"We have to come out firing against Sporting"
Arancha Díaz / Translation by Matthew Goltz
Does the fact that Sporting conceded six goals to Barcelona benefit or hurt you, or does it not matter?
They definitely won't make it easy on us. A team that just conceded six goals won't want to see it happen again. That said, we are playing at home and we have to capitalize. On the other hand, the opponent shouldn't feel too comfortable having allowed so many goals, so we should take advantage of that as well.
Congratulations on fatherhood. How do you feel?
It is great. It has been so many years. My youngest daughter is 20 and I am a dad again. It's amazing. Another experience and situation. I will enjoy every minute of it.
What do you think about Sporting and Quini coming to town tomorrow?
I coincided with Quina as a player when he played for Sporting. I had a good relationship with him. I am happy I get to see him again. He's one of the best people I have ever met.
Rubén de la Red usually plays ahead of the center midfielder. With Gago out, do you think you might pull him back a little?
I don't want to use him there if I don't have to because he is very capable of scoring. He proved it against Valencia. If he played more defensively we wouldn't see his true ability. Javi García can also play in that position with Gago out, and Diarra can rest.
Sporting have yet to tally any points. Do you think you can keep it that way?
I think our two previous matches can help being that we felt the same way. We didn't have that problem the other day. We have to come out firing tomorrow and not give Sporting any time to gain confidence. We have to have a strong start.
Have you worked on defending set pieces?
We really haven't been able to use the true starting defense, but in the matches that it did play we didn't concede any goals. I said last year that this is one of the best defenses in Europe, and it is still proving to be so. I would love it if it could play 20 to 30 matches together because it would boost our confidence. We were steadfast in defense on Sunday, and that is what allowed us to win the match.
Are you worried that the team might not perform up to par with three starters out?
That's why I think signing Van der Vaart was the right call. He is very similar to Guti and Sneijder and just what we needed. These things can happen. We definitely noticed his presence on the pitch the other day. Rubén de la Red's, too. He is young and can perform well, just like Diarra. I don't like having all these players out, but it's a part of football. I have faith in the other three and know they will play well.
It appears that the team relies heavily on Van Nistelrooy and that you cannot convince him to take a day off. Do you plan on rotating players?
When Ruud is in form, he is just like Raúl. He wants to play as many games as possible. It's hard to convince him to rest, but our match against Zenit is crucial, so I have to think about giving him time off. The forwards realize that it is impossible to play so many matches because they work so hard and don't wait for the ball to come to them. They work hard to create scoring chances. We got them to understand last year, and they realized that it was for the best.
Will Raúl play further in attack on Sunday?
I would have liked him to do so against Racing, but he is a team player who doesn't just wait for his chance. He does need score, just like any forward does. He will play in a more advanced position and we will not ask him to move into a more defensive role
How is Guti doing?
He will spend the next two weeks doing what he needs to do. He and Gago should reappear and almost the same time, and I think the two of them, and Sneijder, will be ready for the derby against Atlético Madrid. You will have to ask him how he is doing emotionally. He is surely worried, but he has to do whatever it takes to recover.
Robben reminded us that the team needs wingers. How do you feel when players ask for men to cover that position?
Robben wanted to play every match last season when we switched him with Robinho, and he didn't like it. He is right. Over the summer we were seeking players for the wings, so we will be making future efforts in that same regard.
