PACO JÉMEZ: "TRAINING LAS PALMAS IS A PERSONAL CHALLENGE MORE THAN A SPORTING ONE"
UD Las Palmas’ new manager, Paco Jémez, made it clear in his presentation this morning that "for me, training Las Palmas is more of a personal challenge than a sporting one". He stressed that "the team’s problems are more a matter of confidence and their
Toni Cruz presented UD Las Palmas’ new trainer, Paco Jémez, pointing out that "he is convinced of the team’s qualities, and he knows us well and we know him well".
Paco Jémez said "I like these kinds of challenges, and coming here is more demanding on me personally rather than in sporting terms". He stressed "I am not going to allow anyone off the pitch to make things harder than what they already are".
Regarding the fans, the new manager said "the fans need to know that we mean business and at this club they don’t just want victories but to see good football too". Regarding his squad, again he was quite clear. "The players need to know that it not just the manager’s head that will roll, players will also be left out and those decisions will be taken by me", adding "there is great raw material in the squad, and within the club’s restraints, there will some new faces. The team is not where they are by chance, things have to change because the problems are to do with confidence and their mental state".
There will be a team concentration for four days, and Paco Jémez explained that "we are getting together to gain some time, to hold morning and afternoon training sessions, watch videos to lift our confidence, as it is not enough just saying we have a good squad here".
The yellows officially announced the arrival of Argentinian midfielder Gabriel Peñalba this morning, and the new manager said of him, "he is a great player, very disciplined, who can help bring the ball out of defence, it was a personal request on my part to get him to here, and I am grateful to the club for making the effort to bring him here".
Regarding Araujo, he said "he won’t be coming back because we have other priorities. This point was made clear with the President yesterday". He then went into more detail, saying "I won’t be taking any decisions on any player until I see them in training".
Jémez spoke of the team’s lynchpin, Jonathan Viera, saying "he is an absolute jewel, and anything he does is to the team’s benefit. He has matured a lot over the last few years, he is superb on the ball but he has also learnt to do other things too".
