Valencia Coach Mauricio Pellegrino admits his side still need time to take on board his ideas ahead of Sunday’s meeting with Mallorca.
It has been a rather slow start to the season for Valencia, whose 2-1 win against Celta Vigo last weekend was their first so far in La Liga.
However, the fixture list has not been kind, with trips to Real Madrid and Barcelona yielding a total of one point. They head to the Balearic Islands this Sunday on the back of a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Bayern Munich in their opening Champions League group game in midweek.
Pellegrino knows that the best is yet to come from his team, even if he insists expectations are a little too high.
“We are having trouble putting into practice the things we did in pre-season,” said the Argentine, himself a former Valencia player.
“At times we have seen what I was hoping for from the team, at others we haven’t. There is greater demand on these players than what you would think because peoples’ expectations and desires are not associated with reality.
“I want a lot more from the team than we saw in the last game, but we just need more time. We are all calm even if the results have not been coming,” Pellegrino added, before giving a nod to the strong start made to the season by their unbeaten opponents.
“There are no easy games. Mallorca have had a good start to the season, but we want to show how much we are improving, something which wasn't apparent in our last game.”
Pellegrino, 39, gave little indication in his eve-of-game Press conference as to his likely starting line-up at the Iberostar Stadium. However, there was just a hint that youngster Portu could be given a chance in midfield at the expense of former Real Madrid and Getafe playmaker Dani Parejo.
“He is a kid who knows how we work and who works well himself. He needs to be ready to play, just like every player in the second team.
“Parejo was very good at Getafe and everyone loved him. Now that he is here he needs to be supported.”
Finally, Pellegrino also spoke of the club’s financial problems amid talk that Valencia could be about to lose ownership of their Mestalla home and fears surrounding the financing of their new stadium.
“The social situation in Spain has affected us,” he admitted. “The country as a whole is having difficulties but I think the board is doing its best for the club.
“We must acknowledge and understand how much effort they are putting in. Hopefully we can make people happy with what we do on the pitch, because we also have supporters who are having a tough time of it due to work-related issues.”
