First team

MERCADO: “WE WILL TRY TO TWEAK THINGS AT THE BACK AND REDUCE THE MARGIN FOR ERROR“

08/08/2017

The defender, pleased with his role in the pre-season friendlies, is confident that “be at our very best for a match as important as the Champions League play-off”

Gabriel Mercado gave his thoughts on pre-season, following the weekend in which the team had undertaken their final tour away from Nervión, facing Southampton and Everton in England. For the Argentine, “in that last game we were a little better than in the one before. Even so, they have both been two very tough opponents, and we knew that going into the matches, but they helped us to keep preparing ourselves. Now we have one more match to get to our very best for a match as important as the Champions League play-off”.

"You're always pushing yourself and want to improve, looking at the negatives in order to correct things"

And ahead of that he admitted that there are still things to improve because “you're always pushing yourself and want to improve. You try to look at the negative side to correct things. We also have a coach who works very hard and demands a lot. We have less than two weeks to get to the stage where, as I say, we are at our best for the most important game of the season”.

"A team that wants to be on top usually only defends with a few people"

One such thing is the lack of concentration at the back which he believes has been a problem for Sevilla during pre-season: “They are the risks we take, that we try to but pressure on higher up the pitch, to attack in numbers... We will try to improve this aspect of our game and tweak things. A team that wants to be on top usually only defends with a few people, and those whose job that is are concentrating on reducing the margin for error as much as possible. It's also useful for these things to happen at the moment so that when you are playing for points, you don't make these same mistakes”.

On a personal level, Mercado stated he was “working hard to be at the disposal of the coach, be that as a centre-back or right-back, which is a position that I know and which I'm comfortable playing. I will try to give my all to keep up with Sevilla FC”.

Speaking about his compatriot Ever Banega, Mercado said that he's pleased to have him in the same dressing room: “I've known him for many years and I was very excited by the idea that he could come. He brought a lot of joy to this club and it's a pleasure to have him as a teammate and to play with him. We hope we can help him to have a great season”.