Corberán: “We showed that we wanted the win”

Valencia CF coach Carlos Corberán spoke to the media after the win against CA Osasuna, expressing his satisfaction with the team's performance.

Assessing the game

"I'm satisfied with the team's offensive and defensive performance. I really liked the initial determination, showing our fans at home that we wanted to win the game, that it was crucial, that we weren't content with how we'd been doing or the recent results, and that we wanted to change the feeling playing here at home.

The team had a very good initial determination against a team with many weapons at their disposal; a team that hadn't lost a single game in the second half of the season, winning 4 and drawing 2. They are a team that beat Real Madrid CF. That ultimately leads to a very high level of confidence and a lot of tools and resources. But overall, I'd say Valencia CF had a very serious game. In the first half I saw a lot of energy, and in the second half the first 15 minutes gave us difficulty in matching the pace of the game; it was very stop-start, there was a lack of fluidity in general. Everything was very static. But the team maintained our concentration, took advantage of opportunities and got that penalty, attacking the space behind the defence after winning the second ball.

Ramazani showed great character, scoring the penalty twice, and then we showed our ability to stand firm and to hold onto the result. That was very important and gave us this victory.

The performance

In the end, results put you where you deserve to be in the standings. We're not satisfied, the team want more, and we've said that high standards are part of this squad's mentality. We want more points and we're going to demand everything possible from ourselves to give our fans victories, because that's what we want.

The contribution of the new signings

Regarding the contribution of the new players, it's positive in terms of mentality and ability, just like the players who were already at the club.

The controversial incidents

Ramazani has a lot of personality, because after scoring the first goal and then, after that feeling that you've scored, having to retake the penalty, you have to be able to handle the pressure, to not let it get to you. That’s very important, because you might doubt whether to put the ball in the same place or change sides. He handles that psychological game extraordinarily well.

It's true that José Luis Gayà, in his eagerness to win a potential rebound, got caught in the area before the shot, but that was without interfering with the play. I think that rule had been reviewed, but they made us retake the penalty. For the incident in the first half, the rule states that if a player's hands are on the ground, it's not a penalty, but it was a very clear handball. Our feeling was that it should have been a penalty the moment VAR intervened. However, they applied the rule of instinct, understanding that it's the raised hand that counts, not the one on the ground, and that's why it wasn't awarded.

Keeping a clean sheet

For me, keeping a clean sheet today earned us the three points. And Dimitrievski's performance, the security he provided today, was extraordinary. We were up against a team who deliver in a lot of crosses, and have a lot of height when you are defending against them in the air. They also had a lot of height to use on set pieces; every substitution they made increased their height to try and capitalise on set-piece situations.

Dimitrievski's command of the area in aerial situations was, in my opinion, extraordinary. I'm very happy with his performance. I don't make predictions about the future. We'll see what kind of performance we have for the next match, and then the next, and the next. I watch each match individually.

Today, I was very satisfied with the team's overall performance and with Dimitrievski's in particular.