Zinedine Zidane spoke to the media at the Allianz Arena following his side’s disappointing 0-1 defeat against Tottenham in the semi-finals of the Audi Cup 2019 and reassured the fans that he is positive and confident in his squad ahead of the new campaign that starts in just three weeks.
“I always think positively and nobody can take what we’re going to do this year away from me. We ended a tough season and we’ve had a difficult start to this one. I know that I’ve got an excellent team. We’re still not ready. We’re going to regain more of our play and confidence and we’ll get through this. All we need to do is win one game.
“We made a better start tonight and we need to improve every day. We can’t be happy with the defeat, but we were better in all departments. That’s the positive thing.”
NAVAS AND THE GOALKEEPING SITUATION
“He put in a great performance tonight and that’s all there is to it. I don’t believe that any player has a guaranteed starting spot. They’ve all got to be ready and they’re all fully aware of that.”
BALE
“He didn’t travel because he wasn’t fit. After speaking with the doctors, the best thing was for him to stay in Madrid. He stayed back and is training there. It was a joint decision between the player, medical staff and the coach.”
JAMES
“I don’t know what’s going to happen with him. We’re here playing and that’s the only thing I’m thinking about and nothing else.”
SQUAD
“These are the players that we’ve got and that’s the end of it. Things can change up until 31 August. I trust in my players. Losing isn’t pleasant but we’re not going to lose confidence because we know that it’s going to be a very long year and that we’ll deliver.”
