Ernesto Marcucci, segundo técnico del Sevilla FC
First team

MARCUCCI: “THE TEAM HAS A KNACK FOR THE EPIC BUT WE HOPE WE WON'T NEED IT AND CAN WIN CALMLY”

01/12/2017
The assistant manager joked: "Berizzo is still making decisions. The ones that go well are my fault and the ones that go badly are his"

A well-spirited and almost jovial Ernesto Marcucci spoke to the press ahead of Saturday's La Liga fixture with RC Deportivo. The assistant coach addressed the "marvellous" - as he put it - recovery of Eduardo Berizzo: "He's doing very well, in great spirits and we're all really happy with the progress. We always talk, he's still making decisions and the contact is constant - daily. The decisions that work out well are my fault and the ones that go badly are his", he joked. 

"If it were up to him he'd be there tomorrow but we're not going to let that happen"

It's going so well that the manager could see a return before Christmas: "I believe so, though we'll do everything we can to keep him away for as long as possible because the only thing we care about is his health and recovery. If it were up to him he'd be back tomorrow but we're not going to let that happen.  Everything has gone marvellously and we're not going to spoil such positive progress with one bad match or couple of days, that would be a shame. Now he has more time he'll watch everything; we need to be careful so he doesn't find any mistakes", he said with a smile.

It's an obstacle which the players - specifically those who played on Wednesday against FC Cartagena - have dealt with fantastically: "The performance and professionalism that they showed in the semi-won knock-out made me proud. They came out totally switched on.  Other similar teams struggled and even lost and that shows that we did a very professional job".

"The team has a knack for the epic and that's a joy to train"

They're players who have another important game this Saturday against Deportivo against whom Marcucci doesn't want to see anything epic: "We've talked about it and we're aware of that, we dont want anything epic nor any comeback. The good thing is that the team has it in them but we hope we won't need it and we can win with more calm. Sometimes you can't. That intrinsic quality the team has is really positive and a joy for us coaches".

Questioned on various familiar names, Marcucci insisted that the N´Zonzi's absence continues to be "a tactical decision, a decision that could change". He explained that the return of Kjaer is near: "He has improved massively, but to be safe, we're not going to expose him to a match with such little training. He will be available for the Champions League". Regarding Lenglet, who needs to be careful on 4 yellow cards: "This isn't something that we are analysing", he assured. On Banega,  and the possibility of using Geis in the centre of the park, he said. "We will do what we believe is best for each match", with a nod to Sevilla FC's upcoming fixtures against Deportivo, Maribor and Real Madrid.