Nuno unfazed by Valencia criticism

Nuno Santo has stressed that he does not feel victimised by criticism leveled at Valencia in wake of their defeat to Malaga last week.

Los Che spurned the opportunity to capitalise on Sevilla's defeat by Real Madrid in the race for Champions League qualification after they lost 1-0 at La Rosaleda, and the Coach admitted his side were struggling to live up to the expectations placed upon them.

"I don't feel like I'm in the centre of the criticism," he said at a Press conference.

"I respect people's opinion, criticism is part of our profession. What I do is work with the intention of improving the team and the players.

"I won't lose too much sleep on other things. My job is to improve the team and prepare them to win matches.

"We work on all the fundamental aspects of the game, tactical and psychological. The most important thing is motivation, and we must be prepared to fight and that we'll do.

"We're feeling motivated and ready to face tough opponents, but we want to get the three points.

"[La Liga and the Copa del Rey] are different competitions, there's no spirit of revenge. That will blind us from the main thing, which is to be attentive and committed.

"The last match's circumstances were different, we had one less man and that influenced the result. Espanyol's priority isn't the Copa.

"They're a tough team, with good players. We'll try to be dominant and stop Espanyol's counterattacks.

"We respect the criticism. Some people are right, others don't have much sense, but we respect everyone's opinion, especially those of our fans.

"On Sunday, we want to demonstrate that the team are in good condition and psyched up. We want to show our spirit.

"We're a caring, committed and cooperative team, and those are the foundations of what we've done so far and will do in the future.

 "All matches are subject to our own analysis and we do it in a very meticulous way. We know that working hard is best way to improve what we haven't done well, and every game is a challenge [for that reason].

"Beyond any analysis, the key is solidarity among everyone at the club. The coaching staff and players know what they have to do in order to stay on the lookout for success."

Tags Nuno Espirito Santo
La Liga - Club News