Paco López: "We are very responsible for turning it around"

C.D. Leganés head coach Paco López spoke this Friday in the press conference prior to the match that the pepinero team will play on Sunday (14:00) against A.D. Ceuta at the Alfonso Murube Stadium, corresponding to Matchday 14 of LALIGA HYPERMOTION.
The coach assessed the team’s situation before the match as follows:

Absences: "Miguel, Franquesa, Pulido, and Melero due to suspension."
Assessment so far: "A lot of things have happened. The results, in terms of the standings, are not good at all. The team has earned, in most matches, the right to have better results; we’ve deserved more, but we’re not getting it. We have to keep persisting and insisting—that has been our path since we arrived here."
Self‑criticism in the dressing room: "There has always been self‑criticism after every match, from Huesca to the latest one. We have a very responsible dressing room, with a big desire to turn this around—very mature. In that analysis they’re being very self‑critical; we all know that when results don’t come, we can give much more."
Players’ morale: "It’s still a dressing room fully convinced of turning the situation around, with a lot of anger but also excitement. They’re convinced they will do it, because we feel we could have won several more matches. If we look at the latest one, the normal outcome would’ve been 1–3 and we’d be talking about something entirely different. Inside the dressing room there are zero doubts and a lot of conviction that this will turn around."
Miguel: "It’s a knee issue. He’s spent several weeks in which he could train and be available for matches, but not at 100%. It’s been decided to stop him for a couple of weeks, let him recover properly, and see if the discomfort goes away."
Duk: "He’s been a player we’ve used in many different positions, but I don’t think we especially missed him the other day. The key was the lack of finishing in the chances we had."
Ceuta: "We deeply regret the passing of the supporter and send our condolences. They are professionals and, if anything, it will motivate them even more. Nothing surprises me anymore—teams are extremely well‑prepared, with a lot of information. The level is very even, and when you come from below you always give a bit more. They have a great coach who works his teams very well. It’s a team with many strengths; at home, in addition to intensity, they’re quick in transitions and very complete. We must be very careful with our turnovers and defend set pieces well."
Similar situation to Cádiz last season: "It has nothing to do with it. I don’t like comparing; I focus on this year. The team has a lot of confidence, there are no doubts about the work or the idea, and that gives us confidence. We understand the doubts and pessimism around us—of course—but inside it’s the opposite."
Dialogue with the club: "Communication is daily; we all share the concern that results aren’t what we want, but we’re all taking responsibility, with eagerness and desire to turn this around. That’s what I see every day."
Positive aspects: "I sense a lot of confidence and a lot of demand. I notice responsibility—we are very committed to turning this around because we’re at a club that is doing things very well and growing. We all have to push in the same direction. That helps a lot."
Unity in the dressing room: "Commitment, involvement, desire—they’re all there. The other day, after training, I told them that what we have to do is transfer that into matches, but the intensity, the desire to do things well, the finishing—that’s what we must persist in to break through. Knowing that the matchdays go by, but we still have time for everything through commitment, involvement, and belief. If it were otherwise, it would already be obvious, and I would never say something I don’t genuinely feel."
Resources to be at the top: "That’s the ambition that drives us. To grow, improve, and win the next match in Ceuta. That’s our motor, and we will continue insisting on that."
Playing away from home: "We must be a team that makes its stadium a fortress, and that depends on us. Our idea is the same at home or away; nothing changes. We need to fix that and play with the same conviction wherever we are."
Refereeing in Anoeta: "It may seem like we’re making excuses, and I don’t mean to. But we haven’t had much luck in recent matches. Melero’s first yellow card wasn’t even a foul, and on top of that you have to hear the referee—whom I spoke to very calmly—say that VAR was checking if it was a red. But we can’t do anything about it; we have to endure it and turn it around. It tends to happen when things aren’t going your way. We’re going to replace that negativity with positive things, and we’ll insist on that until the very last day."
Jorge Sáenz penalty: "Another one. We’re in that moment when the feeling was that we were closer to 1–2 than to 2–1. Then that unfortunate play comes in a moment when we were playing in the opponent’s half. But complaining is useless—we have to fight back against bad luck, bad results, turn things around, and replace the understandable pessimism around us with the opposite. And we’re convinced we’re going to do it."