Espanyol’s coach, Luis GarcÃa, explained this Thursday that for the match against Athletic this Saturday, which will mark his debut as a blue and white coach, he expects to see a “strong, solid team with an overwhelming personality”. The Asturian, at a press conference at the Dani Jarque Sports City, was ambitious and assured that the footballers “get” this match.
In fact, the new manager of the bench highlighted the strength of the dressing room and assured that he is “mentally prepared for this situation” and aware of his needs in qualifying. As for the rival, Luis GarcÃa assumed that he faces a complex challenge: “It is a great team, very much for Valverde and very much for Athletic. It has a lot of intensity and that is why we must push in the rival field, be attentive to transitions and crosses sides. We must be a daring block”.
The coach expects Athletic “as if they hadn’t played during the week.” “Four days have passed since they played (they were eliminated from the Cup at the hands of Osasuna) and there is time to recover. They have a large squad and a great coach who will have managed the loads and rotations,” he said after the open-door training session for the public.
In any case, Luis GarcÃa made it very clear that Espanyol must show their teeth: “The rival has received a big blow, but mentally they are very strong. We are the ones who are playing the beans. The ones who are really playing something are us and we must make it notice from the first minute”.
Regarding the possible changes of his Espanyol this Saturday, the Asturian acknowledged that he has hardly had time since he came to the bench and that “brushstrokes” of his proposal will be seen. Be that as it may, he highlighted the intention of “being able to put the rival in the opposite field.”
On a personal level, Luis GarcÃa acknowledged that he thought “many times” about going out to the RCDE Stadium as coach of the first team. “You work to improve and reach the highest level. I really want to enjoy the players and the environment,” he confessed, visibly satisfied.
The new parakeet trainer insisted that it is important to “enjoy the journey” and highlighted the “tremendous” desire to learn from the staff he is in charge of: “They are trying to quickly assimilate the concepts, we have only had three work sessions and there is a lot of information”.
Finally, Luis GarcÃa underlined the importance of the fans, who supported the team in an open session at this time. “Espanyol needs to be closer to its people than any club and we must achieve it with these initiatives,” he analyzed.
