Bordalás: “The team want a good game against Osasuna because LaLiga is important”

José Bordalás spoke to the media ahead of Saturday’s 6:30pm CEST kickoff in LaLiga.

How do the team come into this game? How is the injury situation?

It's been a short week. The team are doing fine. Some ended up with problems on Monday. Yunus, Ilaix and Gabriel Paulista are doing much better. We are happy in that sense, because it is important in light of what we have coming up shortly.

In the press conference against FC Barcelona you made a comment for which he later apologised, but it was very similar to the one he made after the last match. Do you think it is the relevant message to send out a few days before a final?

Why are we always talking about press conferences? Let's talk about the present. What I said after the game against FC Barcelona has nothing to do with last Monday. It is totally different. I wanted to insist on that, to take advantage of the situation and be self-critical. Now we are focused on tomorrow's game, on Tuesday and on the cup final. Insisting on what I said months ago does not get us anywhere.

We have seen a longer than usual chat with the players. Are you trying to get them into league mode and cup mode? How would you encourage people to go to Mestalla?

I don't know if many fans have gone away (for the Bank Holiday). After two years of the pandemic, people really want to travel, because we have been very limited. It would be understandable if Mestalla did not have the best attendance this weekend, but those who are here will encourage the team. The team want to play a good game, because LaLiga is important, but it is also important that players who have fewer minutes play and we give a rest to those who have been used more. I asked the players how they were doing and I reminded them that LaLiga is important. In addition to this on a collective level, it is necessary to insist on what you want from each player.

For the people who believe that Valencia CF are wasting opportunities to catch up with Villarreal, do you think that the team are not capable of facing both competitions?

The day to day occurrences will show us if we can or not. It is clear that we can’t compare ourselves with Villarreal if we look at the squads. Valencia CF are a much bigger club on a historical level, but we have to see the current reality, which we all know. If we want to see another parallel reality and think that Valencia CF can fight to get into the Champions League, that is not the reality. The reality is that we are in a Copa del Rey final and we are going to fight to bring it home to Valencia. In LaLiga we have been finding it hard, and the last two results have not been what we wanted. We can see the glass as being half empty or half full. I would like to be fighting for the title, but we have to keep our feet on the ground and know the current reality for Valencia CF. The team compete and go out to win games, and either we have success or we don’t. It’s the same for me as coach. Tomorrow we are going to try to beat CA Osasuna to try to get closer to Athletic and Villarreal in the fight for Europe.

Do you plan to make rotations?

Yes. I have mentioned it before. I'm going to bring in some less frequently featured players and not take risks, with a week to go before the big final. What I have conveyed to the players is that to win a final you have to come into it in good shape, and we have to compete at our best level in LaLiga as well. Paulista is doing quite well and we are confident that we can get him back for the final, because he is a very important player for the team.

What are the dangers that Osasuna present? Pellegrini said that whoever was thinking of the cup now would not play in the final. What do you think of that? Have you noticed something similar?

I respect all statements and I am not going to assess them here, because I do not know the context. He will have had his reasons for saying them. Osasuna are a team with good stats. They have two players in the Top 10 in possession recovery. They are the team with the second most recoveries in the opposition half, and activate very well after losing possession. They cross the ball and compete at a high level. They are establishing themselves in the Primera División after being promoted, and every year they improve. They are always a difficult and tough team to play, because they do not risk anything. They lose the fewest balls in their own half. We have to play a great game, be agile in our circulation, be dynamic and run into spaces, because in our own half we run the risk of something happening to us like against Mallorca at Mestalla. We have prepared and we are confident of a good performance from the team to achieve victory.

Their central defenders win the most balls in aerial duels. How have you worked on breaking through the press, so as not to always resort to the long ball?

David García is the player who wins the second most aerial balls in LaLiga. We are at a disadvantage from those balls, so we have to be very dynamic and take advantage of spaces. We have to give the game a lot of pace to overcome their forward line.

With the loss of Paulista, could the system of three central defenders change?

I'm not looking for safety for me; I'm looking for the safety of the team and we have reaped good results with that setup -but we have also done so with a back four. I already have a clear plan, but it has to be used to overcome the opposition and get the victory. Formations are the least important thing. Balancing the team and getting the victory to take three very important points is the biggest thing.