Javi Gracia: “We have to be demanding and keep on improving; Real Sociedad are having a great season”

Javi Gracia spokeint a press conference prior to the LaLiga Matchday 30 against Real Sociedad that will be played this Sunday at Mestalla. The Valencia CF coach highlighted the work of Valencia CF to improve and achieve positive results. In addition, he reaffirmed his rejection of any racist actions and his support for player Mouctar Diakhaby. 

Maxi Gómez and Guedes

"The two players trained normally today. Yesterday, as a precaution, Guedes sat out part of training. Maxi completed the session. They will be available as practically the entire squad, the only injured player we have is Cillessen, the rest of the squad will be available.

Mouctar Diakhaby

"He has trained normally, like the rest of the squad, and will be available for the game. I prefer to be prudent and try to send out a clear message; after the game I explained the situation that had happened, later the club clearly expressed their opinion with a statement, as did the player himself. The most important thing right now is to show my complete support for the player. The club and I believe firmly in what he has said, and there is no doubt in that respect. I also want to show my strongest condemnation of any actions related to racism.

"At the moment the situation is in the hands of an investigating judge and an open investigation process, and we have to wait to see how the situation ends and how the Competition Committee resolves it. You have to be careful and I can say little more. I would appreciate it if I was not asked about it any more."

"I am in favour of any change to improve and create protocols that help us have better behaviour and a better attitude on and off the field of play. If I can contribute in some way, then I will contribute, without any doubt."

Real Sociedad

"Real Sociedad are having a great season and are fifth in the table. they are fighting for the European places and have also won the Copa del Rey. I think that the Real Sociedad squad is so extensive, and has such quality, that they are going to compete at full strength tomorrow. I'm not of the opinion that they are going to come into this one tired and at an inferior level to that which they have shown recently, because they are going to have practically a first choice defence, goalkeeper and strikeforce. They have plenty of players to choose from. Perhaps in the midfield is where they might be missing players who are more habitual, but I am convinced that we are going to be facing a great team and it is going to be a very demanding game."

Deserving better results

"Talking about deserving things is very relative; there have been games in which we have been beaten and we deserved something else. We have to be critical and demanding and try to improve, and that is what we are working on. We want to be more consistent, more solid, concede less and minimise the errors that are preventing us from taking points."

The plan for the game

"It will be different. There will be different players, the opposition have been playing with a different formation; they have been playing a 4-4-2 when they usually play with 4-3-3 and can play with three centre backs.  They are different formations but the essence is the same: Aggressiveness, the forward line, the pressure in the opposition half. In the first game against them this season we did a good job defensively. In,attack we were able to score thanks to Maxi's goal, which gave us all three points. We will have to be very demanding in our defensive work, but we will try to go further and generate more scoring chances."

Cristiano Piccini

"We knew he was going to need some time to train with the team, and he had a great attitude and did a great job. He is completing the sessions and is clearly improving. When is the time going to be right for him to come back to the team? We will decide on that, but he is training very well and his evolution is very good."