Jose Luis Morales (Madrid, 1987) leads Levante to try to work the miracle of salvation. In case of relegation, he would be free of contract, but the ‘Comandante’ has stated that he wants to continue in the club, regardless of the category.
As Piqué said with Neymar, but without fear of being wrong: he stays.
Well, in principle, if everything goes well, let’s hope that nothing has to be formalized because we are saved and continue here.
Following Piqué’s anecdote, they even have the same celebration…
It is anecdotal. It is a celebration of a birthday date. I know why he does it, because they told me. It is for February 2, which is when he and Shakira meet. And I do it for April 22.
In case of relegation, what would the formula between the club and Morales be like?
Well, try to reach an agreement within all the possibilities that there may be. In the end there are circumstances that today mean that I am left without a contract in the event of relegation. But, as I said at the time, I would like to continue here. Being involved in the descent is not grateful, nor is it a player who feels he belongs to the club, abandoning it when it is worse. When we went down to Second I didn’t do it. If there is the possibility of not descending, the better; but if I can continue here even though there is a relegation, I will be the first to pitch in to make it so.
Is your wish to retire in Levante?
I have said it many times and my idea is not going to change overnight. Obviously there are circumstances that I cannot control. It is not up to me not to follow. But I would like to retire here and I would like it to be in the First Division, leaving the club where it deserves to be.
How do you live a season like this?
The truth is that the season has been very complicated. I could search for millions of adjectives to qualify it, but it is true that anyone who tells you the same even falls short. In the end, today, we think we have much more to gain than to lose. There are the numbers and the classification. It reflects what we have done. Then we don’t have much more to lose. We have eight games left and we are six away from relegation with the goal average lost. We cannot be worse. The time has come to stop talking and move on to deeds. We have spent a long time perhaps thinking about what we could have done to change the situation. In the end we have to move forward, continue with the situation we have, learn to live with it. We have been living with it for quite some time and each one of us knows what can be found. We have to face the remaining games with the greatest intensity, with an extra effort to get points. If the rivals leave points along the way we will have our options.
Despite the fact that some gave them up for dead, the end of the season is being a flurry of emotions.
Since we have so little to lose, being left for dead may come in handy. It may be that the rival teams think that since we are in this situation our commitment is not going to be the same. We are trying to demonstrate and demonstrating like the other day that we are not dead. We are excited and committed to the club to at least try to fight it until the math says otherwise. The day that mathematics says that we are in Second, each one will have to do their own conscience analysis of whether they have given everything this season or not.
In his inner heart what possibilities does he give to salvation.
Let’s see, possibilities, the ones I’ve told you about, until the math says that we’re in the Second Division, I fully trust that we can achieve it. It is difficult, but there is nothing impossible in this life. It’s true that we don’t have the best schedule, but we’ve shown that we’ve been competitive against teams from the top of the table. Now we have a series of games with big rivals. It can come in handy or it can kill us. But what we have to do these eight games is that when the last one comes we can leave with our heads held high.
It seems that in the chaos, playing in an open grave, is where the team feels most comfortable.
Yes, in the end we have always characterized ourselves as a fairly brave team against any rival. It is true that this year, although the idea was still the same, not getting results, especially not winning, makes you think about whether what you are doing is good. Three coaches have already passed, we have been able to find a bit of balance. Because Paco had an idea of how to watch football, Pereira had a totally different one and it seems that Alessio is trying to combine both a bit. Being a defensively strong team and when it comes to attacking use one of the greatest virtues that this team has, which is fast attacks with fast players. We had to find a balance and it seems that after the break we have found it. Now we have to try to extend it in the remaining games and at the end of the season assess what we have or have not achieved.
In the lower part, next to Cádiz, it seems that they arrive more stable. (Alavés, Mallorca or Granada have recently changed their coach)
Yes, it is true that in the end getting points and winning helps you. It is always said that it is better to go from the bottom up than from the top down. The dynamics are favorable in theory. Then there is the practice. You have to try to get points and win games to be at the end of the major in First or Second.
The one that has found the way is Xavi’s Barça.
Yes. It is true that it did not have a start like the one expected. Because when a coach arrives they want a team to play alone, to win every game 4-0 and things don’t go that way. Little by little they have been working and he has players in the team who were his teammates when he was still playing, I think he has been able to come in handy. To day of today he is seeing a Barça with a very high level. He won 0-4 at the Bernabéu, but in games that can get a bit bogged down like the other day in Seville they have unbalanced players who can make a difference at any moment. And he is seeing himself, since he arrived at the way the team is now there has been an evolution by leaps and bounds.
They have already messed with Barcelona before at the Ciutat…
It is true that the last few years we have been doing well. We will try to keep it that way. It’s going to be a very complicated game, in which we’ll have to be focused the whole game and try to be effective when it comes to going on the attack. We have to be aggressive in our field and when they are attacking us. Against this type of teams we have to try to do everything possible so that they don’t have a good day and that ours is one of the best. We have shown over the last four or five years that we are capable of beating anyone in one game.
I don’t know if it’s a lot of data, but the AI says it’s his second best season at Levante.
The first news I have. But in the end, in every season there are ups and downs, if it has coincided that now I am in the second best moment, then we must try to take advantage of it and try to extend it over time. Especially to help the team get points to try to achieve the goal at the end of the season.
In a personal capacity, the pillars of the reaction (Morales, Roger, Pepelu, Cárdenas or Alessio) have passed through Buñol. Chance?
It may be a coincidence (laugh). It is true that all of us who have been in the club for many years end up having that feeling of belonging. Hence the fact of wanting to continue, as I said before, even lowering the team. But it is true that we all try to help as much as possible, each player try to help as much as possible, but what a club like Levante tries to do is that the players who come from the academy to the first team try to help in that sense. I hadn’t stopped to think about it until you told me about it, but if that’s the case, let’s hope that the future academy players who reach the first team have or that we are capable of giving them that feeling of belonging to the club. It will be good.