Ernesto Valverde felt a lack of firepower in attack was to blame for Athletic Bilbao’s 3-1 defeat to Villarreal on Sunday.
The Coach gambled on a much-changed XI delivering the goods at El Madrigal, but they suffered a third defeat in four League games, courtesy of goals from Bruno Soriano, Mario Gaspar and Leo Bapistao, despite Aritz Aduriz’s late finish.
“We haven’t started the season well,” he said after the game.
“Three points in the League are far too few and it’s the League which tells you if you’re doing the right or wrong things and if you’re not doing well in the League, things become tense.
“Therefore we have to win [our next game]. I know [Real] Madrid are next, but we need a win.
“The number of goals we’re scoring is something we must improve on.
“Although it’s true that we have injuries, we must do more to create chances and score goals.
“We had a lot of control in the first half, but [Villarreal’s] penalty unbalanced the game and the second goal killed us.
“[Mikel San Jose’s miss just after the restart] could’ve changed the game for us, but it never came.”
