Jagoba Arrasate was on pre-match media duties ahead of our hosting of Rayo Vallecano. Find out what the boss had to say below:
On the squad's physical condition: It's a squad of 24 because there are 24 available. We have Asano and ‘El Pichu’ [Cuellar] out through injury. Marc Domenech will play tomorrow with the reserve team. Tomorrow we'll make the squad announcement. There are players who have had fewer sessions and who may be a little more limited in terms of rhythm, but they are all available. Those who have played with the national team have arrived safely.
On Muriqi and Valjent: They have done the whole week and can be in the eleven. It's time to choose now. It's not easy to make the line-up, we'll try to get it right and get the bench players to contribute what they've been contributing lately.
On the October break: Rather than liking it or not, that's the way it is. We are trying to optimise this break by managing the loads, playing a friendly match last week. We're looking forward to getting back to LaLiga and playing at Son Moix, which we haven't played at home for a long time.
On playing at 2pm: If you give the player a choice, he would probably choose another time, but that aspect is the same for both teams. We have to accept it and that's it, just like the stoppages.
On Rayo Vallecano: They are a team that is doing things very well. I like them and away from home they have been able to behave the way their manager likes them to. They only lost at Cornellà in the last minute, but they were able to win in San Sebastian and Valladolid. They are a brave team, who look for the opponent and it will surely be a game of alternatives and a good game for the spectators. We will try to play more in our opponents' half.
On Íñigo Pérez: I'm very grateful to him because in my training as a coach, he has been largely to blame because he's one of those players who makes you think. I've spent many years with him and I'm a better coach thanks to him. I know how he thinks, how he wants his teams to be? At Mallorca he didn't do very well on a footballing level, but on his last visit, he scored a great goal. A Greif, moreover. So maybe he doesn't have a bad memory of Son Moix.
On the type of match: Rayo is a team that proposes, that is proactive, that has variety to come out and play or move long.... Up front they have dynamic and fast players. Isi inside gives them a lot of football. In attack they have a lot of alternatives and in defence they go forward to press. We have to be aware that we have to find solutions to that high pressure. On top of that, they are the team that runs the most at high intensity and that's indicative of the way they play.
On Dominik Greif: I am with him on a daily basis and I know he is happy. He's not completely happy because nobody is happy when he doesn't play at all. Neither he nor Leo. The most important thing is that Mallorca's goalkeeping works and I think that at the moment it is working. Those things are for me to manage.
On players recovering in the break: We are recovering people who have been out of action for some time. They are fresh, but we don't know what kind of competitive rhythm they can have and that's where the doubts lie.
On a first-choice striker and right-back: Up front we have three strikers and any one or even two of the three can play, either from the start or later. At full-back, with Pablo Maffeo and Mateu Jaume, it's normal for them to compete with each other. We were coming from a good dynamic, but the last game wasn't good, the changes contributed... and the coach always has that doubt about whether to give continuity to what was working or opt for changes, which contributed. We also got some more players back. It's not easy, but I can only choose eleven and I hope to get it right and the game plan.
On Takuma Asano: It's a muscle injury. He was recovered and in a training session he got injured again. It's normal that he won't be back until after the break.
On travel to the Spanish Super Cup: It's a long way off, but we'll travel on the 6th to play on the 8th.
