With little time to prepare his first encounter as an Azulgrana, Antonio Hidalgo expects to see a more released and brave team, who show “hints of what we wish to see.” Ahead of his side’s clash against SD Eibar this Sunday, he said: “We know that we are urged to win, but we need some time to make our players understand the concepts, it needs to be little by little. My players are very talented and they want to push and go on with this.”
Therefore, he insists on the mental factor: “When things don’t turn out the way you want, there’s always some tension, we need to make them understand that they have to try and be brave, because getting wrong is a part of the game.”
Their first opportunity to prove that will be tomorrow at Ipurua, against a rival who are “doing things right.” “It’s a team who are meant to be up top. They didn’t start well, but the’ve been able to bounce back very quickly, they’ve got top-level players, so we’ll have to pay attention to every proceeding off the ball and be bold and propose at the same time.”
Personally, he states that he is willing to start competing and he feels strong. “As it’s normal during the first days, we’ve got many things to settle and many people to meet. There’s little time and a lot of work. The most important thing is to see a side willing to compete, who begin to have fun and to feel what football is. Any footballer has to break free and feel that they are able to do,” concluded Hidalgo.
