Gracia: "We are aware of the importance of the game against Granada CF"

Javi Gracia fielded questions about Valencia CF's game away to Granada CF in his pre-match press conference on Tuesday afternoon.

Targeting the three points

My way of facing things is with optimism and being positive. There's not just one reason why we haven't been able to improve our win rate. What I have felt is that, since I arrived at this club, I have to treat each game like a final. I don't know what my last game here will be, but I will face each game with the utmost enthusiasm and giving each point the importance it deserves. We must be aware of the importance of tomorrow's game against Granada CF, and the players are aware of it. It’s not that the three points are merely important; we need them, and that’s how we must play the game tomorrow.

The situation

We are all aware of the situation we are in, and of the importance of each game and each point at stake. It isn’t necessary to have more experience to know this. It’s important to take care of every detail in every training session and be very demanding and responsible in everything that we do. We have to show this in our matches, and I hope that we will be able to do so more frequently and more consistently.

Granada CF

They are competing at a high level in all competitions. They are a team that are compact, and besides individual talents and absences they always maintain a very strong structure and compete at a high level. They have a very well defined system and always generate offensive play, with width on the flanks and solidity in the middle with players like Gonalons, as well as players that provide hard work and a presence in the opposition box. In short, they are a team that compete well.

Away form

The statistics give you information about our need to improve away from home. It’s obvious and we can’t hide this. But we have the intention of increasing our amount of victories and getting a little better every day. The past always gives you information on what might happen in the present, but I am concerning myself with working on our present -to have a better present and future.

The formation used against Sevilla

We had a series of conditions that made me opt for that change of formation, trying to find a solidity for the team, be more balanced, counteract their aerial play and physical strength. I wanted to use the wings a little more. That was the option I thought was best. With few days between one game and another, there was little time to work on anything -even less in the case of a change of formation. This week we have prepared for the game in the best possible way and we have had more time. The team have worked hard during the Christmas period and have trained on five of the last seven days. They have all returned in good condition.

A meeting with president Anil Murthy

On the 23rd, after training, I spent a little time with the president. As he has already stated, he showed me his support for the work we are doing, and he has already explained well what he came to do at Paterna. It doesn’t make sense for me to speak a lot more about that.

Racic and Gameiro’s availability

I don’t intend to release squad lists, but I have no problem with commenting on how the week has gone in terms of our players. Racic has tried to train with the team, but he pulled out again today and will not be available. As for everybody else, we will take everybody who is available. Hugo Guillamón will be back with the team soon. Toni Lato is out for the moment, and Cillessen and Gabriel Paulista are undergoing a recovery process.

The transfer market

As I’m going to receive various questions on this, asked in different ways, I think that you have to understand my stance. Right now I should only be talking about the player I have, and about tomorrow’s game. Any question about new signings doesn’t make sense for me right now. I don’t know who will come in, or if anybody will come in. I’m focused on my job and on my responsibility, which is to make sure that my players have a good game and get a good result tomorrow. As for anything else, we will see what happens.