Martin Valjent has revealed the secrets behind an impressive defensive record which has seen us concede just twice so far this season.
We were minutes away from breaking a club record for time spent without conceding as a run of seven consecutive clean sheets came to an end at the hands of Malaga CF on Matchday 9, although our defender believes a mixture of hard work on the training ground, change in tactics and unity have been among the many contributing factors to solidity at the back.
“I think the most important thing was that we worked a lot on the defensive phase of the game,” he told club media. “I think we were like five minutes away from the record of the club. We weren’t obsessed with this record, but we were obsessed with our hard work, our job and of course, our performances on the field. We have quality players in defence. We really work as a team, from the attack to the defenders in the defensive phase.
"We’re pressing really well and this is helping us to do our job and that makes things easier for the defender. We think as a unit and the whole team is working very, very hard and maybe there have been a few tactical changes from the coach so that we are a little bit more solid and compact. We are playing very far away from our goal so this is permitting us to steal the balls in the half of the opponents.”
Undefeated in our last nine games and having conceded just twice so far this season, Valjent has been impressed with our start to the season.
“The boss made it clear from the first day how we were going to work, what he wants and what he wants from us,” he continued. “I think it’s working. The first match was not easy for us and we’ve since had better results, but I think we were at this point where we understand what we have to do and what we want to do.
“With this mentality the coach has given to us with all this stuff, we’ve been having good games. I think there have also been good performances as well with positive results.”
You can listen to the full interview with Martin Valjent here.
