MADRID, 8 (EUROPA PRESS)
“It’s a team with a very clear identity, they’ve been playing very well lately, all the players give their all, in the best form of the season. They’ve won almost all the last games and playing well. We have to make very few mistakes. They have players of a lot of quality,” he said at a press conference.
“The state of form is very high. I have seen Griezmann, Llorente, Morata, Carrasco very good. They are complicated duels for everyone. It is Atlético de Madrid, they are third and with a tendency to approach second, and they are coming on a very good,” he added.
The Vallecas coach thus praised his rival, an Atlético team that reaches the derby after 11 games without losing. “It seems incredible to me what the ‘Cholo’ is achieving. We suffered a great wear and tear. Getting what the ‘Cholo’ has achieved can only be understood by the results it has achieved”, he pointed out.
On the other hand, Iraola agreed with Simeone’s reflection on the faster pace of play in the Premier. “It’s not a vision, it’s reality. The pace is higher, if you ask the referees they’ll say it’s the players’ fault, they protest everything. The pace of play has to be high for the show. Tomorrow we’ll be whistled by a level referee (De Burgos Bengoetxea) that his tendency is not to whistle many fouls and he goes more in that vein”, he stated.
On the other hand, the Basque coach was asked about the goal drought for Raúl de Tomás and Falcao. “The forwards want to score goals. We ask them for more things. We have to keep insisting. Atlético concede very little but it would be a good opportunity. Putting ourselves ahead would be an important plus. It would benefit us a lot, the difficult thing is to achieve it,” he said.
In addition, Iraola was asked about his renewal, given the possibility of reaching 40 points which, despite being a set goal, are not yet final for salvation. “It’s going to be expensive, it’s the first game that we have the option of reaching those 40 points, but we’re not there yet and this year it may not be enough,” he explained.
“The team at the casualty level we are all available, all prepared. The issue of the penalty against Valencia makes you angry but we have not given it any thought. We have seen where we were comfortable and try to repeat it,” he added, taking it as normal for Atlético to score so much with bench players because “they are also very good”.