FCBARCELONA.CAT

02.08.2009 08:54

Guardiola: “it was a good test”

David Saura (enviat especial) / Anna Segura

One of the things that most satisfied Guardila about the LA game was that he was finally able to count on a virtually complete squad. Pep also praised the crowd at the game, whose vast numbers showed: “this club is very much alive”.

Guardiola was able to draw quite a few conclusions from the game, not least that his treble winning side have lost none of their hunger to win: “their spirit is very much intact”, he commented.

Physically strong opponents

Although this was only a friendly, Guardiola stressed the importance of facing strong sides in the pre-season: “we played a good game against a physically strong team. We showed we are improving and in the first half we made chances to have put the game away. This was a good test for us -nobody got injured and just as importantly, everybody got some minutes on the pitch”.

Happy with the result

Although he’d have liked more gaols and admitted the team could have got them, particularly in the first half, Giardiola was happy enough with the 1-2 win: “we know where we are right now and that result was fine”.

Bojan and Maxwell

Guardiola had particular praise for Bojan’s performance: “he’s got great movement coming inside. He does some great diagonal runs and if the ball comes to him in the box it’s half a goal”. These abilities mean he can play in a number of positions up front and Guardiola agreed “he’s got a good chance” of playing a big part this season.

Maxwell made his debut in LA and Guardiola praised a number of aspects of his game, whilst stressing: “he’s a good guy and when a player’s like that, the rest will come along on its own”.