Baraja: "We must focus on our game and what we have to do in order to do things well"

Valencia CF's head coach, Rubén Baraja previewed their upcoming away game against Athletic Club in his pre-match press conference leading up to Matchday 11 of LaLiga EA Sports which will take place on Sunday the 29th of October at 6:30 pm kick-off time at the Estadio Nuevo San Mamés in Bilbao.  

Injured players 

Canós has been with the group all week, so he is in the squad. With Cenk, we are waiting to see how he feels. Regarding the Copa del Rey, I am focused exclusively on the match against Athletic Club, and then we will prepare for the Copa del Rey.

A week with three fixtures

I am focused on the match against Athletic and we are focused on that. We will prepare for the Cup next week.

The team's formation

The team have always been playing a 4-4-2 formation during the season and the idea is to keep it because that's how they are responding best, and it makes us competitive.

Amallah's position 

He is a player who can play in various positions, whether it's on the left, behind the striker or in the centre. He has qualities and is a worker without the ball as well, battling in duels. We will take advantage of that depending on our needs. The idea is to continue with a 4-4-2 formation.

Important test  

They are our next game. It's an important game at a ground that is one of the best venues in the Primera División, and I'm sure that there will be a spectacular atmosphere. We will see a consistent team in front of us. We must focus on our game and what we have to do in order to do things well. Winning there would be nice for us.

The final minutes of games

The final minutes on Monday weren't down to us easing off, but rather due to a couple of situations in which we didn't do well, which caused Cádiz to have chances at the end. We had to score another goal in order to have absolute calm.

Opposition threats

They are a team with a lot of good things. Their coach has instilled the idea of Athletic Club very well. They provide a suffocating pressure. We have to be competitive because they have quality players who can make a difference -also on the wing. They are very consistent and almost always get close to 100% in effort and attitude.

Gayà's thoughts about winter signings

We have already made several reflections after the transfer market closed, and José brought up what we talked about;  that the squad was small and, if there is a possibility in the future, it would be good for us. We are not focused on that now.

Construction of the Nuevo Mestalla.

I can't stop thinking about tomorrow's game. Anything else is not up to me, but I would like the new stadium to be completed, with new facilities. It is also true that I feel melancholy about the current stadium. You have to be competitive, and this solution is one way to be competitive. The city of Valencia should have the stadium it deserves.

The CIES Football Observatory rankings

I didn't know about this. It's a positive thing that Valencia CF has a good youth system. The situation we have has given us the possibility of several young players being in the first team. Our philosophy is to give them confidence and try to bring things forward so that players with 20 games in the Primera Division seem like they have played 80 or 100. The players have great discipline in wanting to grow, and that is good for everyone.