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14.09.2007 12:17
Unzué: "We’ve got to work harder than Osasuna”
David Puig
Unzué reckons that if Barca want to win in Pamplona this weekend they’ll have to be prepared to work hard. Unzue also speaks about the Osasuna team and and how the team are facing up to getting back to league action afterteh international break.
Pamplona’s never been an easy place to take points from; something Barca’s goalkeeping coach Juan Carlos Unzué knows all to well. Unzue began his career at Osasuna and knows the club well: “it doesn’t matter who’s in charge there or what new players they sign, Osasuna’s way of playing makes it tough for any visiting team. Skill and technique aren’t enough to win there; you really need to work as hard as or even harder than they do”.
Put Santander behind us
Barca’s opening away game was the disappointing goalless draw at Santander, but
Unzue believes the squad have learnt from it and are now looking ahead: “that was three weeks
ago and the team’s upped their rhythm since then. It’s true that we didn’t play
well, but we’ve drawn our lessons from that and I think Sunday will be a very different
matter. It’s most important that we have the maximum number of players fit and available and
that the team come out confident that they can win”.
Unzué reckons Pamplona have made some good signings this summer, especially up front where they’ve signed Portillo, Pandiani and the young Mexican Carlos Vela: “they renovate their team well every season to keep things competitive. They’ve achieved a lot in the last few years – reaching the Champions League and doing well in the UEFA Cup, but they’ve never gone crazy and signed more than they can afford. They’ve replaced the forwards who got 80% of their goals last season with some top class strikers and it’ll be interesting to see if they can keep up their standards”.
Bojan and Giovani
Unzué had expected all the media fuss surrounding the club’s two youngsters Giovani Dos
Santos and Bojan Krkic, but insists they have to keep their feet on the ground and keep a sense of
proportion: “it’s only normal that the media zoom in on them, playing at a big club
like this, but it’s important that they are sensible kids, who know how to deal with the
situation. They’re with the first team to learn, but it’s the older players who must
carry the responsibility for success – they’re the leaders and Bojan and Giovani just
need to concentrate on bringing the most they can to the group, but not under pressure”.
