Ander Herrera sees the benefit of the international break at Athletic Bilbao, as he reflects on the improvements the team are trying to make.
The Basques sit in the lower end of mid-table during the second international break of the season after a difficult start to the season.
For Herrera, who is just back from groin surgery, it is an opportunity to put things right and work to the future.
“I think it is good so as to keep working on the physical aspects of training, to continue improving in training…” he mused to Mundo Deportivo today.
“In this case it is positive because we need to improve many aspects, even though against Osasuna we played well [last weekend] and there were moments of good football.
“Everyone asked for the ball and we had little energy at the end to give. But, the team is still yet to reach its best.”
The 23-year-old was asked why exactly had the team struggled so much to follow up on the work shown towards the end of last season.
“Football is sometimes hard to explain. It is a question of time, which can calm everything down to a degree of normality and can bring balance and stability…
“The team is noticing that this is already present, despite recent events. The team is calm, we are just thinking about playing football.
“[Similarities to last year’s poor start] are just coincidences. Last year was very demanding and we want this year to be just as good. Both began with bad results early on, but I believe that the balance from last year will return.
“I’ve been at Zaragoza, with the problems they had with their President that created a lot of instability. And last year I realised that this club is stable, that the players were required to play football, exclusively. And it must remain so in order for us to return the year to being exciting.”
Teammate Markel Susaeta reflected on the importance of intensity returning to the team, and Herrera agreed.
“Yes, the Coach places great emphasis on intensity, when the team is strong and good, it is very difficult for opponents to stop us. I think he is right.
“With the technical resources we have, if our bodies are better than the opponents’ then it is very hard to beat us. And that is what we are trying to achieve.
“There have been setbacks with injuries, when everything settles, when all the players are 100 per cent and physically we are at our best, our technical quality will impose itself over many opponents.”
The midfielder was asked of the leaked recordings of Coach Marcelo Bielsa’s teamtalk at the end of last season.
“I understand and respect that you [the reporter] ask me about this, but I won’t talk about it. I think about playing, training, improving, winning at Mestalla next weekend…
“This kind of thing does not help us to progress, I will not talk more than about football. It is an issue that has hurt us all very much, but it pays to continue to keep stirring. We have to look ahead.
“We still think we have a great group here, awesome. I doubt very much that this changes things. I am convinced that this won’t be repeated.
“[The relationship with Bielsa is] just as demanding and straightforward. Both good and bad things he tells you to your face. That is appreciated. And what I value most and that he has not dropped a speck of, is the requirement from each player. I think that if a young team like ours, with so much hunger and desire to do things well, can be so discerning and have the capacity to improve, it’s a very good combination.”
