Rubi: ‘A player who plays the victim belongs to the graveyard’
The UD Almeria first-team head coach not only speaks of ‘respect’ but also of daring to achieve a good result
Joan Francesc Ferrer Sicilia 'Rubi' has turned up in the new press room at the Power Horse Stadium to look ahead to his team’s league debut against Real Madrid CF this Sunday and has given the following analysis: ‘The mentality with which you approach the game is fundamental. It’s clear that we can’t stop hearing about Madrid, Madrid and Madrid and everything that Real Madrid win but players need to understand that a player who plays the victim belongs to the graveyard.’ The Rojiblancos’ gaffer has expressed ‘the respect we have for what is practically the excellence of football’ but at the same time, he has explained: ‘We won’t face the game like this. We have to steal the ball from whoever and we’re going to try to dribble past their full-backs and we want to do our thing. We’re not thinking about the greatness of the opponents but about the great opportunity -historical- and that we’ve come a long way to get here to continue enjoying many types of games at this level.’
With regard to the keys to emerging victorious in a couple of days, Rubi has indicated the need to ‘play a perfect game in both defence and attack, because if you defend very well but don't shoot on goal, you’ll lose by a goal or two but you’ll still end up losing anyway.’
The Vilassar de Mar native has highlighted the excitement and enthusiasm that the dressing room has to obtain a positive result on Sunday: ‘It’s a great opportunity for footballers who played in the second tier last season to become the most famous players in the world for a few days the day after tomorrow. The incentive is massive and we’ve got weapons to make things difficult for the rivals. It’s key not to make mistakes.’