© EuroFootball.com
After an unexpected defeat suffered on Sunday, the coach of "Getafe", the team at the bottom of the tournament table defending the title of Spanish champions, the Italian Claudio Ranieri, criticized his players.
The most senior UEFA Cup-winning coach, who replaced Rafael Benitez at "Liverpool" this summer, told journalists that his team is currently in a crisis: "We just can't seem to make it work, but it's strange that it has been this way for so long."
"In Getafe, we played the worst game of the season: the players didn't play as I had instructed, and the goal in our net came after a non-existent foul, which was an obvious referee mistake."
"In the first half we completely failed to play," said the Italian, "and in the second half we played better, but we just couldn't score."
"With this attitude on the field, we certainly won't win, so I tell the players that they need to fight and work much harder on the field," Ranieri said.
Talking about the hot seat of the head coach was somewhat calmed by Juan Bautista Soleras, who became the new president of "Valencia" a few months ago: "Before making such decisions (firing the coach), you must count to ten. He's doing the right thing - he chooses players that any "Valencia" fan would probably choose, but he's not the one scoring goals."
After a decent start to the season, "Valencia" faced a crisis - they didn't win in their last nine matches in all competitions. A 1-2 defeat in Bremen against the local "Werder" and a loudly heard 5-1 defeat against Milan's "Inter" may mean that "Valencia" will drop out of the Champions League after the first group stage. In addition, "Valencia" was eliminated from the Spanish King's Cup (Copa del Rey) in the first round, losing 1-0 to second division team "Lleida".
