First team

MACHÍN: 'WE HAD TO BE PATIENT AND NOT RUSH'

28/10/2018

Sevilla FC's manager, Pablo Machín, admitted that SD Huesca's change of system surprised him, but said that, in these cases, 'the players already have their assigned roles and it was just a case of reminding ourselves of them'

Pablo Machín, the manager of Sevilla FC, was proud of his players' hard work after a hard-fought victory against SD Huesca in Nervión, a match that was marked by two VAR decisions that the manager commented on: 'Those two delays for VAR made us go through a process of going from euphoria to resignation. But the team started the match well, the opponents had a clear gameplan, they kept us at bay and looked for their chances on the counter. We had to be patient and not rush in order not to give away the ball too often and I think we did that quite well. We deserved the win.'

'We made some adjustments in the second half that worked well for us'

When asked about SD Huesca's approach, Machín admitted that 'it's logical for a team who are in need of points to try to stay solid and make the most of their strengths. Their system surprised us, but a lot of teams do change their shape when they play us to counter our system. The players, in those cases, already have their assigned roles and today it was just a matter of reminding ourselves of them and we made some adjustments in the second half that worked well for us.'

However, he confessed that he was not happy about their opponents' goal 'because the team did not deserve to concede that in the last second when they had done a great job. To keep a clean-sheet is as important as scoring lots of goals. We would have all liked a 2-0 more than a 2-1 because when we look at it long term, it does not correspond to what happened on the pitch.'

'The goals were excellent and the assists were just as good, if not better. Ben Yedder also did well on the other assist. Sometimes it's your turn to score and other times it's the others' turn. Everyone knows how important the win is for the team,' he concluded.