Without missing a beat, Chivas arrived in Hamilton, Canada, where tomorrow they will begin their CONCACAF Champions Cup campaign. The Rojiblancos are already working on Canadian soil, with the objective of fine-tuning technical and tactical details under the guidance of Fernando Gago in order to arrive with the best rhythm for the match against Hamilton Forge, corresponding to the first leg of the first round of the continental competition.
Prior to today's session, the Rojiblanco coach and 'Pollo' Briseño discussed several interesting topics about what will happen tomorrow at Tim Hortons Field, the situation of the Red and White players who did not make the trip and how they foresee the match against the Canadians.
Without further ado, here is what the coach and the Rebaño's central defender had to say.
Fernando Gago
"All the players will have more or less minutes. It's not because we have an alternative team, but because of the logical day-to-day competition".
"I rested some players because they had the most minutes, and I thought it was the moment when they had to stop because I need to have everyone healthy, to determine who is ready to play."
"Tomorrow's team is not yet defined; we are going to work on it today and we are going to think about what can work best for us."
"They haven't had competition for 4 months, but they've had the same coach for 3-4 years. They have a way of playing that they respect against any team and there is information to analyze the opponent".
"Overconfidence would be a mistake. Whoever team we face, we have the commitment to compete for all the titles. To think that match would be something we can regret".
"We have to understand that we will be playing on synthetic grass, in cold weather, which we are not used to, but focused on what we have to do ourselves and on determining the performance to have a great match."
"The competition of going match by match will give us the security to grow as a team, and from that we will try to fight it from the start of the competition and we will go for both tournaments."
Antonio Briseño
"We know that these tournaments make you play in all climates and we have to adapt, whoever does not do so has no chance of winning. The players are athletic, they will make the game very difficult for you and that's why they are in this competition. We want to win and be in the Club World Cup".
"We have complemented what we already had with the new things that Fernando Gago has brought".
"The competition has become stronger, there is more technology, more tools. It will be a very complicated match, we are aware of it and tomorrow we have to demonstrate."
We will go looking for the matches, we will impose our style with long possessions and be forceful".
"We are thinking about this match and then Juárez. As we move forward we will talk about the games to come."
"It's a motivation to be in an international competition, to go to a Club World Cup with a new format. We want to lift the title and we will go step by step from the next game."
