FCBARCELONA.CAT

16.01.2007 23:50

Rijkaard asks team to "save energy'

Rijkaard has spotted errors in the way the side played against Deportivo Alavés, and claims "we need to save energy. When they made it 2-2, the team had to make a major effort to win."

The Barça manager is optimistic for the future, because knowing he is going to have key players fit again also means his players will be able to rest more. "We have got players back like Oleguer, Motta and Santi Ezquerro, who had a bit of the flu before the game. I don't see a dark future. It was an attractive game, but especially after going 2-0 up we started relaxing and got overconfident. The players worked very hard, perhaps too much, and that is one of things we have detected are going to need to improve."

Making it easy

"The game looked over yet we ended up suffering again. No team ever surprises me. It just means we are all human and have to work on improving certain things. And if we suffered against Alavés, when we play better teams we'll suffer even more. I am glad we have had the chance to see the things that we need to sort out", said Rijkaard, when asked if he felt there was a problem with the team relaxing too much when it looks like they have games won.

Saviola and his statistics

Rijkaard could only praise Javier Saviola on his performance this evening: "Saviola made all the difference. I am so happy. He is a player who reads the game well and knows how to be in the right place at the right time. But I think he is still able to get better. There is always room for improvement."

But does the Argentinian deserve a place in the starting line up? "Could he be the team's second forward? Why not? I think he deserves to be. His statistics show that he deserves to be in the starting line up".