Baraja: “We’ll only get out of this situation by being united”

Valencia CF coach Rubén Baraja, talked after the 2-3 defeat to UD Las Palmas at Mestalla.

Overall assessment of the match 

I think the match deserves a lot of analysis. Overall, the result is painful, very tough, but if you analyse it in stages, based on the first half hour it would have been normal to have held a bigger lead. Then Las Palmas connected with some passes from the half hour mark onwards, and scored against us with their first shot on goal at the end of the first half. It was a bitter blow and did not reflect what we had seen in the game up until then. After halftime we had a chance to make it 2-1, we were not successful and we went 1-2 down. We were reduced to 10 men and the feeling is that we committed as much as we could. We didn’t take our chance to make it 2-2 either. When we had the opportunity to get into the game, they scored and took it to 1-3. It is tough, but you have to accept the result and these things sometimes happen in football. When you are in a negative dynamic nothing goes in your favour. For me the difference was in the solidity in the areas and not having the effectiveness to make the difference in the match.

How to turn the situation around 

We understand the doubts, the worry and the frustration. But when you are in a situation like this, the frustration, the doubts, the tension, the hysteria that you get into, are not going to get you out of it. What will get you out is managing it well, being calm in the face of difficulty. If we are at the bottom of the table it is not through coincidence. Our objective is to fight to get out of there and stay up. The important thing is Valencia CF, our Valencia CF, our team, the players. Sometimes the dynamics make what happens around the club affect you. Maintaining camaraderie is the only way I know for the players to recover their self-esteem and compete again. We cannot get into a tension that would be harmful and destroy us. I want us working together, fighting for our fans to support us, so that they know that we are in a very difficult situation and they are very necessary for us.

Backing from the club 

I don't think about that. I'm focused on the game and on lifting the players up. That's my way. The rest doesn't depend on me and I don't waste a second of energy thinking about it

The players

Now we really need to realise that we have to support the team, the club, in the situation we are in. Having tension is going to hurt us all. Our fans are intelligent enough to know that now the most important thing is to support the team. That is what understanding the situation means. We need the players to feel their support, as we felt at times today. This is my opinion, with absolute humility, and I understand that the fans might be angry, but now is not the time to be destructive but rather to show support, because these players are the ones who are going to get us out of the situation.

As the Valencia CF coach and a Valencia CF fan, I understand the fans. I am also frustrated; I do not like to see my players suffer and the situation we are in. I don’t like it, but I have to analyse the situation, move forward and encourage the players and continue to insist that they are the ones who are going to get us out of this situation.

Tension

When I talk about tension it is because things are not going well. We had the chance to make it 2-0 and didn’t, then they shoot once and equalise. We didn't make it 2-1 and then they scored... All that generates that tension and frustration. But I think we won't achieve anything by focusing on that. We have to fight, hold our heads up high and be proud, understanding where we are. We will only get out of this situation if we are united.

I arrived in a complex situation. Now there are many more games than when I arrived and that always gives you room to improve and change the dynamic. We're not even halfway through the season and now there's time to turn things around, but we have to understand the situation we're in.