MADRID, 1 Dic. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The coach of Villarreal CF, Marcelino García Toral, stated this Thursday that “always” one is left “with the victory”, although specifying that “out of the corner of our eye we have to look at the least good”, in reference to his team’s suffered 3-3 victory. -2 against Panathinaikos during matchday 5 of Group F in the Europa League.
“You always keep the victory and you always keep the good, although out of the corner of our eye we have to look at the less good. I think that in the analysis we would all agree: we played very well, not only would I say 45 minutes, but until the penalty goal From there, we also had control, but we did have some important defensive imbalances that we must avoid,” Marcelino said at a press conference.
“And the second goal, the truth is that it pissed me off a lot. It’s an obvious and correctable error, we have to correct it no matter what. When you’re 3-0 up and your opponent is up 3-2… We had some chances to confirm the fourth and, if you don’t do it, then in the end you suffer, it is logical,” he argued. “Fortunately we achieved three points, a victory and I think the team demonstrated many things about what we want to do and also the path on which we must insist,” he continued in the press room.
Regarding the penalty that caused the Greek team to score 3-1, the Villarreal coach showed his distrust. “I understand that it is a penalty because the VAR calls it after a long time and the referee himself is watching the images for two and three minutes until it ends. But in any case we must avoid that type of situation,” he warned.
“Being positive, what am I left with? I’m left with the fact that in many moments of the game we had very good organization and we did not concede practically anything to the rival,” he continued, but adding that the 3-1 and 3-2 plays “are “Actions that put a victory in danger and not only that, but also transmit unrest and nervousness to us.”
“Winning three games in a row, when it hasn’t happened for a long time, has to reaffirm what you do. And I also think that we have made very good combinations, we have scored very good goals, just like last Sunday against Osasuna. Today’s game even better and more continuous,” stressed the Asturian coach.
“Perhaps with 3-0 and the game so dominated, a moment of relaxation can enter, and in that moment of relaxation when you are not 100% concentrated, the opponent takes advantage, punishes you and the ghosts begin again. These are experiences that we are accumulating, from which we will draw the appropriate conclusions and from there we have to recover, and in three days we will be playing again,” he warned.
“I am satisfied with everything, with most of the things we do, but we also have to be self-critical. We cannot let the fact of winning lead us to absolute happiness, but we have to analyze why we win and why we sometimes concede.” more than we should. And also, since we come from very poor numbers in our defensive background, it is a priority to improve them,” said Marcelino.
“It makes me very angry to concede two goals in 45 minutes and concede another clear chance to the rival. So we have to insist on that and we all be aware that, if we are reliable defensively, it will give us security in the offensive section because it has a correlation to the game,” said the ‘Yellow Submarine’ coach.
Meanwhile, he admitted that “it is too early to draw conclusions” about his recently begun stage at Villarreal. “Are we satisfied? Yes, we are very happy with the attitude, the predisposition, the game and the competitive level of the team as well. But we are aware that we have to improve many things because these footballers have the capacity to do so and because we should not give up. to conform; but quite the opposite, to be ambitious and at the same time always have that desire and enthusiasm for improvement in all sections of the game,” he stated.
“Villarreal is Villarreal, the football club. And we train, work and look for solutions. We have to provide solutions to the situation that is complex due to the results, also unexpected, and offer solutions and try to constantly improve. Villarreal has some footballers and we, those of us who are here now, have to adapt to those players and try to optimize the individual performance of all of them. That is what we work for. We have to have that mentality of constant improvement,” he analyzed from the Estadio de la Cerámica.
“I believe that we have an individual obligation, each player in his position, to respond to a series of functions that we assign to them, then a group coordination and then a collective demand to help in all facets of the game. All the players who are in the field have to be participants in the phase we are in and help their teammate,” Marcelino concluded.