Every time Luisinho gives a press conference in Abegondo he argues the same point about Deportivo’s defence: “You have to think that football is a collective sport, of eleven players. A team like Deportivo has to be aware that 11 have to attack and 11 have to defend. We neither have a Cristiano Ronaldo nor a Messi that make a difference in the match.”

He stated that in his opinion, Dépor concede so many goals because “only 4 or 5 of us defend. And we cannot allow that. That’s why we concede loads of goals. And we cannot allow that. It’s not just the defenders’ fault, it’s the whole team’s.”

However, he admitted that “we’re conceding many early goals and we have to change that once and for all. But we all have to defend, and we all have to attack,” he insisted.

The Portuguese footballer agreed that Dépor has been irregular the past few years: “We’re a very inconsistent team. We win one match, we lose another. We don’t have that stability that we also need. It’s normal if people have their doubts. We will only achieve things through work, supporting one another and being united. As we saw against Las Palmas, if we support one another, the points are there. We have to be more constant throughout the league.”

He explained that Cristóbal wants “the wingers to be wide open, like Bakkali or Fede Cartabia (last Monday at the Estadio Gran Canaria). They offered that width and we (the full-backs) gave them the initiative to attack. He doesn’t forbid us from attacking. He wants the full-backs to attack.”

Regarding this Saturday’s rival, Atlético de Madrid (Estadio ABANCA-RIAZOR, 4:15 pm, Bein LaLiga), Luisinho said, “they’re not playing their best. But they’re a strong team. Up front, they have players that can change the match at any moment.”

For this reason, he believes that to gain a positive result, the team must “be focused from the very first minute, because it’s going to be an intense match. Atlético are an intense team. We have to match their intensity.”

He highlighted that “Deportivo’s idea is clear; it’s not just to defend. We also have to attack. We can’t be defending all the time because in the end they’ll score, and we won’t be able to draw or win.”