Thierry Moutinho has been answering the questions from the press after the morning training session and has emphasized that, in his opinión, the squad this season has a similar degree of quality with that of previous seasons, but this year’s “more balanced and offers more tactical possibilities since there are more options per position” and there is no point in talking about long-term goals, “there is so much season ahead of us up until may” (when the competition finishes). We have to think exclusively about our first game, and then the next one. Otherwise, we would be getting it all wrong if we thought about end-of-season goals”.
The winger has shown his delight for the image display by the team in the last few friendlies, “the lads have were really good. Sensations are good and now, after two days of rest, we come back to work and back into fitness”. In this light, the player admitted they are getting used to the very demanding physical workload from the sessions, “we are taking on trainings all the way better as we are fitter and thus double sessions take less effort to cope with. Now what we want is to compete. Preseasons are useful for reaching a level, but once you have it, what you want is to show it playing. We want to compete right away”.
Moutinho has agreed with his team-mates that the preseason has been “very hard” but also said that probably these days of hard work will play off during the season, “now we are more comfortable and, when matches start coming, we will be even better. We are working with please because we do know that hard work will provide results”.
At personal level, he confirmed that he is very please with the group and has stressed that he returns, after half a year on loan to Tenerife, and with greater confidence, “once you go elsewhere and you play there, you feel important. To be able to help the team and have minutes there has boosted my confidence. I feel I am important once again. I can now give everything I have to the team. I want to help and add up”.
Finally, he revealed that in the dressing room there is healthy competition for making the starting line-up, “we are aware that football is fighting, nobody gives nothing away, but in the team we get on very well with each other and that competition for places makes it impossible for every player to relax”.
