Aketxe: ‘We must work hard to get promotion as it’s not a matter of a year’
The attacking midfielder highlights the importance of knowing what to do when going through a rough patch once the season begins
The UD Almeria players are looking forward to the next 2021/22 season with ‘great enthusiasm’ highlights Ager Aketxe in a friendly chat with the Club's official media. Although there has been ambition since the very beginning to sit at the top of the table, it’s important to increase the awareness that ‘we must work hard in order to get promotion as it’s not a matter of a year,’ stated the UD Almeria player.
The 27-year-old Basque midfielder expressed his feelings with regard to LaLiga SmartBank and its difficulties: ‘The second tier is really complicated. The season is very long. There’re many ups and downs.’ Based on his wide experience in this league, he added: ‘The team must remain strong when going through a rough patch.’ As Aketxe mentioned, that is the idea put into practice over these first days of pre-season preparations.
Ager Aketxe Barrutia also gave his account on the friendly opener played against SL Benfica in Lisbon in which the members of UD Almería knew that the Portuguese would be ‘tough rivals as they’d been preparing for several weeks.’ As a result, he pointed out: ‘I think the game went pretty well, the team plucked up the courage and the vibes were positive. As the 15 minutes passed, we piled the pressure and, once we had a couple of chances, gained momentum. Actually, I believe we did well.’
The summer’s action continues so the UD Almeria players are focused on getting the ideas of head coach Joan Francesc Ferrer Sicilia, ‘Rubi’. The 2021/22 campaign is around the corner with fans allowed back to stadia, a fact that the Bilbao-born player underlined as positive since, as he concluded, all teams ‘like playing with their fans in the stands because it’s always a plus.’