Corberán: “The team are committed to continuing to improve”

Valencia CF coach Carlos Corberán talked in his post-match press conference following the Matchday 1 draw with Real Sociedad.

His assessment of the match

The first 20-25 minutes, we struggled to understand the game and adapt to it. We weren't as precise as we normally could be. After those first 25 minutes, the team gradually grew into the game, and perhaps, if I were to assess the result, I think it was fair -because there were chances for both teams.

It’s a pity that, once we took the lead, we couldn't hold on to that advantage. But the team were persistent, and the players gave their all until the end to try and get a result that we eventually couldn't achieve. When you see Mestalla, with more than 45,000 people in attendance, the pain of not winning the game increases -because we wanted to give thanks to them by getting a victory.

The performance from the new signings

If Copete weren't ready, he wouldn't be with us. He's already proven in his time in LaLiga that he's a Primera División player. The new players -both him and the others who have been brought in-, are players who will gradually adapt to everything: To Mestalla, to the pitch, to the ideas we have. I liked his character, which allowed him to keep trying after making a mistake. That personality is very important in a player.

Everyone, both the players and us, will always view each game from the perspective of the areas of improvement we have ahead of us. We don't see it as something negative, but rather that improvement is what has to bring us closer to winning matches like this one.

More possible signings

In terms of signings, clubs often don't set the pace of the process. The pace is determined by the transfer market itself. So, as I said, the squad isn't finalised, and the club are still working on new signings..

Improvements in the team

As for the team, perhaps we could have had more control of the game in the moments where we lost that. We need to be able to use that control to make progress and damage the opposing team.

Today we struggled to press, with the conditions in which the game was played. It was very difficult for both teams to press, because it required efforts that were difficult to sustain.

The foundation of our team is about solidity, aggression, control, and progression in play. In that sense, our hallmarks have to be the same, with us always striving to perfect them.

Today's game left us with positives, but also points for improvement that we'll analyse, we'll look at, and we'll try to add those points that help us improve..

The temperature

I think the temperature of the match affected both teams equally. Playing in high temperatures, with high humidity, gives you the feeling of constantly being overwhelmed, and that exhaustion was shared by both of us.

I liked that the team adapted better as the minutes went by, and they fought until the end of the match.

 We suffered some counterattacks that diminished our feeling of finishing the game better than them, especially in counterattack situations after not executing set pieces well. That gave them the opportunity to return to our half. We weren't able to dominate the opposition in their own half as much as we would have liked.

The start of the season

It's the first game of the year, and we're making progress, which is what we want to make. I didn't see as much disorganisation in the second half. I saw two teams struggling to get players back, especially when it came to defensive play. There were open opportunities, and counterattacks are something we have to take advantage of in games. When you don't finish off counterattacks well and don't get your bearings, quick attacks usually lead to a response for the opposing team.

As for positional adjustments, I didn't see the team as immensely organised in the first half either. I think we lost our positions too much, and that didn't help us dominate the game the way we wanted to.

Evolution

We're still in the growth phase; that's the feeling we all have.

How much longer do we need? Well, in football, it's not easy to predict. Sometimes you find the solutions that the match presents you with very well. There will be times when the team progress and suddenly the opponents adjust and it seems like the team are taking a step back. We're facing, I wouldn't say a marathon, but rather the start of the season, and what we do will depend a lot on the team's continued playing capacity -which is why we have to keep developing-, and on the mentality with which we compete in each match. Mentality has to do with how we face the difficult moments of a match, which always exist, and how persistently and well we are able to maintain the good momentum of a match.

Without a doubt, the team will continue to grow, because that's the desire -not just ours, but the squad's; it's a shared desire.

 The team finished the match and felt hurt, and that is very good, that the team feel bad about drawing against a good side. It speaks of the self-demand that the players have and the desire to give this tremendous fan base the best we have.

Improving

I think we have to improve in defence, improve our interpretation of game situations, improve our ability to respond to avoid situations against opponents who also have their strengths -and who are difficult to defend in certain situations. Beyond signings, I would talk about our responsibilities and organisational improvements, which have to do with tactics, with interpretation, and with our defensive response, which at times, especially in those early moments, was very difficult to do. We struggled to stop the opposition’s quality, but I think it was because we weren't able to take the game to where we wanted to play, which was to attack them more, extend our attacks in the opponent's half, and turn them around.

From the last 15 minutes of the first half onwards, the team interpreted things better, executed them better, and that perhaps took away the feeling of damage our opponents were doing to us. It's true that after one of our attacks ended, we couldn't muster another attack. In the transition, we let them play loosely and that forced us to defend after finishing an attack.

 That's where the game opened up, and that's where the alternatives that both teams showed came in. Of course, the equaliser hurt me and it hurt us all