Sampaoli: "You have to compete with the reality we live in"

MADRID, 8 Mar. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Sevilla coach, Jorge Sampaoli, assured that he is "the same" on a personal level as he was a few weeks ago when they were in a good sporting dynamic and he does not listen to "the speculation that there will be in the media" about his future on the bench of a team that He must "compete with the reality he lives" and play "with energy and freedom", starting with the visit this Thursday of Fenerbahce in the first leg of the round of 16 of the Europa League 2022-2023.

"I always say the same. I am the same now as when we won so many games and the dynamics had evolved. I know where I am and I know that there are going to be bumps due to the reality we live in, but we have to face them and compete in that reality," Sampaoli said this Wednesday at a press conference collected by the club's website.

The one from Casilda does not hide that the talk this Tuesday between the dressing room and the leaders occurred due to the "complicated situation" in LaLiga Santander. "We have to be more united and trust the players we have, making up for some absences through collective functioning," he said.

The Argentine coach is going to give all his "knowledge" and "ability" to change the current dynamics, without thinking about those "speculations that there will be in the media" about his future on the bench. "I neither listen to them, nor do they invade me. I came to a task and until the last moment I will leave my skin for this," Sampaoli stressed.

"I had to come to replace a very good coach, one of the best in the club's history, who was in a very low position in the table and had to leave. We have had a temporary improvement that has to be consolidated so that the "The club does not have to be scared by reality. We are three points behind twelfth and that is what we have to look at, what I do is work so that things go well for us honestly," he added in this regard.

What is also clear is that the institutional situation of the club and the shareholders does not affect him personally because "he prioritizes sports" and does not hide that the last two defeats against Osasuna and Atlético de Madrid have caused him "discomfort", but also "responsibility to give the players more security to get out of this moment".

The Sevilla coach recalled that they have already eliminated "a candidate like PSV" in the Europa League and that now they will have to "try to be competitive beyond the difficulties, which are real and must be solved" against a Fenerbahce that they see " also very well" and whom he knows quite well.

"I made Enner Valencia debut at EMELEC when he started and I managed a lot of players from that team, so I have a lot of knowledge of the squad. I think his forte is pressure, transition and the strength of his two forwards, who are from elite", warned Sampaoli, who is not clear that they are in a section of the season with "two very important competitions at the same time".

The Sevilla coach indicated that they have trained "different options" to counteract any system change made by his rival counterpart, Jorge Jesús, "even within the same game", and that they have "very worked on it". "Surely, those system changes will keep us on the lookout to modify and bother you," he pointed out.

"This bump that hit us makes us rethink some things, but we have to play with energy and freedom, because if we play under pressure and anxious it's the worst that can happen to us. We always play the same way and defend in the same way and we didn't have as many problems as in the last two games", explained the Argentine coach.

He has "a feeling that when the team doesn't play well it's only because of the central defenders." "But there are many situations of losses that prevent us from recovering beyond whether the line is four or five. Excusing absences is easy, but there is a structural reality that must be supported so that the team does not suffer when the game comes and goes. When the team plays better, that traffic will be seen much less", he stressed about the problems in a defense that is not without casualties.

In this sense, he confirmed that the French defender Loïc Badé trained "partially" and that "his programming is more linked to Sunday" for the important league derby against UD Almería. "We have had a specific player that we did not have and that is why the lack of him is sometimes felt so much, but we have to learn to live the reality that we have and function with others who make sure that these absences do not harm us," he remarked. he.