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대한민국 - Soon
After giving a talk on the inaugural Master in Sport Journalism at the University of Sevilla, José María Cruz spoke to the media who were present about the current state of the club. He, in fact, started off by talking about the derby and the reaction of the employees to the win: "I arrived into the office on Monday and now it's not very personal because it's some of the offices which we have rented. We live in normality and although we're football fans, we're working and we have to not allow ourselves to think about the past in order to think about the future. Without looking down on the derby, I think that both teams should place importance in it but without turning it into the objective for the season. We're thinking about getting the best possible results".
CRUZ: "LOPETEGUI HAS GIVEN THE TEAM A RECOGNISABLE STYLE"
He also spoke about Monchi and what he contributes to the club on a day to day basis: "I'm sure that the club's project has been relaunched thanks to Monchi. It's a pity that we weren't able to keep it up when he left, but it was inevitable because he really wanted to have another challenge for a while. Since he left we started thinking about how to bring him back. We never tired and now he has brought us a new vision. He has returned as a better professional than that of the one he was when he left".
"I'm sure that the club's project has been relaunched thanks to Monchi"
Cruz sees that the competition is very equal and sees a better Sevilla compared to recent years: "Each game is a fight because it's difficult to win. But with effort, with a squad which is better than the ones in recent years and which has a better balance in defense and attack, we can win things. However, we have to keep on improving. Now, I think we have more physicality and this gives us more possibilities. Lopetegui has given them a clear style which has been evident from the outset, and the team is recognisable no matter who's playing. For me the important thing is to be: solid, competitive and recognisable".
On the transfer market, he doesn't expect too many new additions in the next window: "We have a wage cap: we haven't exhausted it but we do have 25 players. When you go into the winter market, it's complicated because there isn't the same players available. You go into if because you're in a bad way, or because an opportunity arises or maybe you have an injury. We have five or six players who need game time; they will get their opportunity and therefore we won't need to bring anyone else in. The ones who deal with the transfers will be alert; but if there are any incomings, there will have to be outgoings also".
"Lopetegui has given them a clear style which has been evident from the outset"
Cruz believes that clubs like Sevilla will start to get opportunities to win and fight for things now that the squads of Madrid and Barcelona aren't as strong as years gone by: "The current economic format of audiovisual distribution and, if UEFA's format is not changed, it will give us opportunities. In ten years, it's still likely that Madrid and Barcelona will have won the most and Atlético will have their opportunity; but the rest of us will have more of a say and will be stronger in order to compete seriously".
To round it off, he spoke about the possible revaluation of certain players in the first team squad: "One of the objectives that we're always chasing is when we buy players, to find the right balance. You can't just achieve that only with young players. You have to look for young players and veterans alike; even though you know that you might not make a profit from them. We always try and pay as little as possible on signings and hope that the players pay that back and are worth it. Monchi, whenever he creates his squads, looks for players who will give immediate performace and others that are more for the future".