GRANADA
Paco: "We can't have players faffing about on the pitch"
Granada coach Paco Jémez explained his decision to leave Uche, Sergi Samper, Lombán, Jon Toral, Gabriel Silva and Barral out for tomorrow's game against Betis.
Jémez cites Rubén Castro as Betis' dangerman
Paco Jémez insists his Granada side will be travelling to the Benito Villamarín "with high expectations" and is confident that the team can post their first win of the new campaign although he expects tomorrow's game to be neither easy or comfortable.
In this afternoon's press conference, Jémez warned that Granada cannot allow Betis any liberties in the final third, because "they have Rubén Castro, and you cannot give someone like him any room; we will need to be extra alert with him - especially inside the area, as he's a player who an expert at losing his marker and playing in confined spaces".
The coach added: "Betis have a lot of talent from midfield forward; they want the ball and they play it around well. At their ground they're tougher to play against as they have their people motivating them. I hope we can improve a few areas of our game, like pressing high up the pitch as well as other areas not related to tactics or physical issues. For example, we can't have players faffing about on the pitch, or not doing anything. Players shouldn't do their job only after we've gone a goal down".
Six players left out of the list
Jémez has omitted six players, including Sergi Samper: "He's more or less ok but he's been suffering more than we expected. We'd prefer him to continue training; he needs time to adapt and we are not going to force him", the coach said. Also out are Uche Agbo, Lombán, Jon Toral, Gabriel Silva and Barral.
The Granada list reads: Ochoa, Oier, Kelava; Tito, Foulquier, Tabanou, Gastón Silva, Vezo; Krhin, Angban, Boga, Javi Márquez, Andreas Pereira, Isaac Cuenca, Atzili, Carcela-González; Alberto Bueno, Kravets and Ezequiel Ponce
