“What worries me the most is the team's game, not the points,” said José Luis Mendilibar, Eibar coach, on Friday before visiting Valladolid at the Nuevo Zorrilla on Saturday (1:00 pm), the team he was promoted to the First Division in the 2006-07 season and then also led in the top flight.
The Zaldibar technician, who appeared on Friday at a virtual and deferred press conference (the questions were asked the day before), He has been calmer than last Wednesday, when after losing to Elche (0-1) in Ipurua, he acknowledged that the Gipuzkoan team played badly and lost deservedly.
“Thus we cannot continue. The defeat can be good for us to wake up, we have to make self-criticism and get up,” he stressed on Wednesday. So, He was critical because the team from Elche, who had just lost their first league match, assumed command of the match from the opening whistle against a missing Eibar during the first quarter of an hour. After receiving a goal in the first half, the Eibar reacted after the break, but could not draw. “You have to wake up before. You have to start from minute one to try to 'bite' the opponent, to play in the opposite field, to do things well, and not when half a game has passed. That is too late. If each one reviews what they have done, we still want to cry, “Mendilibar said angrily on Wednesday.
The eibarreses have suffered three consecutive defeats against Villarreal (2-1), Athletic Club (1-2) and Elche (1-2) after drawing (and thanks) with Celta (0-0) in Ipurua in the opening day. Before the duel against Elche, the coach already warned that his team was “half done in every way”, and yesterday he again acknowledged that he still lacks 'cooking'. “As you train, you play, and in training something is missing,” he admitted.
“We have to improve everything a little, the beginning of the game, not let the rival arrive so easily, be more of a team on the pitch, not stop so much … We have been a team with direct play, winning second plays and playing in the opposite field; and right now we do not have that, and in that they cannot beat us, “he said.
Due to the bad results, Eibar, which is in a relegation position with only one point added out of 12 possible in four games, is very attentive to what other rivals do in the fight for permanence. “We should be more aware of ourselves and of the game that we have to do. We should not be aware of the rival. If we are well, the victories will come soon,” he said.
It is important to add before the league break, because next week there is no match in the First Division due to the commitments of the national teams. “If you go 15 days without playing a game and thinking that you only add one point before the game against Osasuna, you end up dizzy. Points are important and scoring chances are important, but it is essential to have good feelings and play a good game in Valladolid, “he said.
“Valladolid is playing safely”
He praised the pucelano team. “Valladolid is playing safely. In recent seasons it is very difficult to play against them. It is difficult to reach them and they make occasions with ease. They were on the verge of scoring with Real Madrid and that they changed to half the team compared to the previous game, “he explained.
Asked by Fabián Orellana, the Chilean attacker whom he directed several seasons at Eibar (Orellana left after ending his contract on June 30), explained that “normally he is playing from midfield forward or on the right wing. He is a good player, who does very good things with the ball, because he is a good footballer “, he claimed.
Mendilibar requested in mid-August from 7 to 8 signings to compensate for the departure of 6 footballers (Orellana, Escalante, Ramis Charles, De Blasis, and Cristóforo) and for the long-term injury of José Ángel 'Cote' Valdés. So far, 4 reinforcements have arrived, the Polish Damian Kadzior (Dinamo Zagreb), Jose Recio (provided by Leganés), Kevin Rodrigues (Leganés, on loan from the Royal Society), and the Japanese Yoshinori Muto (Newcastle United). In addition, José Antonio Martínez (was on loan at Leganés) and Roberto Olabe (on loan from Albacete and Extremadura) returned, who could be transferred before the summer transfer market closes on Monday, October 5, which will lower its curtain already in autumn. “The idea is that people have to come and people have to leave. The market is as it is and it is costing almost all the teams to do things. I hope that at the last minute we do things. In the meantime, we cannot wait for what they arrive” , he pointed out.
Unai Arieta, from the subsidiary, made his debut with Eibar in First
Waiting for new signings to 'land', Mendilibar made his debut against Elche to Unai Arietaleanizbeaskoa 'Unai Arieta', forward of the subsidiary (CD Vitoria), of Third Division. “Unai gives us a lot in training, he works a lot, and in the face of goal he hits the mark,” he explained. He acknowledged that the debut of Unai Arieta in the Barça First Division has been favored by the bad streak of the Eibar. “It is not easy to debut matchday 4, but since we are not well … What Unai gives us in training, he can give us in games“he insisted.
Due to the casualties of 4 footballers, José Recio, Pedro Bigas, Sergi Enrich and José Ángel 'Cote' Valdés, 4 players from the third division subsidiary (CD Vitoria), defender Unai Dufur, midfielder Miguel Ángel Atienza, and forwards Eñaut Mendia and Unai Arieta will travel to Castilian lands.
The Japanese Yoshinori Muto played his first match as a starter against Elche after having made his debut against Athletic. On Wednesday, two Japanese footballers on the same team played together for the first time in a First Division team, as Muto met Takashi Inui, his compatriot on the Ipurua grass. “Muto, unlike Damian Kadzior, has something in his favor, there is Inui who can guide him. Let's see if the new ones catch him as soon as possible, and enter the group dynamics. Let's see if against Osasuna we are all well. Although Damian Kadzior still has to go with his team, “Mendilibar said before Kadzior's call to join the Polish team.