‘Doing things well against Espanyol is our only challenge now’
José Gomes touches on the importance of his players getting away from pressure and going forward one game at a time
‘Doing things well against Espanyol is our only challenge now and focus on it’ stated UD Almeria head coach José Gomes in the press conference when previewing Monday's match against the current leaders from Barcelona. The Portuguese gaffer is adamant that his team should go forward one game at a time to see what they can achieve. In addition, he does not want that the pressure his players are feeling becomes an obsession.
For this reason, Gomes made it clear: ‘I’m not going to take anyone for a ride. We have to be serious and have the courage not to lose our grasp on reality, which is none other than automatic promotion. It’s going to be really complicated… not impossible, but difficult indeed.’ He then underlined ‘we have to shape our expectations and appreciate that it’s a great privilege to be where we are. Everyone, except Espanyol and Mallorca, would like to sit third. We have to get ready to be strong and motivated if we make it to the play-offs. Of course, we’d like to win automatic promotion… but we can’t change reality.’
The Lusitanian boss is still hopeful that the league will go right down to the wire. In this regard, he insisted on the need to take pressure off his players and focus on doing things right ‘because if we do that, positive results will come. Otherwise, they’ll be negative. This team have been able to play good football and be praised for their quality… we have to improve some things, have confidence and get back to what we really know how to do well.’ José Gomes praised everyone at the Club for doing a great job, although ‘for one thing or another, we’ve dropped points that we should’ve picked up.’
The UD Almería first-team head coach stressed ‘the players are very involved, committed and prepared to face the game against Espanyol. We are aware that we’re going to take on the leaders, who are topping the table on their own merits. They’re a very strong team when it comes down to game tactics. Whenever they have the first opportunity…they score. Having said that, he also mentioned ‘if we do things well and we manage to stay focused, it’ll be a game in which anything can happen.’
When the head coach from Portugal was asked about his feelings after being questioned throughout the week, he replied ‘I’ve been working as a coach for many years and I have the courage and motivation to help the players and the group. As a person, I’m saddened by some scathing criticism that was far from the truth. But I know what football is like and what coaches are subjected to.’ He also added before concluding that it was not fair that ‘the results don’t reflect our hard effort.’