is not the case of Raúl de Tomás, an icon of the entity, although the coach wants to relieve him of weight. “We have to give RdT calm, we can’t put all the responsibility on it. The performance is fantastic, his help is enormous, but you have to accompany him. He is a very important player. He can increase that line. He has the ability to do more“.

He also spoke about Sergi Darder, the player of the moment. Prudent as Moreno is, he didn’t hold back when speaking of Majorcan: “He’s a crack at all levels. On a technical, physical and tactical level. He’s a show. He’s ready for whatever he wants, if you want to make it for the National Team. He has a high level and he’s showing it. On a psychological level, where at a given moment he might think he was weaker, he is also strong. He has everything ahead of him.”

Beyond the proper names, the coach acknowledges that the team trains (“in specific videos and exercises”) to avoid those goals from the lateral center that have done so much damage in recent days, although the Valencian coach also highlighted that Leandro Cabrera and Sergi Gómez are “very good at what they do”. “Everyone has the will to do 200 percent right“, highlighted Moreno, who considers that the team “will be closer to winning if we keep a clean sheet because we always score one. ” Moreno called the poor defensive streak circumstantial.

With one more year left on his contract, Moreno is aware that Espanyol has “room for growth” and proof of this is the passion of its fans, who will once again flock to the city of Castellón, as they did three years ago. “The presence of people gives us a greater responsibility. People deserve the team to win“, he stressed.