Baraja: “We have to be at the highest level against Atletico Madrid”

Valencia CF coach, Rubén Baraja, spoke ahead of Sunday’s 9pm kickoff away to Atletico Madrid.

Rafa Mir’s situation

“It is important to explain things. Our fans have to know what has happened and how we have acted in a situation that we logically would have liked not to have happened. The situation occurred in two moments: The episode with Rafa occurs and the club had to evaluate what decision to take. It is a Club decision in which I cannot and should not participate, because my role is the sporting side, and the club decided to readmit him to the group. Once that readmission occurs, I took action when it comes to evaluating the situation we have experienced. I have to evaluate what the consequences of this situation are. From there, the decision was made that he will be out of the team for 2 games. This week, he is training separately and next week he will rejoin the group. Once these 2 games are over, he will be part of the group and I will decide whether he plays or not. Throughout this process there have been situations in which it is very difficult to make a decision that everyone might like, but we have tried to do things with common sense. He initially apologised to the squad, spoke to the team and said that his behaviour was not appropriate -and that he accepts the punishment imposed. As a coach, I think that an act of indiscipline has to have consequences; not only for him, but for the health of the group. This gives us the opportunity to understand that a person can make a mistake, can have a day when he does not do things well and we have to give him a second chance.”

There is great disappointment, at least on my part, because in the end I have to accept that I valued that Rafa could be a player who could give us solutions in attack. I have transmitted this to Rafa, that it has been a great disappointment, but I hope that it has served to make him learn, to value where he is and see how important it is here to do things well, at least while I am here. This is my perception of the situation. But also, I believe we are  people and we have to give him the possibility to make us trust him again.”

“I am not going to talk about assumptions. I respect the judicial process and you cannot know what is going to happen. You have to be respectful with the process and depending on what happens, we will decide.”

“It is a situation in which we do not know what will happen. What is evident is that the most important thing for us is respect for people, be it women or men. I am, absolutely, against any type of aggression, be it physical or sexual. But on the other hand, there is a situation at a judicial level of which we cannot enter into an assessment and which, at the moment, gives us the possibility of not knowing what a judge will decide.”

Almeida

“He didn’t have any problems in preseason. He was fine then. The other day he felt some pain in his back, but we think it's something temporary. It has nothing to do with last season's injury and we'll see how he feels tomorrow to see if he's fit to play. If he's not, then we'll have to find another solution in that position. The group have to provide solutions when we have players out, or moments of difficulty, like the one we have now, so we have to try to make the team able to solve situations of this type.”

The match against Atletico Madrid

“I expect a very difficult match. Atletico Madrid are a very powerful team in every sense. They are intense without the ball and play very fast, with danger in the last meters and great quality in their finishing. We have to be at the highest level to be able to compete and have any chance; we will have to be on the verge of perfection. This is what we have worked on during the week. They are a team that repeat patterns and we have to be able to counteract them. On the other hand, we need to think that, through hard work, looking for a series of things, if we achieve them during the match, we will have our chances.”

Players returning

“Fran is doing better and his recovery is quite positive. This week he has done almost all the work with us, but we are going to give him a little more time to consolidate his recovery. As for the position of striker, Warren Madrigal came back from the national team, he joined us today, so tomorrow we will see which player will travel with us.”

The dressing room

“When you have a sporting situation like ours, in which we have not started the season well, there is always room for the confidence of the players and the team to increase or decrease. In addition, there are certain things that we have to try to overcome. It is important, in a moment of difficulty, to stick together, to ‘close ranks’, to know that we are a team that -if we compete well, if we are focused on what we are capable of doing and not on the noise that exists - can compete. We have to learn to live with this. We must try to turn the tide and make it go in our favour. Without looking for excuses, we have to focus on working and making sure that together we can change the course of this start to the season.”

Results

“Without a doubt, the result is important for many reasons. The team deserve some joy, to have a good game, and it would give us that confidence that you need, above all, when you are coming off your best game of the previous four. We must manage that pressure, compete at the maximum and give our best.”

Managing the dressing room 

“I absolutely refuse to think that this team are not professional, just because we have had an episode of a player who has had to make a mistake. It hurts me a lot that the professionalism of this team and these players is put into question. If this were to happen we have our measures, as has happened with Rafa, but I refuse to think that, knowing the sporting situation we are in, what it means to wear the Valencia CF shirt, the respect we must have for our fans, that people can talk about this team as if they are not switched on. I cannot believe in that, nor do I believe that this is the case. We have to strengthen ourselves from within and know that our strength lies in the group and in what we can achieve as a team.”

Adaptation of the new signings

“They are assimilating concepts and we hope that their adaptation is quick and they can participate as soon as possible to contribute to the team. Enzo is working. He has been here for two weeks and with his improvement and knowledge of what we want, we think that he can participate at any time. Dani Gómez is a player who can give us interesting things and he has no problems. What happened last week hasn’t prevented him from training, so he can participate in the match.”

Javi Guerra

“If I were Javi Guerra, playing every game for Valencia CF would be a great motivation, not only at the Metropolitano. He knows that he has to consolidate his play, he has to be more consistent, demand much more from himself. This is what we are doing, trying to make him assume this responsibility and be the player he has been and like he is: An important player for the team.”