Barça captain Carles Puyol has admitted that the draw in Bilbao has affected the team, but that they just have to keep believing in themselves, sticking together, keeping up the work rate and, above all, killing off games.
Carles Puyol was talking to the press after training on Tuesday and described the way the team is
playing and how they feel after dropping two points on Sunday evening
Puyol knows exactly where things went wrong against Bilbao. “When
it was 1-0, we needed to kill the game off. We played too far back. We have to learn from that and
sometimes go all out for matches to kill them off”.
“We have to believe in ourselves”
He was fairly clear with his thoughts about the current situation of the
team, saying “the first thing we need to do is believe in ourselves, stick together, and not
let our heads drop as we wait until certain important players are back”, he said.
One of those players is Ronaldinho, “a very important player for us and who will
contribute a lot. We have to make him feel comfortable because he is the kind of player that can
turn a match at any moment and bring joy back into our game".
“We are working well but without brilliant football”
He went on to explain why he feels the side has lacked conviction of
late. “We were getting good results, but the play was not as brilliant as might have been
expected. But sometimes that’s not easy and you just have to be practical. We want to win and
if we can win well, so much the better.”
Puyol ended by promising the fans that they will keep fighting until the end because
“this is not over yet”.
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Importance of fans’ support
With a crucial cup game with Villarreal to come, Puyol knows how important it is for the supporters
to get behind them. “We have always had a good relationship with the fans. On Thursday we
have a very important game, and although the people feel a bit let down, we all have work together
to get things moving in the right direction. It is through hard times that we have to be more
united than ever. That is what I would like to say to the fans because there is nothing I can ask
of them. We want to cheer them up" he said.