FCBARCELONA.CAT

27.08.2007 14:54

Zambrotta: “It’s only one match”

Berta Brau

The Italian international defender has denied that the goalless draw in Santander was due to overconfidence and insisted: “It’s always difficult to get the season off to a good start”.

Gianluca Zambrotta spoke to reporters at a press conference in the Camp Nou on Monday with Sunday’s goalless draw away to Racing Santander ( 0-0 ) very much the focus of attention. He admitted that the team had not played well but emphasised: “It’s only one match”.

Difficult beginnings

“It’s always difficult to get the season off to a good start. Last year, despite winning, we also had a lot of problems. It’s only one match and I believe we have a lot of time to get better results this season”.

Zambrotta also stressed that the modern game is being played at a very high standard: “In today’s football it’s difficult to play against any team. Playing against a good team such as Racing, that closes down at the back, it’s complicated to find space to score a goal”.

Shared responsibility

He also believes it’s not the moment to start pointing the finger: “When a team doesn’t play well it’s not the fault of a particular player nor of a defensive system. When you don’t play well it’s the fault of the entire team and we all know what we’ve done well and what we haven’t”.

Asked what conclusions the players had taken away from Santander, he revealed: “The team know we haven’t played to the maximum of our abilities. Everything can be improved. You always have to be critical when you don’t play well but we’re all experienced players and we know when we play well and when we don’t, so we know what we have to do to improve”.

The term the “fantastic four” has recently been applied to the attacking line-up of Eto'o, Ronaldinho, Messi and Henry but Zambrotta insisted this was an invention of the press and nothing to do with the players: “Barça has a squad with many quality players and nobody has mentioned the word “fantastic”. Anyway, it’s down to the manager to decide who plays and who doesn’t”.

Finally, Zambrotta told reporters with more than a touch of irony: “During the pre-season we have been a “fantastic” team and won everything. Now just because of one match there’s all this fuss”.