Accustomed to answering the question “how is the locker room?”, Ziganda is asked in the press room, again with the presence of journalists after overcoming the covid protocol imposed from January, how is he, what how is the situation. Oviedo has lost two in a row for the first time this season and the play-off has moved away to five points, enough conditions to make a dent in anyone. El Cuco, who always maintains the same impassive posture through thick and thin, continues in his role: “I don’t notice the wear and tear, I really like this. Let’s say that the good things about the profession outweigh the wear and tear it may have”.
The coach maintains the illusion in a season that is accompanied from the first day of the feeling that this year yes, that finally the blue team could fight in the promotion play-off. A pending issue in Carso’s ship, which over the years has been lowering decibels in his ambitious speech delivered from Mexico. From mentioning the “Champions” they went on to talk about being with the best and, in recent times, to administrative silence.
In any case, every debate that arises around the team, also in what influences him as the head of the team, maintains the coach, he understands it as part of a world, the football world, which he has known for a long time. “I am quite calm with criticism, for better and for worse. My mood changes if things don’t work out for me, but I don’t get carried away by the waves. It’s football, a lot of passion moves, there are changes in moods in the fans. But we have to be cold, know what we want. Bet on an idea, on a style. And trust it to the end. That is what I focus on, preparing for the day to day”, he argues. And he adds: “The week is different because we came for the first time in the season with two losses in a row, something that had not happened until now. In addition, we had options to get ahead in these two weeks and we did not take advantage of it, so the disappointment is greater. But we have to focus on today, on Sunday’s great game and on the opportunity we have to win again”.
In any case, that day-to-day main objective is to sneak Oviedo into the play-off zone. Cuco doesn’t say so openly, protecting himself with the “match by match” speech, but no one is unaware at this point that the Blues are fighting to sneak into the top six.
And for the dream to stay alive, Oviedo needs to win this Sunday (6:15 p.m. at the Carlos Tartiere) against a posh rival. “Valladolid is the team with the best form in the Second Division, they are confident and successful, and they also have players at a great moment. We cannot change them, but we have to play our game. We have to be very good, with the confidence of knowing that if we do what we must for them, it will be a difficult game, ”he proclaims.
“Pacheta suits me.” Valladolid arrives and Pacheta returns, who spent a year and a half as coach of Oviedo with two very different stages. Total success in his first delivery, when he took on a team that was flirting with relegation to the Third Division and made them react until they even dreamed of the play-off. And a second year in which, with a powerful squad, he could only finish sixth. Asked by the pucelanos coach, Cuco was full of praise: “I like him. He is a healthy guy, very flat, sincere, and he is doing very well. He started the year with doubts and was able to turn it around, changed the script and found an appropriate system for the team he has. He looks very good at Valladolid because of the trajectory he has shown in recent weeks. From what I understand here, he is very loved.”
Ziganda says that things are quite clear, although there are still some doubts. For example, on the left side. Mossa is sanctioned and Cornud, between cottons, after having completed only part of the weekly work. “We will wait for Pierre. If he does not arrive, Lucas will play on the left, ”Ziganda clarified yesterday.
