Gary Neville reflects on 'difficult' La Liga debut at Valencia
Monday 14 December 2015 10:56, UK
Gary Neville has reflected on a "difficult" first La Liga game in charge of Valencia as they scored a late equaliser to rescue a point against Eibar on Sunday.
The hosts were the first to strike on the stroke of half time, Sergi Enrich piling more misery on the former Manchester United defender as his side were second-best for much of the opening period.
Valencia defender Lucas Orban was sent off just after the hour mark, but a late David Junca own goal saw Neville's side snatch a point at the death, with Ivan Ramis also sent off for the hosts just before full time.
"It was a difficult game to play in full stop," Neville said. "The pitch, the tightness, the intensity of Eibar, we knew this was going to be the case."
"But we passed the ball very poorly, that was the most difficult thing in the first half for me and I'm sure when the players watch that back, they'll understand that we have to show more belief in terms of our passing and our movements.
"Anybody that comes to Eibar has the same problem, in terms of understanding that you have to win the fight, and then the football comes."
Despite facing a tough contest in northern Spain, Neville said there were positives to take away from the game.
"I think after the sending off, we did show belief and pride. I think in the end, we even could've won it and whether that would've been right or not I don't know, but Paco [Alcacer] is through on goal and the defender brings him down. So in the second half I'm proud, I think we tried to play more which we had to do because in the first half it was ugly."
Valencia are back in action on Wednesday evening, facing Barakaldo in the Copa del Rey second leg at the Mestella Stadium, where they already have a 3-1 lead, before hosting Getafe in La Liga on Saturday afternoon.
Watch Gary Neville's interview with Guillem Balague above. The extended version is also available On Demand.
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