Javi Gracia: “I consider the game against Deportivo Alavés to be vital"

Valencia CF have a Saturday LaLiga game against Deportivo Alavés coming up on Saturday evening (6:30pm CEST), and coach Javi Gracia gave a pre-match press conference on Friday to preview the fixture.

The importance of winning the match

"I consider tomorrow's game to be  vital. You can call it whatever you want, but for me it is vital. It is with that mentality that both the players and the coaching staff are going to face it.

His feelings on a personal level

"As a coach you have to go through certain moments at each club, which are better or worse moments. As a professional you try to do your best. I don't know to what extent it wears you out, but that is not the most important thing; the most important thing is that the club finish as high up the table as possible at the end of the season, and that is the only thing that we are working for."

Growing as a team

"There are four points separating 14th and 8th place, so the difference is not so big. I remain determined to work to get the maximum amount of points possible. I have not had any moment of doubt in that and I will do that until the end of the season and for as long as the team sees fit. I try to improve the team more and more, to make sure that we play better and get more points. The need is there, and it is our away games that are weighing us down a lot  -because we are not playing at our true level, nor are we achieving the best results.  I want to highlight the strength of the team at Mestalla, where we have been able to achieve better results in the last few games. Now we have a run of three games at home and I face the future with a good spirit."

Cillessen

"At the moment he could be part of the squad list and fight for a place in the starting XI. I am not saying whether he will be a starter or not, but he is doing better and better in training and completing sessions with his teammates. Between today and tomorrow we will make the decision. If we feel that he is ready to play safely, then we will see. In one more week we believe that he could be fully available."

Deportivo Alavés

"I know Javi Calleja personally, as we were teammates in the past. I have great appreciation for him and for Quique Álvarez, one of his assistants. They have changed players who were outside the dynamic of the team and revitalised them, and they have already achieved a draw and two good victories to get themselves out of the relegation position. Calleja did a great job at Villarreal and I know his potential. Abelardo also did a great job in Vitoria, and now the squad is not very different to that, nor the style of play either -but that injection of something new, his work and his vision have made them have more faith and more enthusiasm. We are going to face a team full of motivation, and they will be very tough opponents.

He continues to play mostly with a 4-4-2 formation, and he has two players in attack: Joselu as a target man and Lucas, who gives them speed and the final ball. They are a very well organised team, with variations in speed on the wings and play in the centre of the midfield, and a consistent double pivot pairing with a lot of physicality with Pina and Battaglia. They have a solid defence, a lot of height with their centre backs and many possibilities from set pieces with players who are between 1'85m and 1'90m tall. We will have to be very attentive in defence and take advantage of our virtues in attack."

Carlos Soler

"We know that he is in a delicate situation and couldn't make the trip to Pamplona, ​​but on the day of the match -and afterwards- he has been training. Today he trained with the team, and we believe that he will be available for tomorrow."

Maxi Gómez

"The RFEF lifted his two-game suspension and now he is available."

The role of the winter signings

"I have already explained it on other occasions: For me there is no kind of distinction between players. They are all the same and I try to choose what I think is best."

The need to improve

"The other day, in Pamplona, ​​we talked about the match against Osasuna and previous matches and we analysed how we had conceded goals. For each of them there were a series of things to improve. In each of them there is something to correct and to improve, and we insist on looking for solutions. Things can turn out better or worse, but everything that happens is analysed and there is an intention to improve so that it does not happen again."

Guillem Molina

"In Pamplona we opted for Guillem to start. I don't believe that he was responsible for the defeat, and he performed at a more than correct level. We opted for him because it meant moving fewer players around. We believed that it was the best option; a player whose natural position is there is Piccini, who is in a process of constant improvement, but still isn't able to play for 90 minutes. We believed it was the best option, and for tomorrow we will again make our decision looking for the best option for the team."