Natxo González appeared in the preview of the visit to Girona knowing that his future depends on what happens in Montilivi. A new defeat would suppose his more than probable dismissal. The situation in Malaga is critical and his arrival has not meant any change for the better. The results are worse than those that caused the dismissal of José Alberto. What’s more, the technician travels without Jairo, Hicham and Chavarría, who have suffered muscle mishaps these days and join the already known casualties of Juande and Luis Muñoz. Yes, Adrián López is in the call, who has many options to make his debut in Montilivi.
Visit from the Animation Stand to the team: “Seem right. What is needed is more togetherness, especially when things are not going well. No one from the staff was there, I consulted him, they told me that it was not necessary and without further ado.
Need to change the results: “We always hope, not just this week, the previous ones, we work to bring about that change. It’s the same thing we’re going to try tomorrow. We are aware of the situation we are in. Obviously, we have to respond on the pitch and with that intention we go tomorrow”.
They should give more “I don’t see any other way. We all have to give a little more because we are not getting there. It is in the areas where the matches are decided and both in our own and in the opposition we are not doing well. It is the biggest problem and what needs to be solved in order to win.”
Possible dismissal if he does not win in Girona: “I try to abstract myself from all the noise, I can’t let it affect me. I know from my son, who is the one who transmits everything to me. He tells me ‘Dad, they’re going to kick you out on Friday…’. And he is here, I continue on my way, excited every day. Today on a calm and excited trip to Girona. And transmit that illusion to win tomorrow and that’s it. I abstract myself from the outside because he is not going to help me at all. Are they going to kick me out? I do not contemplate it. I contemplate that I will win. Damn, imagine that if I lose they’re going to kick me out… Coaches are special, for that very reason, what am I going to do. I have no control over that. I’m going to try to control what is in my hands, I can’t do anything about the other. Would you understand? The numbers I have I cannot defend. They are indefensible. Nothing more”.
Problems in the locker room in a recent training: “Whoever gave you the information will be able to give you more details. The more negative the better, the more noise. There are conflicts in training and we understand it as normal. If you win and it goes well, that doesn’t come out. And if you lose, it’s out. There was a disagreement within the normal within a team, with tension, the normal. This happens in our homes with our parents and our children. So normal.”
Absence in the meeting with members of the Animation Tier: “I don’t know how the meeting was provoked. In the two or three meetings that have taken place I have not intervened. I’m available if you need me, I’m available and that’s it. Now every detail always leads to the same thing, but I don’t give it more importance. The important thing is the union that has to be in difficult moments. That I am or I am not can be interpreted as you want, but at the moment it is interpreted that way.
More about his absence from the meeting: “Do not look for me anymore, if I have to go, for me it is not pleasant or unpleasant. If I would have liked? I don’t consider it. The other day I went to the gala, the club asked me and I went. If you need, I’ll go. You don’t have to look any further.”
A complicated week: “After each game there are those moments of reflection and a message to give. We know the situation we are in and why we are going to fight this season. The important thing is unity within the team, reinforcing and supporting each other within, being positive and there is no doubt that the emotional factor in this stage is decisive. You all know how important your head is, you have to face the difficulty with work and togetherness”.
Ultimatum for its continuity: “It has been made public that the ultimatum was already given and I was going to be fired if I don’t win and even if I win. Whoever pulled it out will know that information and whether or not it’s fabricated. There has been nothing new or special, I repeat calm and prepared for everything. I am not stupid, I know the situation and there is nothing and no one that generates that bitterness or sadness from day to day. To enjoy the moment, years ago I realized that I am a coach and to manage these moments. Don’t worry, I’m fine.”
Are there players who lead a messy life?: “I do not know the personal life of each one nor does it interest me. I worry, of course, but I’m not with them all the time. I have no complaints at work, from then on I don’t know the life of each one. A professional depends on his body and his head, I can speak of what I experience on a day-to-day basis. Outside of here I don’t know.”
Casualties of Jairo, Chavarría and Hicham: “We play tomorrow? What a coincidence that in difficult situations everything comes against. We have the loss of Jairo and we are also at the expense of some players with discomfort, but we are going to battle with those who are. We have one war left, we are going to the first battle and death”.
Will Adrián López debut?: “It’s a bureaucratic issue, let’s see if everything works out and he can be in Girona tomorrow.”
Girona, a tough rival: “We are facing one of the teams that is in the best shape, with 13 points out of the last 15, with the top scorer and in a dynamic like this it is because they dominate many records. They are very well collectively and individually. It is a game of maximum difficulty and we are going to work on it as we have done, to see if it works out for us”.
Are you clear on eleven?: “More or less I have it clear. I have the idea based on our state, the rival, we started the week seeing a rival with three central defenders, now the doubt arises because he has two suspended. On an offensive level the idea is going to be the same and on a defensive level to see depending on the rival, try to have variants and plan ‘B’ or ‘C’ to respond to what we can find”.
Absence of youth squad Loren Zúñiga, starting striker for the U-19: “I know there is a lot of talk, but it is a process. He is standing out in his category, at his age, but you have to be calm. That does not mean that later in professional football he will stand out as soon as he arrives. You have to follow the natural process, because if you go ahead then there are frustrations. He is a player that the club considers very well, but you have to go easy”.
Paulino: “It’s fine, a month ago he stopped playing from the beginning, he came with some important discomfort at the level of the hip and pubis, playing with a lot of pain. We understood that his performance was being minimized because the inconvenience was getting worse. First we wanted to get him back on a physical level and we’re in that return phase, to eleven last week, and hopefully once those physical problems are forgotten he’ll be looser, lighter, in his football”.
Genaro: “He is a player with very specific characteristics. It is another profile, with a lot of presence, intensity, ability to wear, which can come in handy. He comes from an injury of two or three months. He is very well, but it is another process in which you have to be careful and introduce him little by little. We have to measure the times a bit, he’s fine, but we’re going to try to keep him going well until the end”.
Possible change in the goal after the sung of Dani Barrio: “I consider it every week, like in any other position. The goal seems to be a special position, but it doesn’t have to. A goalkeeper needs games to gain confidence… What the hell! And a center back, and a midfielder… Every week is an evaluation and we must not lose that intensity or that performance. It is a situation to be valued like any other”.