BERIZZO WANTS TO "MOVE THE BALL WITH INTELLIGENCE AND PATIENCE" TO AVOID ESPANYOL COUNTER-ATTACKS

Eduardo Berizzo appeared this Friday in the press room, a day before the Nervión side´s first match against RCD Espanyol at 22:15pm on Saturday. The coach declared himself "excited" because  "we have prepared really well. At the beginning of an exciting season, the aim is to start strongly . Every game will have its difficulties and necessities... In such a non-stop, difficult and demanding league, we have to review each game after the next… We come off the back of a very demanding game in Turkey, we turn to the league and then have a game on Tuesday … The Espanyol game will be intense, we need patience and to use the ball well... We hope to put some victories together... Tomorrow we can put ourselves in that position. I want to start like champions. If you start slowly you regret it later,".

Berizzo said he did not expect a Espanyol side with many changes from last year. "I don´t think they´ve changed much, they have kept their coach, who is very intelligent and uses his resources very well. He uses a mixed system sometimes, he uses his attackers, in one way or another, well, has quick wingers, a solid defense, deep fullbacks… They´re an opponent who will force us to move the ball with intelligence and patience because when they counter-attack they can hurt you", he said.

"The Espanyol game will be intense, we need patience and to use the ball well"

The coach played down the importance of having played on Thursday, because that "is the consequence of being an important team. Compete every three days expecting to win… I approach every game thinking we can win… There is no game in which you can take your guard down. So we will always prepare ourselves in that way going forward and will prepare that way for tomorrow". 

However, he thinks it sensible that there might be some changes to the starting eleven. When asked, the coach confessed "maybe yes, because many situations converge, like the fine-tuning of players who arrived late and need to play, and the recuperation of players who played on Saturday".

"We play thirty-eight leagues of one game. Every match is an opportunity"

Moreover, when asked about the fitness of Navas and Nolito, he stated both players are "doing better than average and getting closer to the top level. But for that they need minutes, which they´ll almost certainly get more of tomorrow , I also imagine they will be options for Tuesday… The workload has to be enough but not over the top. There are players who started training with us later and need to get to the levels of the others".

Finally, Eduardo Berizzo didn´t want to talk about long-term targets: "I want to win every game I play, you won´t hear me delude myself here… I try not to sell what I don´t believe in… And I believe that we play thirty-eight games of one league - that´s how I imagine it. Every match is an opportunity for us to show just how good a side we are, our aim is to keep control and impose ourselves… And that is my way of playing".