Mourinho press conference
During post-game comments, Jose Mourinho expressed his concern with the team’s inability to score after creating so many chances.
Mourinho: "Only one team played to win tonight, but we need to score to win"
The match:
We created a lot of chances tonight, some of them being really good, so I am obviously concerned becase we need to score. We are a solid team on defense. We have only allowed one goal in six official games; five in La Liga and one in the Champions League. Our tactics aren’t the problem, but we aren’t scoring. It’s not because of our players because we all know just how capable they are of scoring, but we aren’t right now. That is my only worry.
Not scoring:
Only one team played to win tonight. It’s not a critique. Every team plays with the weapons it has. But we didn’t score, and whoever doesn’t score doesn’t win. Every point earned is one more in the books, but we want to win every match we play. So these are two less points that we have. We are not happy about earning only one point. We must win every match. Had we drawn against Real Sociedad I would have said it was a fair result, but the two games that we have drawn were precisely the two that we dominated offensively and had complete control of. Creating chances isn’t enough. We need to score.
Strategy:
We knew exactly how Levante would play. If we want to play our game and are prevented from doing so by the opponent, it’s obviously going to be frustrating. I am happy that no Levante player ended up going to the hospital because it looked like one or two might.
Rotation:
If we change the team around we might not create as many chances, but perhaps we create two and score two goals. We have the balance and we have the ability to create chances, but we you have talented players who can’t finish you have trouble. I don’t have that problem. We have very skilled forwards. It’s a matter of streaks. It isn’t normal that our players need to many chances to score; or not to like happened tonight.
Positives:
My team played with a positive attitude and fought until the very last second. I am not a coach that will get upset with a player for missing a goal. I prefer to provide confidence and calmness.
Arbeloa press conference
Alvaro Arbeloa discussed Saturday’s draw against Levante and the team’s upcoming Champions League game at Auxerre during Sunday’s post-training press conference.
Arbeloa: "We are all performing well on defensive duties, but we will continue to improve"
Not scoring:
We weren’t able to hit the target, but I doubt it’s a problem this team is going to have often. We have a lot of talent in attack. Levante fell back to defend at the very beginning, and attacking that kind of defense is very difficult. I am convinced we will score a lot of goals.
Defense:
We are all performing well on defensive duties. We have a new coach, which requires going through an adjustment period. Playing for Real Madrid is one of the most demanding jobs there is, but we are doing everything we can to improve.
Dropping points:
Losing points is never pleasant because we know we might miss them once the season ends. What is done is done, so all we can do is analyze what took place and improve.
Champions League:
Tuesday’s match is going to be very difficult. Auxerre aren’t doing that well in the Ligue 1 right now, but the fact that they are playing Real Madrid will motivate them. We are very focused and we hope to earn the three points in play.
Just another Madridista
Junta speak