Baraja: “It’s fundamental to feel the support of the fans”

Valencia CF coach Rubén Baraja talked ahead of Monday’s game against Rayo Vallecano on LaLiga Matchday 27 in his pre-match press conference.

The state of the squad

We are evaluating how the players who are coming back from injury are progressing and assessing when we think they could be back in the squad. Tomorrow we will decide.

Playing on Mondays

We have no other choice. It’s what we were given when the schedule was set. I would prefer to play at the beginning of the matchday, because at the end of the weekend you pick up all the emotions of what is happening around you. It is certainly different to when you play at the beginning of the matchday. However, we must accept that we have to play on Monday.

We are really looking forward to the match because we have accumulated many days of training during the break and we want to play again, compete and do things well, be competitive and win against Rayo Vallecano on Monday.

Rayo Vallecano

Rayo Vallecano have very good players who are having a very good season. They are a team who are doing things very well, that play very well and are daring. Everyone rates their work and I am sure that the Spain coach will be looking at all the players from all the teams, but it is not my job to talk about them.

Consistency

I can only talk to you about Rayo Vallecano and the match we have tomorrow. Our goal is to have a match in which we do many things to have a complete performance: Intensity, consistency in terms of intensity and in terms of the idea that we have...

We are playing in front of our fans. We come into this one from a game in which we did not do things well and we have to try to change what we saw in the last game and recover what we had been doing well in the previous ones -and the best place for that to happen is Mestalla . We are looking forward to that and we are only focusing on the next game.

Mestalla

I don't consider every game at Mestalla to be a final because there is still a way to go in the season, all the games are very important and especially the home matches -which are fundamental- but we must handle things with the serenity that the moment demands of us.

The important thing is to face these matches with determination, confidence and serenity to compete in an optimal state. If we achieve that, it will be about knowing that we are playing at home against a great team, but that we are a team who have to make our presence felt at home. Being consistent and taking the games to the terrain that we want, to take the three points, is the objective.

The last game of the matchday is a little less intense, but tomorrow we need our fans to go to Mestalla with the hope of seeing their team win. We want to give them what fans need and what they demand of us: Attitude, energy and commitment.

Tomorrow we need Mestalla to support the team, as we have already said from the beginning. It is key to our chances and we need them. Tomorrow it is essential that we feel the support of our fans.

Focusing on football

It is good that we are only focused on football. That is good for us, for our fans and for our city. It is more positive that we talk about football than about other different things.

Achieving that is positive, because what surrounds the game are opinions about football and making the game the focus makes Valencia CF alive. We do not worry about other things that are not so important.

These other things don't have to affect us, we have stay separate from them. We have tried to work with the players we had here, plus the players from VCF Mestalla who have helped us complete our squad.

We have tried to improve the players individually and by position, and when the internationals come back, assemble the team for tomorrow's game immediately.

Tomorrow we have to perform at a good level. It is important to isolate ourselves from controversies and from everything that does not help us. It makes us keep our heads focused only on the next target.

April

We have to be prepared and I think we are prepared. We have been evolving in that we have accepted reality, and if you do that you are always closer to finding ways to improve the situation and change the landscape.

It’s logical that the process is all about winning games and scoring points. We have to take great care of what we have to transmit to the players, so that when the game comes they are closer to winning and picking up points.

When you can put together two or three results, you can get out of the difficult part of the table. We are there and we have to live with that reality. Our fans do too.

Having the ambition to change the situation with hard work and a constructive message, knowing that there are 5 or 6 other teams around us and the team that best manages that situation and the tension have the best chance of getting out, is vital. If you get nervous or have anxiety, that only makes it difficult for you to compete the way you have to.

The bus access to the stadium

I have already said what I would like three or four times and the club are working on this, because we need to feel the fans, even if it is a Monday and some people have to make an effort to go to the ground earlier.

We are at a time when all these types of details add up and that is why it is so important that it can be resolved and we can enter through Avenida de Suecia.

His plan

At home I always think that we are favourites to win the game. Although respecting our opposition, we have to make an approach to look for the three points and our approach is to win. Doing things well in terms of what we ask for and want, we need to find the strategy to claim the three points.

His starting lineup against Rayo

We are assessing different situations for the starting XI and all the players have a chance of being in it, except those who are coming off injuries. Everybody has a chance of playing. Those who had previous injuries have improved their fitness and I think they are prepared to participate.

Responsibility

I see the players convinced, aware and prepared to compete tomorrow. Even some players who have been away with their national teams have also arrived back earlier to be able to train.

I have no doubt that the players have the desire and attitude, and if we manage to win and the situation changes, the approach will be different. Everyone has one way of looking when in difficulty, and when you get out of it, that changes.

Now we all look concerned, but we are all aware that to change this we need the players to perform to the maximum, the coaching staff need to get things right in our approaches and choice of players, the fans need to be with us... There are several things, but the main thing is the players, as they are the ones who have to make good on what we tell them to do.

Results for other teams

We do not assess this situation according to the results of our rivals. We have a game tomorrow at Mestalla against a team that play well, with decisive players, who are having a good season and are going to give us trouble.

For us it is an important game. We have to face it well and that depends on us, beyond the results of other teams. Getting out of this situation depends on us. Awe are thinking about our game, not about what the rest of the teams are doing.

If we are able to win, everything will look different and if we have consistent results we will be able to make progress. It is down to our work and our results, which is not a small thing in a difficult situation. When you depend on others it is already different. We know that if we do things right we can get out of where we are and that has to be a source of great motivation for tomorrow's game.

Yunus Musah

He is fine. He’s coming off two games with his national team, many hours of travel and he also has a problem with his shoulder. We have tried to take care of him at some points in training, always thinking that he should be 100% ready and tomorrow he will be able to participate.

It was one of the objectives in this break: To give a higher level of quality and training to those who were coming off injury and then incorporate those who are already available to the team.