31.03.2008 20:30
Rijkaard: “We don’t want to play their physical game”
Roger Bogunyà (enviat especial)
Frank Rijkaard knows that Schalke is a tough side who can play a physical game. So he is determined that Barça won’t play into the Germans’ hands but instead will stick to the more technical game which they are used to.
Rijkaard freely accepted that “there are other sides that are better prepared physically than
we are” which means that Barça doesn’t want to get into a physical confrontation with
Schalke. “We don’t want to play their physical game. We have to play in the way that we
know we can and to our strengths,” he said. He added that in his view Schalke is a
“good side that is collectively strong and they’ll be hard to beat.”
Criticism motivates
Talking about Barça’s last match when they went down 3-2 to Betis, Frank Rijkaard said
that “losing that way was tough”. He also made it clear that he understands why fans
are criticising the team and thinks that that should be “added motivation” for
Tuesday’s match in Gelsenkirchen.
Moving on
Rijkaard also said that “constantly thinking about
things that have gone wrong doesn’t help” and that the team has to move on and forget
about last Saturday’s defeat in Seville. “We have to keep on working and being
enthusiastic and confident as we always are,” said Rijkaard, who was very calm throughout the
press conference.
The game is the most important thing
Asked if he would resign if the team loses, Rijkaard made it clear that “this is not
the time to be talking about things like that. We’re here because we’ve got a game to
play and going into issues like that is not a good idea. The game is the most important
thing.” Rijkaard thinks that the best way of approaching this match is “to continue
working and trying as always to do what we have to do, get a good result and play well.”