Luis Enrique: "All the players are working as hard as they can in training"

FC Barcelona manager gave his pre-match press conference today at the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper, where he insisted that all people should be thinking about is the next game, and that “general evaluations can be left until the end of the season.” So, right now all that matters is tomorrow and Levante. “The idea is to beat them” he said. “And depending on how we do, we’ll see where we stand. I haven’t been worrying about having to play seven games in 21 days. There’s only one game that we can control at the moment, and that’s the next one. My message to the players is to always stay focused on the next game.”

“I always make the same demands” he continued. “To generate goalscoring chances, and not allow them to generate their own. To create pressure and to defend well. In football you always have to remember that two teams are playing. In this sport, other teams are always going to create problems for you … And all away games are that little bit more difficult, and we’re playing a side with a lot of strong points. I’m sure we’ll face difficulties, but all we have to do is concentrate on our own game, break through their defence, deal with their long balls and so on.”

Levante are expected to play a defensive game tomorrow, but Luis Enrique insists that “our players have plenty of resources, the important thing is to get them to put them into practice. It’s going to be a long season and we’ll be facing teams that defend in all kinds of different ways, but we’re used to every kind of situation.”

Our players have plenty of resources, the important thing is to get them to put them into practice

Continuing in a similar vein, the FCB manager explained that “we don’t just have to attack well, which we already do, but we also have to defend the right way. Barça likes to push forward and that’s always going to create a certain amount of risk, but the players are all working as hard as they can in training and assimilating all of the different concepts … From what I have seen so far, I can’t complain …But this is a journey that’s only just starting. There are going to be a lot of changes that ultimately have to lead to titles, which is what we will be judged by in the end.”

Barça likes to push forward and that’s always going to create a certain amount of risk

On a different matter, he was asked how he felt about the players’ involvement with social networks, and whether or not he thought that it was a good thing. “I think it’s okay” he said, and added with a laugh that “it can even be exciting. The players know what they have to do. I like to see them having fun in their free time. I like them to be expressive, and to show what nice people they are. They have won the right to play for this team and it’s nice that they are able to do whatever they want to in their personal lives.”

Finally, he was asked for an update on the situation with Luis Suárez. "He’s training as if he was playing tomorrow” said the Asturian. “He makes a huge contribution to training sessions, and to matches too. He’s settled into the group and is fully adapted. He’s a very expressive person and it’s contagious. He was a very good signing. And if we can already tell that now, imagine what he’ll be like when he starts playing.”