Marcelino says he was ‘annoyed’ with Valencia’s display against Alaves in the Copa del Rey as “it seemed like we were already in the semi-finals.”
Valencia were forced to come back from a goal down to beat Alaves 2-1 on Wednesday, prompting Marcelino to not only criticise his team for their first-half performance but also confess he ‘failed’ to motivate his players for the first leg.
“I’m happy with the result and our reaction in the second half,” the Coach said after the game.
“However, I was rather annoyed with our first half. Our opponents could’ve put us to the sword.
“We were lucky that they failed in doing that, even if they were clearly better than us. Our positional game and movement of the ball was wrong.
“We were better in the second half, yet while we were dominating, they scored against us when it could’ve been avoided.
The team wanted to win and were able to in the end, but they forced us to work for 90 minutes and score a goal at Mendizorroza.
“I’m the one responsible because I failed to convince the players about the importance of the game and the quality of our opponents.
“When we played Alaves, it seemed like we were already in the semi-finals. Matches have to be fought and won. You can only say you’re the better team after that.”
