Garitano: Solidity is the starting point for our chances of being at the top and getting promoted

Gaizka Garitano insisted that "solidity is the starting point for our chances of being at the top and getting promoted”.

In the press conference prior to Friday's match against Albacete at the Carlos Belmonte, the coach stressed that his team "always goes out to win and that is transmitted on the pitch".

 

SOLIDITY

 

"We trust everyone, any player who is adapting to positions that are not his, such as Anaitz or Sergio, is doing well and we remain solid. Levante did not shoot once between the three posts in the 90 minutes and that speaks very well of the collective work of the team, not only the defence, but also those up top, with Bautista or Stoichkov, everyone is working very well in the press, we are solid and that gives us confidence to continue like that."

"Experience tells me that I've seen teams that score a lot of goals and do well and I've seen teams that score a lot of goals and do badly. What I have never seen is a team that does well and concedes a lot of goals. We have to know that solidity is the starting point for our chances of being at the top and getting promoted. To that you have to add the attack, but a team that concedes goals in this category is dead."

 

GOING OUT TO WIN

 

"A draw is always good because you get a point, what is not good is to lose. A point adds up and is better than none, but we want to win. When you can't win, a point is better than none, and all coaches agree on that. Another thing is that we are always going to win and we can see that. The team transmits on the pitch that they are going to win, they don't want to draw. We are clear that we are going to Albacete to win."

"We have to continue with the same dynamic of the last few games, be solid and then go up top, with that offensive aggressiveness that I always ask for, and hurt them. We have to attack with balance because they, when you lose the ball, have a lethal counterattack."

 

TOUGH MATCHES

 

"From the middle of the table down there are teams like Zaragoza, Sporting, Malaga, Oviedo or Huesca, not to mention five or six other names, who are teams that have squads that are good enough to get promoted."

"When you get to this point and everyone is playing for something, there are very few differences between the teams at the top. If you add to that teams like Andorra, Albacete or Burgos, who at the beginning may have weaker squads with the goal of staying up, and they are doing very well and are up there, you don't find a team that you can beat easily because no one has the potential to do that. That speaks well of the teams that are at the top because if we get 15 or 20 points from those teams it is because they have done things well all season long. Every game is going to be difficult for us and for the rest."

 

POSITIVE TENSION

 

"There's a lot more tension down below. We're fighting for something very nice, which is promotion, and Eibar have only been promoted from Segunda to Primera División once since they were founded and have participated in one play-off. We are playing for something that has almost never been achieved and of course there is tension, but good tension."

 

ALBACETE

 

"Albacete is one of the revelation teams of the season, along with Burgos and Andorra. I know the coach very well, I have worked with him in Valladolid, he is a friend of mine and I really like what I see, the team he has formed, how they play, the variants they have, how they adapt to each match, how they are chameleon-like in the way they play."

"You only end up in the position they are in through having everything in order or being the second team with the most goals. From the midfield forward they have a lot of attack and they have very good players who are very clinical when they are close to goal. They are the most effective team in the league."