Valverde: “This is the worst game we have played so far”

Ernest Valverde This is very clear in the Montilivi press room. “It was the worst game we played so far,” said the coach emphatically. “At Camp Nou, we couldn’t stop the pressure, but today they were better from the first minute. We were very flat in the game, we didn’t play fast. Even if they seem to be alone, they are. Our goalkeeper is the game that has to save the most chances. We came from a good game against Villarreal, but today was a pretty bad game”, he said.

“I think we played with little speed, very flat. They withdrew and we had no solutions to deal with a withdrawn team. Every time they robbed us, they created scoring situations for us. We haven’t finished the attacking moves yet, the intensity isn’t enough yet”, he added.

Txignurri acknowledged that Girona scored the goals because they deserved them. “Sometimes it happens that the result has nothing to do with what you see on the pitch, but today things turned out like they did on the pitch”, he pointed out. What do they lack? “We lack more intensity in the game, more speed, more life than before.”

The Athletic coach confirmed that he had been replaced Yuri Berchiche at the break because he saw a yellow card in the 35th minute and was already in the second Mikel Vesga because he has a problem.

“They put more intensity into the match, they came out very quickly when we lost the ball. They became intense. In football what it is about is that you are good and the rival is bad. It didn’t work for us,” he reiterated.

Athletic would have slept in third place if they had won today. “This is a game where we have to learn a lot. We need to be fit and well positioned to face any fight. It will catch us when we are not well. We have to be strong, intense, in a whiplash match we see the problems we have. We need to know how we should play, now it is not possible. We will try on Tuesday”, he stated in reference to the clash against Valladolid.