The coach of C.D. Leganés, Paco López, appeared this Friday at the press conference prior to the match that the pepinero team will play on Sunday (6:30 p.m.) against Cultural Leonesa at the Reino de León Stadium, corresponding to the fourth round of LALIGA HYPERMOTION.
The coach assessed the current situation regarding the match as follows:
Anxiety to win: "There is none. The team continues on its path, its line. Our focus remains on work, on improvement. Looking at the standings now does not influence our path at all. There is concern, but zero worry. That’s how it will continue to be."
Absences: "The same ones plus Óscar Plano, who has had a muscle problem during the week and will not be available, and Cissé. Pulido and Figueredo are still in their recovery process."
Winning: "It’s the excitement and desire we have. Our fans are going to travel, and hopefully, we can give them some joy and a victory. We are eager and excited. It doesn’t matter who the opponent is; all of them are difficult, and if you don’t do things very well, it will be even harder. We will have to play well and do a better job than the opponent."
Diawara: "Each player has their characteristics, and the analysis must be much deeper. There are many nuances. We have five central midfielders, and the important thing is that we function collectively regardless of each one’s characteristics. At Levante, we won at the Bernabéu with Campaña, Bardhi, and Rochina; there was no defensive midfielder. That’s an example. What’s needed is for us to function well collectively, whether it’s Guirao, Andrés, Cissé, Diawara, or Melero. We need to be a strong team without the ball and make good use of it. In Huesca, when we changed him, we switched to a back five. You try to compensate. We are very happy with the central midfielders we have. We have high hopes for Guirao; he has talent and judgment, and the important thing is that he improves his off-the-ball concepts, like the rest."
Cissé: "We lose a player who was playing regularly. But we have the plan in mind, and whether it’s Guirao, Melero, Andrés, or with three in the middle, we have it clear. We have enough players for the team to keep competing the same way."
Self-criticism: "There’s always self-criticism. We don’t guide ourselves by the final result; we analyze the matches and identify the successes and areas for improvement, which there are. Each match has had different nuances. In football, no two matches are the same; the Huesca match has nothing to do with the Cádiz or Dépor matches. If they hadn’t called the penalty the other day, we would have had a victory, and the match was the same. We do self-criticism, a lot, every week. We’ve improved every week, and I hope it continues that way; that’s what will lead us to better results."
Fans: "We are super excited about the fans and about them being excited about the team. It says a lot about what this fanbase is and its values."
Cultural: "It’s going to be tough. On their home turf, they will be a team playing with the excitement of the new category. We know that. We have to know how to do things, persist to try to win, and we go with that excitement."
Closed squad: "No one knows better than a coach what’s in the team. You live with them every day and know how they are. When you’re going to play against an opponent, you try to analyze them in maximum detail, and there are always things that surprise you. That’s the beauty of football. We have players to play well, win, and be competitive, regardless of each one’s characteristics. If we thought about signing another player, we would cut the progression of others a bit. We have to try to win but also maintain that balance, be a compact, strong team."
Obligation to win: "There’s always an obligation to work well, have hunger and excitement, be a competitive team, and that’s what will lead us to win."
Opponent preparation: "Fortunately, we have a lot of information, both us and the opponents. That’s one of the factors that equalizes football so much. Based on that, you develop a game plan. Cultural will be tough; they have good players. The focus is on us, on our improvement."