Ansotegi wants Sanse to be « tough and difficult to beat » again

Jon Ansotegi wants Sanse to stop looking like a reserve team and recover a reputation as a « tough and difficult to beat » side. Before Saturday’s match against Girona, the coach acknowledged that results have been poor, while saying the problem is mainly about the team’s confidence and how it feels on the pitch.

« In football, there are runs. This one is not good, but we know we have to do things well to turn it around », he said. Ansotegi watches his players every day and does not see in their matches a side that is already far from winning. He wants the team to improve its performance, keep doing what it does well and address what it does not, believing that this will bring better results again. He noted that the team had shown, last year and this season, that it could do things well.

The coach nevertheless believes Sanse currently looks more like a reserve side than ever, and said he does not like that impression. After another disappointment, he said, the group had « got through the grief » and put together a good week of training. The aim is to win, but also, he stressed, to compete. He wants opposing coaches to describe Sanse again as a difficult team to beat, rather than an attacking side that leaves space and gives away easy chances.

Ansotegi does not put the difficulties down to a single cause. He pointed to the match against Almería: despite the group having good feelings, Sanse was trailing 0-3. He feels that in some situations this season the side has shown the shortcomings associated with being a reserve team, although it had previously managed to conceal them and compete with other teams. He wants them to return to being « a professional team » in that respect, while recognising that Sanse is a reserve side.

Girona is next. Ansotegi described them as a top team with Champions League players, but would rather his group focus on itself. Changes to the team are possible: he has options, including players who sometimes move up to the first team, among them Marchal.

The coach also dismissed the idea of a communication problem over players moving up. He said he was happy with the contact with Omer, his most direct point of contact, as well as with Rino. He also said he would be calm whichever goalkeeper plays: Aitor, Lander or Theo, all of whom have done well with the group in training.