Xabi Alonso: “The team never gave up”
“There are still a lot of games left before the end of the year and we have to start thinking about the next one,” added our coach.
Xabi Alonso appeared in the media room at the Manuel Martínez Valero stadium after the match against Elche on LaLiga matchday 13: “That’s football. After a good run, we’re now getting results that aren’t what we wanted. But we still know what we want. We have to keep moving forward.”
“We're not happy because we know perfectly well that we always want to win, and when we don't, we can't be happy. There are still many games left before the end of the year, and we have to start thinking about the next one by analysing what we've done today.”
Performance in recent games
“The team never gave up. We’re still competing. We know that the context of each game is different. Obviously, the result could be better. We're aware of that and we're self-critical, but the direction is clear, the spirit remains good and we have to respond in the face of adversity. This is Real Madrid and every unfavourable result attracts criticism, which we have to live with. We want to improve. The team never gave up."
Connection
“The connection is improving because we have more time, we interact more and we're getting to know each other better. We're all in the same boat, everyone together in the same direction. We celebrate victories, we suffer, as we did today, and we're not happy when we don't get the desired result. The connection is good, the day-to-day is good. We need to turn this moment around a little bit and we have the opportunity to do so starting in Athens.”
Fran García's position
“He's played a lot in that position. We had players who had been here and had more training time. We have players on the bench who could be important in bringing freshness. We tried to have that width on both wings, doing it a little differently. Then, in the second half, Vini also came on to give us width”.
“It was a shame that after making it 1-1 we conceded; we went 2-1 down when it was time to go for the comeback. That 2-1 hurt us, but despite that, we kept fighting; we made it 2-2 and had another good chance to come back. I felt that when it was 1-1 we should have thrown ourselves into the opposition's half and not conceded that second”.
Vini coming off the bench
“We'd talked about it, as we often do. He understands. He knew the role and the impact he could have. We'd done it before, like in the game against Getafe. He's still connected. Today we're not as happy as we'd like to be, but everyone is energised and wants to get back to a good result and a good dynamic”.
Concerns
“I analyse everything after the games. I try to draw conclusions with the coaching staff and convey to the players what we're doing well and what we need to improve. Today I felt we lacked that continuity after making it 1-1 and going 2-1 down. It hurt us a little, but despite that we came back. In the first half, the game was working in our favour to put us ahead, even though we didn't manage it”.