FCBARCELONA.CAT

30.01.2010 23:05

Guardiola: “We were very solid”

Jordi Clos

The Barca boss praised his team’s “attitude and willingness” in the Sporting game, though he admitted: “we didn’t take the right decisions when we should have sealed the game”.

Pep Guardiola had warned before the game that Sporting would pose a real danger and the Gijon team proved him right. Barca needed to pull the stops out and Guardiola commented: “we were very solid. We were facing very lively opponents with a great home record - not many teams win here. We were very strong in defence and they had nothing more than a couple of long range shots”.

Happy with players’ attitude

Guardiola was more critical of his team’s inability to score more: “we played well, but we didn’t take the right decisions when we should have sealed the game. However I’m very happy with my players’ attitude and their willingness to work hard”. True to his style, Guardiola refused to be drawn on the title race so early in the season: “there’s a long way to go and every game is a tough one, with each team we play in the fight for something”.

Praise for Puyol

Carles Puyol filled in for the injured Alves with his customary ability and Guardiola took the opportunity to praise his captain: “we wouldn’t be where we are this season without him He’s the player who’s performed most and he’s solving a lot of problems”. The boss also spoke of Pedro - “he’s a great help and he moves well and understands where his teammates are”, Marquez: “that was back to the old Rafa – he needed to be physically fine and now he is” and Ibrahimovic –“ I want him to be obsessed with scoring – I love it when he’s like that”.