Rubi: ‘We now have to show that the first division isn’t beyond us’
The UD Almeria head coach feels ‘confident, highly motivated' and has 'immense enthusiasm’ ahead of the upcoming 2022/23 season
UD Almería head coach Rubi is back behind the microphone as he catches up with the Club's official media in the lead up to the LaLiga Santander kick-off and has given his account on what has been going on over this pre-season campaign so far.
‘The balance is right because in the end, we’ve left the training camp without major injuries and with another tactical and heavy physical workload that the players have been able to cope with. It’s also true that there’s a lot to do yet; the team grasped a series of concepts that they fully mastered and that they have to try to recover sooner rather than later.’
Joan Francesc Ferrer Sicilia also made it clear ‘before expressing a definitive judgment on what these friendlies have been with the goals conceded, we must bear in mind, on the one hand, that we must be one of the teams that trains and works the most with high training workloads and on the other hand, that we’ve given minutes to everyone since we’ve mixed groups from last season with new players, with young people.’
The Vilassar de Mar native warns of what it will be like to compete in LaLiga Santander: ‘In the first division, you can get ahead on the scoreboard and maybe in the last half an hour you cannot leave the box...and it's not that you don't want to, it's because the rivals practise high press and then everything can change in the blink of an eye.’
When assessing this summer transfer window, Rubi explained ‘our team is missing three or four vastly experienced players.’ UD Almería are a squad in which everybody knows each other perfectly and the head coach wants the bunch of the players from last season to prove it: from the first day, I’ve told them that 80% of achieving the goal will depend on that step forward of those who haven’t yet played in the top tier; they have to demonstrate that they can remain for years. Now it’s time to show that the first division isn’t beyond us.’
On a side note, the Rojiblancos’ gaffer reflected ‘I’ve been judged because I haven’t been in the same club for two years and precisely in this one, I’m superbly comfortable in the club, in the city, with the project, with the managers... I’ve got burning enthusiasm for the team to stay up in the top tier and I’m full of hope. There are many challenges to take on and I’m highly motivated.’
Rubi is the 5th head coach with the most appearances at UD Almería: ‘Hopefully I can advance to one of those positions with those great head coaches that the Club has also had. I’m very much looking forward to it.’
The countdown to the opening day is on. The season-opener against Real Madrid CF is now on the horizon and the Indalicos squad are keenly aware of it: ‘Anything can always happen in a match. It’s as simple as that,’ underlined the UD Almeria first-team head coach.
When asked if earning promotion was more difficult than staying up, he replied ‘possibly, due to the fact that you have to win, win and win again and all of a sudden, you win promotion after suffering on 81 points. As I see it, staying up is also immensely complicated.’