Xavi: "The boss has a very clear ideas and the team likes that"

Xavi Torres was chosen to attend members of the press in the press room at the Training Centre. This will be the last press conference before the team leaves for the preseason stage in England. The centre half's recovery is now a reality and Xavi is happy with his development in the preseason so far. “The truth is that after having had such a bad year, not just because of the injury problems but also because the team was relegated, I am much happier now. I am recovered and looking forward to the start of the League”.

The pivot said that despite relegation he was thinking about staying with the green-and-white Club. “There was no doubt in my mind because I liked the Club right from the start. It's a great Club which deserves to be in the First Division and to achieve that goal we have a year ahead of us, a nice year, and we can give the fans something to be happy about because they deserve it too”.

The player also gave his evaluation of the preseason. “Clearly, at the moment the boss is playing with two teams, each player plays for 45 minutes, and it is difficult to draw any real conclusions; but of course we are all happy with the exercises we are doing in the training sessions and that's good because later the results will be seen on the field of play. We are settling in and we are better than we were; there is still room for improvement and we have time for that to happen. The boss has a very clear ideas and the team likes that”. In terms of the intensity that Velázquez requires in the training sessions he said that “it's good because none of the players can relax and that will show later on the field of play”.

You know that this season Real Betis will be the rival that everyone wants to beat. “Of course we have a lot of fans behind us who support us and want us to do our best. We are the rivals everyone will be out to beat so we will have to give it our all but at the same time keep calm because, as the coach says, promotion will be in June. We have to keep the points lost at home to a minimum”.

Finally, Xavi spoke about the midfield. “There is an important injury which is Lolo, we hope he will be fit very soon, and when he is I think that position will be well covered by Carlos, Matilla and Nono. Everyone is giving it their all and we have to make it difficult for the boss to choose”.