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Jagoba Arrasate: ‘We have to improve away from home from tomorrow’

The boss looked ahead to our clash with Leganes

Jagoba Arrasate spoke to the media ahead of our visit to Leganes. Find out what the boss had to say below: 

On Robert Navarro: I'm happy. I know Robert well and I think that from tomorrow he can contribute to us. He is a different player. Nobody doubts his quality as a player and he has things that the team needs now. He will help us. He has come with a lot of desire and we are very clear about what we want from him.

On the market: There may be news until midnight tonight. I can't make an assessment of the market. Yesterday there was a name, today there could be another one... I don't want to venture into names. The names are the eleven that are going to start tomorrow in Leganés. That's my job. The sporting management is working and I understand that before midday there will be some more news.

On Marc Domenech: He has been called up. He is a player who has to play. We don't just want to have him for the sake of having him. The other day he came on and he was close to scoring. Tomorrow he can help us and that's why he's travelling. If we understand that he will have few options with us, he will play in the reserve team. 

On Leganés: Normally, teams that are newly promoted usually make good starts to the season because they have a positive momentum. Leganés are doing things well and have brought in good players as well. It's no coincidence that they have five points from three games. I expect a complicated match. They make few mistakes, they are always focused, they are very organised and when they have those sparks of quality it has helped them to win games.

On defensive statistics: I think it's too early for statistics. My feeling is that Sevilla shoot a lot at us, but they only have one clear-cut chance from Sow. I think the team is defending quite well. We are defending higher, without so much build-up, but we also need to score more goals. In the two home games, the team had chances to win both until the end and away we weren't good. Away is where the team has more room for improvement and we have to improve away from home - starting tomorrow.

On fitness: I think we are fine. It's been a different week. Today we have all worked together. Tomorrow there will be changes as normal and then there's a week's break and it's not the same to spend 15 days thinking about the last result or to be happy. 

On the market: The market closes at twelve o'clock at night.

On rotating defence: There are positions where more rest is required. Normally in the centre-back position, less. In the full-back position, more. At right-back, we only have Pablo Maffeo at the moment, although Antonio Sánchez could play there at some point. On the left, Mojica has started, but Lato can come in at any time. We have four centre-backs and at the moment I've opted for Raíllo and Valjent, but at any moment both Copete and Siebe [Van der Heyden] can come in. It's true that these are lines that the coach doesn't usually touch much, but tomorrow there will be changes and in the defensive line there may also be some.

On three points: Tomorrow there is a match and then there is a break. It's always important to win and tomorrow, even more so, because it would give meaning to the two draws you've had before and the sensations would be better. And if you get a bad result, you go into the break with a bad taste and a small points deficit. But now we are focused on what we have to do well tomorrow to get a good result.

On the calendar: We don't have a say. It's up to the clubs to reach a consensus on this. All the coaches disagree with the fact that after a pre-season, you have to play four games and with the market open. But we have to accept it. The points are worth the same. It's the way things are and we have to adapt to it.

On width: The club knows what I think and I know they are working on it. Robert is a good addition. Let's see if in the next twelve hours we can improve the squad, which is the idea. 

On a preference for matches earlier or later: You have to take them as they come. The calendar is sometimes capricious. We need to improve our version of ourselves. Beyond the fact that it could be a direct rival, we don't think about that, we think about the team improving every day.

On Robert Navarro's physical condition: He's fine because he's been training with Real. He's a great professional and takes good care of himself and loves training. Another thing is that he hasn't played any friendly matches with Real and that's where the doubt lies. On a physical level he has nothing. He's ready to play and tomorrow he's going to help us. 

On planning for the next few weeks: Depending on when we play the next game, we'll do one kind of week or another. Maybe we'll play a game against the reserve team because there are people who need minutes and to get some automatisms. But until we know the schedule, we can't make the planning.

On the goalkeeper: Dominik played the first two games and he was good. Leo the other day, too. I understand that when there is a change in goalkeeping, it attracts attention. But we have great goalkeepers and you will have to get used to the fact that every X amount of time there is a change in goal.

On activity in the market: What we want to do is to improve the squad. We'll see at twelve o'clock whether we've improved it or not.

On a new right-back: Mateu is now injured. Now we only have the option of Maffeo. It's true that Antonio Sánchez can adapt to that position. It's a position that we understand can be improved. We want to improve the squad and not increase the number of players in one position or another. We want versatile players who can help us in different positions. I think the qualitative aspect has to be more important than the quantitative.