Real Oviedo Head Coach, Juan Antonio Anquela, today appeared in the Press Room at El Requexón.
After the training session behind closed doors, the Coach admitted that, “we are facing a special week, given that we play on Friday. We have trained well, and we are ready for what is coming.” In addition, talking about the impact of playing on Friday, Anquela declared that, “We don’t need to give it any extra importance. We just want to play, for things to go well for us, and to enjoy it.”
Asked about the team’s recent results, Juan Antonio Anquela said that, “we haven’t been getting the results that we want to, but we aren’t doing badly. We are still up there. The conclusion is simple; we need to get ourselves up there and stay there. The Segunda is very difficult and goes in cycles, but we are going to keep working. We need to compete, since that is how we got to where we are now.”
With respect to the upcoming opponent, FC Barcelona B, and this Friday’s fixture at the Asturian ground, the Coach highlighted that, “they are a good team that play good football. You only need to look at the away grounds that they’ve won at. I’d like to make an appeal to the fans to help us. They helped us at the start of the season and got us out of the poor run we were on. I only ask them for patience now, and hope that they know that we give our hearts out on that pitch. Nobody can say that this team doesn’t work or that it doesn’t fight. I ask for their patience and hope that they remember that they got us up to here. It was them that took us to where we are in the table now.”
Juan Antonio Anquela will not be able to call upon Saúl Berjón against the Catalans following his two yellow cards at La Romareda. Regarding this absence, the Coach commented that, “we are losing a player who had started every match. Saúl was doing well, and when he’s back he will do so again.”
When asked whether he is considering making changes for the next LaLiga fixture, Anquela stated that, “perhaps we will make a change or two”, but argued that, “things aren’t as bad as they seem. If you stop to think about it, I was the only person that thought we might lose against Albacete, and then in Cádiz and Zaragoza we lost while competing really well. We compete until the last second in every match but obviously you can still lose. We can’t underestimate anybody or think that we will win comfortably. We have found every game difficult. We win home games for our fans; they carry us forward. I want those people to be with their Real Oviedo, support us from the bottom of their hearts, and see what we need at all times. If they aren’t with us, then we won’t win. Football has taught me that that is how this works.”
Talking about the pitch and the state he expects it to be in after works to improve it, Anquela said that, “it is what it is. We have never made excuses. The inventors of this game said that the pitch hurt them, but we have never complained. We adapt to what we have and don’t keep thinking about it. People are giving everything to fix it, but we can’t fight against the weather.”
Finally, regarding the chances of Diego Fabbrini becoming a starter for the team, the Coach said that “we are working on that. He needs to be able to do what this team requires of him, and so it’s him that must tell us that he is in perfect condition. We are a team and if anyone lets us down then we can’t win. We have developed as a team over a long time, with blood, sweat and tears,” Anquela concluded.